Here is a new one to me.

Land line rings and lady says she's someone from somewhere (we usually hang up at this point) and then something about "my IP number is compromised in 2 countries and to press 1 to connect to a technician who will change my IP number for free". That sort of gobbledegook might frighten some people. If you have the phone set to "messages" the text picks up at about "my IP number" point so its obviously a robot call. They have tried about 4 times and I think they have given up.

Anybody else had this one and bothered to press 1?

Fred.

If you google the term "your IP number is compromised" you'll find plenty of hits. It's a variation on the old "This is Microsoft and your computer has a virus on it" scam.

I have had this and similar calls, all ignored and the number added to the blocked number list.

I think that the number displayed may also be fake and have noticed that in one case, two blocked numbers are consecutive numbers, the last digit changing to overcome any call block.

Harold

I think that the number displayed may also be fake

Indubitably.

The NBN scammers were ringing both my Mobile & Landline at one point virtually every hour. It was actually a relief to get another scamming lowlife, pretending to be from the "Do Not Call Register" promising to do everything Telstra, ACCC, Do not Call & other equally clueless & useless organisations, seem to not want to bother doing to stop them.

This one wanted the Credit car Numbers as ID: Yeh! Really if the regulatory authorities are useless at sorting this out (for one), how can they expect us to believe that our Medical records & other data are safe with them?

Another scam I nearly got caught with was when trying to update the maps on my Garmin.

The website looks for all the world like a genuine Garmin site and asks you to connect your device via USB and the process will be automatic.

It then says there is a problem with the connection and asks you to click on the live chat tab.

A person allegedly from England engages with you and says you will be contacted by phone to investigate the problem. (you have to register previously and they ask for your phone number at that time).

You are then contacted by phone and the "Technician" begins a long winded speal about why your pc isn't up to scratch and asks for permission to access your PC via teamviewer or the like.

He wouldn,t let me get a word in and just kept rapid fire talking.

It was at this point the penny dropped and I hung up and restarted my pc.

I then did a full virus check and also ran Malwarebytes.

Nothing disastrous was found but I changed several important passwords just to be sure.

I was quite annoyed with myself for not smelling a rat sooner but the site is so professionally done and has all the right logos etc.

The URL name was the eventual give away at it had an extra character than the proper Garmin site.

Beware. They are very creative and are always devising new ways to get at you.

These lowlife scammers multiply like fleas. The suggestion I can offer is do not press 1 when asked as this will indicate to the scammer there is a person actually there.

This information will be sold on to other scammers.

Best thing to do is hang up and block the calling number although as has been remarked they can easily change it.

Luckily I do not have a landline phone and so far only have had a very few scammers trying to call me on the mobile.

Touchwood.

(another remark, I know some people on a remote farm where there is no mobile phone access and the scammers on their landline phone are so bad they do not answer their phone during the day. One call after the other.)

Thanks guys, they really are a pest. We have just about given up using the land line and rarely use a mobile on voice, we text now within the family or email.

I also had to laugh getting the email from the "tax office" ATO accusing me of not paying my tax bill and the police are on the way unless I press this and do that!! Amazing since I have been retired and on a pension for a couple of years!

Also had the "Combank' one telling me my account was out of date and I needed to update my details by pressing this and clicking that!

Yes when you look at the URL there is one digit different or extra from the real thing. A good tip.


Cheers, Fred.

It's got to the stage where the landline is useless and really only needed for ADSL2 or fibre to the node WAN connection.

The No Call register seems to have no effect whatsoever.

I really wonder if anyone actually buys anything from these telemarketers.

No one I know does and in fact I would make a point of not buying from them , even if it was a product I was interested in.

Clearly some people must otherwise they wouldn't exist but it's so annoying that we seem powerless to do anything about putting a stop to these unsolicited calls..

The other galling thing is they have all your details. Where do they get this from I wonder.

Watch out for the text messages purporting to be from Energy Australia claiming your bill is overdue. Followed up by silent phone calls from a number that reverse-lists to Energy Australia Melbourne. It's fake.

The No Call register seems to have no effect whatsoever.

It's worked for me over the years. The only onshore ones who get through are political polling mobs, who are (annoyingly) exempt from it.

I really wonder if anyone actually buys anything from these telemarketers.

Yes, people do. A mate of mine had to undo a rip-off insurance deal unwittingly agreed to by his aged mother.They stood their ground on the basis that they had recorded her saying "yes" to their "Do you accept?" question. My mate replied, "She has dementia. She'll say yes to: Do you want to be run over by a bus?" and that he'll go to the media with the story if they don't cancel the deal, which they did.

The other galling thing is they have all your details. Where do they get this from I wonder.

Probably the stupid, untrustable public service

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/majority-of-companies-with-access-to-electoral-roll-are-global-marketing-firms-20190124-p50tcz.html

Anyone can access the electoral roll for free on an ad-hoc basis but if you want lots of access there are fees, etc. The other thing is that there are websites that do reverse lookups on phone numbers. If your number is 02 7999 4323 and I was a scammer I could punch that number into the site and then tell you who you are and where you live right after you answer the phone.

