Won the Daily Price for Spoofing

[Jules]

Not me, my husband. I think his number has been selected as the base number for these calls today. He’s had at least 60 in less than 3 hours.

His mobile phone started about 10:30 this morning. He ignored the first couple of dozen and finally decided to answer one.

A somewhat illiterate person wanted to know why he called her. He explained that she’d been spoofed. Then the next time he answered, it was another ‘why are you calling me?’ One person left a threatening message. He had an extensive vocabulary.

Another man was mad at him and incoming calls & said that one unknown call he’d returned was to London. It was tempting to ask why he hadn’t learned his lesson. He called again later.

One came from a business and he was well aware that this is happening but they have to respond to missed calls.

Anything that was answered, DH explained what was happening and told them to block our number.

His phone is on silent for the rest of the day.

I can’t understand why anyone calls back an unknown number. If it’s real, there’ll be a message.

 

[Don M.]

I've had a couple of these spam calls that show our number in the caller ID....I reported that to the FCC. I guess these "spammers" figured out that we have a blocker, so they called us from our own phone number. I just hope they aren't using our number to harass others.

 

[horseless carriage]

Aw, that's not fair, I have never had one on my cell, had a couple on the landline, but they were due to a lucky guess by a computer. We are ex-directory, that's Brit-Speak for an unlisted phone.
The two that got through the net, one had a very slight Indian Sub-Continent accent, he didn't know my name because my number's not listed. His opening line was: "How are you today?" I said, "does your mother know what you do for a living?" He hung up. I'm not surprised. Indian families that have settled in the UK are very hard working and put in long hours, they are much appreciated.

The second one hung up as well. He didn't know my name either, he went on for ages about heat loss in the home and did I know that heat escapes not only upwards but through the walls and floor, I replied, "I hope not, this is a new build." That's when he hung up.

 

[Jules]

that's Brit-Speak for an unlisted phone.

Our mobile phone numbers aren’t listed either.

Since I posted 20 minutes ago, he’s had at least a dozen more with a few messages. Another business call & one elderly woman who ‘didn’t know who was calling, but to call again since she was home from shopping.”

It seems like it’s time for the media to educate the public again.

 

[Devi]

These remind me of the time I got a call from someone purporting to be from Microsoft.

I said, "Good. Put Bill on the line."

He was confused. I said, "You know, Bill Gates, your boss".

He hung up.

 

[Jules]

This is an ongoing nightmare. DH has turned his phone off. He’s has 100s of calls, many hostile & extremely hostile voicemails, messages and even some FaceTime requests.

The Spoofers must be sending out thousands of tests to see who will answer. They usually only try one number a couple of times, IMO. Considering the hate, the Spoofers must be trying a new technique.

He managed to get through to the Canadian Anti Fraud Agency. Not really anything they can do.

We’ve added a message that says the call is not from his number and to block it. Now we’re sending it to go to the message right away.

 

[Jules]

Has anyone else received spoofed call from one number several times in a day?

It’s time for the Telecoms to find method to stop this.

 

[Pappy]

Happened to me a few years back. I was getting filthy calls telling me to stop calling them. I had one call after another for all day. I had to discontinue my number and get a new one. What a pain.

 

[bowmore]

The only calls I get on my smartphone are the auto warranty call., same for my wife. On our landline, which is an unlisted number, we get that plus credit card calls.

 

[Lee]

Jules, I have no advice but so sorry this is happening to you

 

[Jules]

Happened to me a few years back. I was getting filthy calls telling me to stop calling them. I had one call after another for all day. I had to discontinue my number and get a new one. What a pain.

That’s what DH is going to do if this continues next week. Fortunately he doesn’t give out this number much. I’d have a heck of time, if it were me.

 

[Jules]

The residual affect of having to change a phone number carries on. DH tried to out wait the spoofers for a week and then changed his number. Even with limited use of his cell phone, he had a lot of contacts that he forgot about. Your cell phone number is often the secondary alert when you change banking info, etc.

If your number is ever spoofed, I’d suggest asking the phone carrier to turn off your number for a few days so they can’t use it and hopefully give up on it. We heard about this method too late to ask for it.

 

[SetWave]

Has anyone else received spoofed call from one number several times in a day?

It’s time for the Telecoms to find method to stop this.

As long as the phone companies are racking in the dollars I doubt they care.

 

[Lewkat]

My phone began early this AM. AT&T lets me know if it's a spam risk or not, so I've turned the sound off.

 

[Gaer]

Do any of you remember back when you could actually ANSWER the phone when it rang?
You could even answer if you didn't know who was calling!
There was an expectancy of hope, fun, wonder!

Miss that.