Has anyone gotten calls from Indian scammers? Some have started being arrested (conversation, fighting)

[Normashirley]

If the calling number is not in my list of cell phone contacts, I don't answer the phone. If someone needs me they can leave a message.

The absolute most abominable scam was on Dr. Phil this past Friday -- I never watch his show but the TV was on that channel,when I turned it on and subject grabbed my attention:

Scammers who call parents or grandparents and claim to be holding the children hostage. These folks are more likely to answer their phones because they

1. Do have younger children.
2. The scammer uses an app to hi jack the child's phone and the call rings to the parents or grandparents phone showing their child is calling them.

[mod cut - please don't advocate violence]

[Tallysmom]

Yesterday, I got eleven calls about my Icloud account being hacked. All the same, all robo-voiced in broken English.

And spam calls are way up on my cell. I’ve taken to not answering my phone, unless a name pops up.

[Mikala43]

I get all kinds of scam calls, no idea the nationality of them.

[Tooluser]

Lately we have been getting calls that ring 4 times then stop. Every day, 4 - 6 times a day. We never pick up and they don't ring long enough for the answering machine to pick up. It's a land line and an ancient 900 MHz cordless phone. No caller ID, no last number called. Also Wifey and I don't have smart phones either. Just Tracfones and they are never turned on. I did answer one of the first calls weeks ago but there was nobody there. Robocall probably. After that we just started letting it ring.


I try to keep informed of all the latest scams and they are not gonna get me with this one. The constant ringing of the phone does get old though.


TU

[ABQ2015]

The last two days I have gotten numerous calls on my landline something about suspension of my social security number (SSN) due to suspicious activity using by SSN. It was a loud obnoxious recording in some electronic voice stating that I needed to call back at a 1-800 number. I finally unplugged my phone. Just plugged it back in an hour ago. I googled the 1-800 number but did not find anything about it.

[katharsis]

Yes, frequently. I used to answer and then hang up if the voice was foreign. Now, I just don't answer unrecognizable phone numbers at all.

I wish they (the scammers) would all burn in hell, if there is such a place.

[Pat Answers]

Yep, we got the "grandson in jail" call couple weeks ago. DH answered the phone and immediately said "is this ____"? Used the name of our oldest grandson. Well, this guy was off and running since he now had the name. He told DH he had sore throat and cold that was why his voice was off.... Fortunately for this one he began to get suspicious and asked this guy about something that had happened when they were together one time...and the scammer hung up.


He almost got taken when someone called about our needing anti-virus and said they were Microsoft...there's me in the background saying hang up it's a scam...


Then there was the one about buying something but emailing the numbers from the i tune card first and they would deliver and they wouldn't accept cash...



And the $1600 check we got delivered and we were supposed to return the balance and he would buy the tool sight unseen for a few hundred...


It worries me how gullible DH is. I have to keep educating him.

[Brookboy]

I must have gotten 30 or 40 such calls in the past few years. Now I have a few comebacks. Sometimes I ask the guy what his name is (it’s always a guy, usually with an accent), and when he says “Ted” or “John” or whatever, I then ask him where he’s calling from. Sometimes it’s Texas, other times it’s Washington, other times other places. Then I ask him what time it is there. That’s often when the call ends. I’ve never gotten a valid response.

Other times I ask the guy if his mother knows what he does for a living. Or I ask him how he can look at himself in the mirror each day. Those responses have always resulted in a hang up.

It’s too bad that this type of thing has become so prevalent. It must mean that it works, unfortunately.

[NewbieHere]

I had calls from them, but I no longer pick up my phone so I let them talk to my answering machine.

[BBCjunkie]

Originally Posted by johnd393

A guy called. addressed me by my name and proceded to tell me about the fine things his organization is doing for the familys of fallen police officers. Than he started to go into an explanation, something about gold & silver memberships. I knew it was going to get to a request for money. They can make you feel like a jerk if you don't help. What do you say to them? I didn't say anything and hung up. I've been getting some form of these calls for years, usually from an out of area area code. Now they're spoofing a local number. F--k them.

I got one of these calls for the first time about a month ago. He started off by addressing me by a first name other than my own, so I said, "Sorry, you have the wrong number" which he (too quickly, in retrospect) immediately responded with "Oh, sorry, I have the wrong name.." and launched into his spiel. Stupidly I didn't think to respond with "What name are you looking for?", LOL -- but he probably would have ignored that.

Anyway about a minute into the call I realized it was suspicious and cut him off by saying "Just stop, this call is very suspicious, good thing I've recorded it so you better not call here again, goodbye." (of course I hadn't recorded it but it sounded good, lol)

I get AT LEAST three calls every day from unknown numbers. Most of them are exchange spoofs (matching mine) and many show up from the exact same spoofed number. At least twice a week I also get calls from someone using a 345 or 325 exchange as well. A few times a month a call comes in from a 203 area code. Normally I just let them "ring out" because I don't have a smartphone and so can't block them. Once in a while the robocall will persist past 6 rings and go into voicemail. But most of the time they ring it 4 or 5 times and then give up.

The only reason I answered the fake police guy call was that I was expecting a return phone call from a voice mail I'd left earlier in the day for an estimate from a lawn service and I know that sometimes small-business people return calls from a phone other than the one that is published on their website. Otherwise I'd never have picked that scam call up.