General Chat

Be warned ............

The phone rang at about 7:30 am this morning (Thursday), I jumped out of bed to answer it before (hopefully) it woke OH who was sleeping in another room. The man's voice on the other end sounded like "Sam" from India who often phoned me about problems with my computer, only he started on about my Visa card.

I lost it, started shouting at him, asking "didn't he know what time it was?". Seemingly, he did know what time it was, or so he said, which angered me all the more.

The powers-that-be have now taught their operators to speak calmly and slowly, and ask "Why are you shouting at me? It isn't polite of you"!! :-D

The more I shouted, the more calmly he spoke. :-D :-D

Eventually I slammed the phone down .......... just as OH emerged saying he had woken to my shouting, and his first thought was that I was shouting at him!

Anyway, this is apparently the scam ...............

It targets people early in the morning when they are sleepy and potentially vulnerable, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

The scam begins with a phone call between 5 a.m. and 7:30 a.m, the caller claims to be from the victim's bank or credit card company and says a credit card was used without authorization the previous evening.

Due to the early hour and their sleepiness, the victim will often volunteer information, letting the caller know who they bank with. The caller then reads out the first few digits of the credit card which is standard for that bank's credit cards. Then he asks the victim for the next eight digits to confirm their identity.

Once the scammers have the complete card number, they immediately use the information to make purchases on the account.


I had been awake for about an hour, but also don't respond to calls re bank accounts or credit cards over the phone ........ if a legitimate call does come in (as it has in the past) I hang up then call the security number that I have for the bank of credit card company. Plus, we are just back from holidays, and I discovered yesterday that I owe 30c (30p) on my Visa that has to be paid before Jan 9, so had only been checking that account last evening!

It makes you wonder just how low these people will stoop :-(

Thank you for the heads up Sylvia :-)

Thanks Sylvia, how nasty. I suppose that also shows that they have had to get desperate as people are aware of the other scams.

Thankyou Sylvia :-)

Just a small addition to Sylvia's advice which came out in a TV programme about scams....

Do not ring the bank on the same phone, or wait for a while. Sometimes the scammers do not hang up, but put a dialling tone on the line....

So guess what... You are not ringing the bank... It's still them! :-0 :-|

the attachment of the older generation to their landlines never ceases to amaze me. They are a very soft target as a result.

Sometimes the landline is the only option. Until fairly recently I lived in a very rural area and had to drive two miles before I could get any sort of mobile signal - no use in an emergency.

How about

Cost
Battery life
Size v arthritic hands and failing eyesight.
'Where did I put it?'

Tesco sells mobile phones (new) for £ 10-20.
There is a big button (not smart) version for about £20.

I would have thought that elderly people could do without rushing to an ancient landline connected by a wire to the socket with the very real risks of a fall only to find a scammer on the line. A phone in the pocket is rather easier.

There are all sorts of ways of beefing up wifi signal indoors at little/no cost. Unfortunately the ISPs show little interest in the matter.

A (smart) mobile can also be connect to apps via the wifi router such as Skype, Snapchat, WhatsApp etc etc. Free. My son when he is here from France uses this mehtod to chat (for hours) to his friends and current girlfriend n France without adding a penny to the bill.

In any case the telcos intend to phase out fixed landlines. They only exist now as a few metres of the local loop and thereafter are virtual. UKGov finds them a good way of taxing people which I think is very unfair.

Cellphones were never designed for rugged terrain or the wide open spaces of North America. However most of such places now have internet sufficient to support local wifi and hence a mobile phone whether or not there is a usabe GSM signal.

EE has a neat little box which plugs into the router. Once installed a mobile phone will have its calls routed over the internet rather than the GSM network. Result is signal strength goes from zero to 4 bars. It is tough getting them to provide one though. It works with Virgin too.

If you wish to speak to me then please call my landline, unless I have asked to you call my mobile on that occasion.

I have NO wish to hold a conversation walking along the road, in the supermarket queue or even driving my car.

