Landline nuisance calls

[dave21478]

I am getting a proper rage on with this at the moment.

20+ calls PER DAY.....if I am out all day my handset only records up to 19 missed calls. I re-set it each morning and come home to at least 19 missed calls. The answering machine will usually have three or four messages, which are just silence or call centre jibberjabber can be heard in the background.

If I am in the house the calls come in waves with 4 or 5 in short succession then nothing for an hour or two, then another wave. This is going from about 8am to 9pm.

Answering them? ha! its pointless.  The vast majority of them just disconnect when I pick up or are silent. Apparently these are autodialler machines that dial hundreds of numbers a second and those that answer get connected to a person, if no person is available as is the case most of the time, the call gets dropped or goes silent.

Others are a robot voice asking me to please hold....same deal as above, waiting for a person to become free.

Then there are the scams..... a recording telling me there is a parcel stuck at "the depot" for me and I need to call a number to organise delivery - obviously this is a high premium rate number. Or various banks that I dont have accounts with, the tax office, and various other companies need me to "verify my identity" by answering various questions.

The few calls that I do answer and get a person are invariably selling solar panels, some kind of grant for loft insulation or some other bullshit I have no interest in and that no sane person would buy from whomever happened to call them out of the blue. They are all sneaky bastards and quickly mention "EDF partner" or similar phrases to appear legitimate.

"dont call me"

" get fucked"

"its a rented house"

screaming or whistling down the phone

doesnt matter what I say, the calls continue.

These come from various number prefix's.... 07, 09, 08, 01, an of course the withheld ones. Then there are my pals in Africa with various 0022, 0023 etc numbers all from Nigeria and the like, offering me "interesting, legitimate business opportunities".

Many of the numbers are impossible to call back. If you try you get told the number doesnt exist. If I enter the numbers into google.fr there are dozens of sites with hundreds of complaints about each one from people getting the same shit as me.

Temporary solution - the ringer is switched off and I am ignoring it. I dont really need the landline except for internet access.

In the long term, since I am obliged to have the line for internet is it worth the inevitable hassle and probable expense of changing my number and making sure it is kept out of the phone book?

[suein56]

Just out of interest which ISP are you with ? I ask only because Chancer is with Free and he can, apparently, block numbers. Being with SFR I cannot.

Though OH and I do get some nuisance calls they number far fewer than received by either of you two.

Sue

[Chancer]

I think that my number was sold on by Free as it only started when I ported my existing number to them.

 

I get the same crap Dave and so does every French person that I know, the difference is they just shrug their shoulders and accept it they also wont be rude and cannot get off the phone from the insistent barstewards, all the time they remain like that there will be rich pickings for the scammers.

 

Iblock all with-held numbers but they are all on top of that, I also block every scam or silent or dropped call immediately with *351*# but most are on top of that and generate another caller ID, many come up as "calling", -  do you get the breathless sexy sounding woman that says (in French) "Hi its me, I'm in the street, cant find you, hang on, I've got to go, call me back!"? or the ones that cut off with a robotic voice saying "GOODBYE" in English? they are very persistant and come back via multiple caller ID's

 

I'm also strting to get them on my mobile as well, mostly the breathless woman, thes will only multiply as more FAI offer free calls to mobiles, I also get lots of scam texts.

 

I dont get as many as you yet but they drop to a minimum in August and will start again in Earnest next week, the Muppets no doubt are already back at work but as you know the first week of la rentrée is pent kissing people and talking about their holidays.

 

No advice for you I'm afraid but you are not alone, mine escalated when I registered the name of my business as a marque deposée (the business is not actually on the RCS as its revenue non pro BIC) and registered the web site, both of which I had to give my phone number for and which are published in the public domain, sadly now that I get customers calling I have to answer the phone but 99 out of 100 times its the scammers.

[NormanH]

I can block my landline as I am with Free as is Chancer.

In any case I have it set up to transfer calls to my mobile and somehow the procedure of transfer seems to sort out the chaff as it never rings more than twice before stopping.

[dave21478]

I am with SFR, for my sins. Im not sure if I can block numbers via the network but I can block them with my handset - again this is pointless as they have plenty other numbers to call from, I cant block withheld numbers nor the odd ones that just display a line of zeros or similar when they call etc etc.

Chancer said....

and so does every French person that I know, the difference is they

just shrug their shoulders and accept it they also wont be rude and

cannot get off the phone from the insistent barstewards, all the time

they remain like that there will be rich pickings for the scammers.

Aint that the damn truth! I was at a friends house when she received one of these calls and despite clearly not wanting anything to do with it, continued talking to the guy answering his questions about her home heating system. I grabbed the phone from her and hung up and she was MORTIFIED - really quite upset...."but he will think I was ever so rude!"

