Virgin Media Community

[reddwarf4ever]

had 4 scam phone calls today pretending to be from Virgin media, once I asked for confirmation they were Virgin media they hung up, I rang the numbers and ALL were private residences I believe the ‘ scammers’ are somehow cloning private phone numbers for scam calls

THiS HAS TO BE STOPPED 

[goslow]

This does seem to be getting more mentions on the forums. Some have suggested that this is due to the fake caller IDs being screened out more successfully at a network level. If that is true, can't help but think it might be a bit of an own goal in so far as customers will now not only receive original scam calls as before but may now also receive additional follow-up calls from annoyed recipients of other scam callers who have been using customers’ stolen caller ID!

[nodrogd]

Yes. I responded to a post where this had happened back in November last year. Scammers can even call you from your own phone number.

They are doing this precisely to stop the numbers being blocked by providers. What can they do to stop it? Not a lot.

This is due to the mix in technology between what the scammers are using and the UK phone system. The scammers are using the internet with VoIP software that is commonly available. The UK analogue phone system is still basically the same as it was when it was invented, & an interface was built to allow calls to pass between the internet digital systems & our antequated analogue system.

But (shock, horror) there is no internet security on an analogue phone system. It ends at the server where the call leaves the internet, so there is no way of putting in a digital handshake that the analogue end can verify. Reminds me of the TV snooker commentator describing a game just after the introduction of colour TV "For anybody watching in Black & White, the Blue is behind the Pink ". 🤣🤣🤣

Some technology does not mix, & will never mix. The analogue system is being retired in 2025, when we will all be plugging our phones into our internet hubs, using digital both ends, & the end-to-end call verification software that is now being developed in the US will be widely available.

[goslow]

Have read somewhere recently that France and Australia now block international calls which carry national/domestic caller ID for the respective countries. Seems a bit of a sledgehammer/nut approach but, at the moment, the scammers do seem to have the upper hand in this battle.

[nodrogd]

---

@goslow wrote:

Have read somewhere recently that France and Australia now block international calls which carry national/domestic caller ID for the respective countries. Seems a bit of a sledgehammer/nut approach but, at the moment, the scammers do seem to have the upper hand in this battle.

---

Works ok, unless the scammers can VPN around it & make the call look like its coming from the same country its going too. My phone tells me when a call is INTERNATIONAL. This only comes up on a minority of scam calls, which makes me feel they are using VPN amongst other evasions.

[coenoby]

Scam phone callers now cloning genuine phone numbers

Nothing new about that I'm afraid. In fact that has been going on for years.

There has been newspaper coverage for at least 5 years about scammers spoofing genuine phone numbers belonging to various banks.  In fact, as if by magic here is a link to an article in the Guardian from 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/oct/29/number-spoofing-scam-bank-calling 

You can read there the way the fraudsters operated and unfortunately they were very successful. The fact that the phone call appeared to come from the same phone number that appeared on the victim's bank card convinced many people that these calls was genuine.

Sadly that scam and many like it are still going on today and people are still losing thousands of pounds to fraudsters.

Coenoby

[reddwarf4ever]

My landline cordless handset has only a 30 number call blocker, which is usually full within a few weeks, then have to decide whether to delete and start again or leave as is is....looking at one that has a 1000 call block memory, maybe worth considering. Just do t k ow what to do. I have to leave the landline on at night in case of hospital or other medical appointment calls, especially as I turn my mobile to do not disturb from 10pm to 9am. Interestingly I don’t get anywhere as many scam calls on my mobile, used to get the “ I hear you have been involved in a car accident” quite often, lost count of how many numbers are blocked in my mobile, maybe thousands...scam calls account for around 90% of calls received......seriously considering contacting everyone that has my landline number and ask them to use my mobile, then can get a new phone to block all unknown callers.....hopefully the changes in 2025 will sort it.....until the scammers find a way round that 😱

just another thought, I am cable, but many use the landline phone system for their broadband, will the 2025 changes affect them ???

[coenoby]

---

@reddwarf4ever wrote:

I don’t get anywhere as many scam calls on my mobile,

---

I agree with that.

However, scammers seem to have turned to sending scam text messages to mobile phones rather than phone calls and on your mobile such texts often appear in the conversation thread of the relevant legitimate organisation so you cannot block them. You cannot win really! 😮

Coenoby

[goslow]

---

@reddwarf4ever wrote:

My landline cordless handset has only a 30 number call blocker, which is usually full within a few weeks, <snip>

---

Blocking individual numbers is a pointless and never-ending exercise for the robocalls as each new scam call will potentially bring with it a new fake/cloned caller ID number which will probably not be used again to attack your line, so each number block you put in will probably never be implemented again in the future.

Use a device which screens the calls automatically and then decides what to do with the call. A trueCall device or BT phone with trueCall technology built in screens calls to filter out the scammers and spammers and prevent your phone ringing for that type of call.

[MrHalfAsleep]

They're evolving their scams, which was only a matter of time!

Sending text messages is much easier and less costly than sitting on the phone all day ringing random people and can be done 24/7/365, therefore cutting costs (a win for the scammers!).  Today I've had calls from VM (in Norwich of all places), BT and a rather dodgy letter addressed to no one regarding COVID funding, where I must claim in 5 days (if I were infected; no one in the house is).  However, some scammers are a bit too quick off the mark using 04/05/06 numbers which are reserved for VoIP and corporates (according to the blurbs I have).

There's plenty of videos on youtube on how to send multiple messages to various (or the same) numbers; these methods haven't changed. We're already swimming in a massive data soup, so it may be wise to prepare for a post internet/telecoms age; or we could just accept it and carry on regardless (the problem with the latter is who would be liable for the costs)...😐