Scam phone calls are trending up, here

[Mr_Sheesh]

I am getting the usual "Hi its your local sheriff's charity, we want to send you a donation envelope so you can send us a donation."

Translated into plain English, this means "Hey so I am thinking of scamming you, you'll send me cash through the US Mail since I assert that I'm somehow connected to LEOs, right?"

My guess is that about ZERO % of donations they get in in cash form, are passed along.

[georgerkahn]

One of the BEST features of the cellular telephone service we now enjoy is the ability to BLOCK any call we... elect to longer receive! (I have two Apple iPhones -- a 7 and a 7+ -- which both have "recent" as part of telephony. To the right of the number is a little blue circle with the letter "i" in it -- click the "i" and scroll to block this number. Click it -- and that number is now history!
Gosh.... I know I have several HUNDRED blocked numbers!
You may wish to look into this? I know i LOVE it!!!
geo

[GregLaROCHE]

To me the scams are very obvious. I guess if they try hundreds of people, someone will fall for it. Unfortunately, it’s probably the elderly that get taken advantage of most.

[OldBearHair]

I have been blocking calls left and right as well. My wife needed therapy and the therapists had Florida, California, and Colorado zip code that I would normally block, but for a while there I didn't block so when the therapists called I needed to talk to them. It seems that one woman was calling me from different numbers and i am almost certain that it was the very same voice calling from the local exchange to fool me to think that it was a local call from a friend.

[Mr_Sheesh]

These callers never use their own phone number to call, they have even called me using my own phone number (with my mom's name o.O) on occasion. I tend to answer most calls but not the obvious spam ones. But if an 877 number calls you and it was your Dr. calling but you ignored the call, you missed an important call...

[cabezaverde]

They wouldn't be doing it if it didn't pay off.

[1Hawkeye]

I had 4 texts on Monday from a bank I've never done business with that I needed to text them back RIGHT away because they were locking out my account. Pretty neat trick considering the banks were closed for labor day. I looked up the area code which was in St. Paul MN but I'm sure it was just a forwarding number to India or some other third world hole.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Yeah. Too much spam for my liking.

[JoeJames]

In a nutshell the thief calls are the perfect reply to the idiots who think government can solve all problems. The government cannot even control thief calls like the constant extended car warranty calls.

[Handloader109]

HA, my cell MARKS a good portion SPAM, but allows these calls to continue. If the cell phone company KNOWS these are spam calls, why don't they stop them?
I've an area code on my cell that is MS based. I've never changed from moving 10 years ago. If I get a MS area code call, I DON'T answer, 100% spam. I have no new friends or family in MS. But they can always leave me a message if they change numbers..... And I get NO spam calls from the AR area code. Win.

[Duckiller]

Phone company doesn't block spam calls because they charge fees for them. Congress doesn't pass a law barring them because Congressmen and Congresswomen want the political contributions. Our representatives will deny it but they won't outlaw them. Political contributions should be called what they are " Bribing your elected representative". No elected official should be allowed to receive money from anyone that has more than $5000.00 in the bank.

[Randy Bohannon]

“Do Not Disturb”, Allow Calls From Contact List and Favorites. Anyone not in or on your contact or favorites list is silenced you only see recents. Anyone who doesn’t leave a message is a insta block or just erased.

[gwpercle]

Thanks for the heads up .

You would think with all this modern technology these scammers would be easy to back track and then electronically whack them out of existence ... so much for technology .
Gary

[Mr_Sheesh]

A lot of the phone scammers are offshore, if you were in a country with no extradition treaties to the US doing this, you might feel pretty safe.

I know they make money off it, I've heard some LEOs speculate that organized crime is probably involved in it. The predictive calling program program, specifically.

[jonp]

I block the numbers although it will not do any good as they use spoof numbers to call from and just generate them at whim. Almost all of my calls are about extended warranty on the car. I started getting group texts to click a link for stuff. Never do it.

I've noticed a new trend on spam emails which all or mostly all end up in the spam folder. The email is from various places wanting me to confirm a subscription by clicking a link. I went to a couple of the places listed in the email and they are legitimate, where the link would good I'm sure is not good.

[MaryB]

Cell companies don't want to block them, they are making money off you burning minutes! They have the tech to tell if it is a spoofed call.

"This is officer X with bla bla police dept. I have a warrant for your arrest..."

Come serve it in person! Warning, I am heavily armed. *click* as they start swearing at me LOL

[Bmi48219]

I am getting the usual "Hi its your local sheriff's charity, we want to send you a donation envelope so you can send us a donation.".

I’ve received three of those same calls since January. My stock reply is
I’d be happy to. I give them a fictitious PO Box # in a nearby town. They’re out 50 cents if they do send it.
I chuckle all day afterwards.
I’ve also started responding to credit card and other offers. As long as there’s a postage paid return envelope I mail it back full of ads from the insert that comes in the local newspaper.

