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[Mistake]

I came across this news today, and it got me thinking of all my previous times dealing with this junk.

Spoiler

Steve mentioned that the do not call registry is so useless, it’s now being used as a call list by scammers

We all know of Bob from microsoft or the nigerian princes, but what are your experiences? Any tips or tricks? There is always a new scam, so it’s good to know what to look for. One thing I didn’t realize before I moved is how these things change from country to country. For example, in China I got thousands of sms messages, either pretending to be legitimate banks or brands, or just plain advertising. There is no reason at all to use sms there, but some apps still send confirmation codes and such. Occasionally I would get calls, but funny enough, I liked answering them, since people would get super confused as if they called the wrong country.

Here in the US it’s mostly calls. This is very annoying because I can’t filter unknown numbers on a business phone, but one trick I thought of is having my number in a different state. That way when I get calls from that area code, and not the one I live in, I know it’s spam right away. Still doesn’t help my voice mail though

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

might be because I have a Los Angeles area code, but I get so many of these a day it's mind boggling.

my phone carrier supposed has a built in spam blocker, and I also use a 3rd party app. not sure if it just doesn't help or if I would get 10x more without them

I legit get about 5-10 spam/fraud/robocalls a day

I've stopped picking up my phone unless I recognize the number

 

[ManaByte]

Every time I get one where it's a human, obviously in India pretending to be the US, I cuss them out and see how quickly they hang up.

 

[Mistake]

Every time I get one where it's a human, obviously in India pretending to be the US, I cuss them out and see how quickly they hang up.

I like to ask them how the sandwiches are in New Delhi

 

[adamsapple]

Every time I get one where it's a human, obviously in India pretending to be the US, I cuss them out and see how quickly they hang up.

I always get a good chuckle out of someone with a very heavy accent saying that they're Jason from California and that the IRS is going to arrest me.

 

[MrA]

Every time I get one where it's a human, obviously in India pretending to be the US, I cuss them out and see how quickly they hang up.

If its a woman I ask if their hot, then proceed to try to get them to send pictures of them topless, usually seems to put them off enough that they remove my number from their calling lists

 

[Kilau]

Get the auto warranty one still but not as often as last year.

The really bad one is last weekend my wife’s mobile number got spoofed and they must have called hundreds of people. She got so many angry call backs we had to change her voicemail to explain and put her phone on silent.

 

[Pagusas]

one thing that’s helped me is my phone number has a southern illinois area code, even though I haven't lived in Illinois i’m over a decade. Any call with that area code is 99.9999% a scam/robo call trying to make me think it’s a local number calling me (which basically all the scam calls I get are). so that makes my life easy to avoid them.

 

[SegaManAU]

Australian here. Scam calls and text messages the last two years have been insane.

Text messages are normally a link saying "we couldn't deliver your parcel, please click here to arrange another delivery time".

Calls include threats from the Australian Tax office and amazon telling me they are going to cancel my subscription.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Australian here. Scam calls and text messages the last two years have been insane.

Text messages are normally a link saying "we couldn't deliver your parcel, please click here to arrange another delivery time".

Calls include threats from the Australian Tax office and amazon telling me they are going to cancel my subscription.

Me too. Canada.

I must had got on a scam filled mailing list because past few years have been bad. At least a few spam calls per week and sometimes per day.

I put my phone on autoblock all unknown/contact numbers which is great. But every once in a while it's a legit call from someone not in my contact list. So I wouldnt know. But if it's an important enough call they'll leave a message or email me and then I put them as a contact name. Very few spam calls leave a message.

 

[The_hunter]

I keep getting sms about recovering the passwords of banks, or social media. I've played enough runescape to avoid most scams in my life.

 

[EverydayBeast]

They’re always about money.

 

[Wheeljack539]

I'm getting a lot from all across the US. One day I got 8-10 calls within a 2 and a half hour period so at this point if I see a number I don't recognize and if out of the state it's an automatic block.

I've gotten the car warranty on many times, last year or so I got a call that my social security was compromised, etc, one was that I had an arrest warrant. I've stopped listening, even if it's an actual human on the other end and just hang up and block.

 

[SegaManAU]

Me too. Canada.

I must had got on a scam filled mailing list because past few years have been bad. At least a few spam calls per week and sometimes per day.

I put my phone on autoblock all unknown/contact numbers which is great. But every once in a while it's a legit call from someone not in my contact list. So I wouldnt know. But if it's an important enough call they'll leave a message or email me and then I put them as a contact name. Very few spam calls leave a message.

I personally think it's from the QR check-ins.

 

[Mistake]

I personally think it's from the QR check-ins.

A QR code is how I hacked my 3DS. A lot of people pay by phone in asia, so swapping them out with fakes was sometimes a problem. Share bikes had to screw protective covers with codes into the handles

 

[Fbh]

I've had great results with the truecaller app on my phone. It has good database that it blocks instantly and users can also report numbers so you get a warning. Haven't had to deal with spam calls in months.

 

[Ownage]

I have been getting a lot more spam msgs on Signal and WhatsApp lately. The Signal spam bothered me, but I guess it's possible on any platform.

 

[IzukuMidoriya]

T-Mobile Scam Shield if you're a T-Mobile/Metro/Sprint customer.

Doesn't even come in. Not even a ring then hangup. It's free for customers too.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

I always get a good chuckle out of someone with a very heavy accent saying that they're Jason from California and that the IRS is going to arrest me.

I have a pretty hilarious anecdote of a "Richard Johnson, agent, badge number [insert bogus shit here]"... It turns out this same dude or group of people were trying to scam others.

Anyway this dude calls me with his bullshit about how I owe $10,000 in back taxes and if I don't pay immediately, "federal agents will show up at your door and arrest you."

There was a pretty long, humorous exchange, which ended up with me saying, "Well you see, 'Agent Johnson'... I don't want just any federal agent to come arrest me. I want YOU, specifically, to come arrest me. Or try, anyway, because I'll kick your fucking teeth in."

("Agent Johnson" in quotes because I sarcastically emphasized the "Agent" part every time I talked to him. This dude had the THICKEST Indian accent I've ever heard in my life.)

I've never heard someone hang up so fast.

 

[420bits]

It's rare that I answer from unknown numbers. But IF I do and it's someone from "microsoft" or some other company where my SCAM-DAR tingles, I always do the same.

Talk in a low soft voice so they raise the volume on their end to the max and then I start yelling at them and tell them to fuck their mothers etc. etc. til they hang up.

If I didn't have cats I would get an airhorn and blast the fuck out of them.

Fucking cancer!