Community Chat

[dooBdoo]

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@Spurt wrote:

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@dooBdoo wrote:

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                @ALRATIBA and @shaggygirl, This might be the culprit (copy and paste link or search for the NPR article title):

"Chinese Robocalls Bombarding The U.S. Are Part Of An International Phone Scam"

npr.org/2018/05/10/609117134/chinese-robocalls-bombarding-the-u-s-are-part-of-an-international-phone-scam

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@dooBdoo 

Well that explains the voice mails in Chinese left on my cell phone...but the problem is they are wasting their time since I dont speak Chinese and have no way of knowing what was said, I just delete 'em.....

There was talk that carriers are working on something where a person receiving an international call would have to enter a special code in order for an international call to be able to get through to them...that way the scammers would be blocked...I wish they'd hurry up with that!

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               I hear you, @Spurt.  They're major annoyances, and worse.   I'm lucky that my iPhone (very old model, hope to replace it in the coming year) receives very few spam calls.   It's limited in what I can do other than to block the bad calls after they've come through.   Apple's new iOS 13 will have more help for this, and as you've said the companies are working on new technology (none too soon).   

               From reading about it, these criminals are sending out the probably-automated scams en masse hoping to get some "hits" with those who can understand the language.   They've managed to menace the NYC Police Department in the process, even on their cell phones:

"...If you live in a part of the country that has a large Chinese immigrant population, you may have recently received a robocall in Mandarin — or even several of them.

The calls seem to be blanketing certain phone exchanges without regard to the national origin of the recipients.

Presumably, this is how the New York Police Department ended up on the call list.

NYPD Officer Donald McCaffrey, who works in the Queens grand larceny division, is investigating the calls in New York City.

He has also been receiving them on a daily basis.

"I get them also, in the NYPD building," McCaffrey says.

"I have an NYPD department cellphone and I get them on the cellphones, also. It is out of control."

Non-Mandarin speakers may find the robocalls baffling — or annoying — and just hang up.

But some Chinese immigrants who have followed the robocall's prompts have found themselves sucked into an international phone scam.

The calls first came to McCaffrey's attention in December 2017, when a 65-year-old Chinese woman complained to the NYPD that she had been scammed out of $1.3 million.

"She called to report that someone from the Chinese Consulate called and said she needs to call the Beijing Police Department because she's being investigated for financial crimes over in China," McCaffrey says...."

[Havarti]

We have a T-Lock Call Blocker (from Amazon) and we are able to block entire area codes.  We block all toll-free area codes and that really helps.  We still get one ring and then the call drops off, but we never answer any ring unless we know who it is.  We also don't answer the doorbell unless we invited someone and are expecting them.  We even have a note next to the doorbell telling people so those  selling things, politicians, religious groups, etc. know the door will not be answered and crooks don't know for sure if someone is home or if the house is empty.  Sad the world has come to this but both these changes have made a postive difference for us.

[LTT1]

@Krimpette @Havarti @dooBdoo @dooBdoo @Spurt 

My newest seems to be blocked callers who still leave a message, which somehow gets through.

Although none of these for a couple of weeks.

[Spurt]

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@dooBdoo wrote:

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@Spurt wrote:

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@dooBdoo wrote:

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                @ALRATIBA and @shaggygirl, This might be the culprit (copy and paste link or search for the NPR article title):

"Chinese Robocalls Bombarding The U.S. Are Part Of An International Phone Scam"

npr.org/2018/05/10/609117134/chinese-robocalls-bombarding-the-u-s-are-part-of-an-international-phone-scam

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@dooBdoo 

Well that explains the voice mails in Chinese left on my cell phone...but the problem is they are wasting their time since I dont speak Chinese and have no way of knowing what was said, I just delete 'em.....

There was talk that carriers are working on something where a person receiving an international call would have to enter a special code in order for an international call to be able to get through to them...that way the scammers would be blocked...I wish they'd hurry up with that!