[1Hawkeye]

I had a coworker years ago that at his old job when the boss got any junk mail had a special way to fix it.
If it was a post paid envlope his boss would have him bust up and box up a couple of cinder blocks attach the post paid envlope and send it back to wence it came. He never had to deal with the same idiots twice.

[shooterg]

I'm passing up deals on repaying my college loans(never had one) , warranty on my 2000 car, IRS is coming for me, all my credit cards have bogus charges and they'll take care of it as long as I give 'em the CC numbers, the popo in all 50 states need scholarship money for orphans,etc.
Many different numbers come up as "potential scam" but ya can't block "potential scam" so I now just hit the answer button and hangup .
But, yup, there is some sap that bites every now and again, sometimes folks even older than me, and the perps should be rounded up and sent to Afghanistan(of course they may already be there !)

[higgins]

If it's not someone in your contacts list (i.e., no name appears), just don't answer it. I haven't tried the easy blocking described above; I just silence the call and don't answer it. Most of the computer-generated calls only ring three or four times anyway.

[Mr_Sheesh]

IDK about others but I can't do that, my Dr's office has many random phone #s so I would never get their calls if I didn't answer, sadly.

[nvbirdman]

The thing that I find really annoying is when I pick up the phone and say hello and I get complete silence, then someone finally says hello. When you call me, you should be prepared to respond when I answer.

[gkainz]

My work and personal phones (both AT&T) have been getting 1-2 text messages a day lately claiming to be from AT&T offering some rebate or award just by clicking on the link … spam or phishing or nefarious malware.

[echo154]

It has gotten to the point I do not answer my phone unless I know the person or Drs office that is calling. my favorite is when they call representing the local Sheriff's department.....I work there....so I play with them trying to get any info I can. I also get calls about donating to the City FD. I live rural and work with the VFD. I ask them where the money goes and they tell me it goes to the "City Guys" who teach the volunteers. I told him that I donated to the actual people who were going to get out of bed, on their own time, and come to my house to help me!. Our Department looked into getting a company to phone solicit donations....they wanted 40%! Nowadays they can "clone" area codes so as to look to be a local number......remember the good old days of rotary dials:wink:

[Mr_Sheesh]

The places that send out "donation envelopes" are hoping for cash, which the twerp then pockets, no taxation, no nothing. You'd think the IRS would be looking at them...

[2A-Jay]

We have Spectrum TV/Internet/Telephone(Even my Cell is from Spectrum. A call comes in while the TV is on Caller ID comes across the TV, it it is a scam it lets us know.

[echo154]

If they ain't family...I'ts a scam. Come to think of it.....if it is family it most Soitinly is scam[smilie=w:

[Harter66]

We got calls stating our power was going to be shut off in the next 45 minutes yesterday . Amusing of course as I really don't care if the power is on in the empty garage 1700 miles away that hasn't had attached powder for most of 20 yr . They left a voice mail .

Got a call from France last night .......not even going to guess at that scam .

[Idz]

My latest scam messages are about the scammer needs shipment information for unspecified order from unspecified item from unspecified company.

[farmbif]

I refuse to participate, respond or acknowledge any inedible spam
if I do answer phone and one of those "beggars" is on the other end, some of which are max security prisoners. I tell them not to call me they need to be calling some rich person, and by the way is there some way that there charity you got could help me out paying my overdue electric bill.

[echo154]

AND most of the scams originate OFFSHORE!!!! One thing I hate is, it causes people not to donate to honest NEEDY causes. I donate to ST Jude, WW and TtT and thats it....other than my Church!

[nelsonted1]

I sometimes answer these calls. The latest is covering copays on insurance. Do you bring cash to your Dr visits? Why, yes, I do. How much? Usually about $5,000 for my family Dr or a routine appointment. If its a specialist I bring $10,000. They don't bat an eye!!! They say how about if we can fix it so you don't have to bring that money. Then I ask if they can also help veterinary care copays. I have an elephant rescue operation and also rodeo bull rescue. They get so confounded they sometimes just hang up or else silence.........

[MaryB]

Just got one "This is Chase, your card is eligible for blah blah blah same old garbage..." being in a bad mood form lack of sleep I let the guy on the phone have it LOL he woke me up from my nap!

[405grain]

When I get a call and the caller ID shows it not someone that I know, I let it go to voicemail. I made my voicemail introduction like this: "Hello. This is (your first name here). I'd like to talk to you about your extended car warranty. You may already be a winner of our super prize sweepstakes. At the tone please leave your name and number, and thank you for choosing Costco."

[rbuck351]

Got a call yesterday from a guy that sounded like he was from Pakistan or India. He said I had just won 5.5 million from publishers clearing house. I was bored so I kept him on the phone for about 15 minutes without giving him any information. I think he finally figured out I didn't believe anything he was saying. He said he would call back today but it didn't happen. I suppose this means I won't be getting my 5.5 million.