Tag Archives: [:de]telephone[:en]telephone fraud[:zh]telephone[:]

The 7 biggest myths about telephone scam and Co.

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Dear tellows-fellows,

Superficial knowledge can be dangerous, we all know that. In terms of telephone advertising and fraud, it can cost you a lot of money and nerves! Therefore, today we present you the most common myths regarding telephone advertising, telephone fraud and possible manipulations on tellows and clearify them.

money transfer

1. Telephone scam only affects older people

As soon as one hears of telephone scam, one has more in mind the 93-year-old Mary-Ann, who was tricked by fraudsters, than the 26-year-old computer science student Stella. The fact is: Fraudsters often try to scam older target groups since they tend to be less careful and easier to be fooled. They are not always informed about the latest phone scam tricks, so a call from an alleged family member or the bank employee can turn into a costly trap.

However, this does not mean that everyone else can think themselves safe. Since there are many types of fraud, the victims differ. There are even tricks that mainly lead to success for the fraudsters among younger people. Such an example would be the Microsoft support scam, which targets access to sensitive data from their victims on the phone. According to Microsoft, this stitch is particularly successful in the age group of 18 to 34 years.

2. As long as I don’t give out any data about myself, I can’t lose any money

Unfortunately, this is also a misconception. It is true that you should never reveal your data on the phone, but there are other ways to get your money. Ping calls pose a great risk here. In this case, the fraudsters ring only a few seconds to provoke a recall. If this is done, a high fee will be charged, as the numbers are often foreign and you will be drawn into a waiting loop that can cost you a lot of money per minute.
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The Bank Transfer Scam

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Dear tellows friends,

Bank transfer fraud happens more often than you can imagine. Fraudsters imitate various offial organisations, including banks, to persuade you to move money out of your account and into their hands.

Scammers use manipulative methods to panic real people into handing over their money and details. Perhaps you receive a call or text telling you that your account has been ‘compromised’ and you need to move your money somewhere ‘secure’. Maybe you have to click a link inside a text message or email and log in to your online banking account to stop a transaction. Of course such messages are more often than not fraudulent, but they can look very realistic. Links in text messages may take you to a spoofed albeit realistic version of your bank’s website, making the fraud almost more believable.

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Who do fraudsters target and why do we get caught out?

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Hello tellows friends,

For our blog this week, we thought it would be fun to do something different and give you a more general report about who fraudsters target and why we fall for scams.

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Scam calls on the increase, nuisance calls in decline

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Hello tellows friends,

Have you received fewer nuisance calls lately? Research by Ofcom would suggest so.

According to this Ofcom research, fewer nuisance calls are being made to UK landlines. So we can all breathe a sigh of relief, right? No, unfortunately not. Scam calls are still on the rise, and they now account for a much larger proportion of the nuisance calls received.

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New update from our Android app

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Dear tellows users,

Today we would like to talk about the new features of our Android app!

Since 2014, the year we launched it, our app has grown: we have moved to over 450,000 downloads, more than 6,400 evaluations and 200,000 subscribers. Every day we work hard to improve it and your advice and feedbacks have been fundamental.

Functionality at a glance

  • Immediately identify who is calling you:

We have improved Caller ID, so that the spam numbers are immediately detected through the tellows app; the tellows score will be always shown on the screen of our mobile phone and, in addition to the rating, you will also be able to find out the name of the caller, the type of call and from which location it phones. You will have all the information you need, so you can decide whether or not to answer calls!

  • Find any number and info on callers:

With over 180.000 reviews per day, you can find out who is bothering you in no time. Thanks to your reports, our database is constantly updated and over time it has become a big world family. New countries and new languages ​​are available in the application, no scammers or call centers around the globe will have a chance!

  • Evaluate and comment on phone numbers:

Commenting and evaluating is now easier and more immediate, in order that you can help us in our mission against telephone scams; just connect to your account and enter in the tellows world from all devices in a simple and free way. It is not required to leave a comment anymore when rating a number which makes it faster to evaluate unknown numbers. Your negative rated numbers are also on your personalized blacklist and can be blocked with premium.