At least the landline doesn't run out of money or battery power.

I really hate smug people who know absolutely everything about everything on the planet!!

There seems to be a place for both landlines and cell phones. No-one needs to rush to answer a phone anyway. We have several extensions in the main rooms so we are seldom far from a phone. We have an answering machine and, if the caller won't leave a message, then we probably wouldn't want to speak to him. The handsets of modern plug-in landline phones are portable anyway so can be carried from room to room if you wish.

On a lighter note, Rollo has clearly not worn women's clothing much if he thinks you can carry a phone in your pocket. What pocket? I am currently wearing trousers and two jumpers and I do not have a single pocket. Perhaps I should wander around the house with a handbag slung around my neck :-D

have you ever tried putting on the heating - it is January after all.

I have not really considered OH storage arrangements with her mobile but as it is always instantly available they must work ok. I do know she doesn't own any trousers while her jeans are not designed for storage so the matter remains a mystery to me.She did manage to drop it into a tray of hot toffee and it was quite a business getting it back into action. I had to replace the microphone.

Sockets all over the place, pseudo mobile phones ... how very outré. Do you have a fax machine too?

Having a hearing problem I find the landline with the speaker on is the easiest to hear. And I agree with everything that Vera says. You must realise Rollo that, while we respect your knowledge of computers, it is a little tiring that you have an answer (not always acceptable (re-pockets in clothing)) to everything. Nobody likes a know - all. :-) :-D

Some folk cannot afford to have the heating on all the time - that's a personal matter.

Some folk prefer to use their landline - that's a personal choice.

Their choice.........their lives. Respect them.

I am on holiday.

OH says in case of need she keeps her phone close to her chest, no running commentary.

GSM mobile phones have a built in speaker and can be very noisy.

otherwise these can be found in the St Denys flea market

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCAFgDQ34ng
:-D

Turning the heating up and wearing fewer clothes would not provide me with any more pockets would it?

We did have a fax machine stuck at the back of the garage until fairly recently, though I don't think it had been used for about 15 years.

I rather like being called outre. It has connotations of eccentricity, though I suspect you were putting a meaning such as "ludicrous" on it.

Rollo, I do respect your knowledge but I also think you may be just a bit of a wind up merchant who knows exactly the reaction he is going to get from some members. Good job we are all different

Whether people do or don't use their landline phone does not matter to me at all. Personally I don't like being cold at home I had quite enough of that as a student.

It is a matter of fact that landlines are preferred by the older people and that this group has been targetted by sophisticated scammers with great success and a lot of financial pain. Given that it is very difficult to id landline scam callers still less to controll them the obvious thing to do is to use a smart phone. With the smart phone setting up closed calling lists, restricting call times and so on is a breeze.

Meanwhile clinging on to the landline is akin to keeping the money in a jar / under the bed and refusing to open a bank account. "There's none so daft as folk"

https://www.cable.co.uk/media-centre/release/british-landline-use-dying-out/

Rollo .............

Thank you for expressing your very personal opinion about what people should be doing and using

However, my opinion is the opposite of yours.

I have absolutely no wish to have a cell phone, and that has nothing whatever to do with my age, income level or infirmity. I just see no reason to be continually connected

If I did have a cell phone, it most certainly would not be right next to my bed as I don't wish to be in permanent reach of other people.

If I did feel that I needed security because of my age or infirmity, I would have a security button that I could immediately push to get help.

Please respect my opinions, likes and dislikes, just as I respect yours.



I did not post this in order for you to start a discussion on the failures of "old people"

I posted it as a warning about a new scam that appears to be occurring, and happening at a time when people might be half asleep and not thinking correctly.



Incidentally .............. the phone rang again this morning at about 7:45 am

Same voice, with the same noises in the background

Voice said "(unintelligible) (OH's initials and surname)?"


I wonder why he hung up immediately after I said coldly and sharply "Why? What do you want" :-D :-D :-D :-D

quite

"the definition of insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result."

ibid.