Despite knowing at best he was trying to sell her something expensive but worthless and at worst trying to just blatantly steal from her, she worried about being rude to him.

 

The calls from Africa always peak within a week or so following me advertising anything on LeBonCoin, despite me not putting my number on the advert........

[Department71]

I know it may be awkward for folks who have to register for business purposes but what I do (in the UK or France, we are not particularly bothered by these calls),  if a web site wants my phone number I usually put ex dir, if that is not acceptable to their systems I put their phone number in place of mine, so if they sell it on they will be the ones plagued by these calls,  after all they have my e-mail address if they want to contact me.

[mint]

Dpt 71, what a wonderful suggestion, put in their own number, hah............I really, really like that[:D]

[hyacinth bucket]

To block calls from withheld numbers on SFR *82#

To prevent your number being sold on to third parties you could try registering with http://www.pacitel.fr/

[Quillan]

I was watching BBC Breakfast this morning and as Chancer pointed out there are loads of scam to get hold of your money. We used to have phishing via emails but these are quite amateur compared to the phone ones. They know what bank you're with and your name for a start, they will display the phone number that is on the back of your debit/credit card for emergency use (always made me laugh that, if your card is lost or stolen call the number on the back of the card!), they actually ask you to check this against the caller display so you know it is them calling. The simple answer to this regardless of being in France, UK or anywhere else, is to call them back using the number from your statement. Don't think these are African or eastern Europeans because the voices I heard were distinctly Scottish and well educated. The woman they interviewed who got scammed by this type of call was middle class and educated so don't think people are stupid to fall for this. By the way she got her money back eventually but that was because her son had installed a system that recorded every call to try and protect his mother against these types of fraud.

[Department71]

Thanks Mint, it must be my warped sense of humour to do this. I have even thought of getting one of those premium rate numbers and putting that as my number, well at least I would make some money from those calls.

What spurred me on to do this, we used to get calls from our local bank (C.A) wanting to call and discuss our accounts, in the end I changed our number in our profile on their website to their own. As we don't have any of their cards and the account only pays direct debits I thought it was fairly safe to do this.

[idun]

I am a little surprised that the french still have not dealt with this.

We were hounded by a kitchen company who had a branch in a local town. So I went in, interupted a sale, and went mad, telling them that I would be in every time I got a call and gave my number...... and the calls stopped!

My best was someone asking me if I wanted english lessons. I said I was english.......... as if they couldn't tell from my accent! And they said, I didn't realise that these courses would make me 'think' like une

anglaise...............!!!

So I started speaking in english and they could not..... my last comment as I was putting the phone down was that maybe they needed the course and not to ring again.

[sid]

[quote user="Quillan"]  (edited quote)...  By the way she got her money back eventually but that was because her son had installed a system that recorded every call to try and protect his mother against these types of fraud.[/quote]

I saw this item this morning; the recording system just confirmed that she had in fact been taken and had authorised the transfer. She got her money back because Paul Lewis and the Money Box programme pursued it for her, with the weight of TV exposure behind them. She got £3k of the £12k initially, and then the remaining £9k, the two sums from two different banks, which I found odd. Lewis said that it was unusual to get money back, the banks usually claim that you authorised the transfer.

There is another scam associated with this type of call where the thief doesn't hang up, thereby holding the connection open. You would be unable to dial out until the thief himself hangs up. In a sophisticated version of the scam they would play a dial tone, then a ringtone, and eventually "answer" to make you think you had got through. Best to use another phone, a mobile if you have one. [;-)]

Paranoid, me? I looked up "paranoia" in the dictionary... it said "What do you want to know for?" [blink]

 

[Cendrillon]

[I]A friend passed on the following info to me.

Nuisance calls:

If there is a person at the other end just say "un petit instant s.v.p" then leave the phone off the hook, go away and do something else. If nothing else it will tie up one of their phone lines for a while.

If it's one of those calls where there is no one at the other end of the line then quickly press the # key a few times. This apparently stops the company being able to record whether you are at home at the time of the call.

[;-)]I have no idea whether this advice works but it's worth a try anyway. [:)]

[mint]

If they ask me if I am the proprietaire or any other personal question, I always say, mais c'est pas vos oignons.  They then do go away.

If you are there, PierreZFP, please note that I am back to talking about onions[:D]

[suein56]

[quote user="mint"]... I always say, mais c'est pas vos oignons.  They then do go away.

[/quote]

That is wonderful and I shall try and remember it; where did you unearth that one from ?

