If you get a scam call (in this case the one about lowering your credit card %) and the caller ID says Wireless Caller, does that mean the call was originated in the U.S. as opposed to overseas?

Get a lot of calls with spoofed #s but only a minority indicate a wireless call.

I do not answer any incoming call that I don't recognize the name or phone number displayed on my Caller ID. I get dozens of calls daily from "Someplace, TX" or "Anyplace, MD" or such like and I ignore them. Generally I don't know anyone in those places and haven't done any business there, either. I especially don't answer "NOT AVAILABLE", "UNAVAILABLE", "PRIVATE", "WIRELESS CALLER", "NOT ASSIGNED", or "TOLL FREE CALL". Folks who want to talk to me can use a phone that says who they are. Companies that need to contact me can use my e-mail (virtually every firm I do business with has my e-mail address, and I check it many times a day).

flashguy

We receive probably 10-15 calls a week, phone numbers we don't recognize. We don't answer them, even the ones with local area codes. A common scam trick is buying up bundles of local area code phone numbers.

We check for recorded messages and seldom find one. That might suggest a robot call.

If it's a legitimate business we do business with, they can send us an e-mail or hard copy through the USPS.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
I do not answer any incoming call that I don't recognize the name or phone number displayed on my Caller ID. I get dozens of calls daily from "Someplace, TX" or "Anyplace, MD" or such like and I ignore them. Generally I don't know anyone in those places and haven't done any business there, either. I especially don't answer "NOT AVAILABLE", "UNAVAILABLE", "PRIVATE", "WIRELESS CALLER", "NOT ASSIGNED", or "TOLL FREE CALL". Folks who want to talk to me can use a phone that says who they are. Companies that need to contact me can use my e-mail (virtually every firm I do business with has my e-mail address, and I check it many times a day).

flashguy

Sometimes, they will use numbers that you know. I've got scam calls with caller ID saying it was the Dr.s office.

A new one on me yesterday from my medicare advantage plan. They've called me now 5 times and asked about participating in their home health visits and I've declined, adamantly. Yet they keep calling despite my wishes to STOP calling and asking for this. Yesterday the call came in and I was expecting another return call from somebody so I saw the caller I.D. number and answered. Only to find it was the advantage plan calling about the home visits again.

After my refusal to enroll and another request to quit calling I hung up. Moments later I decided to call my advantage plan just to make sure it is in fact them calling about these home visits. I explained to the representative about the repeated calls and my request for privacy with these calls, she was going to investigate further as she said as much that this is another dept within the insurance carrier. She asked me for the number to research. When I went into my Recent Calls log on my phone, the number he called from disappeared. Though when he first called, his number displayed on my phone caller I.D., shortly after it disappeared from the log.

This has never happened before as all/missed calls are stored in the log. Making it seem a bit more suspect along with the callers eastern accent. Anyway, she said I would be placed on a DO NOT CALL list for one year to avoid any future possible calls from them.

Make your complaint at nonotcall.gov

I do that with all the unwanted calls I receive. I have noticed that after three or four days of my filing complaints the unwanted calls seem to diminish. After that I'll get two or three months of peace.

If I mistake the origin and answer a call with a human on the other end. I use my serious voice and say: "This is a classified number, my agency will be following this up immediately."

Sometimes, I actually hang up before they can.

It has gotten so if the call doesn’t come up as a name in my contact list, I don’t answer it. If they don’t leave a message, that is the end of it. If they leave a message, I’ll listen to the message, and if not a spammer and anyone I might want to talk with again, I add a contact for that number. Sucks, but that is the way it is with spammers routinely spoofing local prefixes.

quote:

Originally posted by az4783054:
A common scam trick is buying up bundles of local area code phone numbers.

They don't even buy numbers - there are tools to spoof numbers. They can even make it look like you're calling yourself!

quote:

Originally posted by just1tym:
When I went into my Recent Calls log on my phone, the number he called from disappeared. Though when he first called, his number displayed on my phone caller I.D., shortly after it disappeared from the log.

They probably displayed the number in the user field - that won't usually be remembered by your phone.

I got two calls last week and my caller ID said it was my own number. I wasn't about to answer it because I wouldn't know what to say if I was on the other end. *s*

I called me, but I wasn't home to answer the call.

Lots of answers but not to your specific question. Caller IDs are basically worthless these days. Using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) software you can “program” in any number, or lack there of, that you want. Most of these robo calls are done from some version of a computer that uses VOIP to make calls. So it boils down to how lazy/industrious the programmer was when the thing was configured.

quote:

Originally posted by fiasconva:
I got two calls last week and my caller ID said it was my own number. I wasn't about to answer it because I wouldn't know what to say if I was on the other end. *s*

That happened to me! It was my own phone #. I answered and had a nice talk with myself. I asked why I was such an asshole, and I told myself to go fuck myself.

Using Voip phone line I have the ability to login to my account and list up to 25 numbers to block, which doesn't take long to fill up with the spoofing.

When a call comes in from a number I don't recognize I let it go to voicemail, if it's a client they leave a message and I call back, if it's junk they generally dont or it's prerecorded and then I block.

My number was used today three times as a spoofed number.

I have nomorobo, it catches nearly all robo calls on the first ring. When, on occasion, it doesn’t I sign on at their website and report it. As others have already said if it shows on Caller ID as just a city and state, ‘Unknown’, ‘Wireless Caller’, etc I don’t answer. There are a couple of people I know that show up as just a wireless caller, however I recognize their numbers.

quote:

spoofed numbers

Could it be that's what's going on with my calls? I get a fair number from my area code and prefix. My phone is a TracFone. Surely I'm not getting all these from other TracFones. Kind of a moot point as I don't answer anything other than my contacts or someone I might be expecting a call from.

“Sorry, I was having a little trouble with my headset”. Since you’ve stayed at our resort.... and it went on. Week after week after week. Better part of a year. I’ve never stayed at any kind of resort. I don’t have caller ID, but I got the number from the phone company (I don’t have any use for a cell phone). It was a local number, but each time a different local number. Right. Population of 1,500, nearest town 30 miles away? Sure thing lady. I kept wanting to answer the phone and tell her “Call this number again and I’ll hunt you down like an animal”, but I decided that was probably a bad move. Do any of these damn scammers ever learn or make money from this? Idiots. Every single one of them can go F themselves.

most of the time it's not even worth it to block the numbers on your phone because they will call again from a different spoofed number.

I'm to the point where if you want to talk to me, text me first and I will call you or leave a voicemail and I will call back. I'm done answering the phone if it's not one of my contacts.

I've been working on Tom Mabe's recording telling the telemarketer that they've called the number of the deceased, and he's conducting a homicide investigation, and he tells them they are now a suspect in a murder, and tells them he needs their contact information etc. It's pretty funny.