Fake phone call from BT - broadband will be cut off today

[RobFletcher]

I have been monitoring my mother's account for 29 weeks now using the Do Not Distrub and VIP list part of the BT Call Protect system (which does cost a monthly fee!). The number of spam calls sent to voicemail are thus:

Mondays  54

Tuesdays 72

Wednesdays 68

Thursdays 70

Fridays 68

Saturdays 37

Sunday 5

 Total 374

Not a week as gone by without calls - ranging from 5-33 calls per week.

I have been reporting all the calls every day to the new spam reporting web page. I would like to know though what is going to be done with these nunbers? 

Rob.

[gg30340]

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@RobFletcher wrote:

I have been reporting all the calls every day to the new spam reporting web page. I would like to know though what is going to be done with these nunbers? 

Rob.

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Unfortunately these calls are made by scammers who use spoofed numbers via the Internet so they are not landline numbers in the conventional sense and as such are difficult to prevent/stop. 

It may be that your mother has at one time engaged with these callers and as such the scammers know that there is a potential "target" on the line and this causes even more calls to be made to that number.

Usually these calls, when answered, are silent for the first few seconds. This should alert your mother that it is a scam call. It is best that if she does answer the calls that she does not engage with the caller at all. She should just hang up without saying anything.

See link for information about what is being done about scammers calls.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/problems/tackling-nuisanc...

https://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/phones-tablets/bt-call-protect-free-service-crackdown-nuisance-call...

https://www.bt.com/landline/calling-features/?s_cid=con_FURL_callprotect&s_intcid=con_intban_dmedia_...

For information, BT Call Protect should be free with your BT phone service.

[RobFletcher]

Unfortunately she has severe dementia and as usch would be very prone to these calls. However, the BT Protect blacklist is useless for these people as 100 numbers is soon used up AND you have to get the call at least once before you can block it.

The Do Not Disturb+VIP part of BT Protect costs £3 per month! It is the only way to prevent ANY calls ringing her phone other than friends/family/services/carers/emergency services. 

You cannot tell a person with dementia to not answer the phone! They need the phone for the care systems and emergency alert pendants to work. Mobiles simply are not the answer, and of course, they won't remember to keep it charged!

Just wish the service was free, especially for those who need it. Telling us the numbers are fake/spoofed does not help in the slightest. The IT systems should be able to stop these numbers being injected into the phone system.

Her overall count of calls sent to voicemail is 680! I am willing to bet that she is not the only one with nuisance call counts as high or higher. It is a VERY BIG problem, and it's the elderly and unaware who are falling foul of these schemes and losing a great deal of money. Something very PROACTIVE needs to be done soon. 

Rob.

[Lulili]

Excellent statement Rob. At least your mother has someone looking out for her. Many elderly people don’t. It’s not just people with dementia. One of my older neighbours was taken in by scammers. At the last moment he refused to give credit card details and they wiped his computer. He lost photos sent by family overseas and decide to give up his laptop which he had just started to use and enjoy.

[gg30340]

Going by the tone of your reply I get the impression that you think I work for BT or I am in the position to make  changes to the system to sort your problem. I do not work for BT nor am I in a position to make any changes to what the scammers do or how to prevent the calls being made.

What I posted was to try and give you an insight to the question that you asked, ie "I would like to know though what is going to be done with these nunbers? "

[bratman91]

I doubt that there is anything that telecom providers can do to stop completely all scam calls. Scammers are expert at hiding their origin behind legitimate sources and, if one method is blocked, they will quickly find another one. If you want to reduce scam calls to near zero, the best way is to buy a phone with a call blocker capability. Any incoming call from a number in your personal address book on the phone is passed through. Unknown numbers receive a message that they must state their name and other information that you specify. Once that data has been recorded, you have the option of accepting the call, denying it or sending to voicemail. Everything can be tailored to your requirements. Since buying such a system (BT8600j about a year ago, I have had almost no scam calls at all - scammers of any type simply don’t bother any further after being asked to state their name. Single intrument systems can be bought for around £50 and a multi-instrument one for under £100 - you get almost perfect protection and a pretty good phone as well.

Alternatively, you can berate BT about the problem but, in real terms, there is very little they can do about it. As any engineer will tell you, filters are a balance between letting through what you want while stopping what you don’t want and, since everyone’s needs will be different, the balance will be in favour of letting things through. 

[Moe70]

Call Blocker doesn't stop this number or any number regardless what BT says. I've paid for this service for years, calls come in and it means you can then block that number. What I've had to do is to permanently leave the answer phone on and don't recall any number that doesn't leave a message. I've turned the volume off on each phone as this number is driving me mad. I'm thinking of getting rid of the phone and just use my mobile.

[pompey1898]

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@Moe70wrote:

Call Blocker doesn't stop this number or any number regardless what BT says. I've paid for this service for years, calls come in and it means you can then block that number. What I've had to do is to permanently leave the answer phone on and don't recall any number that doesn't leave a message. I've turned the volume off on each phone as this number is driving me mad. I'm thinking of getting rid of the phone and just use my mobile.

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I think you maybe confusing Call Blocker with Call Protect.

True Call Call Blocker, or anything else will not stop any numbers ringing you, but if they are not on your list of accepted calls they will not get through

[Lulili]

Yet another automated call. Robotic British accent. This one was from 01289258819.
Before 9am today. Those robots are starting work earlier. Have reported.

[Moe70]

I still get 2 calls per hour starting at 8:35 until 10:35, it's been a week now. I reported it on the BT website call protect, but that didn't do anything. I have an answer machine and I have also made this number a blocked number ages ago. The only good thing now is that the phone doesn't ring when to call comes through and nothing goes on my answer machine. I just check the phone for the phone symbol and only clear that because I don't want that symbol from burning into my phone screen. I've given up hope but will hope that it's computer realises that the number doesn't get answered. Or I might simply unplug the phone and just use my mobile.