Archiv der Kategorie: the Most Wanted

(English) March – Most searched unknown numbers

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Leider ist der Eintrag nur auf Amerikanisches Englisch verfügbar.

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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(English) Most Searched Phone Numbers in January

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Leider ist der Eintrag nur auf Amerikanisches Englisch verfügbar.

Dear friends of tellows,

Hi there! The first month of January already passed and tellows hope you had a wonderful beginning of the year. We thank you for choosing tellows as your resources of phone scam protection, as in January we received over 100K page views and we joyfully invite you to stick with us through 2019. This time we will go through the January top 3 searched numbers in the tellows U.S website, and also share some of its details for your information, such as the type of callers and the name of companies.

The first mostly searched number is +1400491098.
It has a tellows score of 6, which is a mildly trust worthy rating, yet the search request cumulatively numbered over 10k.

The second frequently searched number is +442038076172.
Our tellows community reported that the number belongs to a company called CFD Global, which its country code revealed it is a British phone number. With a tellows score 8 and also a nature to be a telemarketer.

The third one is 8002927508.
Our users suggested that it is a debt collection company named Synchrony Financial or CareCredit and its cumulatively search requests over 20k. It has a tellows score 6 and most of the users have opinion that once they paid the loan the call stopped.
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The May edition: exposing the targeted cities, figures and the top 3 questioned phone numbers

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It has already been a busy year at tellows. Our users have been occupied this year searching among phone numbers as such as those linked to the IRS phone scam targeting us taxpayers, USPS phone and email scam and the Jury duty scam that threatened many of the vulnerable to cough up a penalty fine by making a credit card payment over the phone. Yes, the first half of the year so far has showed us that the scammers are still working hard at it. Now, not all calls here at tellows are deemed to be linked to a scamming operation, however they are more often than not categorised as unwanted and unbeknownst to the caller even with the help of caller ID. This is demonstrably put foward with America’s figures in May.

Number of searches for the month of May per region.


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Our weekly top 3: Fake Debt Collectors Threatening Victims with Lawsuits & Arrests

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You received a call at 9 in the evening. It sounded official. Caller said he’s working with the power of an attorney and is affiliated with a credit bureau. He went on to saying that you are committing a crime by not paying the debt and threatened you with lawsuits and arrests.

Now he starts to harass you and calls even at work, giving complete information about you and your family!

Yes, it’s just a bluff. These scammers don’t have any power over you. You are just one of the many targets, just like our fellow tellows users below who also experienced the same thing.

But before we give you our top 3, here are some tips on how you can protect yourself against debt collection scams:

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Our weekly Top 3 plus more info on where to Report a Scam

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Before we give you our Most Annoying Numbers for the week, here’s a list of institutions that can help you deal with a scam:

1. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has consumer advisories on international and text message scams.

2. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provides information on phone scams and spam.

3. The National Fraud Information Center (NFIC) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

4. All major U.S. wireless companies can help you with their spam blocking technologies.

And so this week for our top 3, we have a Spanish autodialer with 11 comments and 2085 search requests; we have a spammer looking for k.smith because her debit card has been locked, and lastly, we have our resident caller telling you to claim your Royal Caribbean or Carnival Cruise prize. Remember guys, don’t fall for it!

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Don’t be a victim! Our Top 3 scam clichés for the week

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I remember this Hollywood film Compliance, I couldn’t sleep after watching it. It’s about this prank caller who phoned the manager of a fast food chain and introduced himself as a police officer. He asked the manager to strip search one of her female employees because she allegedly stole something. The manager believed it and followed everything the caller asked her to do. The scam call ended up as a sexual harassment case. This film is based on a true story and apparently, there were over 70 similar incidents that already occurred in 30 U.S. States.

After seeing this movie, you will never again talk to strangers! Yes, we’ve heard that from our mothers when we were kids, but still, this comes in handy every time we face the dangerous world out there.

Based on true accounts of our tellows users, our top three for the week go like this: 1) caller tells you they found your lost debit card and then will ask you to confirm the number to them, the next thing you knew, they’re already using your debit card number for different transactions; 2) scam call pretending to be a representative of Nova Scotia informing you that you just won a free cruise but they first need your bank account details to make sure that they are talking to the right person; 3) another Caribbean spam caller, this time from Montserrat.

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The Tellows Top 3: Holiday Hangover and Nuisance Calls

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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.