  • Call barring and Blacklist customized with Premium:

In the Premium version, all dangerous numbers rated by you, are saved on your phone and can be blocked even in offline mode. All is possible thanks to the black list stored and updated locally and also use it without any advertising.

We could not be more proud of our product, but without your support and the trust that you give us every day, we would not have made the giant steps we have taken so far: you, our community tellows, are the beating heart of our app!

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What are Brexit phone scams?

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Dear readers,

This time tellows would like to share some insights about the impact of the Brexit on phone scams and unwanted calls. As we are all concerned, the Brexit is not only a frustrating process, but besides its own complexity and influences, there is also a very annoying side effect – the Brexit scams. Phone frauds are not strange to us, there are many fraudsters in the UK and we often read news about phone scams. However, Brexit is making it worse by providing these scammers more ways to deceive people. Let’s take a look at the latest four Brexit phone scams.

brexit
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez and Kevin Grieve on Unsplash

Getting to know the Brexit scams

HMRC Brexit scams

Do you own a business and trade with the EU? If yes, then lets assume you have been told by the government that you have to register for a ‘UK trader number’. Scammers will try to reach you through email, text message or over the phone, and ask for your personal details such as bank account details, internet banking password or offering you a tax refund in exchange for personal or financial details.
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It’s here! The brand new version of the tellows app for iPhone is finally available – and it’s on offer for the festive season!

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Hello loyal tellows members!

Our online community continues to grow and thanks to your input, the number of caller profiles we have in our database is rising; the total now stands at over 75,000! With this breadth of information, recognising callers is getting that bit easier every day, meaning you can protect yourself more and more easily against telephone tricksters. Hundreds of thousands of people are harassed by spam callers every day – the tellows app gives you the info you need to avoid this kind of annoyance.

Christmas Special!

Unwanted call statistics skyrocket in the festive season, quite probably because the callers are hoping that purse strings will be tied a little more loosely in the Yuletide spirit. Tele-spammers are looking for goodwill and gullibility. Fight back with the app! From now until Christmas Day, we’re offering the tellows app for £0.69 (a 60% discount!) in the App Store. Think of it as a Christmas present, from us to you.

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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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Ofcom Rallies Troops in War on Caller ID Spoofing

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21st October 2013 brought good news for all phone-owners as British regulator Ofcom joined forces with international regulators in the UK, USA and Canada to crack down on ‘spoof’ callers.

Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will be working with the US’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Canada’s Competition Bureau and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). This new task force aims to share international resources and knowledge to tackle nuisance callers’ stranglehold over phonelines the world over.

Spoof calling, for those unfamiliar with the term, involves using a nifty bit of software to mask the number you’re actually calling from, in order to prevent the recipients of your calls being able to locate you, or call you back. This is of course, infuriating for those of us badgered incessantly by anonymous callers. What’s even more infuriating is that whilst some spoofers use gobbledegook numbers instead of their own, others have really taken the biscuit and tactically use well-known organisations’ digits to execute some quite remarkable conning manoeuvres.

Whilst spoofing has been happening for years, the people behind it are becoming ever more audacious. Regular spoofing will be something along the lines of what user Steven reports about number 01164465587:

SILENT CALL and if you try and call it back it is unrecognised. Looks like a scam or a spoof. The BT 1471 read this number correctly but it is duff.

Commenting on number 01618149908, user Dawn mentions another standard spoofing tactic: hiding a phone number with a bad reputation and using an as yet ‘clean’ one so you aren’t forewarned when the phone rings.

just so people know,,,,DRD ALSO CONTACT YOU USING THIS NUMBER ,,,,07734953850,, i have found out that this is a “SPOOF” number they are used by tele marketing to make them seem legitimate number calling you 

If you’ve been called by 000-000-0000 (or another unlikely-looking number), it’s highly probable that the caller was using spoofing technology. Difficulty in tracking down spoofing culprits is increased thousandfold by the fact that the origin of the call is completely untraceable. Without an area code, there is generally no way of discerning where or who a call has come from. This means that internationally-placed spoof calls are becoming increasingly common: hence the transatlantic team-up.

