AnonymousBy an edhat reader
I thought readers would be interested to know I have been receiving spoof phone calls from numbers which belong to legitimate local businesses, however the person on the phone has nothing to do with that business and is selling something entirely different. The most recent example was a Caller ID that displayed St. Paul Cleaners, a real Santa Barbara & Goleta Based dry cleaners with their current and correct phone number displayed, however the caller said “do not hang up, we are offering discount back braces.”
Creeps keep coming up with to new schemes to scam.
Don’t answer any call from any number (familiar or not) that you’re not expecting. Problem solved.
And then there’s what I WISH was an urban legend (and may be) that if you answer and ever say the word “Yes” they then have a recording of it and can use that to argue that you agreed to be charged for a subscription or whatever. Sheesh.
We get bogus calls frequently that leave the same message, something about “your credit”. We block the number and a week later the same call comes in on a different number. It’s like whack-a-mole.
Does anyone know what risk there is in calling them back, without giving them any information, and messing with them. Just to jerk them around? I’ve tried using *67 (caller ID blocking) but they have that blocked so my call never goes through.
I would not call the number back from any of my own numbers, I’d find a payphone and call from that.
If you dial *67 before the number you’re calling, it will make your number private to them (restricted). Easier than finding a payphone 🙂
There’s a scam out there that involves you calling the number back and it then you receive a charge on your bill. google “one ring phone scam” that is why I said I’d call from a pay phone….
We get those “credit calls” too. Don’t pick up but they leave a message about checking our credit ratings, ours are good, they say, so we are eligible for something or other. I don’t pay close attention. Ticks me off they say they can check on our credit rating. Maybe just a ruse? We never answer if we don’t know the caller. Many hang up when the message is on so we know they are bogus.
I get several text messages addressed to Louisa. (Not my name.) I block each number as the messages arrive. All messages want Louisa to take the link to information about fast weight loss. I am normal weight but poor Louisa must be VERY fat for so many people to be concerned about her weight. 😉