Recent phone scam - if you get a call from 386-213-8701...

[NRaleighLiberal]

a woman's voice will say she represents google, yahoo and bing, and about the need to register your small business. From my Googling, it is a very recent scam - not sure what they are after, but just hang up. It is a Florida number, apparently.

You can research it by putting that number into a search engine to find out where it is being reported - I went to the Do Not Call list and reported the number specifically.

[peacebird]

1. I got that same call two weeks ago, and hung up

[Triana]

2. Caller ID can be spoofed, too.

It happens often and it is ILLEGAL (should be reported to the FCC)

Beware ANYONE calling you. If it's not a number you recognize or can Google and verify that it's legit, or if it's a weird 1 - 4 digit number like '1' or '6245' or some such then it could very well be a scammer - JUST. DON'T. ANSWER.

Just because the phone rings, doesn't mean you have t answer. Just like email, if it's something you don't recognize or from someone you don't know, would be best to NOT answer/open it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. I am infamous for not answering my phone, for years now.

I figure that is why god invented the answering machine.

And I am amazed at how many people freak out by that.
"But if the phones rings, you MUST drop everything and answer it!"..

uhhh.....noooo

[John1956PA]

13. +100. Picking up on unknown calls is a recipe for trouble.

I, too, let my answering machine screen my incoming calls to my home/office landline. Before I adopted that method, I was picking up on two fake Google calls per day, on average. Also, I picked up on many political polling calls. I agreed to a participate in a few of the polls, and I found that the large number of questions asked by the pollster and the convoluted nature of several of the questions were very frustrating.

I do not miss those fake Google calls or the political polling calls now that my answering machine serves as my full-time incoming call sentry.

[notadmblnd]

20. I feel the same way. The phone is my tool, it is not my leash.

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. agreed - the only reason I did answer it was that it was persistent on my and my wife's

cell - we have family in Florida, and the book has, shall we say, led to more calls/emails than I am accustomed to. So I broke my own rule and found out.

I guess I could say "I answer to find out and so you don't have to"!

(I feel that way about TV - we don't watch, and haven't for at least 7 years, but there are enough who do at DU that we can get the gist here without having to go through the pain!)

Howdy, pal!

[George II]

12. We actually get calls that have our OWN phone number on caller ID!

If we don't recognize the phone number, we simply do not answer.

Yesterday I got two Outlook "meeting invites" that, if clicked, would have added a meeting on my Outlook calendar. Who knows what THEY would have triggered!

[historylovr]

16. That's happened here a couple of times.

Weird.

[City Lights]

24. Yes, caller ID can be spoofed...

This happened about six months ago. My phone rang, so I looked at the tv, where caller ID appears. My phone number was calling me! I was like, I didn't answer.

[Initech]

3. It's a robo dialer, when I get those I can't hang up fast enough.

I swear that there will be a special place in hell reserved for the guy who invented the robo dialer.

[left-of-center2012]

6. I have no small business

the need to register your small business.

[NRaleighLiberal]

7. and what business of theirs is it anyway!

[turbinetree]

8. Whats really classic...................

is that everything that damn near comes out of Florida is a scam------look at there governor.
Got this number being posted on this thread two weeks ago, and looked it up--------saw where it was coming from and did not answer, now I am going to call the Feds

[LibDemAlways]

9. I invested in a call blocking device. The number

of nuisance robocalls I get every day has dropped from a dozen or more to maybe 1. When I see a suspicious number, I simply block it and that number can never call me again. The Do Not Call list is useless against scammers. It's a shame consumers have very few options in order to be free of these assholes. At least with the call blocker, I largely have my peace and quiet back.

[TheCowsCameHome]

10. I answer

"my town" police department, Sgt. Miller, recorded line, go ahead please"

Then wait for the *click* on the other end.

[erronis]

11. And it can come from many different numbers, different states.

I don't answer any number that is not already in my contact list (rolodex for you old-timers.)

If it's important they'll leave a real message tailored to you - the person they are calling.

[SheilaT]

14. Lately I've been getting three or four calls a week

from the clowns who claim to be Microsoft. Wish those people would get shut down.

My caller ID only seems to work intermittently. Sometimes it shows the number, sometimes not. I have a good friend I speak with occasionally, and sometimes it captures his phone number and his name, sometimes the number and his city, sometimes neither. He's always calling from the same landline, so for the life of me I can't figure out why this happens.

[GreatGazoo]

15. (perky) "Hi this is Sharon, your local google specialist..."

We have a front page position available for business like yours and can guarantee front page placement with unlimited clicks 24 hours a day had a flat rate on Google press the one key right now to see if you qualify and are interested in receiving calls from customers locally searching for your type of business. Please press one now or press the two key to be removed. Thank you.

That one?

[Kingofalldems]

17. I have a crush on Rachel from Cardholder Services.

[Egnever]

18. Yup had that call

The woman tried to claim they were partners with all the search engines and the only way to be listed was to register with them. After I told her straight out I knew what she was telling me was completely false she hung up immediately.

[MurrayDelph]

19. We keep getting "Windows support"

and we tell them they should call their mother and see what she thinks about a job that is trying to swindle money from elderly people in America.

I'm thinking of putting this at the beginning of my outgoing message:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VC_SIT.ogg

[underahedgerow]

21. If you use your landline for calls to and from friends and relatives, add their number to your speed

dial. That way it comes up of course, when they call and you know they're legit.

