Christmas Time Is Here....

[Judge]

When the phone scammers come out in force. And my phone system reroutes their robocalls to oblivion.

Nice though that even the local news now warns the public about the latest absurd scam.

 

[tree]

Have they mentioned any in particular, lately?

These are from this year, but not super-fresh.
These Are The Newest Scams Out There.html
The 5 sneakiest new scams to watch out for right now

Places to contact when you have problems:
Scam Alerts
Common Scams and Frauds | USAGov

 

[Flinty]

When the phone scammers come out in force. And my phone system reroutes their robocalls to oblivion.

Nice though that even the local news now warns the public about the latest absurd scam.

Who are these weird people who answer their phones when they ring? If everyone stopped doing that (and almost everyone has some form of Caller ID), how would scammers pull anything off?

 

[LucyPurrs]

When the phone scammers come out in force. And my phone system reroutes their robocalls to oblivion.

Nice though that even the local news now warns the public about the latest absurd scam.

Wow Judge, I'm super impressed that you have found a way to reroute robo calls to oblivion. That is wonderful. How'd you do it? (I'm not techie savvy I guess).

 

[Judge]

Wow Judge, I'm super impressed that you have found a way to reroute robo calls to oblivion. That is wonderful. How'd you do it? (I'm not techie savvy I guess).

Nope..."Nomorobo" does all that "heavy lifting".

All I had to do is input their phone number into my phone system. It's not perfect, but I'd say about 80% of the criminal scam calls I get day end and day out are intercepted by Nomorobo. Since I have an internet line there's no charge for this. The last I heard about cellphones was that they charged $5 a month.

Basically the phone rings once, shows "incoming message" and then just goes away without gaining access to your answering system. Transferring the caller to a less-than-friendly message telling them not to bother.

Here's their website if you're interested in their service:

Stop robocalls and telemarketers with Nomorobo

 

[Judge]

Who are these weird people who answer their phones when they ring? If everyone stopped doing that (and almost everyone has some form of Caller ID), how would scammers pull anything off?

From what I gather there's a whole lot of people are oblivious to who calls them. They just pick up the receiver and answer without thinking. Then there are the scammers who think they are clever by spoofing their caller id, giving themselves a phony number that is close to my own. With the assumption that because the call is very local, that I'll answer. LOL...I'm much too smart for that. But if others were as well they wouldn't be resorting to such tactics either.

Some folks are just very susceptible to scams. Much like those who give little thought to their computer passwords.

 

[Judge]

Have they mentioned any in particular, lately?

These are from this year, but not super-fresh.
These Are The Newest Scams Out There.html
The 5 sneakiest new scams to watch out for right now

Places to contact when you have problems:
Scam Alerts
Common Scams and Frauds | USAGov

The latest ones the news is reporting about aren't really new IMO. The one where they pretend to be from the County Sheriff claiming an arrest warrant is out for you unless you pay up now. That sort of nonsense. And of course the IRS calls are just around the corner as tax season is almost here. Of course the IRS never directly calls people asking for money over a tax dispute. But people continue to fall for such scams. That's one of the few where the criminals do leave a message and try to make it sound very convincing. Trouble is, some of us are acutely aware of our relationship with the IRS as well as the credit bureaus...lol.

 

[LucyPurrs]

Nope..."Nomorobo" does all that "heavy lifting".

All I had to do is input their phone number into my phone system. It's not perfect, but I'd say about 80% of the criminal scam calls I get day end and day out are intercepted by Nomorobo. Since I have an internet line there's no charge for this. The last I heard about cellphones was that they charged $5 a month.

Basically the phone rings once, shows "incoming message" and then just goes away without gaining access to your answering system. Transferring the caller to a less-than-friendly message telling them not to bother.

Here's their website if you're interested in their service:

Stop robocalls and telemarketers with Nomorobo

Wow thanks for this info, I will sign up right away!!!! I also have a computer phone- Magic Jack which has worked well for me.
Well, crap, Magic Jack does not support Nomorobo per Nomorobo. Oh well, I will ask them to support it. Thanks for your help.

 

[Judge]

Wow thanks for this info, I will sign up right away!!!! I also have a computer phone- Magic Jack which has worked well for me.

The main thing is to check to see if your specific phone provider works with Nomorobo. Otherwise you just sign up, then they call you back to make sure your number is legitimate and then they provide you with a number to input into your Internet-based phone system.

When the criminals eventually discover you're on Nomorobo, they usually move on and leave you alone. Because it is YOU who is now wasting THEIR time.

Though admittedly there's an inexhaustible number of scammers who will try after them. It never ends...

Phone scams are totally out of control at this point. With criminals all over the globe calling, ruining telephone communications altogether.

 

[LucyPurrs]

Yeah, Nomorobo isn't supported by Magic Jack . Haven't yet been a scam victim but I guess it's never too late. Luckily my roommate is very savvy about this and somewhat paranoid so never answers the phone unless she knows who's calling, XD.

 

[Judge]

Luckily my roommate is very savvy about this and somewhat paranoid so never answers the phone unless she knows who's calling, XD.

That's how I operate. Unless I absolutely know who is calling in real time, I won't answer. If they leave a message (few scammers ever will) then I look up the number on the Internet to determine what I already know...that they're either bogus and crooks or just ruthless telemarketers or pollsters.

Caller ID can be spoofed so easily now that it's pointless to assume much of any call is legit.