If you still remember, the US government is doing something to stop the skyrocketing robocalls, there are bills in Congress waiting to be voted next month. In the US, we receive billions of robocalls per month, and monthly money loss amount to 128M last year. Of course, it is promising if the bill passes in the summer, however, we should also pay attention to the latest information about phone scam in the mean time!
Picture from FTC
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According to First Orion, also sited by Federal Communications Commission report,almost half of the calls received in the US will be a spam in 2019. According to a caller ID and blocking company in the US, it stated that there were 26.3 billion robocalls made in 2018. All these figures point to a skyrocketed trends of spam calls and especially for robocalls, that bothering almost half of the residents in the US. We have all received spam calls more or less before, but what are these Robocalls and how do they get so popular?
What are Robocalls?
Dear friends of tellows in the US,
After the first report in January of the most searched phone numbers, tellows wants to show you some insights of the most searched phone numbers in March. Recently we are alarmed by the soaring trend of spam calls in the US, especially the notorious robocalls! Therefore tellows is also preparing an article about it and it’s coming soon! So stay tuned! But now let us go through the details of the most searched numbers in March!
The top spot on our list of the most searched numbers belongs to 18009452000.
It has a tellows score of 7, which is an untrustworthy rating, and the search requests cumulatively numbered over 14k, there are also 11 reports by our users that the call is from a company called Chase Bank. Some of the users reported that the scammers disguised themselves as Chase Bank, asked if the receivers want to lower their interest rate and tried to attain credit card information.
The second place goes to this number +1400491098.
Our tellows community reported that the number belongs to a company called Airtel, with a tellows score 7 and over 16k search requests . Most of the users reported that they received numerous calls per day.
The third one is 2105206400.
Our users suggested that it is also a company claimed to be Chase Bank with over 42k search requests on our site. It has a tellows score 7 and most of our users reported that the caller tried to get their personal information including bank details or claiming that their payment is due and therefore their bank details have to be reviewed.
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Let’s try to review the facts and take a look at some important guidelines set by the Federal Communications Commission on telemarketing and autodialers.
1. Telemarketers are REQUIRED to give his or her name, company, telephone number or address where he or she can be contacted. You should expect these details on the initial part of the call.
In the tellows Call Guideline, you are given a script with a set of questions which you can use to verify information about the telemarketer.
2. No phone solicitation/ telemarketing is allowed before 8 am or after 9 pm.
3. As soon as you ask the telemarketer to include you in the do-not-call list, they should comply and you shouldn’t be receiving any more calls from them! At least for the next 5 years (read below).
4. The telemarketer must honor your do-not-call request for five years and you must repeat your request once you get the same call after the period.
Oh well, Christmas rush is over and scammers are back to business. You still have this hangover from the long holiday break and yet these bogus numbers are back and ready to terorrize people again.
Our top 3 hardworking prank callers for the week include the „court action for bank fraud“ number, the computer guy claiming that he is from microsoft, and the boring „not in service“ phoneline.
| For some the Caribbean Sea equals paradise, for others, the sole notion of the Grenadian area code 473 forebodes only waking nights and sleepless nightmares. A new phone-fiend has arisen on the small island of Grenada in the Caribbean Sea and pesters unwitting people with dozens of silent calls a day.
Our fellow tellows users complain about an increasing number of automated calls from Grenada. Usually the calls are most numerous in the morning, yet afternoon calls and bellowing phones at night were reported as well. Yet no one actually ever talked to the caller. The tellows user thereby conclude that the callers agenda is primarily aimed at tricking people into calling back. |
Danglt reported the number 4735209795:
Seems to be a ping call from grenada. Even without any fees for a service number the reaming fee will be high enough to cost you some dollars
As we know, when it comes to thinking of innovative ways to rinse you of your money, scammers are tireless; and as rhyme would have it, one of the big schemes reported on tellows.com at the moment involves spoofing Verizon Wireless.
Positive adjectives where positive adjectives are due, this is quite a sophisticated scam. Here’s a quick run-through of how it’s set up…
1) You’ll get a call from Verizon. (Read: Not Verizon.)
2) The automated voice will inform you that you are owed an obscure amount of money (usually amounting to a couple of hundred dollars) as a bill rebate and instruct you to log in at www.vzw***.com (*** being the 3-digit figure you’re supposedly owed) to collect it.
3) You enthusiastically hop online and go to the web address provided, which will look, incidentally, EXACTLY like Verizon’s own site.
4) You happily tap in your log-in credentials, hit Enter, and bish bash bosh, the scammers have your vital account details.
