Fake calls from Australia on my mobile

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Fake calls from Australia on my mobile

Gratto

14 posts

Geek

#233663 26-Apr-2018 18:48

Why does my wife and I keep getting fake calls from Australia on my Spark mobile. Just today I got like 3 of them all from different numbers, yesterday 2 and the day before like another 3. Of course when you answer no one is there. And no I didn't call them back and get charged for it. Can Spark block these things?

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529 posts

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#2003062 26-Apr-2018 18:49

I've been getting empty calls from Australia, the UK and the USA.

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Linux

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#2003064 26-Apr-2018 18:56

What makes you think these calls are from Australia?

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rhy7s

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#2003067 26-Apr-2018 19:01

Well, from +61 numbers at least.

PhantomNVD

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#2003072 26-Apr-2018 19:09

I’ve been lucky and had none, but my wife’s phone (also 2D) has started (about 4-5weeks ago?) to get calls from England and Canada ... also with no person when she answered... think NZ has become someone’s spam call book, but how do they capitalise on this when they never reply to someone who answers?

Gratto

14 posts

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#2003073 26-Apr-2018 19:12

I think it's Wangiri phone scams. They make money if you call them back.

alasta

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#2003124 26-Apr-2018 20:51

Interestingly I have been getting repeated calls from an 021 number, with an immediate hangup when I answer. I am inclined to think that it is an overseas scammer who has spoofed the caller ID, but the really weird thing is that half the calls are on the regular telephone network and the other half are FaceTime audio calls.

It's fortunate that they are all showing the same number on caller ID because it means I've been able to just block that number.

lisati

63 posts

Master Geek

#2004996 30-Apr-2018 11:29

My wife started getting calls from overseas on her mobile several months back. Initially they were mostly showing as being from+1647 (Toronto, Canada) numbers, but have more recently started coming in from other countries.

What we've done on our handsets is to install call blocking apps on the handsets in our house (mostly Skinny, and a couple of 2Degrees), and set them to reject calls from the numbers that aren't in our contacts. Between doing this, and disabling the ability for callers to leave a voicemail message (which might not suit everyone), the inconvenience of dealing with unwanted calls has dropped.

sbiddle

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#2005006 30-Apr-2018 11:49

Interestingly with the recent Chinese message calls originating from Auckland numbers @ajobbins yesterday had a message on his Google Voice US number showing an incorrectly formatted NZ CID.

dafman

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#2005012 30-Apr-2018 11:53

I'm on Vodafone and getting the rogue Australian calls - about 2 or 3 a week. I'm hoping they will take me off their list once they figure out I'm not calling them back.

lisati

63 posts

Master Geek

#2005014 30-Apr-2018 11:56

I've had a couple of calls come through, not sure who they're from, but one or two have shown up as Auckland numbers. I've got family in the 09 coverage area, but the number wasn't any of the numbers I'd expect them to call from. I also had one, apparently from Wanganui, that I looked into, and it wasn't anyone i was expecting a call from. I've also had one call from a number beginning with 08, which automatically raises a red flag.

antoniosk

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#2005096 30-Apr-2018 12:43

I'm getting one now.... +61408850777

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Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#2005109 30-Apr-2018 13:18

I got one to my work mobile on Friday from +61403604886 which looks like a valid Australian mobile number. It was some guy purportedly trying to sell some sort of amazing opportunity in the share market. The concerning thing was that the caller knew my full name - I don't know how they got that info as I am not in the habit of giving my work number out or using it for online forms etc. I also have no interest in the stock market so I would certainly not have given it out for that purpose.

My girlfriend and I have also received a lot of calls from +44 UK numbers in the last week or so. We haven't answered those as neither of us know anyone in the UK that would want to call us.

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

ajobbins

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#2005123 30-Apr-2018 13:29

sbiddle:

Interestingly with the recent Chinese message calls originating from Auckland numbers @ajobbins yesterday had a message on his Google Voice US number showing an incorrectly formatted NZ CID.

Wasn't actually a valid number given no local numbers start with a zero. But interesting none the less. Are they using a provider that allows them to fake the CID?

Twitter: ajobbins

Wade

2225 posts

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#2005184 30-Apr-2018 14:01

Wheelbarrow01:

I got one to my work mobile on Friday from +61403604886 which looks like a valid Australian mobile number. It was some guy purportedly trying to sell some sort of amazing opportunity in the share market. The concerning thing was that the caller knew my full name - I don't know how they got that info as I am not in the habit of giving my work number out or using it for online forms etc. I also have no interest in the stock market so I would certainly not have given it out for that purpose.

My girlfriend and I have also received a lot of calls from +44 UK numbers in the last week or so. We haven't answered those as neither of us know anyone in the UK that would want to call us.

You expressed an interest in earning additional income also? :P

I get this about once a week, the caller speaks far better english than they understand as you can say almost anythign to them and they continue with the pitch

Sideface

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#2005203 30-Apr-2018 14:26

Me too.

I'm on Vodafone (account) mobile.

In the last week: three calls from "London" starting 00 44 20 ... and three calls from "Australia" starting 00 61 40 ... then silence when answering.

I did not call back.

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