Quote:
Originally Posted by Anonymouse
From the fact that I just received a call from Switzerland - to which I have never been and therefore there should not be anyone there who knows my number - I deduce that this problem is Europe-wide, if not global.
Ofcom and any "regulatory" bodies are clearly not enough. Refusing to answer such calls isn't a solution. The basic problem needs to be addressed:
HOW DO THESE PEOPLE OBTAIN OUR NUMBERS, HOW CAN THEY BE STOPPED FROM DOING SO, AND HOW CAN UK COMPANIES APPARENTLY IGNORE THE TELEPHONE PREFERENCE SERVICE WITH WHICH I'VE BEEN SIGNED UP SINCE I FIRST BOUGHT A MOBILE?!
THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!!!
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1. It is trivially simple to spoof a caller ID. If you don’t want to do it yourself there are ‘service’ providers online who will do it for you.
2. They don’t need your number; they can use a dialler to just go through every number until someone picks up.
3. If they are overseas, the TPS is irrelevant. Even within the U.K., the code of practice that governs TPS relates to sales calls, not ‘marketing’ or ‘research’.
I’m with BT and I use their call protect service, which has dramatically reduced the number of nuisance calls I get because BT know the numbers most commonly used by scammers and blocks them automatically. I also add numbers to my own block list if they are a call centre or a silent call, or one that hangs up on answer (often caused by a dialler that has managed to find more live numbers than there are agents available to take the calls).