Can scam calls be reported?

[Johnny_L.A]

Mrs. L.A. was awakened this morning by a phone call. The answering machine had a robotic voice saying that someone’s Social Security number was being used fraudulently, and it’s important to call back. Obviously it’s a scam. I searched on the number just now and found this page.

@JusticeinTexas

315-351-2942 – Officer Fwank? had a new twist. The southern border of NEW YORK! Not the northern border, but the southern. He was just awful. I kept interrupting him and he hung up. How do they recruit these guys?
https://phone.firertc.com/calls/5c3790b86865633cd39f0000/recording

I listened to the recording (10 minutes) and the woman with a Texan accent sounded very worried and distracted. The guy (Indian accent) asked for her phone number, and she gave him a 555-number and told him it was a satellite phone. He asked for her ZIP code, and she gave him one in Alaska. He asked for her name, and she gave him one (presumably fake). He asked for her date of birth. She gave him one, though she sounded older than the 24 years she claimed. And of course, he asked for her Social Security number. She gave him one (presumably fake). I liked the touch that she was shaking a cat toy and claiming her sister’s cat jumped up on the bed and was playing with it. (It may have fooled someone who doesn’t own a cat.)

The call in the link seems to be the same scam that was attempted here this morning (though Mrs. L.A. didn’t call back). She was very offended at the call, both because it woke her up, and because it was threatening. I told her that it would do no good to report it to anybody, but I thought I’d do due diligence and ask: Even though it’s futile, is there an agency to report it to?

(Oh, and I got a sexploitation email this morning. It had a password I haven’t used in years. I wonder if there’s any way I can steal his take by using his BTC address? )

[GaryM]

Today I’ve received three spam calls on my cell phone. Two were about refinancing my student loan, and one was about my request for information on a back brace. I’ve started to not answer unless it’s someone on my contacts list.

GaryM

[Johnny_Bravo]

Yes, but not until the shutdown is over.

[Johnny_L.A]

@Johnny_L.A

(Oh, and I got a sexploitation email this morning… )

ERRATA: That should be ‘sextortion’, a portmanteau of ‘sex’ and ‘extortion’, and not ‘sexploitation’. :smack:

I got another one in my spam folder this morning.

[k9bfriender]

I get scam calls “from” Duke energy, telling me that they are on their way to shut off my power if I don’t contact their billing dept within an hour to pay. they want to give me a number to call.

the first time they called, I was only 98% sure it was a scam, and so googled “duke energy scam” and read the script that they were following.

On Duke’s website, it does ask that you report it to them and to authorities. I went ahead and tried. It was a weekend, so there was no one at Duke, or even at the police station, unless I wanted to call it an emergency. I left a messe, to which a cop got back to me on Monday saying that there was nothing they could do, but thanked me for the call.

They can be reported, but it doesn’t do much good.

Now, in person scams are a bit different. I had a friend who had a “time warner” person come to his house and threaten to shut off his cable. Well, my friend didn’t even have cable, so that was pointless. But he did take a picture of the guy, and send it to his local police. I have no idea if there was any follow up.

[CookingWithGas]

You can report it, but most of the time the Caller ID data is spoofed so they’ll never find them, and often originate outside the U.S., where the long arm of the law can’t reach.

[Johnny_L.A]

@CookingWithGas

You can report it, but most of the time the Caller ID data is spoofed so they’ll never find them, and often originate outside the U.S., where the long arm of the law can’t reach.

Based on the link in the OP, the call-back number does go to… someone.

[rsat3acr]

@CookingWithGas

You can report it, but most of the time the Caller ID data is spoofed so they’ll never find them, and often originate outside the U.S., where the long arm of the law can’t reach.

Yep, I’ve gotten five calls in the last four days from my own number.

[Johnny_L.A]

Going off on a tangent from the OP…

I was just thinking about the email I received with an old password. The password is one I used for SDMB (and a couple of splinter boards). I just found this [emphasis mine]:

@Inner_Stickler

If I had to guess, I’d assume they got .

This resulted in the illegal acquisition of message board users’ information, namely usernames, email addresses, and Straight Dope message board passwords.

There’s nothing else really to get except anything you might have in your profile and, of course, your posts.

There is a link in the linked post leading to the relevant announcement, but the link is no longer valid.

[Measure_for_Measure]

@Johnny_Bravo

Yes, but not until the shutdown is over.

Interesting. My answering machine has about 11 robomessages from Molly of Apple Support, all coming in today. I guess they figure that the cat is away. Bloody annoying.

[Musicat]

@Johnny_Bravo

Yes, but not until the shutdown is over.

I normally file 2 or 3 reports with the FCC per day, and that function has now unavailable. If that’s all the shutdown is affecting in my life, I guess I should consider myself lucky.

[lingyi]

@CookingWithGas

You can report it, but most of the time the Caller ID data is spoofed so they’ll never find them, and often originate outside the U.S., where the long arm of the law can’t reach.

Sounds like that old horror movie cliche. OMG, the call is coming from INSIDE your house! :eek:

[k9bfriender]

@CookingWithGas

You can report it, but most of the time the Caller ID data is spoofed so they’ll never find them, and often originate outside the U.S., where the long arm of the law can’t reach.

They also gave me the number of their “billing department” to call, who I assume would direct me to get a pre-paid CC or somesuch.

I’m sure it still goes out of the country, but it is obviously a real number to call.

[Musicat]

@k9bfriender

They also gave me the number of their “billing department” to call, who I assume would direct me to get a pre-paid CC or somesuch.

I’m sure it still goes out of the country, but it is obviously a real number to call.

Keep in mind that some scam calls, which are really coming from India or Pakistan, may post the real number of some legitimate business as their CID. So if you see “Sears Credit Dept” displayed, and you call the number back to find you have reached the real Sears Credit Dept, this doesn’t mean the real Sears Credit Dept just called you. The scammers are trying, increasingly desperately, to fool people into answering the phone by any method they can dream up. They have a fondness for scare tactics.

[k9bfriender]

@Musicat

Keep in mind that some scam calls, which are really coming from India or Pakistan, may post the real number of some legitimate business as their CID. So if you see “Sears Credit Dept” displayed, and you call the number back to find you have reached the real Sears Credit Dept, this doesn’t mean the real Sears Credit Dept just called you. The scammers are trying, increasingly desperately, to fool people into answering the phone by any method they can dream up. They have a fondness for scare tactics.

Oh, I know, they kept calling me “from” Duke Energy’s number. I usually answer because I am trying to pick up the phone as quickly as possible, as most of the calls are customers looking to make an appointment, and I only look at CID after I’ve answered.

The number for the “billing department” was a number that they gave to me, wanting me to call it, to “avoid disconnection”.