Nuisance calls

caz2703

Hi there. I'm new to the forum so excuse my ignorance if my searching didn't find something obvious.

We have been getting nuisance calls from a withheld number. The first call was last week and this week I've had one phonecall at 9am yesterday and 2 calls today - one this morning and one this afternoon. The first 2 phonecalls I hung up after I realised it was an automated message but today I held on to find out who was calling. The jist of the call is if I'm in debt I can get it all cleared as long as I will appear on Talktime TV. I've done some Google'ing but had no joy trying to figure out who this lot are.

To put this into perspective, I'm on maternity leave with my little one due any time now and these phonecalls are freaking me out. I can't not answer as my husbands work number also shows as withheld and I don't want to turn the phone off while I'm sleeping.

Can anyone advise me what to do? I have the option at the end of the phonecall to press 6 and speak to someone but I'm not sure if this is some dodgy ruse that will result in me being charged for the phonecall.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

jgf52

yeah i'm getting them too, every day since they started on monday. very annoying. i thought they were illegal?

utilitybroker

You can register with TPS http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/tps/ but calls originating from outside UK are not covered.

weddingfairy

hi there, i'm new to the forum, i came accross this post as i was looking for hrlp with the same problem. this last wekk or two we have been getting the same calls, i have been off work this week and they are driving me insane - i get 3 a day one at around 11am - so have just had one - one around 3pm and then one about 7.30pm.last night i went trhough to the person and they asked if i understood the message i had recieved - i told them i did and i have had 7 in 2 days - to which they put the phone down on me. Just now i have had another and again i went through to the operator - tried a more calm approach and asked if i could be removed - the guy said sure no problem - then hung up on me!!!!

i registered with TPS last night but think i am not going to bother answering my phone now which is a pian. can anyone tell me how to stop these before the 28 days that i have to wait for the TPS to kick in????

4Moneysaver

I'm even getting these at work and I'm a Civil Servant. Who are they?

st999

If you are like me, OK I'm retired, at home all day with nothing better to do, wind them up!

The only thing is do not give them your real name or confirm the address. I once had a call from some company selling fascia's and soffits, I basically said yes to everything she said, such as were you interested in doing up your house in the near future. I just made sort of agreeing noises then she hung up. 15 minutes later someone else from the company phoned to book an appointment.

I asked why he thought I was wanting an appointment and he said his colleague said I had agreed to an appointment.

So I said I was just making agreement noises as she sounded so sexy and I just liked to hear her voice. He swore at me and hung up. Never heard from them again.

So just have fun with them.

Stan

Jemma-T

Get caller ID and and an answering machine (or answering service from your phone line supplier) and let it take calls you don't want.

If you had several dodgy looking people at your door everyday I'm sure you'd not answer it.

PlutoinCapricorn

It is all wrong that you need to do anything.

Some of these phonecalls are from legitimate companies who want to sell you something, others are from charity fundraisers. However, if you do some research you will see that many are scams.

There are even scams that ask you to pay not to receive such calls: the TPS is free so don't fall for this.

There are small things that you can do, i.e. give your phone number to as few people as possible. When you do give it to a company, inform them that you do not want your details passed on. If you do take one of these calls from the UK, you can take their company's name and report them to the TPS.

I have seen a gadget on DABS.COM: trueCall nuisance call blocker. I do not know if it really can do what it says it can - further investigation is needed here.

Jemma-T

Anyone phoning you without your permission (except as part of a service like banking or you're expecting the call) is a scammer.

Whether it's a cancer 'charity', new conservatory company or a Nigerian scam -they're all taking advantage of cheap communications and people who don't know how to say f*** off.

Caller ID is the answer. The TPS is not free either. People who can't say no and buy all this crap pay towards the private companies who pay for TPS. I'm on the TPS but I'd rather not be but since there's nothing else I don't have much choice. To be fair it does seem to work.

Liquorice_Twirls

There is a product that asks callers to press a number to continue with the call which would prevent those automated calls getting through but it's not cheap:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Callblocker-Telephone-Call-Screening/dp/B001M4AHQ0

staffie1

Jemma-T wrote: »

Caller ID is the answer. The TPS is not free either. People who can't say no and buy all this crap pay towards the private companies who pay for TPS. I'm on the TPS but I'd rather not be but since there's nothing else I don't have much choice. To be fair it does seem to work.

Caller ID is OK IF the number is not witheld, or not coming through a company's exchange when the number is not displayed.
I like Stan's idea - waste their time as much as they're wasting yours. Afterall they are paying for the call.
Saying "No" is very satisfying too. I never used to be able to be firm with these people, but I am these days. If someone is trying to flog you something you don't want, then you're in charge - tell them where to get off...politely of course