You can also add the repeat offender calls to your speed dial so you can ID and ignore them, with something like 'SPAM Microsoft'.

I used to get regular sales calls from companies on my mobile and added them to my caller ID list, properly identified, then add them to my 'blocked' list so their calls go straight to voice mail. (Samsung phone, contacts+ app, very helpful.)

I don't have a landline at the moment, but when I did I just wouldn't answer any incoming calls to it, since I never use it. Only had it cause it was free. Now that my mobile company has free calls to landlines, there's no point.

I know people get upset when they keep getting calls after opting out on the 'do not call' list. What most people don't realize is that the calls aren't being made from a list of names; the calls are generated in a continuous list of phone numbers like

673-9318
673-9319
673-9320
673-9321

Sometimes with names, most times without. And if it's a computer generated list, well then you're screwn. You're just a bit of plankton in an ocean of numbers.

[Ms. Toad]

23. It doesn't matter how the call list is generated,

it is against the law to make sales calls to a number on the do not call list (with a few exceptions). I realize how the lists are generated - the legal obligation remains to regularly pull the do not call list, run a comparison against the list you have generated for calling, and to remove the do not call numbers from the generated list before calling.

Sellers, telemarketers, and their service providers have been able to access the Registry through a dedicated Web site since September 2003. It is a Rule violation to make any covered calls beginning October 1, 2003 without having accessed the Registry. Sellers and telemarketers will have to update their call lists — that is, delete all numbers in the National Do Not Call Registry from their lists — at least every 31 days.

As of October 1, 2003, sellers and telemarketers are prohibited from calling any consumer whose number is in the database. Violators will be subject to civil penalties of up to $16,000 per violation, as well as injunctive remedies.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/complying-telemarketing-sales-rule#Glance

[meaculpa2011]

26. It's also against the law to robocall a cell phone...

but it happens to me at least once a day.

[Ms. Toad]

31. So report it.

With a cell phone, you can almost certainly capture the number and the time.

Some of the callers I've reported have been prosecuted and fined. But if you don't report it - the FCC doesn't know it is happening.

[Zeea]

22. It's annoying

I hate receiving a nuisance call be it from telemarketer or scammer. I don't like to deal with any of them. It's only a waste of time. I'd rather go to callercenter to check the number first to see if anyone filed a complaint about it before. If it's clean, then I'd pick the call.

[meaculpa2011]

25. I was stuck in traffic last week and got a call...

from a telemarketer selling an extended auto warranty.

I was bored so I played along. I told him that I was very interest because my original warranty had expired and made him go through his entire sales pitch. I even asked questions about covered systems, length of coverage, participating service providers...

Then he started asking me questions about my car. When he got to make and model I told that I had a 1927 Pierce Arrow.

He kept going, asking me whether I drove the car to work and if it was my primary vehicle. When he got to current mileage I answered: "680,000."

Click.

I was still stuck in traffic, but my mood was brighter.

[Retrograde]

33. "Why, yes, I have a problem with windows"

[best little old lady imitation, which is getting a lot easier these days]

"I just can't get to the ones on the 2nd floor anymore. How much do you charge to 8 windows? A nice young-sounding person like you wouldn't take more than an afternoon....Yes, I am talking about windows. If you can't help me with my windows why did you call?"

It usually doesn't take too long for the click on the other end.

[Tracer]

27. The IRS is starting a lawsuit against you!

That one is a new one for me. I keep getting calls that get more threatening as the days go by. Of course, the IRS doesn't contact anyone by phone, so this one is a hang-up --- like all the other ones I get:

Rachel from CardServices

"You've won a free trip to the Bahamas!" (at least 30 times)

That Google call, and many more.

The trouble is that it's my business line, and Do Not Call doesn't work for businesses (it doesn't work for any phone line, unfortunately.)

[pinboy3niner]

28. I screen calls and don't answer any fom those I don't know

A legit caller can leave a message. Otherwise, it's sayonara.

[alarimer]

29. Whatever happened to the Do Not Call List?

Was that ever a thing for cell phones? I get a ton of spam calls. I ignore everyone who doesn't leave a message, or whose number I do not recognize.

[jberryhill]

30. There is no way to enforce it

With voice-over-internet calls coming from all over the world, there is nobody to go after.

[Stellar]

32. Thanks goodness for caller ID, if I don't know you...the call won't be answered.

That goes for (800) exchanges, and sometimes they are my personal business calls. Then if you leave a message, I will return the call.

I feel like I don't pay my telephone bill for no one's convenience but my own.

[olddots]

34. we screen all the calls ( about 30 a day )

Some day I will probably get so infuriated that I will answer one and threaten thier lives as if I could actually ever have a real life personal encounter with that mystery caller be they a robot or human .
Why we have this "land line " is for the same reason most of us have them for emergencies .Like Pavlovian dogs we dash to see the call numbers when that old fashion wing tone beckens .I think I'll hold my breath till I turn blue .

[herding cats]

35. At my work I deal with upwards to 10 of these a day.

The recorded ones such as you mention that is. I get a handful of actual people also and I always tell them the same thing, "I'm sorry, we're not allowed to take calls of this nature."

They drive me nuts when I'm busy and they waste my time, but nothing seems to stop them from calling. I can't just block the numbers always, since they'll spoof real numbers. Once one came from the phone number of a local funeral home. I seriously doubt they were actually trying to get me to take out a small business loan, but their number was spoofed to get me to answer the call.