Stupid telemarketers

[Guinevere]

I just got a call this morning that came up on my called ID as: XXXXX, Guinevere (middle initial), with my phone number. WTF? Obviously I'm not calling myself, but who the HECK gets the right to use MY NAME and MY NUMBER to mask their annoying call.

[Lord Jim]

That's a new one...

It must be a robo-call software that reads the caller ID of the recipient phone and then displays it...

The idea must be that a percentage of people will answer just out of curiosity.

[Econoline]

Apparently it's pretty easy to "spoof" the phone numbers that appear on your Caller ID. I get robocalls all the time from "Rachel from cardholder services" from various numbers that change often, so they can't be blocked. The "Do Not Call" list is a joke, and Caller ID is useless; I now no longer ever answer my land line at all...and I even occasionally get calls like this on my cell phone--which is a major PITA when I'm driving.

[Lord Jim]

I get robocalls almost daily on both my land line and cell phone that pop up with phony numbers on my caller ID, but what happened to Guin seems like a new evolution in the "spoofing" technology...

It's not just giving a phony ID; it's using the recipient's ID...

The next step will probably be a software that can read numbers you have stored in your phone and display them (much like email hacking software can read stored email addresses) so the person being called will think the call is coming from someone they know...

[Sue U]

I think Rachel from cardholder services is obsessed with me; she calls me all the frickin time. But she's not half as offensive as the Wilford Brimley-sounding douchenozzle who starts off with "Helloooo, seniors!" I hate him with the white hot fury of a thousand suns.

[Lord Jim]

the Wilford Brimley-sounding douchenozzle who starts off with "Helloooo, seniors!"

Oh man, I haven't gotten that one yet...

If I do, I'll find out who it is, track him down, and kill him ...slowly...

[Econoline]

I think I've gotten that one occasionally (for some sort of MedicAlert device, IIRC???)--on my landline only, never on my cell phone--but I'm not sure because that's one of the ones which I immediately delete without ever listening to the message anymore. (They're nowhere near as persistent as Rachel, who always calls at least once a day, and sometimes three or four times.) If you do track that one down, Jim, kill him a second time on my behalf.

As for your own phone number showing up on your caller ID...once the surprise of the first occurrence is over that would actually be a good thing. It would clearly label the incoming call as "STUPID TELEMARKETER: DO NOT ANSWER."

[Guinevere]

OK, as much as I am laughing at the two of you and your responses to the Wilford Brimley calls, I might have a similar reaction (if he ever dares to call me. But he won't of course, I'm much too young)!

Econo, agreed, the landline is pretty well useless. I keep it for when Mom is visiting, because she is more comfortable on a landline than on her cell, and because occasionally the cell coverage here gets crappy so a landline helps. Although I'm also starting to use VOIP more and more. I also like having a "toss away" phone number to give out. I never answer the thing.

[rubato]

Got a good one last week:

"Final notice from IRS, internal revenue services"
"The reason of this call is to inform you that IRS is filing lawsuit against you. please call immediately on our department phone line"

202.697.9892




yrs,
rubato

[Guinevere]

That's been going around for at least a year. It's terrible, because they definitely catch people unawares. They went after my poor Mom last month, in her new place. She is terrified she did something wrong but thank goodness she called and asked me first. Of course, they called again, and she called me again. And so on, and so on, and so on.

[Long Run]

I have been getting my name/number on caller ID for some time. Fortunately, most of my client and friends don't block their ID so I can tell when they are calling. If the spammers figure out how to clone those IDs then we might have to throw our phones away.

[Econoline]

I just realized the main reason I still have a land line...

[Lord Jim]

If the spammers figure out how to clone those IDs then we might have to throw our phones away.

I think that's probably coming pretty soon...

I'm certainly no Tech Guy, but if they already have in hand the technology to auto read a recipient's phone in order to display the recipient's caller ID, it doesn't seem to me like a huge advance to develop software that will read other numbers on the recipient's phone, (or numbers from their speed dial) and display the caller ID for those numbers when they make their robo calls...

[Econoline]

Why would they have to be able to auto read a recipient's phone in order to display the recipient's caller ID? If they can spoof any phone number they want to show up on caller ID, couldn't they just put in whatever phone number they're dialing at that moment as the number that shows up? They'd have that number because they're already dialing that number.

[Joe Guy]

The difference (I assume) is that it includes whatever ID you've given yourself. So it wouldn't just display your phone number, it would display your name too.

[Lord Jim]

The difference (I assume) is that it includes whatever ID you've given yourself. So it wouldn't just display your phone number, it would display your name too.

That's it...

Guin said it included her name and middle initial; not just her number....

I assumed it was reading the ID that would be displayed if she was calling someone else...

[Econoline]

Ah. Gotcha. I forgot about that part.

[Guinevere]

It displayed: Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial. My phone number is registered under: First Name, Middle I, Last Name. So they aren't just reading/regurgitating the caller ID.

[Long Run]

I have heard reports from those who investigate dollars scammed from the elderly that one cheap cell provider sells its phone list. Any scammer would then get the name in the same order as you describe. I am going to follow up and see if the reports are just assumptions or if they have some validity because that would be a righteous class action if a cell company were intentionally exposing the elderly to scammers.

[Econoline]

I just looked at the "missed calls" list on my caller ID and one of the calls I got yesterday was from "ILLEGAL SCAM". I was so impressed by the honesty that I was almost tempted to call them back. Almost.