Telephone scams

Squire

Squire

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The most frightening words you will ever hear are: "I am from the government and I am here to help."
 
SethBullock

SethBullock

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HBS Guy said:
Anybody got an interesting scam call lately?

Apparently scammers are pretending to be from the Federal Government:

https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news-alerts/government-impersonation-scams-on-the-rise

Either side of the Pacific.
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If I receive a call from an unknown number, I don't answer it. If they don't leave a message, I just block the number. If they do leave a message, and it's from a call center offering me something, again, I just block the number.

I've gotten a few emails lately from what looks like Amazon telling me that my order has been fulfilled for usually hundreds of dollars, and the product is being sent to whoever. They provide a link you can click on or a phone number you can call if "you believe this order was not made by you." All of that is scamming. It's phishing, looking for the gullible. What they want is your personal information, probably your credit card info.
 
HBS Guy

HBS Guy

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Either they want you to give them money or enough personal details they can steal it out of your account.
 
johnsmith

johnsmith

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johnsmith

johnsmith

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Staff member
I got a scam text today ... telling me access to my westpac account was denied because of an attempted hack and I had to follow a link and fill in some details to regain access .................the problem is that I don't have a Westpac account:headscratcher3
 
HBS Guy

HBS Guy

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I used to get calls about my “Windows computer.” Never owned anything but TRS80 then Macs since 1985.
 
Redneck

Redneck

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johnsmith said:
I got a scam text today ... telling me access to my westpac account was denied because of an attempted hack and I had to follow a link and fill in some details to regain access .................the problem is that I don't have a Westpac account:headscratcher3
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Actually I often get emails from supposedly a company I have an account with coming from eg a gmail account or similar not the company address, I alway ignore an never open them as I am a bit paranoid as I suspect they are dodgy
 
johnsmith

johnsmith

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HBS Guy said:
Think I got a similar scam call but they hung up before I answered.
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There's a scam been doing the round for ages now, they phone you and hang up before you can answer to try and get you to return the call. Once you do, unbeknownst to you, they charge you $5/minute or some such ridiculous figure. They'll try to keep you on the line for as long as possible by trying to find out who called you, to run up your tab. Apparently by the mere act of calling them you accept their 'terms and conditions' so there is no getting out of the bill later..
 
DreamRyderX

DreamRyderX

Active member
I used to get up to 15 Telemarketer, Nuisance, & SCAM calls per day....
....at all hours, especially around 4pm thru 7pm.....

Those Sub-Continent calls to install solar panels, or government subsidized light bulbs......the call from "Microsoft" to gain access to your PC so they can deal with a virus, & if you don't let them access your PC they will disconnect you from the internet.......from the ATO saying you owe taxes, & if you don't comply with their demands they will send their agents over to arrest you......etc....etc....etc.....

Well 3 years ago that all changed, & I've only gotten 2 nuisance calls since then.

I use the Telstra Call Guardian 301 MKII. It's a portable phone system (2 portable phones, an answering machine base, & a charging base) sold by Telstra for about $70.00. You can get it over EBAY (refurbished) for about $50.00, but the Telstra ones are new in sealed, unopened boxes.

It's uses the phone company's Caller ID System

When someone calls, who isn't on your "Personal Contact List", it goes into 'assistant mode'.....where an Assistant intercepts the call, tells the caller to announce themselves, & then press the # key & then wait for an answer.......until that time.....until after they followed the Assistant's instructions, your phone has not rang....

99.999% of all telemarketer, nuisance, SCAM callers will not announce themselves, & hang up........you were never disturbed.....your phone never rang......The only thing is it records the caller ID, & the time & date for you so you can block them permanently if you wish......

When someone announces themselves, & pressed the # your phone starts ringing for the first time.....if you don't pick it up it will go to your answering machine, where the caller can leave a message.....if you pick up the phone it will play their announcement, & then give you some options....to answer the call press 2......to block the caller.....to ignore the caller......or send the caller to your answering machine.......if you press 2 to answer the caller you will be connected. After the call you can place the caller into your Personal Contacts List so the next time they will get straight thru.

All your personal contacts....family, friends, business associates, etc....etc....that you entered in your Personal Contacts List.....when you first set up your phone, or since, will not be intercepted......their calls will come through without the Call Guardian Assistant.

Works a treat for me & like I said, only 2 nuisance calls got through in 3 years (because the assholes actually announced themselves & waited.....I subsequently blocked them permanently).......My Call Guardian has actively blocked hundreds of bad guys I didn't want to hear from over the same period.



Users Manual: https://www.telstra.com.au/content/...301-cordless-phone-with-answering-machine.pdf

Feel free to ask if you want to know more about this system, & if I can I'll answer your question(s).

..
 
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HBS Guy

HBS Guy

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I have had two anonymous texts on my iPhone that I was “featured in a video” with the link provided. Of course—I did not click on the link.​
 
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