Author Archives: Jessica Braasch

About Jessica Braasch

Since 2015 in the tellows team with a focus on Business Development and Marketing. My passion is analyzing marketing strategies and perfecting content. I present the developments of tellows as well as trends related to telephone fraud on the blog. Contact

French University Project with tellows API

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Dear tellows fellows,

tellows is versatile and the tellows data can be used for different systems. We developed an API that suits all kinds of projects and allows you to access the database and use the number details as preferred.

Today, we want to introduce a student project from the UPMC University in Paris, which was realized with the help of the tellows API.
For the students, the task was to build an Android App with an API. The idea was to develop a caller ID that identifies French numbers and shows whether a number is dangerous or trustworthy. With the help of our API, they managed to build the App in just a few weeks. As soon as a call comes in, it shows the respective tellows score that indicates if the number is dangerous or not. Opening the app, it will show a list of all recently received calls. Furthermore, it displays the number, score and country.

The final result was presented within the class and turned out successful. We are happy that we could be part of it and help to realize the project. However, a publication of the application is not possible.

screenshot appscreenshot app opened

tellows is happy to collaborate with companies and developers to create projects for commercial or research purposes. The collaborations are broad. For example, we have been working together with an organization but also with other Apps

If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment.

If you need more information about our API, please visit this website.

Your tellows team

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tellows App for iPhone – New Login Feature and Personal Blacklist

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Dear tellows fellows,

We have good news! A new tellows iPhone version  for “tellows Caller ID & Blocker” is available in the App store: 1.4.0! The app works for all devices using iOS 10 or higher.

Version 1.4.0 comes with an improved protection from unwanted phone calls, thanks to some new features. You have the ability to log in to your own tellows account and easily access it from multiple devices. You can also edit your account settings and posted comments, when you log in to tellows in the web browser.

Additionally, you can now create your personal blacklist and add unwanted numbers that are not yet rated or don’t appear in the blacklist. If you rate a number negatively, it will be added to your personal blacklist and will be blocked the next time you receive a call. Even if the overall rating assigned by other tellows users of the phone number is different, it will still be blocked. You must be logged in to use this feature and synchronize your personal blacklist with your device. You can use your one personal blacklist across all devices and tellows products.
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tellows API for programmers – Protection from Nuisance Calls (e.g. with Asterisk)

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We have now created an API (live interface to tellows), which allows you to integrate the information about a number into your own programs. The API is mainly for programmers who want to access the data base of tellows.
An example application is the integration into a Asterisk telephone system, in order to process the score of numbers and respond accordingly.

For a detailed look at the tellows API with all available parameters, see our documentation: tellows API Documentation

If you are interested in an individual solution for your company, you can join our partner program: tellows API – Partnership Program

Response of the API via test access: https://www.tellows.co.uk/basic/num/08003289393?xml=1&partner=test&apikey=test123

Parameters in the URL
xml: 1 = XML output; 0 = HTML formatted output
partner: Partner login will be given by us on request
apikey: key for partner login and is also given on request
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The tellows app for Android and iPhone – Avoid Spam and Scam Calls with our Caller Identification

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You can now access real-time information about your incoming calls to learn more about the caller – whether it’s a trustworthy friend or an annoying telemarketer. Once your phone rings the tellows app will tell you the trustworthiness of the caller. Share you experience about the number by commenting on the caller’s phone numbers, thus warning your fellows tellows users against probable dangers.

The only requirement is of course, aside from internet access, an Android Smartphone or an iPhone.
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A Call for Reform: Empower Regulators to Fine More Companies as Nuisance Callers

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Three years since UK’s Information Communication Office has been given the power to impose a fine of up to £500,000, only two firms have been prosecuted so far. This is the situation despite the staggering increase in the number of complaints received between April and October last year, totalling to 100,000 – a far cry from the 30,000 reports in 2012.

One of these companies is First Financial, which was fined £175,000 after sending millions of spam texts to promote its website using unregistered sim cards.

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Who’s Terrorising Your Telephone? The Weekly Top 3

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Small woodland creatures may be settling down for a winter’s rest but scam and spam callers have no intention of taking a break.

Here’s the latest in annoying:

The opportunists calling from 01612778191 have somehow tracked down your personal details and know you’re on a Vodafone Pay As You Go phone – and naturally they want to upgrade you. However, user lizzie claims that they are not Vodafone at all…

Vodafone have confirmed this company is not working on their behalf but cannot answer me as to how this company knows my monthly payment plan on PAYG

Beware of telemarketers and always always confirm that the caller is legitimate before signing up to anything or handing over any personal or financial details!