---

               I hear you, @Spurt.  They're major annoyances, and worse.   I'm lucky that my iPhone (very old model, hope to replace it in the coming year) receives very few spam calls.   It's limited in what I can do other than to block the bad calls after they've come through.   Apple's new iOS 13 will have more help for this, and as you've said the companies are working on new technology (none too soon).   

               From reading about it, these criminals are sending out the probably-automated scams en masse hoping to get some "hits" with those who can understand the language.   They've managed to menace the NYC Police Department in the process, even on their cell phones:

"...If you live in a part of the country that has a large Chinese immigrant population, you may have recently received a robocall in Mandarin — or even several of them.

The calls seem to be blanketing certain phone exchanges without regard to the national origin of the recipients.

Presumably, this is how the New York Police Department ended up on the call list.

NYPD Officer Donald McCaffrey, who works in the Queens grand larceny division, is investigating the calls in New York City.

He has also been receiving them on a daily basis.

"I get them also, in the NYPD building," McCaffrey says.

"I have an NYPD department cellphone and I get them on the cellphones, also. It is out of control."

Non-Mandarin speakers may find the robocalls baffling — or annoying — and just hang up.

But some Chinese immigrants who have followed the robocall's prompts have found themselves sucked into an international phone scam.

The calls first came to McCaffrey's attention in December 2017, when a 65-year-old Chinese woman complained to the NYPD that she had been scammed out of $1.3 million.

"She called to report that someone from the Chinese Consulate called and said she needs to call the Beijing Police Department because she's being investigated for financial crimes over in China," McCaffrey says...."

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@dooBdoo 

This was on our local news....

They shared a story how the Victoria British Columbia Police Department also got a scam call......they called back the number and had a bit of fun and asked the scammer....do you know who you called...THE POLICE!!!...The scammer bragged he was in a foreign location so laws in the U.S. and Canada dont apply to him, nothing can be done about it, but the Police Officer told the scammer while they are talking he was tieing up the scammers phone line so thats one less chance of a person getting scammed ....the  scammer swore at the Police Officer and hung up....

[Havarti]

@LTT1 

I wonder how they get through to leave a message if they are blocked.  It is so hard to stay ahead of this stuff and you know the phone companies could fix it if they wanted to do so.  They just want to sell each side the newest way around the other side.  It is like a dog/cat chasing its tail.

[dooBdoo]

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@LTT1 wrote:

@Krimpette @Havarti @dooBdoo @dooBdoo @Spurt 

My newest seems to be blocked callers who still leave a message, which somehow gets through.

Although none of these for a couple of weeks.

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            @LTT1, @Havarti,  Those likely are the "ringless voice mail" scammers who have spoofed or masked their Caller ID and there's no way to know what their actual calling number is, so the blocking isn't affecting them.

[spent2much]

We get a call from "Ever Source" every.single.day!  It's not Ever Source, but yet another scam.  Once, my husband waited to speak with them and told them, "We've received at least 10 calls from you and we're not interested."  The caller said, "Well then, you'll probably receive another 10 calls."  

Now it's WAY over 10.  It's been at least a month or two and, as I say, they call every.single.day.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!  

[2blonde]

@spent2much   By anwering those calls, you've let them know it's a valid phone number, which usually increases the calls.

[2blonde]

@Spurt   I have a Tracfone smartphone, but my carrier is Verizon.  Your info likely explains why I've stopped getting spoofed number calls on my cell.  My phone exchange starts with 749, and all the calls I was getting were showing up on my ID as 749 numbers with various subsequent numbers.  I haven't received any of those calls in at least a month!  I still get them at home on my land line, but the nomorobo stops them after one ring, and I NEVER answer any unknown calls.  When I get home in the evening I clear out my caller ID which sometimes has 10-12 numbers on it, but not as many lately

[Financialgrl]

Here's what I've been getting - landline rings and number flashes on the TV screen and goes away after two rings.  Immediately following that I get a call from a local number using my area code plus the same first 3 numbers of my number -  to make me think it's a local number.