Scam spark calls on a daily basis to multiple numbers

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Scam spark calls on a daily basis to multiple numbers

mattwnz

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#255833 2-Sep-2019 14:13

We have been getting scam spark calls to multiple family members on a daily basis over the last month. They seem to phone the same time, and when picked up, they have a foreign accent, and say that this is spark, and we are about to cut off your internet. Obviously the call is not being made by Spark, but my phone provider is spark, so potentially it could have been legit. Have also had similar ones on the mobile. Are ISPs not going to do something to stop these automated overseas scam calls? Overseas providers have Capcha type systems to make sure the caller isn't a bot, but to the best of my knowledge NZ. I wonder how many NZs are being scammed, and how much it is costing NZ, because I think it will be a lot. .

hio77

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#2309491 2-Sep-2019 14:41

Hi Matt,

we actually do quite alot to block these. Unfortunately as we do smarter things, so do they.

Providers do have a process they have to follow for nuisance phonecalls.

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Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

Oblivian

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#2309496 2-Sep-2019 14:47

Stolen credit card details (from previous scammed people) + VoIP service for cheap + software to spoof CID = result

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=48&topicid=255578

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=137&topicid=250842&page_no=1#2309484

So it's whackamole. The same as indian SEO call centres bombarding forums with backlink accounts 5-10 goes at a time from multiple VPS IPs to try get around it.

And this will give some insight into the app and providers they use

hsvhel

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#2309499 2-Sep-2019 14:47

I feel sorry for those who have had their number spammed, i called one back the other day and the lady was getting heaps of calls like mine about missing her call......but she never initiated them.

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hio77

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#2309548 2-Sep-2019 15:23

Another option is the following phone:

https://www.spark.co.nz/shop/landline/homephones/callscreen/

Maybe not quite the right device for most, but particularly for elderly family, it's piece of mind.

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

mattwnz

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#2309551 2-Sep-2019 15:30

I do have caller display, and you can get an idea of which calls arescam ones. But somtimes they use 09 or o04 numbers. The other annoying one is automated calls on my mobile, which mobile provders must be making a bit of money on, beucase each time they call and leave a messasge, I have to call voice mail, only to find a bot has left a message in Mandarin. I have had a good 10 of those, so the mobile provider has made 50 cents each time I have check my voice mail on those.

BarTender

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#2309639 2-Sep-2019 18:42

As someone who gets a LOT of spam calls on my mobile and my elderly mother in law recently getting a number of them on her home line that she found quite distressing. I can tell you the sure fire way to reduce them / make them stop.

Answer the phone if you see they are spam via Caller ID. If you have a mute feature on the phone mute them. Then put the phone down (don't hang up on them) and walk away.

Don't scream at them, blow a whistle down the phone or anything like that and especially don't engage in any way.

The longest they will hang on the phone is 2 mins and they may try calling back a few times, and then they go away as they realise you aren't engaging.

That is the advice I gave my mother in law and the same advice I will give anyone else.

Always make sure they are the ones doing the hanging up not you.

This especially helps prevent the voice mail getting unnecessary messages and it costs them (if it's over mobile) to call your mobile number.

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hio77

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#2309646 2-Sep-2019 19:24

BarTender:

As someone who gets a LOT of spam calls on my mobile

That's your prize for having that phone number...

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bfginger

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#2312023 6-Sep-2019 23:37

mattwnz:
I do have caller display, and you can get an idea of which calls arescam ones. But somtimes they use 09 or o04 numbers. The other annoying one is automated calls on my mobile, which mobile provders must be making a bit of money on, beucase each time they call and leave a messasge, I have to call voice mail, only to find a bot has left a message in Mandarin. I have had a good 10 of those, so the mobile provider has made 50 cents each time I have check my voice mail on those.

They're calling in from west Africa so the prefix number looks like a NZ cell phone. Phoning back would mean an international toll call. More annoying is when IRD or the bank calls you and someone hangs up after mistaking it for a scam after those John Key is giving you a tax refund calls.

k1w1k1d

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#2312114 7-Sep-2019 09:57

That Spark callscreen phone looks interesting.

hippychic

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#2321112 20-Sep-2019 12:51

I get a lot of those calls. I had tried leaving it to go to the answer machine, I have changed my number, it made no difference. I was getting calls daily, sometimes a few per day.

So I changed tactic. As soon as I know what and who they are I interrupt their spiel, I raise the volume of my voice stating "I don't take calls from scammers and don't bother calling again", then hang up.

FineWine

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#2321443 20-Sep-2019 16:57

Just found out today that my brother-in-law uses a referee's whistle. Wonder how much it costs for hearing aids in India?

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

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boosacnoodle

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#2321455 20-Sep-2019 17:15

It would be fairly simple for providers to block these calls, but they choose not to. The only way I can see providers offering an opt-out for these calls would be if it was legislated.

At least one major NZ provider has said that it is not possible to block the scammers using blocked / spoofed caller ID or calling from overseas. This simply cannot be true. Why? Your provider has to be able to know from which provider they are receiving the call from to be able to bill them for it accordingly, given that your provider will not be delivering these calls for free.

Someone more technical may be able to comment on this.

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2321468 20-Sep-2019 17:44

boosacnoodle:

It would be fairly simple for providers to block these calls, but they choose not to. The only way I can see providers offering an opt-out for these calls would be if it was legislated.

At least one major NZ provider has said that it is not possible to block the scammers using blocked / spoofed caller ID or calling from overseas. This simply cannot be true. Why? Your provider has to be able to know from which provider they are receiving the call from to be able to bill them for it accordingly, given that your provider will not be delivering these calls for free.

While they know who to send the bill to, there is no way to identify which calls are legitimate and which aren't. There are perfectly legitimate reasons for caller ID spoofing, such as to present a local access number from a call centre based overseas or when forwarding calls. There is no simple way to identify scam calls from the legitimate ones.

Looking at my own PBX, I can see three IP addresses... my SIP peer, the public IP of my server, and the private IP of same. Nowhere near enough information to make a decision on the origin of the call.