Meanwhile, 02070591411 are hailing users with survey requests. We’ve never heard of anything more general than a ‘Life Survey’ but I suppose you have to cater to all audiences. They also promise that Holy Grail of ‘no more nuisance calls’ if you complete the survey. Most amusing.

User +Alzir has been getting creative, but to no avail.

Five times in a week,I’ve tried everything from playing them music to swearing at them and they still won’t give up.

Finally, we have 08445715199, an example of the current plethora of spam-text-requests plaguing mobile phone users. You’ll get a text telling you that somebody has tried to contact you (despite a mysterious lack of missed calls in your history – oh well, you suppose, perhaps I was on the phone at the time). They demand that you ‘URGENTLY’ call them back, quoting a 6 digit reference number. Rest assured that hundreds of other people will have received exactly the same reference number and you will simply be put on premium-rate hold.

Handlebarchap fancies himself one step of the game…

text from 07463590467: ‘call us back on 08445715199 and quote this reference number’. DO THEY THINK I’M STUPID?? Wish these idiots would stop pestering me with their transparent con schemes!!

However, these texts can be quite convincing to the uncynical eye so we’re giving you all a heads-up nonetheless.

Don’t say we haven’t warned you.

Have a lovely week, watch your (digital) back and we’ll be back with next week’s top three!

Ciao for now.

Your tellows team

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This Week’s Most Wanted

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Dear friends of tellows,

This week we have numbers from legal debt collectors, a consumer helpline and a call centre, for your entertainment. Personal information and loans seem to be of equal worth to both debt collectors and call centres, and they pursue them with all their might, turning a deaf ear to any protest!

1. 08433770317 with 4 comments and 3368 search requests. tellows Score: 7
2. 08445766235 with 4 comments and 2756 search requests. tellows Score: 8
3. 08000524264 with 3 comments and 1732 search requests. tellows Score: 7

The first number is 08433770317 and the owner seems to be Drydens Fairfax solicitors, who work for HMRC. They play the part of debt collectors, calling people who still have open payments to their name. The trouble is that the Drydens Fairfax solicitors are a bit behind the times: they’re also calling people whose debts have already been paid.

They work for HMRC and collect overdue payments but I already told them that I payed everything months ago. Maybe they don’t work closely with the HMRC but I suggest they should, otherwise they just scare away the people and also harm HMRCs reputation…

The second number 08445766235 belongs to the Consumer Helpline and it’s not quite clear why they’re calling but it’s fairly safe to assume that they’re hoping to collect some of your personal information during the call.

They called me repeatedly and at some point i just answered and although I didn’t really understood what they wanted, they started asking for my personal information. At that point I clearly told them that I’m not gonna reveal any of it. They hung up. Better for them

And the third number 08000524264 belongs to a call centre which works with different insurance companies (like Admiral, Bell and Elephant) and in one case, the caller introduced himself as O2. You can always ask them to remove your number from their books and hope for the best.

No info left on answerphone-repetitive calls/hangups.
Contacted call centre company ‘CALL CONNECTION’who said it may belong to Admiral Insurance Group-I had a quote from this company and specifically told them ‘NO PHONE CALLS’
CALL CONNECTION call centre have now said they will remove my number from their DATA BANK

If you’re getting nuisance calls like these, please don’t hesitate to share your knowledge on tellows! It really can help other users spot a nuisance caller a mile off, saving all of you a lot of time and energy.

Have a nice weekend!

Your tellows team

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Our Top 3 Wanted Numbers this week

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Dear friends of tellows,

This week’s numbers aren’t all suspect… just the majority of them. Some of them do actually have a legitimate reason for calling you and get in touch because it’s important. Nevertheless, always be on the alert for scammers posing as legitimate companies. Just remember that these companies will never ask you for your details – particularly not on the phone!

1. 08000285085 with 3 comments and 2745 search requests. tellows Score: 7
2. 08445550800 with 3 comments and 1547 search requests. tellows Score: 6
3. 01482359200 with 3 comments and 1316 search requests. tellows Score: 8

The first number 08000285085 is from British Telecoms and is a free-call service. You can’t call them back (or at least you won’t get anywhere if you do). You’ll come to a recorded message informing you that they’ll call you back later.

