One-Ring Phone Scam on the Rise
concord.bbb.org
concord.bbb.org
You'll be amazed at how spammers operate and how often they succeed. I tried to warn my father about answering unknown numbers, but he was one of the ones stupid enough to fall for the "Microsoft called me to fix my computer" scam. (the only reason it didn't work is that he couldn't figure out their instructions to give them his credit card, but he was trying to) :(
She believed that the indian on the phone was from Microsoft and somehow detected that her computer (and every other computer in the house, including the 27" iMac I bought my mom for mother's day) were infected. They pinched her for $250 bucks per machine ($750 total). Gave them her credit card number. Let them install shit on the machines. Everything.
Even after I called her and explained to her what just happened, she took a ton of persuading to cancel her credit card (I don't even know if she ever did that), because she was STILL worried that despite what I (a software engineer of two decades) told her, it "might still be legitimate".
Also, who calls back numbers they don't recognize? If you're a number I don't recognize and you don't leave a voicemail, then fuck you!
"Doctor."
As a rule, I just don't pick up my phone anymore (it's always in Do Not Disturb mode, the best thing Apple ever implemented).
People I work with know that email is the fastest and best way to get ahold of me. If I really need to have a live talk with someone, we can schedule a time to meet for coffee or talk over Skype. If it's really important (i.e. taxes or something), I figure they'll leave a voicemail (I still listen to those) or that it'll get to me by the mail in some form.
The phone is a completely obsolete communication medium. It's the technological equivalent of jumping behind someone and screaming "Hey I need your attention now, drop everything that you are doing and talk to me". 30 years ago, when only your close friends and family called, the compromise was worth it. In 2014, when most calls are telemarketing BS, it's just outdated.
Web searching phone numbers is not a fun experience.
Any search engine people reading: you might want to investigate this because I can't understand how some of these sites legitimately rise in the rankings.
This scam relies on consumers calling back missed calls, which then connect them to a paid international adult entertainment service, 'chat' line, or other premium service located outside the country.
Victims who return the call are billed a $19.95 international call fee, along with per minute charges for the unwanted "premium service," which can be $9 per minute or more. In some cases, the scammers may only put through a small charge of several dollars, so it won't arouse suspicion.
Calls typically originate from outside the United States. One woman told BBB her caller ID indicated the call originated in Antigua or Barbuda (area code 268). Other consumers across the country report calls from the Dominican Republic (809), Jamaica (876), British Virgin Islands (284) and Grenada (473).
The practice of third parties placing unauthorized charges on wireless accounts is called "cramming." The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have reviewed thousands of complaints about the practice, and expect the problem to grow.
Better Business Bureau recommends if you don't recognize an out-of-state telephone number on your caller ID, ignore it and if you do answer, do not call back. Also you should check your cell phone bills carefully and inform your carrier if you spot any unauthorized charges. The earlier you document the fraud, the better your chances of having some or all of the charges removed.
Sure, this has its fair share of privacy concerns.
It would be a conflict of interest if the postal service said "we hate spam" or something, but they don't, so I don't see the conflict.
• Excessively high monthly fees.
• NSA / PRISM and other forms of surveillance.
• Lack of a "capped service cost" plan (mitigated somewhat by monthly pre-paid service).
• Contracts.
• Lack of built-in call screening. I'd like to be able to 1) classify contacts by group, and 2) specify what group(s) can ring through, at what time(s) and/or locations.
• Visual voicemail by default. Without invoking another data surveillance provider.
• Lack of / painfulness of disabling add-on / additional fee services. My phone is not a marketplace and never fucking will be.
Honestly? I've all but given up on the idea of telephony at all. Give me email (with all its warts) or postal mail. At least the people who want to reach me have to put some effort (and cost) into it. VOIP over computer or tablet should fully replace telco phone service in fairly short order.
This is possible with Google Voice just fyi.
Oh, and I should be able to tell my phone to auto block any number that doesn't have caller id.
• Lack of a "capped service cost" plan (mitigated somewhat by monthly pre-paid service).
What makes this a "somewhat"? Isn't that exactly what pre-paid service gives you?
But, they go even further. That is, they will collect complaints, etc. and give the business a bad rating if the business does not respond using the BBB's system. So, even if the business is legit and has worked earnestly to resolve customer issues, they must add value to the BBB scheme (and thus also reinforce the BBB's perceived "legitimacy"), otherwise risk their own reputation.
In fact, we received our first complaint after several years in business and they opened a "file" on us. We then received threatening letters from the BBB indicating that we had a window in which to respond, else receive a negative rating. Worse, even before we had a chance to respond, they'd already given us a C-minus; citing as the reason that they did not have enough info on our company. Why not a more neutral C? Better still, why not a "no-rating", indicating the actual truth that they'd acknowledged: they didn't yet have enough info to rate us? Why, instead use their qualitative scale to misrepresent us as somehow subpar? Again, they want you to submit more information and respond on their terms, thereby increasing value for them. It's the perfect racket.
Worse, most people think the BBB are the good guys and many actually believe they are government-affiliated. So, they effectively use their own reputation against companies (many of which are lesser known small businesses) to force them to add value to the BBB's own scheme or outright pay them. It really is a racket and should be illegal.
It surprises me why someone would ever call back a long-distance number they didn't recognise. Sure, the Internet has made long-distance communication seem like it doesn't cost any more than local, but that doesn't mean the same rules apply to more traditional phones.
The trick here is that these are numbers that appear to be American but are actually international. That's a whole different level beyond "long distance" and people would generally not call those without checking, but it's not well known that there are certain area codes that are mapped to other countries entirely.
My cell phone account has five numbers from three different area codes in two different (non-adjacent, even) states. Only two of the numbers are from the "right" area code, and even those are "from" a city >150 miles away from where we live.
Thankfully, due to the absence of "long distance", it doesn't matter too much. My cell phone still has a Wisconsin number but nobody cares even though it's not a "local call".
Don't call back strange numbers
Of course, such a thing could only cost carriers revenue, so why would they ever do it....
When applying for jobs, there is nothing more irritating than seeing a missed call, getting excited/anxious, and calling back...a #%*@^ telemarketer. On the flip side, I briefly forget that I am unemployed, since all I think about for the next 5 minutes is inflicting the most sadistic forms of torture on every telemarketer that has ever lived.
Seriously though, googling unknown numbers does help.