Phone number shows as local but it's from S.Africa

JIL

I have just had a call on my mobile it showed as a local number, my area code plus a very plausible number. So I answered it.

It was a marketing call, are you still living at xx xx which is my address. They understood I was due some compensation, which I'm not.
I asked where I was being called from. The answer was South Africa. But they are registered in the UK.

I cannot understand how the company can get away with this. Lots of people will answer the phone showing a local number.

Anyone else had this?

John_Gray

JIL wrote: »

I cannot understand how the company can get away with this.

If something is technically feasible and not legally prevented, then someone will do it. Being outside the UK usually means that our laws do not apply...

teddysmum

You can have these calls form numbers like 999999 and your own number (as happened here).

Johnmcl7

Yes, it's quite normal for international call centres to appear to call from local numbers as people are understandably more likely to answer them.

John

Owain_Moneysaver

The Caller ID may be genuine, and the caller has purchased a UK number in your local area - it's quite common for marketing agencies to buy banks of numbers from all over the UK. People are more likely to answer a local call (debt collection agencies do this a lot).

or the Caller ID may have been spoofed and is completely unreliable.

TadleyBaggie

VOIP can be used to make an international appear to come from a national number.