nuisance phone calls

soolin

I'm registered with the TPS and I am ex directory and I rarely ever give out the home number and for years I have not had any cold calls or sales telephone calls.

Now I am suddenly plagued with those awful recorded messages telling me I have won a holiday, or a cruise, or a chance to win an aparment in Florida (it varies) and if I press 9 I can talk to someone about how to claim my prize.

Why am I suddenly getting these calls, 6 or 7 a day as they are driving me crazy and I understand I can't stop them as they almost certainly originate from outside the UK.

Will they just get bored and go awya or am I stuck with them now?

Oh, and just in case anyone is worried..no I am not actually responding to the calls in any way, I just hang up.

KILL_BILL

the tps service is okay but cant stop call that originate from overseas etc which these type of calls do

marleyboy

Sounds like somebody has either passed you details on (spite), or you have inadvertantly been added to another database for these cowboys.

Paparika

Oh i get those, as soon as i get the recorded message or any call thats unwarranted i put the phone to one side to let them carry on.


3G were spamming me a few months back on the phone, so i said to them each time, 'hold on i'll just get my dad' and put the phone to one side.

They stopped now :beer:

davidlizard

We are with the TPS, and in recent months I have noticed a change in attitudes of the callers when I tell them we are TPS registered - we get around half a dozen unwanted calls a month.

A couple of years back, they would almost always apologise and end the call. Nowadays, a significant minority seem to not give a fig, and carry on their sales pitch regardless. One of them said there is no chance of being prosecuted - indeed Wikipedia indicates that there have been zero prosecutions to date, so it looks like another piece of toothless legislation, and the less reputable sales people are starting to realise this.

I have wondered if it is possible to register one of those premium rate phone lines free of charge (and split the proceeds with the provider), and if anyone wants to call me, then they do it on this 090 number and pay £1.50/minute for the privelege. I could give my number out to all and sundry, and keep them talking for as long as possible whilst I rack up the money. I will give the 090 number on everything, and only a few trusted friends will have my real number. I am sure this won't work as others would have done it, but why won't it?

vikingaero

TPS and Ofcom/Oftel can't do anything about international junk calls. These Florida prizes involve you paying a fee for taxes and admin :rolleyes: so they are't a free prize.

These spammers use autodiallers which randomly selects numbers. Best bet is not to speak into the phone and keep the call online as long as possible to hopefully max out their phone bill. I do get tempted sometimes to press 9 and ask the operator all sorts of time consuming banal questions.

[Deleted User]

I was shocked to discover that councils sell our details. So if you are registered for council tax or have registered to vote there is a distinct probability that this info will be sold to various companies.

MothballsWallet

Yes, councils sell our details off the electoral register for a few pennies each, but the new edited register means that they shouldn't be able to sell your details if you opt onto that (although banks, CC companies, employers can still check you're on it).

maninthestreet

Just about every day for the last 2 weeks I've come home to find a missed call logged on my home phone. I've got caller id, and the phone number is shown as 'International - Out of Area'. Wonder if it's the same sort of call as the OP is getting?

soolin

maninthestreet wrote: »

Just about every day for the last 2 weeks I've come home to find a missed call logged on my home phone. I've got caller id, and the phone number is shown as 'International - Out of Area'. Wonder if it's the same sort of call as the OP is getting?

I am sure mine are overseas and they phone at quite random times from early in the morning to 'lateish' at night.

I just wondered what had changed suddenly for me to start getting so many..I almost wish they were proper sales calls so I could waste a bit of time with them, but these recorded messages mean you can't even shout at them or talk waffle at them as they just hang up automatically after 30 seconds if you don't push number 9.

I'd love a real live salesman though..I could try and sell him some books or something in return!

hollydays

MothballsWallet wrote: »

Yes, councils sell our details off the electoral register for a few pennies each, but the new edited register means that they shouldn't be able to sell your details if you opt onto that (although banks, CC companies, employers can still check you're on it).

You have got that the wrong way round.The edited register is the one you should opt OUT of if you don't want your details sold on.
Make sure your other half know this too as they might fill it in for you,unknowingly. Our voter registration form just arived and and says now you must also ask each person named on the form if they want to opt out of the edited register,but some people don't read through forms before they sign them.