I know this is nothing to do with MS but has anyone had a computer voice phone you on the land line telling you that your IP address is compromised and to phone this number. Not that I ever have, nor did my wifi cut off. Is there anyway to stop these calls as it is a pain in the bum, and I don’t want to have my mum(80 years young) get to the phone as one broken hip is one to many, she uses the stair lift to go up and down the stairs.
Kay
Total scam - ignore them
First off this is absolutely a scam and don’t ever ring them back. it will be a premium rate phone number or they will answer and start to ask you to perform some actions on your PC to give them access to your data.
First thing is to ensure you are registered with the telephone Preference Service
https://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/index.html
This can take a while to filter through so you may still get some calls in the interim and it can’t stop all calls from abroad.
There is a lot more info on phone scams, how to recognise them and what to do about them on the AgeUK website
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/scams-fraud/phone-scams/#
If it continues to be a problem for you then you should contact your telephone provider and/or your internet provider. They have a duty to prevent spam and scam.
Something else you can try is to have caller ID and screen them out that way but you can also look phone numbers up on the internet by going to a site like WhoCallsMe. there you input the phone number you want to check and it will tell who it is and if there are any reports of it being a scam etc.
My Mum has a call screening on her line and it won’t allow any call to get through unless it recognises the number. If it doesn’t recognise the number then it asks the caller to leave their name and to wait while it contacts her, it will then ring her landline, ask if she wants to take a call from the recorded name and then puts it through or dumps it accordingly. She was at one point getting 20-30 nuisance callers per day, now she gets none.
Hope this helps.
We’ve just got a call screening service from Sky (who we get our phone service from). It’s called Sky Shield. The first time a call is made from a new number, we pick up the phone and there’s an automatic thing where the caller is asked to state who they are. We then have the option to press the star button, which will allow calls from that number in the future to come straight through; or we can press a #1, allowing the call to come through once only (and thereafter to go through screening again); or we can reject the call.
We got it after being told far too many times that some random person was ‘calling about the accident you had, that wasn’t your fault’! Plus of course the old PPI claims, and any number of other junk calls.
It’s brilliant.
Sue
Thanks a lot it’s just getting on my pip as I have to answer because it may be family.
Kay
TIPS TO AVOID: Either hang up immediately & block their number (via your handset OR provider). OR, ask the caller; where they obtained your number. DO NOT GIVE ANY PERSONAL DETAILS. They will hang up. For vulnerable people, I’d fit an answer phone to set off after 4 or 5 rings & ask any friends & family to give only 2 or 3 rings, hang up & ring again. This lets any vulnerable people have some reassurance that they’ll know the caller. All other calls will be answered via the answer phone system. Chrissie