Spam/scam phone calls and texts

[migrant]

Just ignore all calls, it's kept me out of a lot of trouble.

Done the opposite for me when the caller's the LHG!!

True!! When "She who must be obeyed" calls, I'd better answer!

[handdrummer]

Just ignore all calls, it's kept me out of a lot of trouble.

Done the opposite for me when the caller's the LHG!!

True!! When "She who must be obeyed" calls, I'd better answer!

Or, as they say in China, Xi who must be obeyed. Xi it.

[handdrummer]

Done the opposite for me when the caller's the LHG!!

True!! When " calls, I'd better answer!

Or, as they say in China, Xi who must be obeyed. Xi it.

"She who must be obeyed"

[Big Boy]

2 days running now, as I've been walking around Khao Tao Lake my phone has rang. I didn't recognise either number. When I don't recognise a phone number, I pass my phone straight to Mrs BB because the person on the other end is more than likely going to speak Thai.

Yesterday, I received a call from 035903581. They had repeatedly tried to deliver a parcel, but because nobody was home, the parcel was being returned to sender. Mrs BB simply said, "OK," and finished the call. The strange thing is that for all mail order items, I give my wife's phone number. The usual query is where do you live, and the deliveryman is more likely to understand her instructions. However, very unusually, I don't even have any packages on their way. When I got home, I asked my daughter-in-law to call the number back, but it was not reachable.

Today, I received a call from +88181367794 (Bangladesh?) wanting to speak about my returned parcel. My wife acknowledged them, and was then told to start pressing buttons, at which point she closed the call. I'm most definitely not going to try to call back a Bangladesh phone number.
[Edit I've just checked again, and +881 is assigned to Global Mobile Satellite System (GMSS). I hate to think what that might have cost me if Mrs BB had started pressing buttons.

I can only assume I'm being targeted by some sort of scam. Has anybody else had anything similar?

[Big Boy]

Oh wow - this thread had passed me by. It looks as if its a common ploy, and I had a lucky escape.

[buksida]

I get about 3-4 dodgy calls per week, we have the same 2-3 delivery companies so I've kept their numbers and usually ignore the rest, especially anything with a number from overseas.

Guess that's the downside of having a Thai mobile number that is 20 years old!

[Lost]

I get about 3-4 dodgy calls per week.

Five for me yesterday in the UK. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But never a day without. I never answer. Just pump the number into a 'who called me' site to check it wasn't a legit call after.

[pharvey]

Five for me yesterday in the UK. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But never a day without. I never answer. Just pump the number into a 'who called me' site to check it wasn't a legit call after.

Yes, I tend to block a minimum of 2 or 3 numbers a day on my mobile - can't honestly remember the last time I answered the landline.

Also find the who-called-me website very useful.

[lindosfan1]

Now I find this strange. I have had my mobile for 3 years and never had a scam call. I wish I knew the reason why.

[pharvey]

Now I find this strange. I have had my mobile for 3 years and never had a scam call. I wish I knew the reason why.

My guess is that my "company" mobile number is very easily accessible and I've registered my "personal" mobile number with a few sites who very likely sold my details in the past. UK law has cracked down on this over the past 3/4 years or so, so that probably explains your position (and luck) lindos. Can't change "company number" and more hassle than it's worth to change my "personal number"....

Basically these pricks need to be identified and very severely dealt with..... All mobile networks (UK certainly) have the ability to do so, but don't - once again, money is their goal, certainly not the customer

In Thailand, I suspect the same with the addition of complete governmental control.....

[buksida]

Civil orgs urge govt to combat new wave of telecom scams
Civil groups urged the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to deal with rampant scam calling and texting.

“We have seen an increase of complaints about this and we have sent a letter to address it to the NBTC since October, but little has been done so far,” Naruemon Makeborisuth, the deputy director of the Foundation for Consumers (FFC) told Thai Enquirer on Monday.

She explained that the foundation received at least 5,000 complaints from consumers that have been affected by such scams in 2021.

Collaborative Fact Checking (Cofact) said last week that at least 6.4 million phone numbers were associated with scamming activities in 2021.

They added that Thai consumers are now increasingly using spam blocking applications such as Whoscall to filter out unknown callers and texts.

Naruemon said most of the spam messages would have links to online gambling, pornographic sites, and fake job applications.

People who have experienced the scams say the perpetrators request personal and financial information by pretending to be a legitimate company offering a gift, an undelivered package or a loan offer in exchange for information.

Some would even pretend to be a loan shark and threaten users to give up personal details.

Naruemon urged the NBTC to better enforce the law. She said they need to put systems in place to make it harder for criminals to gain access to unregistered sim cards while blocking sim cards used in these scam operations and blacklisting the scammers.

https://www.thaienquirer.com/37289/civi ... com-scams/

The junta appears to have more pressing priorities such as cracking down on online dissidents.

[buksida]

Nation hit by surge in scams, financial fraud
Thailand was one of the top three countries in the Asia-Pacific region to suffer a significant surge in financial fraud scams last year, according to Google's 2023 Bad Apps Report.

"In 2023, we saw a significant rise in scams and financial fraud. Notably, Singapore, Thailand and India saw a significant surge in financial fraud scams," said Aman Dayal, head of trust & safety operations for Asia-Pacific at Google Play, during an online media roundtable on the report.

The Asia-Pacific region is a hotbed for scams as it has one of the highest smartphone penetration rates in the world at over 90%, with many of the users utilising their phone to make transactions.

"That's a goldmine for scammers to carry out fraud online," Mr Dayal noted.

Moreover, the scammers take advantage of respect for authority figures. For example, the scammers pretend to be from a government agency or a bank.

In addition, many areas of the Asia-Pacific region face a stark digital literacy gap, making it difficult to effectively navigate online threats. This can be true among older mobile phone users, who are more susceptible to deceptive messages, risky apps and scams.

However, a broader age range is also vulnerable to threats. A recent Google survey revealed that the age group between 25 and 34 in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam is most vulnerable to scams.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/ge ... cial-fraud

[Dannie Boy]

I’ve received numerous text and WhatsApp messages the past few months asking me to contact the sender - obviously binned straight away!!

[buksida]

Likewise, I also get the calls that, thankfully, the phone now identifies as a scam allowing me to block them. Once they have your number, there's no escape!

[buksida]

You're probably aware of this anyway but ...

The Public Relations Department on Thursday morning issues the following phone scam alert in English.

Scam alert! Do not answer calls that begin with +697, +698, or +66
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) strongly urges everyone reject incoming calls from abroad starting with +697, +698, or +66, as they are phone scams. Though +66 is Thailand’s country code, if a call is made via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), it should initially be suspected of being a scam. These phone scams will ask for personal information and try to deceive anyone answering the call.

To report the clues or any other information about the phone scams, please call the Anti-Online Scam Operation Center (AOT), hotline number 1441.

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