The joint statement from the six organisations, published on the ICO’s website, avers that they

will work together to share information and target organizations responsible for spoofing.

The member organisations will pool resources, share information and work in collaboration with telecommunications industries in their respective countries to target and reprimand offending organisations. Guidelines on what constitutes ‘misuse’ of the spoofing technique are also being reconsidered, revised and made much clearer, with a view to introducing tougher punitive measures: monetary penalties of up to £500,000 are being considered for foul-players.

In the UK, US and Canada, all telemarketers are legally obliged to identify themselves, meaning that spoofing, and also number-concealment, are against the law. Always be on your guard with unknown callers and watch out for the warning signs: are they trying to weasel information out of you, personal or otherwise? If they claim to be calling on behalf of a service you use, ask yourself if this is how they normally contact you. Try to call back on the official company number if you’re in any doubt at all and never respond to threats or implausible claims.

Take care and have a great week!

Your tellows team

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When a Stranger Calls: The Top 5 Most Annoying Numbers of the Week

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Dear friends of tellows,

as autumn settles in and leaves start to change their color, unfortunately, some things remain the same. Not a day passes by without users reporting unwanted nuisance calls on tellows. The most searched numbers this week include the following:

1. 01143072406 with 5 comments and 4717 search requests. tellows Score: 7
2. 02075363554 with 3 comments and 3514 search requests. tellows Score: 5
3. 01614867770 with 16 comments and 10225 search requests. tellows Score: 7
4. 01753441520 with 5 comments and 7394 search requests. tellows Score: 7
5. 01415676218 with 11 comments and 4543 search requests. tellows Score: 7

Rated by our users as rather untrustworthy with a tellows score of 7, our first number, 01143072406, has been a frequent guest on our top 5 list. Most of our users that reported the number have complained about unsolicited telemarketing calls by a well-known British energy and home services provider.

Our second place this week, the number 02075363554 has been reported by our users for unsolicited telemarketing calls as well. In spite of a neutral tellows score of 7, the majority felt bothered by the persistent calls from the number. User Jill reported:

Unsolicited have asked not to call previously

Calling from Manchester, our third number, 01614867770, has been ranking on our list for nearly a year and with a rating of 7 has been considered to be rather untrustworthy. Most of our users felt harassed by frequent calls regarding insurance issues. User Stirling32 commented:

As stated previously, calling on behalf of an insurance company to discuss an accident (very minor bump) had in 2012. Asked for personal details – including that of my family – before they’d continue with the call, which I refused until they confirmed some details to me. Of course, I was told that due to data protection, they wouldn’t divulge anything to me until I had to them!! […] Recommend ignoring unless you have five minutes to waste having a little fun with them….

The fourth place this week goes to number 01753441520, a new entry on our list and yet another number that earned a tellows score of 7 due to unwanted calls that our users perceived as harassment. Many of our users stated to have received calls in spite of being registered with TPS. User Johnny even wondered:

I’m registered with TPS and ex-directory as well. however, i still recieve unsolicited calls. what use is TPS if it doesn’t work.

Ranking on our final place is number 01415676218 with calls originating from Glasgow. According to the comments of our users, the number calls both on the land line as well as the mobile phone, all throughout the day and at unsociable hours without leaving a message. User Samantha decided to take action against the unwanted calls:

I started answering, they still call every day and I swear at them. I have put in a report to TPS, I advise everyone else to as well.

If you have received unsolicited or dubious calls or have any other information on a certain telephone number, do not hesitate to share it with our tellows community. Other than that, we hope you stay scam and nusicance call-free.

Your tellows team

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