I have just received a call from this number https://who-called.co.uk/Number/02086386494.
As you can see it has been reported umpteen times. I have a last caller barring and reporting service, I just wonder why this number is still operating? Why does any scam number last more than an an hour or two?
I understand the argument against is that they may be blocking legitimate businesses, but it works fine with spamhaus and the like, if your business gets blocked accidentally you can sort it out with them.

My phone displays “suspected spam caller” or something like that for some numbers and it is always spam. I suspect there is a setting somewhere to auto reject those numbers but I’ve not looked

I reckon it’s a capacity issue.

Too many numbers to block, and genuine calls may get blocked too.

But that instance really should be picked up as it’s both traceable and has history of spam calls attached to it.

And yes, then the regulator should get involved.

It might be counter productive for telcos to block them, as it’s apparently quite easy to forge the number the call is from. If they’re blocked centrally, they’ll use a different number which consumer level blocks won’t recognise. Spamhaus blocks email on sender IP addresses which are harder to forge.

It might be counter productive for telcos to block them, as it’s apparently quite easy to forge the number the call is from

I can see that would apply to blocking on your actual phone or device, but it blows my mind that the telco do not know what actual number is using their network.

I find genuine callers will leave a message so I can call them back and I only answer non recognised numbers if I’m expecting a call or a delivery etc.

I’ve just read this, seems it is possible. Blimey.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID_spoofing

My phone displays “suspected spam caller” or something like that for some numbers and it is always spam.

It isn’t always spam at all!

And that service is a total pain in the arse to deal with if your numbers end up incorrectly listed.

We had existing customers, and new customers who had requested calls via our website, not picking up calls for months until we managed to get it sorted and get correctly listed.

I can’t believe the tchnology doesn’t exist to do this successfully.

I always assumed it was because the phone companies make money out of it somehow and money trumps everything.

I always assumed it was because the phone companies make money out of it somehow and money trumps everything.

The cynic part of me agrees.

The telco gets paid to connect the call whether the person making the call is a saint or a crook. What’s their motivation to deny a service to someone who’s paying for it for the convenience of someone who isn’t?

I think its a real shame that any facilities a telco does offer to protect yourself from scam calls are all ones the receipient has to pay extra for. Its difficult to see how thats not a form extortion really. “If we can’t get the money from the crooks we’ll have to take if from you.”

We have to pay Virgin protection money on top of the line rental and call costs to (partially) stop my vulnerable mum from receiving calls from scammers. So she’s getting scammed anyway.

Yup, I got a call from https://who-called.co.uk/Number/03002003300 yesterday.

Genuine HMRC number spoofed by spammers.

Now blacklisted on my mobile, but blacklisted numbers just go to my voicemail rather than totally blocked. That seems good enough to put the scammers off after the first call goes to voicemail.

I never answer unknown numbers, and Google them afterwards. they can leave a message if it’s important.

Also don’t have a house phone anymore, there’s simply no point in this day and age, and the only people who ever called my land line when I did have one, were, you guessed it, spammers!

Also don’t have a house phone anymore, there’s simply no point in this day and age,

For some people its a lifeline sadly.

there’s simply no point in this day and age

Surely that depends on where you live?

We simply unplugged our house phone. It got too much.

As more people do that, maybe the Telcos will realise they’re losing business.

It annoys the hell out of me – about once a month I get a call from a Liverpool or Birmingham number, I pick up and reply, there’s a short gap then the same rather smug youngish woman’s voice says “Hello?” I know this to be a computer now so I’ve stopped picking up any call from any number I don’t know – if they are genuine they can leave a message and I’ll call them back.

I think its a real shame that any facilities a telco does offer to protect yourself from scam calls are all ones the receipient has to pay extra for.

The TalkTalk one is free. Any new callers are asked their name, and when you pick up you’re told the name and have to option to whitelist, connect this time only or blacklist. The spammers usually drop the call when asked to give a name.

Straight after the call dial 1572 and then choose option 1.

Also, if you’re getting calls from Indian people, or an automated American voice, saying that your machine has been hacked. It may well have been because you’re using a dodgy version of Windows and it’s acting as a botnet. How they resolve your IP address to your telephone number I don’t know.

To be honest I wouldn’t recommend using Windows at all.

How they resolve your IP address to your telephone number I don’t know.

It’s Unicorn magic FFS

if you’re getting calls from Indian people, or an automated American voice, saying that your machine has been hacked. It may well have been because you’re using a dodgy version of Windows and it’s acting as a botnet

It’s more likely they’ve dialled your number at random. I know several people who’ve had those calls and don’t use Windows. If they’d actually managed to hack your machine and install a botnet they’d prefer you not to know about it.

It might be counter productive for telcos to block them, as it’s apparently quite easy to forge the number the call is from.

This is “as I understand it” and could be wildly wrong, but:

There’s two caller ID idents on a call. The CLI you see is a “presentation” number, it’s easy to withhold (with the prefix 141 in the UK) and trivial to spoof. Surprisingly perhaps, it’s not illegal in and of itself (so long as you own the number you’re spoofing)- corporates do this all the time, for example to switch between having employees’ DDI numbers presententing their DDI or the main switchboard number. Point of note here is that when you withhold a number it still gets sent, only with a flag set to say “do not display.” It’s down to the receiving end to honour this flag – this is why if where to dial say the emergency services they’ll still see your number if you tried to withhold it, they have special equipment which ignores the flag. (Either that or the next paragraph applies here anyway, I’m not 100% certain.)

There’s also an “engineering” CLI. This is always sent, and AFAIK much harder to spoof. So it’s simple to forge CLIs at an end user level but the telcos should still be able to see the real number.

I think, anyway. I’ll see if I can get clarification from a higher authority, my boss is an old-school phreaker and may know more than I do.

Also, if you’re getting calls from Indian people, or an automated American voice, saying that your machine has been hacked. It may well have been because you’re using a dodgy version of Windows and it’s acting as a botnet. How they resolve your IP address to your telephone number I don’t know.

To be honest I wouldn’t recommend using Windows at all.

That’s abject nonsense I’m afraid. The “Microsoft support” scammers just wardial phone numbers, they’ve no idea what OS you’re using let alone any specifics such as your IP address. My mum gets them and she doesn’t have a computer.

See also the “our records show that you’ve been in an accident recently that wasn’t your fault, is that correct?” brigade. They’re chancers.

“The TalkTalk one is free”

TalkTalk is a bit of a special case though, on account of them having lost their customer phone numbers.

Oof!

Cougar – thanks, if you are correct then there is no excuse for them not to block the spammers.

We unplugged the land line as well, for the same reason.

Teleco’s inability or unwillingness to do anything about this is why my land line just has a recording of me saying “Hello? Hello? Could you speak up please? You are still very faint. Mother, if you can hear me, turn the phone the right way up. Oh, Sorry, I forgot, the reason I cannot hear you is beacuse this is an answer machine message, please a message after the tone.”

Talk Talk’s Call Safe has been working well for me. Approved all the numbers that I know that are likely to phone me, they get straight through. Screen the ones that phone that I don’t know. If they’re spam, add them to the blocked list. Haven’t had an automated spam, ambulance chaser or boiler renewal call in months.

We unplugged the land line as well, for the same reason.

My landline died a couple of years ago. The only time it rang was my mother, PPI parasites and ambulance chasers. I never bothered to call Sky to have them fix it.

I’ve not had a landline plugged in for 15+ years. On my mobile I don’t answer calls from any number not in my contacts, if it’s important they’ll leave a message (they never do)