It’s BT and you can call them back but that won’t help much because then you’ll just receive an automated response that they tried to call you and they’ll call again later. with a cellphone there will be a charge and that’s it. It is kind of annoying to not be able to call them back.

The second number 08445550800 is supposedly a premium rate service from Barclaycard – although as you’ll see from our comments, you can’t be completely sure about that. Some user comments imply that fraudsters might also be using this number.

I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of calls I got from this number and from “Barclaycard”. It confuses me because I don’t have any business with them. I’ve never had. So why the calls? Then I had to give up and pick up the phone again, and listen to their story, again, and I told them AGAIN that I don’t know the person with that name. I’m sorry but I just don’t. Someday I went to Barclaycard and wanted to clear this up, whatever this was and here comes the surprise: I’m not in their database! Well, of course I’m not. like I said, I don’t have any connection with this company. Sooo that means that either some scammers called me with the lie of being Barclaycard, or Barclaycard and the scammers alternated their calls to me.

And finally the third number 01482359200 from Hull is a debt collection company, but apparently not a trustworthy one. They call you years later to inform you about a loan, which you supposedly took out. We get some clues as to the legitimacy of this claim in the user comments. Scam or a genuine misunderstanding?!

That call was weird. I was informed that years ago I took out a loan for my house with my husband. How he could say that straight out, without hesitation although my voice was obviously male, I don’t understand. I’m not married and I don’t own a house so this is kind of funny.

This week’s numbers once again go to show that you should share your experience with the tellows community, even if it’s just because you thought the call was funny! Sharing information about these different numbers can protect others too.
Have a great week!

Your tellows team

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Unsolicited Telephone Calls: The Top 5 Nuisance Callers of the Week

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Dear friends of tellows,

with another week coming to an end, we have another set of spam and scam numbers that have kept you and your phone lines busy throughout the past seven days. With a few new entries, this week’s list is composed of a mix of the usual suspects and newcomers. Let’s have a look:

1. 08000641087 with 9 comments and 9774 search requests. tellows Score: 6
2. 01143072000 with 15 comments and 8300 search requests. tellows Score: 7
3. 01482489200 with 4 comments and 1153 search requests. tellows Score: 8
4. 02392386688 with 3 comments and 1731 search requests. tellows Score: 6
5. 01625538490 with 8 comments and 6595 search requests. tellows Score: 8

Our first place this week, number 08000641087, is known to users on our Polish and German sites as well and has become a frequent guest on our list. Most of our users complained about having received several missed calls without any voicemessage left from the number. Additionally, user EVE reported that you can’t return the calls:

This number has rung my mother several times over the past few days,no ideas who its from because theres no message and you cant ring it back.

The second number today is 01143072000 calling from Sheffield. In spite of numerous comments and search requests on tellows, this week’s entry marks only its second appearance on our list. Even though the number with a tellows score of 7 is deemed rather untrustworthy by our users, its authenticity is highly debated. Whereas some reported a telephone provider behind the calls, others questioned the legitimacy of the calls due to the fact that they were also contacted abroad in the US and Turkey, for instance. User Buck commented:

The number called me.. No message left for me. Previous calls from same number that I won’t answer. Calls day and night. Good number search shows me where the call is made from, the location to the nearest 25 metres. Guess what, I am in Sheffield next week on business. Will be nice to meet the person won’t it.

Calling from Hull, the number 01482489200 ranks on our third place this week and is a newcomer to the list. Often allocated to a well-known telecommunications service provider in the UK, most have reported calls from the number as telemarketing and aggressive advertising. Additionally, most users questioned the authenticity of the calls like Petunia 70:

I said i didn’t know whether he was really from Talk Talk and asked his name. He asked for my name,address and birth-date. I said I would check with Talk Talk and ring him back.He rang off.

Another newcomer to our list, number four 02392386688 makes calls from Southhampton – the nature of which are rather disputed among users. While some regarded continuous calls from this number as nuisance, user L Scard rated the number as trustworthy, commenting:

got call from this number it was from spectrum housing group telling me when my job would be done,nothing horrible no sales talk just spectrum.

Finally, number 01625538490 from Macclesfield ranks as yet another newcomer on our fifth place this week. According to our users, the caller offers services to reclaim PPI for loans and credit cards. Most users have doubts regarding the legitimacy of the calls.

If you have recently received any calls from an unknown number that seem untrustworthy or dubious, do not hesitate to share your experiences on tellows.co.uk and help raise awareness about telephone spam and scam numbers. Have a nice weekend!

Your tellows team

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