Bonnie was called from 8006001228 and gives us a clue what happens next…
Message said to log into www.vzw81.com to receive $81 off my next bill. I had just got the phones, so I went there and created an account (since I had not yet). A few hours later, my phone is suspended. I called verizon, and they informed me that it is a new scam. They get your login info and then they activate Blackberrys for international calls. I am now sitting on hold with the fraud dept to get my phone unsuspended (only been 1.5 hours so far) .. ugh
Fortunately, Verizon is aware of the scam, but it sadly doesn’t mean that they are able to stop it. The perpetrators are also spoofing 8009220204, a number that actually belongs to Verizon, to complete the picture of authenticity. However, it’s worth being aware that this is a number that Verizon doesn’t actually use to make outgoing calls.
Luckily for some, like all dirty dealers, they’re not always top of their game. Following a call from 8006006358, ‘Duh’ offers the following testimonial:
They have called me several times telling me I have a $331 credit to my account. Only problem is, I don’t have a Verizon account. Maybe they will just send me the cash. Should be close to 10 grand by now.
Well, noone’s perfect. A fraud ring was recently arrested for the self-same scam – this was a momentary triumph, but the Verizon gig seems to be such an attractive technique to fraudsters that somebody is still out there conning people out of their hard earned dimes. As always, we urge you to second-guess unexpected or unlikely-sounding phonecalls or emails and always contact the company directly if you’re unsure about anything at all. Keep reporting your experiences with unknown numbers on tellows and help the online community in the struggle against telephone torment!
Well then, boys and girls. As a closing note, we’d like to leave you with these summative words from ‘Complaint’.
8008889599 IS NOT VERIZON WIRELESS. The pre-recorded voice instructs you to visit www.vzw625.com to collect a $625 bill credit. DO NOT visit this website, it is a scam. This is not verizon wireless.
In case you didn’t catch that, these numbers are NOT Verizon Wireless.
‘Til next time…
Your tellows team
This week’s batch all want your card details if the truth be told. Fight back by quite simply not giving them up. Here are some sneaky new adversaries on the scene to look out for…
A new entrant to the IRS scam arena (someone stop these guys already!) is 5303802641. Highly active within the last week, they’ve got a tellows score of 7 (possibly due to one misunderstanding of the scoring system – remember, 1 means TRUSTWORTHY!) and have no respect for public holidays!
Dan’s got his detective hat on…
This dumb scammer calls me on Thanksgiving day pretending to be an IRS lawyer claiming that I have an ‘Tax deficiency’ issue. What kind of idiot will believe an IRS lawyer works on Thanksgiving day and will call his ‘client’??
Very true. People calling you out of the blue about a ‘legal issue’ is more often than not quite fishy!
On the other end of the credibility spectrum is the gentleman (note the irony) calling from 3362286986. This is a guy who ostensibly really takes offence to non-credit-card-owners; he really flies off the handle if you don’t give him the answer he’s looking for. We’re not sure if he’s working ‘freelance’ or is part of a larger agency but he intersperses his survey questions with other, rather inappropriate enquiries.
Darron indignantly tell us about his experience…
I finally picked up from this number and some guy wouldn’t tell me who or where he was calling from. then I asked to be taken off his calling list and was then called several names and asked to give him a kiss. he said are you drunk? he really irritated me do not listen to him!!!!!
Cold-call flirting is a new one on us but this is exactly what this guy is doing… Albeit ineptly. And angrily.
Check out the link above for a few more entertaining stories.
With a tellows score of 8, 8608227440 is offering ‘better credit card rates’ and has absolutely no explanation of how it’s doing so.
Luckily, Aurora recognised the call for what it was…
The caller talked about better interest for my credit card and wanted to have my credit card number…I left her waiting until she hung up. As if anybody would fall for that kind of scam
…well someone must be if they’re still doing it! If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it weekly, DON’T give your card details out willy-nilly!
Keep your heads up, block those numbers and report them on tellows and we’ll be back with more nerve-grating numbers next week!
Take care,
Your tellows team
The crème de la crème of cunning crooks and crafty con artists have been leading US citizens a merry dance with their latest scheme: using the Internal Revenue Service’s caller ID to make threatening calls demanding that their victims pay their ‘overdue tax’. In the aftermath of the initial bombshell, the caller will casually request that the tax be paid via debit card or a wire transfer, both methods conspicuous by their untraceability.