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The Tellows Top 3: Calls Making You Cranky This Week!

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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

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(English) The Week’s Top 3 Phone Fiends

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Leider ist der Eintrag nur auf Amerikanisches Englisch verfügbar.

Greetings from tellows HQ!

The seasons may change but nuisance callers are still a nuisance. Here are our picks of the week.

The first batch of crooks in our line-up are calling from 3605391729 posing as Washington State Employees Credit Union (WSECU), informing you that your card has been ‚limited‘ (whatever that means). They don’t send you your whole card number via text, they just include the first four digits, which they are able to guess due to your neighbourhood, apparently. The plan then seems to be that you call back and confirm those all-important card details!

George states:

I got this text message: „WSECU NOTICE: Your CARD (first 4 digits of my debit card #) has been LlMITED. Please call 360-539-1729“ ….. so I’m like, this must be genuine, they have my card details! but I spoke with WSECU and apparently they’re ripping off people by using standard debit card prefixes of certain areas. I guess you’re supposed to confirm your card details when you call them back. BE CAREFUL GUYS!!!

The next caller is not so ingenious – just infuriating. 5129553173 has been reported as harassment calls and is taking it to another level. We’ve heard of aggressive telemarketers but user kirkwork reports:

I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW MANY TIMES THESE IDIOTS HAVE CALLED ME!! It’s like 20 times in 10 minutes! I swear I’m just going to bury my cell in my backyard!

Burying your cell may seem like a viable solution but we do suggest blocking them first.

Last up are these audacious payday loan sharks on 7146023772 hoping to snap up a couple of gullible fish.

Milow says

They called me yesterday evening and told me that I´m was being sued for a 2011 Payday Loan. I can´t believe it. They have a lot of information about me (age, adress, name)

Susan N, meanwhile, was told that

APPARENTLY I could only settle this formal financial issue by purchasing a Green Dot card

Remember, with debt collectors, to wait for formal documentation. Keep calm and don’t forward any money until you are absolutely sure of their identity, particularly if they’re asking you for payment via unorthodox methods like Green Dot cards or obscure transfer companies.

That’s it for this week! Keep a sharp eye and have a super week!

Your tellows team

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(English) Tellows‘ Top 3: The Week’s Gear-Grinders

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Leider ist der Eintrag nur auf Amerikanisches Englisch verfügbar.

Howdy friends of tellows!

We have a mixed bag of callers for you this week; from the serious to just plain outlandish, our ‚wanted‘ list always has contenders jostling for that Most Annoying award.

First up is a scam that’s becoming increasingly popular across the United States: the ‚you got served!‘ call. Calling from LA on 2132609423, this fella’s not got the scam down to a fine art just yet…

User hal_t recounts:

some guy has called me literally EVERY. DAY. for the last two weeks telling me he’s bringing round legal papers and I’m getting ’served‘. not been served yet bro…

There unfortunately are more tenacious tricksters out there, who have successfully convinced US citizens that there is a warrant for their arrest out that they can buy their way out of for a couple of thousand dollars. Now, not only is it not possible to get ’served‘ over the phone, it is highly suspect that somebody would ask you to pay your way out of it without showing you any kind of documentation. Don’t let the fear surprise you out of your senses.

Second on the list, 9164698829, tries a similar tack, though much more aggressively. According to our heatmap, the perpetrators are based in Sacramento, CA, and try to accuse you, under a variety of aliases, of owing huge debts.

flynn099, who received a call from a ‚George Belowski‘, was having none of it…

THREATENED US WITH A YEAR LONG PRISON SENTENCE FOR BANK ISSUES??? REAL HEAVY INDIAN ACCENT, TOLD US HE WAS FILING THE CLAIM IN AN HOUR!!!! MY FINANCES ARE TOTALLY CLEAR, THIS IS A MASSIVE SCAM!

Like flynn, you too should always be suspicious of an unprompted and unjustified phonecalls about your finances.
Last but not least is prankster and presumably Pitt-fan 8137936945, calling from Clearwater, FL. Witty user ‚monkeyingaround‘ could fortunately see the funny side of the call, which cross-referenced more popular culture than your average chain-yanking caller…

‚Tyler Durden‘ called me then proceeded to reference 12 Monkeys. Points for originality but stop pranking me!!!

Well, it takes all sorts folks…

Have a great week and stay cellphone-savvy!

Your tellows team

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