These sites to have a legit purpose, finding out who the scammers are. Bottom line is, nothing is sacred these days. We are better off without phones. When we all sign up to phone lines and Internet plans we usually agree to the usual "we reserve the right to share your details with our business partners" yarn and the short and sharp version of that means they can sell your contact details to whoever they want. It should be illegal but because we 'agree' to it, it's perfectly legal.

anyone can access the electoral roll for free on an ad-hoc basis

Yes, in person, to check your own enrollment details only, as the signs in the AEC offices clearly state. (Census data can be purchased). If you read that SMH story, the stupid government allowed electoral roll access to Illion, a company which, prima facie, provided information to creditors but which has since morphed into a global marketing mob. Meanwhile the government huffs and puffs about the horse which has well and truly bolted.

Irext asks where the telemarketers get our details from and GTC blames the public service. The answer to the source of the leads is the various telcos with overseas call centres and I can say that it is all down to the pollies and their political advisers.

Be aware that the telcos have electronic access to all passport info, drivers licences and Medicare details so that they can verify the identity of people activating SIM cards and other phone services. When this was managed in Australian based service centres it was not so much of a problem but when 'support' was contracted out to service offices overseas, control of access and security was lost. The government of the day was warned by the appropriate govt agencies that this would happen but the pollies preferred the assurances given by the telcos that they would/could control access and protect privacy. The telcos probably believed that they could exercise control but the reality is that there is no security of any data held off-shore. The same applies for the power companies who use overseas 'support' centres because it is cheaper than having their own in Australia; if a database is connected to or accessed via the Internet then there is no guarantee of security.

Sadly despite the Privacy Act (which I have had to read from cover to cover to check and certify that a database system complied) the pollies are easily persuaded that there is a benefit for data held on government systems to be given away or sold to companies that can use it 'properly'. Usually this advice comes from their political advisers/minders or lobbyists. From my time in the Public Service I know of several cases but I can give a quick summary of one where I was reluctantly involved.

No names no pack drill but once I worked for a government agency that maintained an extensive database of business information. This was complied with the knowledge of those businesses listed and was used for their benefit at no cost to them. It took considerable staff effort but was accurate and current. The reason that the agency maintained this database was that there was no comparable information available from commercial sources. The existence of this database and its quality was known to those companies that compiled and sold commercial directories. After unsuccessful attempts were made to get information from the agency, one particular company approached the minister's office complaining that the agency was unfairly competing with their commercial directories (which was false as the information was not sold by the agency). The company then said that the fact that the agency collected information was an expensive and unnecessary duplication of what the company was already doing more efficiently. Of course they would be able to collect and maintain the data for a fraction of what it cost the agency to maintain its own database. The minister's office then directed the agency to investigate how the company could collect data and maintain the database on its behalf. We were to give every assistance and I was present as an observer at a meeting when the company representatives made a pitch to senior people in the agency promising a great wealth of information and statistical analysis that they could provide to the agency if it would only just hand over the entire database. Anybody who had a basic knowledge of statistics should have realised that this was a lot of bovine excrement. To me it was blatantly obvious that the company's aim was to get the data, not to maintain it for the agency.

After the meeting I was tasked with facilitating the transfer of the data to the company's computer system. This meant that I had to visit their head office and meet with their IT manager. To my surprise she took me out a back door into a laneway at the rear of the building. Half way down the lane was an old galvanised iron clad shed/garage that housed the company's 'data centre' and call operator's desks (actually a group of rickety trestle tables). The walls were not lined and the floor was a concrete slab. The computer network and the phone system were dury rigged with cables dangling from the roof. The data server was a minicomputer standing on a wooden box containing a UPS. Power cabling was a mix of extension leads and daisy-chained power boards. (No I am not making this up!) I realised that I was the only person from the agency to see how the company actually worked.

On my return to the agency I reported what I had found and warned that it would all end in tears. Of course I was told that it was not my place to comment and to just get on with the job. End result was that the company got all the data and the agency got nothing useful back. Its own facility to collect data was lost and the database quickly became outdated and corrupted. Further the company used the address data to aggressively market its own commercial directories. Clients were told by the company that as it was acting for the agency, they had to cooperate and give it confidential information or they would not get agency services. It was also implied that they had to buy advertising in the company's directories or they would not be listed in the database. The response was usually to 'depart immediately' and strong complaints were made first to the agency and then to the minister's office. Of course the minister's office acknowledged that it was actually their bright idea and that the agency had just been complying with a directive from on high! It took eighteen months for these 'brilliant minds' to realise that they had been conned by the company, that the data had been lost beyond recovery and that all client confidence in the agency was destroyed. It was several years ago now but the agency is still poorly regarded and I occasionally hear rude words spoken when I inadvertently mention to former clients that I once worked at that agency.

They are baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!

2 or 3 times a day.

We just put the phone next to the radio so they can listen to 60's rock on 2CH for as long as they like.
Come to think of it if its a robot call we are wasting our time...…………….

its the usual twaddle about our "internet subscription" will be cancelled unless we press 1 to talk to a Telstra technician

Ho hum.