You may think that this scam is clumsy and glaringly obvious. As we’re about to demonstrate, we’ve seen numerous instances of badly executed IRS impersonations in the past: heavy accents, threadbare information about their potential victims and a habit of dropping the phone like it’s hot when the victims press for information…
User Dumbo proved himself not very dumb at all when he received a call from 5302385813:
A man with a thick accent said his name barely audible and claimed to be from the IRS and said that this call was regarding some debt I allegedly had. He got very rude and threatened to freeze my accounts and credit cards. The thing is, I don’t have any debt and I’m VERY sure of it. So I told him not to call anymore and, still hearing his protests through the phone, I just hung up.
‘Xaviera’, meanwhile, was pestered by 7165757391:
I was called three times in 2 hours. Each time they claimed to be IRS and they said something about taxes or debts, I didn’t really get it because he had an indian accent. Anyway, firstly I know for sure that the IRS won’t call people, it will use the US Mail service to reach the person they want. So their claim is false. And second, they wanted to talk to a different person and I told them each time that I’m not the one they’re looking for. I was informed that it didn’t matter. Now that’s a trustworthy business…
Very savvy, guys. Hang in there: we’re proud of you.
However, these guys have gone the extra step. Not only are they calling from what appears to be the IRS’s bona fide number (spoofed, naturally), they also somehow know the last 4 digits of your social security number and make it a royal flush with staff names, badge numbers and often emails with the IRS logo and format.
But they don’t even draw the line there! We covered the worrying rise in number-spoofing in a previous blog, “Who Spoofed the Sheriff?”: fraudsters can make use of technology that masks their real caller ID and replaces it either with a nonsense number (000-000-0000 being a favourite), or (oh the audacity!) the caller ID of a publicly recognised establishment. If you don’t comply, or seem doubtful, the guys behind the IRS scam will proceed to follow up the call with further harassment from the police or the Department of Motor Vehicles; number-spoofing is child’s play to these guys so prepare for a barrage of calls, all ostensibly from the correct caller IDs. Armed with this facade of legitimacy and threats of arrest, deportation or confiscation of your business or driving licence, they’ll have you listening.
However, as always, we urge you to BE WARY! IRS Acting Commissioner Danny Werfel stresses that in the first instance, notification about due tax will in most cases be sent in the mail. Payment will be requested via cheques or bank transfers, never wire transfers or debit card! Moreover, they are an independent body and do not act in conjunction with state police or other organisations.
If you receive an unprompted call claiming to be from the IRS, we advise you to call them directly on 800-829-1040. You can also wise up using the official IRS ‘scam-alert’ web page. In the meantime, keep searching and reporting numbers on tellows and give each other a hand in the fight against scam callers!
‘Til next time,
Your Tellows Team
Dear friends of tellows,
another week has passed since our last update on the most wanted numbers. This week, all of the numbers that kept your phone lines busy were repeat offenders, ranging from nuisance calls to attempted telephone scams. Let’s have a look:
1. 234567890 with 4 comments and 1394 search requests. tellows Score: 8
2. 7607058888 with 3 comments and 1769 search requests. tellows Score: 8
3. +17148680120 with 8 comments and 14600 search requests. tellows Score: 5
Our first number of the week, telephone number 234567890 is no stranger to the list. According to our users, the caller claims to be phoning from the computer or tech support department of his company to fix the computer of the person called, suggesting that it has been attacked by a virus. This scam method is hardly a new one and has been reported on numerous times on our blog. Julian35 warns our other users about the number:
A man with a heavy accent claimed to call from “Computer Support Department”. He wanted to fix my computer because he has a virus. I hung up then. Be careful with this number!
Our second number for today, number +17148680120 from Los Angeles, California, is an old acquaintance and in spite of receiving a neutral rating with a tellows score of 5, the nature of the calls as well as their authenticity are highly debated. While most users felt bothered by frequent calls from this number, other users reported the number as trustworthy service hotline of a well-known software cooperation. Contrary, user wallace commented:
my family all also got this number,why u call us!?
Although our third place, number 7607058888 has had an entry on this list before, little is known about the calls that originate from Escondido, California. Tellows users have complained about receiving calls from the number at unsociable hours and were unable to call back. After answering the phone, user Danni was asked to provide personal details but was given little information in return:
I got a call a couple of days ago, the caller insisted i give him my email, then he hung up when i started asking questions.
If you do receive a call from an unknown number, don’t offer any personal information – especially if you don’t know who is calling and you can’t be sure if the call is legitimate or not. Moreover, don’t hesitate to report dubious or untrustworthy numbers on tellows to warn others about possible spam and scam calls.
Your tellows team