Scam Phone calls

George Ebersole · October 27, 2016

I used to have my old home phone number posted on my profile, thinking I would network here and maybe generate some work. But all that did was turn old phone into a phone-scam magnet.

Now I've moved, have given my phone number to no one but a doctor, have not posted it anywhere, and now I'm getting scam phone calls again.

I'm really wanting to explode on some one for this.

any input is welcome.

Max Field · October 31, 2016

That's why I put only my skype on my profile. If there's a spam bot (or an estranged family member) I can just easily block it. Make pals on skype and everything will be better.

George Ebersole · November 2, 2016

Here are some of the numbers I'm getting.

415-592-5012; this person called 11 times last night at 12:35

415-592-5042; this person calls me at 7:00am to 8:35am

There's a number of others, seemingly coming from some software company in San Francisco, but in the past when I've picked up the line it's usually been some scammer claiming to be from "Windows support". They usually has a thick Indian accent, and you can here other people with Indian accents in the background calling and pulling the same scam.

They're all probably in an office somewhere, and make their money doing this. A couple times I traced them to Saudi Arabia, and got one guy to even admit he was in Saudi Arabia.

Last night my phone and internet went down at around 1:30AM. I'm a feared and thinking that someone hacked my phone, and that it's been hijacked or "spoofed" to make more of these scam phone calls.

I mean ... poop, I didn't even list my new number here, and now after I've moved with a new unlisted number I'm getting this BS.

High Horse time; back before the net went public in the 80s I warned about scum bags over seas, and now it's come home to roost, and there's not a goddamn thing I can do about it other than ignore and screen my calls as best as I can. This was never an issue prior to 2013.

I'm angry as hell about it, and wish law enforcement would clamp down on these POS.

Max Field · November 2, 2016

Tell them you're from Oakland and they'll back off.

George Ebersole · November 3, 2016

Well it's like someone was trying to harass me out of my life. I got harassing phone calls from people claiming that they had cleaned my air ducts and chimney, and when I told them "no" they got hostile on the phone, so I called the police. And they wouldn't do anything about it.

I went looking for a new TV and the cashier at the Best Buy I went to gave me his "character sheet" for some game as if he knew that I wrote for games in addition to trying to get back into video again.

I guess the best I can do is get a new phone number, but it's like a guy can't get away from this stuff, and I'm sick and tired of it.

When I first posted my phone number here on my profile I got maybe a handful of phone calls a year of people trying to pull some sort of scam. But now it's DAILY, and SEVERAL TIMES A DAY, and it's been like this for two or three years now!

When I lived in Foster City I spoke with the FCPD several times, and I think they only acted on two of the complaints. I had officers routinely visiting me to hear me bitch about this highly illegal activity. One guy finally took one of the phone numbers I traced, and for a time it quieted down.

I mean, what the hell does a guy have to do to make these bastards go away?

Sorry for the anger, but this is real harassment here.

Max Field · November 3, 2016

Why can't you block phone numbers?

Adrian Sierkowski · November 3, 2016

Get a google voice, use that, it'll fwd to whatever number you want, and you can block any number. Also it is one number only, and you can have it ring through to your phone showing your google voice number, so you know if it's a work call or not. It's what I do.

George Ebersole · November 3, 2016

Can you tell me more about it? Knowing Google it's probably free, but I've never heard it before.

30 seconds ago; this person; 415-592-5042

George Ebersole · November 7, 2016

New solution; unplug my phone for a while. I'm not really in the freelance work force yet, so it's no big deal, but I'm still really PO'd about this. I got harassed elsewhere in real life, and perpetually asked the FCPD to look into it. I even wrote the San Mateo city counsel one time, and phoned the mayor a few civil servants.

It hasn't entirely abated, but I'm doing all I can to put an end to it.

Phil Rhodes · November 8, 2016

This is a landline phone, right?

Over here, they're usually a bit cautious about calling cellphones, because of the much higher cost.

