Be warned,

[tec0]

I am sure we all had these calls... People will call you asked you questions about the municipality, if you are touched by crime and if the police are responsive or not. They continue to ask you if you have access to a credit card and or if you earn more than X month. They are relentless and will phone you once a day if you don't pick up.

Now Telkom does not care about this because they hold the law over ours head. See these people have a right to privacy, if there number is hidden to you that mean they don't want you to know who they are and we the victim needs a court order to get that info.

The problem is not them having access to private info. No we are being tricked to answer really dangerous questions.

Question 1 > Do you own a mobile phone? (1.2) What network do you use? (1.3) Would you mind to give us your number? [They got your Telephone number if one was gullible]

Question2> Do you own a Credit card? (2.2) Who are you banking with? (2.3) What account do you have? [They know more or less what you earn because banks will only give credit cards to people that can afford them and earn X per month]

Question3> Where you a victim of crime? (3.2) Did the police respond promptly? [The scary version is if these questions is if they are criminals they know they can rob one and the police will not have a speedy response!]

Now the real scary version is when they confirm your home address.
So who are these people? [Telkom protects them so we don't know]
Can we stop them from getting our info? [We don't know how they get it so no...]

So why are we talking to them? Because Telkom refuses to help us out with a service that will allow us to block "blocked" Numbers. I know I asked them for this on several occasions.

So don't these people are criminals they know stuff about us. They phoned one to fish for more stuff there is no accountability so cut them off.... Tell them you are not interested if they phone back do not be nice.

They already invaded our privacy they obtain our info without our say so. Why do they need more? Who is to say they are not who they say they are indeed criminals? How can we authenticate their claims?

For this reason I think they are scam artists. What is your opinion.

[Dave A]

Why not just ask them who they are, what company they represent, and where you can contact them before answering any questions?

[tec0]

This time around I actually phoned back, imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a pay phone at a local petrol station. Yes that is why I continued with this post. I am just thankful I gave them a load of BS...

But still this was a eye opener for me...

[Just Gone]

So then it was not a "hidden" number!

[tec0]

During this past two weeks my home number was bombarded with people asking questions. I got tired and decided to phone the numbers that was visible to me. Sure enough some checked out this include ABSA and the local DA asking questions about stuff The numbers I didn't get about 2 of them I cannot get from Telkom this pi$$ed me off...

Now the caller ID was blocked but they gave me an office number... I phoned it and there you go pay phone at a petrol station. This is where I got really angry and posted this. I don't know if it is possible for a public phone to hide its number. I do know a mobile phone can. So my guess is they used the mobile for the original call and to be more convincing they give a landline number.

Anyhow it happened to me It can happen to anyone else so my advice is hang up... Just hang up the phone...

[Blurock]

They may also be calling to find out if someone is home?

Would it not be safer to have an unlisted number? I have lived at my address for 20 years, but the telephone entry in the Telkom directory is still in the previous owner's name. So every time someone calls asking for Mr X, I know that the call is not for me, but its actually telemarketing masked as surveys or whatever.

I immediately ask them what they are selling. No BS about surveys or special offers etc. Don't waste my time. Tell me what you are selling and I will tell you if I am interested or not. 99% of the time I am not. I must say I am not getting many nuisance calls any more.

[tonyflanigan]

Got 2 of these calls in 2 days.

Yesterday I asked for their address and phone number, but only checked these out after the call had ended. Both bogus.

Today, I asked where they got my number from. The "tele-sales" person started waffling about a "Computer generated" calling system, at which point I asked to speak to a manager or boss. Call disconnected by caller.

Now, where did they get my number? It is unlisted, and not advertised anywhere. Apart from Telkom, close family, and our banks (hmm...) the number doesn't exist...

The question I ask is: who would gain?

As Teco points out it is very likely criminal in origin, the modus operandi supports that theory. We do know that possibly the largest criminal element in South Africa (after the Govt) are the banks, but really, in my case at least, there is nothing for a bank to benefit from in my life.

Therefore, in my humble opinion, my number was provided to these scammers by Telkom, who belong to...?

Bottom line? Telkom have denied giving my number to anyone, the scammers won't talk to me, I can expect more calls such as these. So, I'll just bait them . Can't get even, waste their time

[Just Gone]

Tony Flanigan ......... your number is all over the web ........... VERY easy to find ......... took me 2 secs ........ your number ends in 208 and you do web design !

[nkawit]

Why do you guys always hit on Telkom?

It has absolutely nothing to do with Telkom, someone calling from any VoIP provider, any Cellular provider and any landline operator can choose not to send their caller-id. It has nothing to do with Telkom.

[nkawit]

WHY are you talking to people you dont know? guys ....

If someone calls you and you do not know them, simply hang up or tell them to get ****** (lost).

If anyone calls me their first task is to identify themselves with enough information I can authenticate THEM. One sentence "prove it", else I just put down the phone. What is my full name, what is my id number, what is my address, what is my postal address, how do I pay my account?

Seriously, do you talk to people in the street asking for your personal details?

PUT
DOWN
THE
PHONE

Do you know how easy it is to forge someones identity and cause **** (problems)?

DO NOT GIVE OUT DETAILS UNTIL YOU CAN BE CERTAIN WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO.

[tonyflanigan]

@ Kevin: Sorry, didn't make this very clear. My Cell number is all over the web, my landline number is not. It is the landline number that gets these calls.

[tonyflanigan]

Why do you guys always hit on Telkom?

Cos they're good scapegoats?

[sneakie]

I like to tell them to "please hold", then every 2 minutes I say "will be with you soon, please hold" after a few minutes of this they put the phone down. At least I make them pay for their scam calls.

[BusFact]

@Sneakie - I love that. Great idea.
@Nkawit - Good advice.

Stop trying to figure this out. It could be something a simple as someone building up a data base that they can sell. The questions give them an idea as to what sort of products someone ese can target you with later. Maybe its more sinister, maybe not. Just refuse to take the interview and carry on with your life.

How do they get the numbers? Easy. One way is to take a common dialling code and then start at 0 and work you way up. Eg 011 706 0000 then 011 706 0001, then 011 706 0002. If you answer then you exist. At our business we have 4 lines, with the last 4 digits as 0020, 0030, 0040 and 0050. Inevitably I get a similar call about an hour later after the caller has worked their way from 21 through 29.

[gac]

Bang on the button nkawit. Thats how you do it. Simple, Easy & dont let it stress you out.