Scam Calls

Rossi IRL

Hi there, I was just on to tech support about this but I forgot to ask this.

We got a scam call today saying our account was compromised due to an unpaid bill and our service could be cut off.

My mam took the call and it said press 1 to talk to tech support. She pressed 1 and then the call went dead. I'm just wondering has our phone been compromised in this or is that even possible.

An email to current customers should be sent out explaining this scam. The tech guy said its been happening quite alot.

Wibbs

Got one of those myself the other day R. It's a new twist on the Indian subcontinentals  *Indian accent* "hello I am from Microsoft helpdesk, very good yes, you have virus sir" scam. Just hang up, or tell them to have sexual congress with themselves(my fave) or tell them you have a Mac(I suspect the latter takes you off their list as their scam is Windows based). 

I can certainly see how older folks or those not very techie could get fooled by it though as this twist has the computer automated voice thing at the start which will sound more "official". Eir and other providers should send out an email, or attach a short note to bills and other correspondence warning their customers to ignore all such phonecalls or emails and to only trust written correspondence addressed to the customer. 

Scotty #

Wibbs wrote: »

...only trust written correspondence addressed to the customer. 

Scammers use the postal system now too. Particularly in relation to 'Revenue' related scams. 

Wibbs

Oh really S? Didn't know that. 

eir: Grainne

Rossi IRL wrote: »

Hi there, I was just on to tech support about this but I forgot to ask this.

We got a scam call today saying our account was compromised due to an unpaid bill and our service could be cut off.

My mam took the call and it said press 1 to talk to tech support.  She pressed 1 and then the call went dead.  I'm just wondering has our phone been compromised in this or is that even possible.

An email to current customers should be sent out explaining this scam.  The tech guy said its been happening quite alot.

Wibbs wrote: »

Got one of those myself the other day R. It's a new twist on the Indian subcontinentals  *Indian accent* "hello I am from Microsoft helpdesk, very good yes, you have virus sir" scam. Just hang up, or tell them to have sexual congress with themselves(my fave) or tell them you have a Mac(I suspect the latter takes you off their list as their scam is Windows based). 

I can certainly see how older folks or those not very techie could get fooled by it though as this twist has the computer automated voice thing at the start which will sound more "official". Eir and other providers should send out an email, or attach a short note to bills and other correspondence warning their customers to ignore all such phonecalls or emails and to only trust written correspondence addressed to the customer. 

Scotty # wrote: »

Wibbs wrote: »

...only trust written correspondence addressed to the customer. 

Scammers use the postal system now too. Particularly in relation to 'Revenue' related scams. 

Hi All, 

We are aware that scam calls are currently in circulation. 

Sincere apologies for the inconvenience that this is causing you all. 

Grainne

Ceist_Beag

Hi Grainne, I note your apologies but I don't note any hint that Eir are doing anything about this? Is there no way you can prevent these calls from happening? We get numerous calls like this most days from numbers, most of which look like local numbers. So far this morning we have received 3 of them. It is a real nuisance. It has been going on for a couple of years now but has really increased in recent months.
If we try and call the number back they are invalid numbers. So can Eir not do something to prevent calls that are coming from invalid numbers?

Scotty #

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

I don't note any hint that Eir are doing anything about this?

That's a bit like asking Gmail to stop spam being delivered to your inbox. It's not Eir's fault you've ended up on a bogey call list and not really their problem. They don't provide a call vetting service.

Ceist_Beag

Scotty # wrote: »

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

I don't note any hint that Eir are doing anything about this?

That's a bit like asking Gmail to stop spam being delivered to your inbox. It's not Eir's fault you've ended up on a bogey call list and not really their problem. They don't provide a call vetting service.

With all due respect that's not a great analogy. Gmail actually do a pretty good job of diverting spam away from my Inbox so I never really see it. They also facilitate reporting of spam to further improve their ability to divert future spam.
What do Eir (or any other telco) provide? Nothing other than a suggestion that you either don't answer the call or else hang up straight away! That's not really good enough imho. 

Ceist_Beag

Scotty # wrote: »

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

I don't note any hint that Eir are doing anything about this?

That's a bit like asking Gmail to stop spam being delivered to your inbox. It's not Eir's fault you've ended up on a bogey call list and not really their problem. They don't provide a call vetting service.

With all due respect that's not a great analogy. Gmail actually do a pretty good job of diverting spam away from my Inbox so I never really see it. They also facilitate reporting of spam to further improve their ability to divert future spam.
What do Eir (or any other telco) provide? Nothing other than a suggestion that you either don't answer the call or else hang up straight away! That's not really good enough imho. 

Scotty #

True, you have a point regarding the email spam. I still think this would be very difficult (impossible?) for telco's though. On my android I have all international calls blocked and then whitelist a handful of codes I'm likely to receive a call from, UK, US, Germany... Having said that, I've only ever received one or two of these calls. 

NEVER phone them back!! That's what they want you to do. Most of these numbers are premium rates and the second you call them there will be a hefty charge on your bill. 

You can check if any of your data has been breached online at https://haveibeenpwned.com/. Just enter your email and it will tell you if your are on the list for users that were breached in any of the big breaches in the last few years... Adobe, Disquis, Dropbox, MySpace, Etc... This would be the most likely way you ended up on a call list. No use to you now though

demanufactured

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

Hi Grainne, I note your apologies but I don't note any hint that Eir are doing anything about this? Is there no way you can prevent these calls from happening? We get numerous calls like this most days from numbers, most of which look like local numbers. So far this morning we have received 3 of them. It is a real nuisance. It has been going on for a couple of years now but has really increased in recent months.
If we try and call the number back they are invalid numbers. So can Eir not do something to prevent calls that are coming from invalid numbers?

Not much Eir or any Telco cam do about it.

Let's agree that Eir are'nt doing an awful lot of it, but its no good ranting about it.

It might be useful for some of us who are more YouTube savvy to watch this guy:  Jim Browning

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBNG0osIBAprVcZZ3ic84vw

demanufactured

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Let's agree that Eir are'nt doing an awful lot of it, but its no good ranting about it.

It might be useful for some of us who are more YouTube savvy to watch this guy:  Jim Browning

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBNG0osIBAprVcZZ3ic84vw

Jim's videos are great.
Been following him for a while.

NickNickleby

I've been getting these for at least a week. The voice says your eir broadband is going to be disconnected. I hang up after the first few words. Interestingly, I noticed that the number displayed is a local number. VERY local. It starts with 831 .but the last 4 digits have varied. I suspect there's a way for them to hack the system and fake their callerI'D.

I think the Google analogy doesn't work. Google doesn't block the spam. It delivers it to a SPAM folder. I don't think they'd ever take it upon themselves to delete customers' emails. So I would imagine no phone company is going to take it upon themselves to block phone numbers from calling you. Presumably you could specify numbers you don't want to take calls from, but if they're faking their own numbers and continually changing them, it'd be almost impossible to manage them.

demanufactured

They are made over voip, and it's very easy to spoof a number doing that.

FishOnABike

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

With all due respect that's not a great analogy. Gmail actually do a pretty good job of diverting spam away from my Inbox so I never really see it. They also facilitate reporting of spam to further improve their ability to divert future spam.
What do Eir (or any other telco) provide? Nothing other than a suggestion that you either don't answer the call or else hang up straight away! That's not really good enough imho. 

To be fair google (or your /your ISP's) anti spam filter software can automatically parse the content of the email and figure out its spam probability. Your phone service provider can't tell in advance what the caller or scammer is going to say.