P

George Ebersole · November 8, 2016

Yeah, it's a land line. When I posted my old number here I started to get a higher number of scam phone calls. Then when I posted my old number in the Bay Area's Reel Directory (the SF equivalent of the LA411), I got more and more.

AT&T, my carrier, allows you to block 13 numbers, but it's like these guys swap numbers with other scammers. Since they're mostly operating out of an office somewhere in India or Saudi Arabia, they must have access to infinite numbers by buying more cell phones and hacking honest private phones.

It's like everytime I try to strive to put my name out there for a chance to work with someone, I get this bullshit thrown in my face.

Mark Dunn · November 8, 2016

You could lobby your political representative. That sort of thing is actually illegal here, with heavy fines, which doesn't eliminate it, but cuts it down a great deal.

Edit: doesn't apply to b2b calls. Sorry. But you can put any number on a preference list. It then becomes a criminal offence to cold-call it.

George Ebersole · November 9, 2016

I'm fairly certain it's illegal here too. Why the Foster City Police Department wouldn't act on my complaints is beyond me. And when I contacted the phone commission it's like my phone got hacked and I was redirected to another office or someone else entirely.

At the time I was really trying to pout myself out there to get hired for anything ... do slate, run errands, pick up equipment or talent, but it's like the more I tried the more harassment I got. And then when I called it quits because of the harassment, it only got worse.

Right now it's been peaceful as I've had my phone unplugged for a while now. But goddamn, what if I want to make another effort at it? What am I going to tell the people at both the Reel Directory and LA411? Just put my name but don't put my phone number?

It's ridiculous, and total BS.

I've probably lost jobs because of this ... which means not only loss of income, but reputation as well. Which means that if this keeps up, then I won't have a rep to throw out there for potential employers, and I won't get hired for anything.

And all because of these bastards.

Phil Rhodes · November 9, 2016

Why the Foster City Police Department wouldn't act on my complaints is beyond me.

Probably because the likelihood of successfully resolving it is so low. Police intervention in international affairs is notoriously time-consuming and difficult.

Yes, I know that's not a good reason to ignore it, but I suspect from their point of view it's an adequately good reason to quietly overlook it.

Is a cellphone really not a help?

P

George Ebersole · November 10, 2016

I have a cell for emergency purposes, and planned on using it for business, but given the amount of criminals calling my land line I just simply don't want to put the number out there. Maybe in a few weeks or something.

Someone from A-1 roofing or something like that called perpetually last year, claiming they had redone my roof (I lived in a planned community, and the Homeowner's Association takes care of the houses exterior), and we exchanged heated words. My phone block call list was full too.

Then someone claiming they'd cleaned my air ducts; same thing. I think that person actually threatened me.

And then the overseas calls. And here I was trying to get my name out in the local industry scene ... I just gave up.

And that was on top of the real world harassment, which required me to file a complaint with the Department of Justice in Washington D.C.

So, here I am, bitching about it on this forum.

The FCPD did act on a couple of complaints, and again it quieted down for a while. But it's like it starts back up after a few months or weeks. I have a draft of a letter on my old computer all fired up that I intended to send to every city counsel, state office and representative in the local area. I haven't sent it off yet, but I'm getting pretty darn close to doing so.

Max Field · November 10, 2016

Wait, you still have a land line? 1996 was 20 years ago.

And THAT'S how they get ya.

George Ebersole · November 10, 2016

So if I put my cel phone number out in the LA411 or Reel Directory I'll be safer by virtue that it is a cel phone? Because of the costs, is that right?

Max Field · November 10, 2016

You'll get LESS spam calls on a cell than a landline. It will still happen to some extent. Start displaying your number via images rather than text if your business requires a publicly displayed number. Bots can't auto grab a picture of numbers to a list.

George Ebersole · November 12, 2016

Okay thanks. I also got some guy on the IMDB stalking and harassing me, and I'm wondering if it's connected.

It used to be spam from Nigeria, but I was able to display my old email addy to keep bots from copying it and using it. I guess your solution is a similar way to keep the calls to a minimum.

Thanks for the tip.