Phone Scams

[DancingLady]

I have received quite a number of calls over the past year from people with foreign accents who were obviously trying to scam me in some way or get me to accidentally reveal too much personal information. Today I received a call from someone with a foreign accent saying they were from the (my state) Health Department and saying they had information that I was taking such and such pill during my pregnancy. Obviously they don't know anything because I have not seen a doctor since I was 14, have not had a prescription since I was 9 or 10, have never been on a date much less have a child. I just told this person that I had never even had a boyfriend much less a pregnancy and hung up.

I still have their number in my phone under calls received, but I don't know who I can report this to, or if there is any point in reporting something like this, all they have is my name and phone number obviously, so they can't harm me if I don't give them any more info, but they are obviously out trying to scam people or steal identities.

 

[Rahstyles]

You could report them to your phone carrier.

I am not sure that the police could do anything as there may not be a crime involved.

If you get too many your phone carrier may be able to monitor your phone and take care of the matter.

 

[bala]

One easy way would be to block these numbers using true caller.Else we could scam bait them.I know of a admin who gives out all the scamming ways.It is scam[dot]com.He is a good frd of mine and if you have any queries on how to block these,you can follow the ways there,there are many actually.

 

[js85]

Some phone services/cell phones allow you to block the number directly without jumping through any hoops through your provider. My iPhone has a "block caller" feature that just takes a press of the button.

 

[caparica007]

This sort of scams or pranks can have serious consequences, we never know if the time we are taking from the police couldn't be vital to someone else.

 

[askanison]

I never answer the phone for a number I don't know. I only use a cell phone now not a land line and it is much easier to block unwanted calls that way. My parents are elderly and get a ton of these kinds of calls daily. My Dad has made a game out of getting them on the line and wasting as much of their time as possible by pretending to be senile. I really should make some tapes of the calls.

 

[milyjohnson]

I don't answer the phone if I don't know who it is either. You can always call the phone company and have them block the call. When my friend was getting calls like this, she went to the police. They told her there was nothing they could do about it so she had to go to the phone company to get the number blocked.

 

[januz101]

Although you may feel that its a scam but they havent done anything yet. you can block them on your phone though. but its best to report them to your data carrier.

 

[DancingLady]

THanks, I guess I'll just block the number.