OT: lots of unwanted phone calls

[John Rumm]

No, but it does tie up a call centre droid who can't now be scamming someone vulnerable elsewhere...

[Brian Gaff]

Well when you find something that sends a signal back that makes the operator shit their pants let me know.

Brian

[Mike P]

I've found that telling them that they've rang my private room in a Secure Unit for the mentally ill usually stops them calling again.

[ARWadsworth]

That's what dennis says and he is not joking when he says it.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'm registered with the TPS, but still get quite a few cold calls. They invariably ask for me by name (pronounced incorrectly) so I act like a secretary and ask what they want 'him' for. When as is frequently the case, they say they are not selling anything but just doing a survey or whatever, I ask for their company details to send the invoice to, as 'we' charge for any such information. This usually confuses them...

[Nightjar]

My experiences are quite different. Calls dropped from around 4 a day to zero. It also has the advantage of being free and no trouble to register.

Colin Bignell

[ARWadsworth]

The TPS does not "always" stop people doing surveys from calling you

you get a chance then listen to Toby Foster on Radio Sheffield from 45 minutes in on this link

have 22 hours from this post to listen to it before the the BBC delete the iPlayer radio broadcast:-) You might waste 10 minutes of your life, but I hope not. I found it interesting especially the bit from 50 minutes onwards.

Cheers

[F]

[Reentrant]

Seconded. And as well as the up-front cost there's an annual fee (after the first year) for the optional web interface. But it's worth every penny. The latest firmware adds quite a few new screening options, and you've always been able to give regular callers who can't present caller-ID a breakthrough code.

[Bob Eager]

We have a menu system for calls where caller ID is witheld. Option 2 is for those conducting a survey. It basically says the same thing, and records the details. It also records the whole call so I can hear them swearing.

[Alan]

In message , Nightjar wrote

For me TPS is no longer working too well on my land line. I've also abandoned a few PAYG mobile numbers, also registered with TPS, because the high number of nuisance calls/texts by UK companies.

Unfortunately many large companies believe that if you are a customer, or have been one in the past, then it is not cold calling and the (unofficial) TPS rules don't apply.

My ex-bank (RBS) thought it was OK to phone up or a regular basis to miss-sell their other financial services, often implying that there was a problem with the account and to "contact them urgently". Recently, the on-line company from which I purchased a washing machine used the "for only delivery purposes" phone number repeatedly to sell an extended warranty.

Surely I cannot be only person in the country who refuses to buy anything from cold callers - by phone or on the doorstep.

[Nightjar]

I have two land lines on TPS and a fax line on FPS and they all work very well. Possibly, having always had my home number ex-directory and having it on permanent withhold may have helped.

That depends upon the company and the relationship you have with them. In many cases, unless you have been very very careful about what you agree to, usually by watching out for tiny and obscure tick boxes, they are right.

HSBC are very good at keeping to my no contact by telephone instruction.

My standard reply, until the TPS cut in, was I don't take cold calls; goodbye, followed by putting the phone down.

Colin Bignell

[Roger Mills]

How easy is it to let *wanted* calls through, such as:

• relative in Australia whose CLI isn't presented by BT

• friends who withold CLI by default

• calls from a hospital/doctor, where CLI is witheld

• automated transaction authorisation calls from banks - which frequently present as INTERNATIONAL

. . . to name but a few?!

[Nick Odell]

I use a caller display unit. The decision to pick up is not software but wetware.

I instinctively know when it's my relative in Australia. I think I've accidentally picked up a sales call just once when I've thought it was her and so far my relative hasn't yet been consigned to oblivion by my voicemail.

if they are friends they will know to dial the magic number to unblock their CLI to call you

if the call is important enough they should use a recognisable number or leave a message.

I don't (think I) get them. But when my bank calls, they leave a message

I feel tempted to set up a voicemail message that would say

"We are scanning your call to determine whether or not you are Auntie Helen from Basingstoke" (pause) "Oh dear" (pause) "It appears that you are not Auntie Helen from Basingstoke so we are scanning to discover your internet IP" (pause) "Your internet IP has been identified. Your call is not welcome so your entire computer network will be removed from the internet in 10 seconds.. 9... 8..."

(Would there be any need for numbers beyond eight?)

Nick

[mike]

Is it genuinely technically impossible? The government would have us believe they can intercept al-Qaeda communications and protect us from terrorist attack so I find it hard to believe they can't track down some dubious insulation/solar panel outfit using an Indian call centre.

Isn't the reality that governments value the right of even crooked businessmen to make money above anyone else's right not to be pestered by nuisance calls?

[Roger Mills]

*You* might know, but how does Truecall know?

Only if you make a point of telling all of them - and then you'll miss a few! Also, I get calls from people I don't know (e.g. enquiries about my choir) which I want to take. How does Truecall deal with them?

Does Truecall allow people to leave a message even if it 'rejects' the call?

The ones I'm talking about are *automated* - there's no person at the other end to leave a message! They're used by both Lloyds and Halifax when I want to make a payment to an individual (maybe companies also?) whom I haven't paid before. The phone rings, and a recorded voice tells me to key in (to the phone) a 4-digit number which has just been displayed on my screen. The transaction then goes through. If the call was rejected by Truecall, I wouldn't be able to complete the transaction. The only possible saving grace is that I know that the call is coming - and it comes within seconds of clicking the mouse. Is it possible to tell Truecall that a call is about to arrive which you want to receive regardless of the normal rules?

[SteveW]

I'm fairly sure that anyone you have has a commercial relationship in the past is permitted to call you. However, you can specifically ask to be removed from their database and they are required to do so.

The only cold caller we've ever bought from was an ex-con who came to the door, presented his ID and informed us that he was a recently released prisoner working for a charity. We felt that with what he must be going through having to reveal that at every door, we should support him/the charity.

SteveW

[Martin Brown]

So about as much use as a chocolate fire-guard. But they do at least cull the more virulent UK based double glazing salesmen.

Simplest solution is have an answerphone and always leave inbound calls to connect to that. Anyone real will leave a message (maybe after calling back) and the scammers clear down immediately.

Deny all numbers with CLID withheld is reasonably effective too but risks some collateral damage and on most deals is a chargeable extra.

There is another option whose name escapes me called something like "choose to refuse" which will permanently block specific numbers. Telcos love to make money out of routing junk calls just as the post office loves junk mail. They will charge you for not routing junk calls.

Devising a script to take the fake callers off their script ASAP is the other defensive measure. Depends how much time you are prepared to waste. I generally filter all unknown callers against the anwserphone. Most clear down immediately basically they are hostile autodialers.

[Dave Liquorice]

So the other way to look at this is that *all* unsolicited calls you get after registering with the TPS are scam or fraudulent. So when you get a call and it is silent for a second or two after pick up do what I do, keep silent and put the reciver down on the desk and carry on with what I'm doing, ignoring the "hello, hello, ... hello".

[Dave Liquorice]

And possibly not just a monetary one. Some hospitals/police stations etc still withold their numbers.