5 ms·
Part of the problem is too many databases have been compromised. If a scammer calls up and knows all the victim's details, the scammer is much more convincing a
by jonatron 5y ago
Part of the problem is too many databases have been compromised. If a scammer calls up and knows all the victim's details, the scammer is much more convincing and the victim is much more likely to be fooled.
As for why the UK is a hot spot, I could guess it's to do with the phone system? I get loads of spam calls, but I have no way to find out what company or person the caller phone numbers are used by.
- Nextgrid 5y agoI think the UK is a hot spot because its population speaks English, which means the same scammers that target the US can easily broaden their target market.
- robotmay 5y agoYeah spam calls are a nuisance in this country. Oddly I've gotten far fewer recently. My technique for answering unknown numbers seems to get me removed from a lot of lists: Pick up the phone, but stay silent. If it's an auto-dialler, it usually disconnects automatically after 4 seconds, and seemingly gets you removed from the list (as either a dead line or a machine I guess). Sometimes this catches legitimate call centres, but I probably didn't want to talk to them either.
- mdp2021 5y agoYou do not use caller number review websites? In some cultures, most callers (private individuals) would not start speaking themselves before hearing a sign of presence from the other side: you filter out auto-diallers, but also contacts you did not have in your address book.
- dboreham 5y agoIn the US the criminals forge the ANI so it looks like a legit number, e.g a local business. We just never answer the phone. Real people can leave voice-mail.
- denton-scratch 5y agoI'm familiar with this custom. Unfortunately, I've adopted the habit of not leaving voicemail (if I'm determined, I talk gibberish until the callee picks up). And I haven't listened to recorded VMs for years. Way back when, I actually bought a machine for answering phone-calls. I have no idea what I was thinking :-)
- handrous 5y agoVoicemail transcription is the only reason the "ignore it and if it matters they'll leave a voicemail" strategy works for me. I never, ever checked voicemails back when I had to actually listen to them. Now I can skim ten of them in a few seconds to see if any were legit. Most scammers/spammers don't leave a message anyway, so the volume's pretty low.
- tome 5y agoThey seem to use such varied numbers that phone number databases are no longer useful.