Sue [:)]

[marmite]

Bit of an update on this, Paypal (USA) have changed their terms and conditions, the new condition is they can cold call you/text you on any number you have listed with them, you can't opt out if you don't agree the account will be closed. This only applies in the USA at the mo but you can guarantee it will come here. So I have given my phone number on Paypal as theirs as per Dept71. The link below refers to it.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ianmorris/2015/06/04/paypal-says-let-us-cold-call-you-send-you-texts-or-you-must-close-your-account/

[Cendrillon]

A cold caller tried to sell me assurance and mutuelle etc. She was in the middle of a lengthy explanation when I cut in and told her (in French) that we don't live here all year and we don't have a mutualle. It completely took the wind out of her sails, she was almost lost for words! I don't think she had come across this scenario when she did her sales training course. lol. !!

[Pierre ZFP]

Not only in France, also in the UK.  Had a young lady call me today on the house phone saying that she could offer me free daytime calls on my landline my reply was 'we don't have a landline' at which point she said 'OK sorry to have bothered you goodbye' - just goes to show what idiots are employed to make phone calls

[Blodwyn]

Well, I might try that!

I usually don't answer calls that don't start with 05, but it's being disturbed that I hate.

Recently we've had mostly the automated calls but I still have to get out of my chair - or bed - in case it's a friend or the hospital calling. My husband is ill and I am an insomniac so very occasionally we let the dogs out, feed them and try to get back to sleep - so annoying to be woken by a nuisance call at 8.15.

I spoke to a very nice man at Orange and asked if anything could be done about nuisance calls and he said no, but if it's really bad you could contact the police - I don't think our gendarmes could care less. The other day someone told me that since they went to internet phone with Orange, they can block numbers of nuisance calls. But I can't! Maybe they have a very clever phone?

[DerekJ]

I don't see any reason to attempt to be polite to these callers. A brief reference to sex and travel is the most I say.

[Graham & Brenda]

I try to remember that the person calling isn't really at fault - they are just doing the job they are paid for. I just say "je n'accept pas le demarcharge". Of course they often say it isn't but I just say au revoir & put the 'phone down at that point. I agree though, it is being unnecessarily disturbed that I don't like.

[pomme]

The replacement for Pacitel is Opposetel http://www.lesnumeriques.com/vie-du-net/demarchage-telephonique-opposetel-debarquera-1er-juin-prochain-n50563.html

It will open for registrations on 1 June 2016 but it could take another month or two for the request to filter down to marketing companies and the blocking to start.

Each company engaged in telephone canvassing will be obliged to regularly review the list maintained by Opposetel and respect the wishes of each registered number. This will also apply to companies whose call centres are located abroad. The fine for not respecting the list is up to 77,000€ per call.

[dave21478]

My Landline has been unplugged for months. By far the best (only) solution.

Unfortunately it has moved to my mobile number, and I know why.

LeBonCoin - I guarantee it. After posting an advert, scam calls and sales bullshit increases exponentially.

Email only from now on, and only with a disposable Hotmail address.

[Chancer]

[quote user="pomme"]The replacement for Pacitel is Opposetel http://www.lesnumeriques.com/vie-du-net/demarchage-telephonique-opposetel-debarquera-1er-juin-prochain-n50563.html

It will open for registrations on 1 June 2016 but it could take another month or two for the request to filter down to marketing companies and the blocking to start.

Each company engaged in telephone canvassing will be obliged to regularly review the list maintained by Opposetel and respect the wishes of each registered number. This will also apply to companies whose call centres are located abroad. The fine for not respecting the list is up to 77,000€ per call.
[/quote]

 

Yeah right!

If you believe that then I congratulate you on your integration.

 

Have a look at why Pacitel was disbanded, how many companies they prosecuted during their tenure, how many cold calls they (didnt) stopped, or rather how many millions of public money they bouffed whilst pretending to protect consumer interests.

 

The Pacitel and for that matter the Telephone Preference Service lists are the marketting tool of choice for the telesales company, they contain the most appealing prospects, they are free and its us the muppet taxpayers who paid for them and all the lazy derrières sat behind desks to compile and distribute them.

 

If you want to see your cold calls multiply and see just how bad the problem is all you needed to do was to register with Pacitel, now with Opposetel.

 

On the positive side my volume of cold calls has actually dropped significantly since Pacitel was disbanded at the end of the year, their final act of wastefullness was to send a letter to all the registered people like myself full of self pity, I believe the cold calls have reduced, and it is a significant reduction, is because the telemarketting companies can no longer access the Pacitel database.

 

I will not be joining Opposetel just to prove myself correct.

[Chancer]

A tip if you do decide to join Opposetel, and to be fair you should be able to join with confidence despite what some deranged freak like me claims on the internet, do what I did with Pacitel, make a typo with your surname, reverse two of the letters to make something that might just be believable but very hard to pronounce, then when you get besieged with the calls you can have a laugh at the person struggling to pronounce your name, you can correct them and force them to try again several times before hanging up, more importantly you will know exactly where the scam calls emanated from.