I got a text from a number I never saw before, although of course the area code and first three numbers were identical to my cell phone number. The message said, “Sorry, I can’t talk right now.” I suppose I’m supposed to text back or call back. Ummmm – no.
Checking if this is a “live” number.
My favorite spam call…when I looked at my phone, the call was coming from MY phone number…the same one it supposedly was calling.
WTH?
I’ve gotten both of these too, the “Sorry, I can’t talk right now,” and repeated calls with our son’s name and our own phone number on the caller ID.
It’s all creepy. And Congress has to do something. (After they finish everything else.)
In the space of about 2 and a half hours yesterday, I got about 70 calls on my landline. Most hung up without leaving messages, but about 12-15 left messages. In the evening, it slowed to about 2 an hour.
Several have called me again today.
One says she was on the line with customer service, got interrupted and needs to make sure she has the right confirmation number. She called several times yesterday and twice today. She sounds very elderly.
One gives her name and says she’s looking for Angela Miller. She paid $20 to process her grant application. She was supposed to get $3,000 and didn’t get the money though her credit call was charged. In the most recent call she says this is obviously a scam and asks me to call her back day or night.
One says she’s calling from a hospital emergency room. She sounds out of it and says if this isn’t Carl please call her back to let her know.
One said “Is this the hooker service? New York! Whoopee!”
I called Verizon. I was basically told that it can’t do anything about it unless I want to change my phone number. While I was on talking with Verizon, I got several more calls.
Sometimes I literally could not play a new message–I have to do that to delete it–before the phone started ringing again.
Has anyone else had something like this happen?
^^no and I’m sorry you did. That sounds awful.
Another phone scam I read about, they will ring only once. It is a 900 number and if you call back, you get charged. The gov gotta do something.
I have had several phone calls to my cell number from Sierra Leone in the past 24 hours. Fortunately I turn my ringer off at night.
Yeah, I’m getting Sierra Leone calls too, as well as other places. Haven’t answered any but they need to find better things to do!
Yes, I got the Sierra Leone calls in the past week too.
@jonri, my mom has something on her landline that requires you to push a number to verify you aren’t a telemarketer before it puts the call through. I’d see if that type of service is available because that’s just crazy. (I don’t think it works for cell phones but not 100% sure.)
Well, calling back can have you connected to an expensive call center that will tack a lot of charges to your phone bill!
@suzy100, my brother has something similar. It’s a bit of a pain as a caller but, with the uptick in these scam calls, I get it.
What exactly do you expect the gov’t to do about this? It is already illegal. The tools to spoof numbers are free.
Wow, @jonri, thats terrible!! This is why I keep a landline. 99% of the spam calls go to that # which. I only answer if I recognize the 3 people who call on that #. Lately the landline has been getting multiple spam calls a day… in Chinese!!
@jonri I wonder if someone is ‘using’ your number for Caller ID and that’s why everyone is calling back to your number?. It just seems weird you are getting callers that think they are actually calling someone with all kinds of different messages. I’m not sure what the scam is. Sounds like calls are getting routed to your phone number erroneously?
Or maybe someone could explain the scam to me?
@coralbrook, that was my first thought. I asked Verizon about that and said if anyone complains it can tell whether or not I actually made the calls.
I’ve no way of knowing what the point of the scam is. My kid thinks it’s one of those schemes where I’ll be charged an arm and leg if I do call back. .
I actually posted when I saw this thread hoping someone else might have had the experience.
The thing is…I might have called back if there hadn’t been so many of the calls. But the fact that a few of them didn’t claim they were calling me back makes me think my number is not being spoofed. The woman from the emergency room (area code is Phoenix, Az) didn’t claim I’d called her. Neither did the “I was talking to a customer service rep and got cut off” woman.
I only got a few of the calls today. Here’s hoping they give up soon!
DH has been getting multiple Sierra Leone phone calls to his cell, at all hours of the day/night. I have RoboKiller and it has blocked them.
I get tons of spam calls from my area code and my same 3 digit prefix. I no longer bother to answer them as it is apparently an attempt to fool you into believing it is a “local” call and a person would be more likely to answer/reply. I don’t know anyone with the same 3 digit cell prefix as me, but if it were a match to a prefix from my tiny home town I might be tempted.