7272427409

This is a fraud call I just received from the company called ge financial, in a previous call the guy told me that it was a fraud.... They just called again and I will be reporting to FBI and everyone the FBI has told me to call when I reported the number (832)786-7656

Have received calls non stop for the past 3 days.  I have recently been looking into car loans.  Most of the calls I receive are from foreign people that I can barely understand.  (727) 242-7919
FL, USA

This number called and said he was from CashNetUSA.com and I have been preapproved for a loan.  I advised him I didn't apply for a loan through Cash Net and he said I was lying and playing games with him.  He said he has my social and bank account number etc.  I said I again I didn't apply for the loan.  Basically he said for my to cancel this preapproved loan was going to cost me $20.  I said that is absolutely insane!  He then said he will deduct it out of my bank account and he was calling the FBI on me. I told him that I was going to call the FBI on him and file a claim with my local police for him harrassing me.  He said do what you have to do and then hung up.

Unsolicited/Nuisance/Fraud/SCAM/Prank telephone calls are here to stay.  Robotic calling technology is readily available and unscrupulous people will exploit it.  Get a life and deal with it.

Being on the National Do Not Call Registry will NOT stop these calls.  Most of them come from overseas operations that are spoofing numbers in the United States.  They are outside of US laws and jurisdiction.  Your government is NOT the least bit motivated to protect you from this kind of harassment, either on your land line or cell phone.  The Registry only blocks a very tiny percentage of potential callers.  The legislation was written to protect political interests, not your privacy.  It is basically worthless.

Do not be surprised (or upset) if/when the caller hangs up as soon as you answer.  When your phone rings, they have completed their job.  These callers are NOT interested in talking to you.  They get paid for each phone connection made.  Any engagement of you in conversation takes away from their time to call other numbers.  What they are doing is compiling a list of "live" numbers so they can sell it to other scammers.  They are also looking for "dead" numbers to spoof for their future calls.

A hang-up call can also be an overseas "one ring scam" to get you to call back and sock you with exorbitant international or premium service call fees.  Typically those scams target cell phones, and originate form area codes 242, 246, 264, 268, 284, 345, 441, 473, 649, 664, 758, 767, 784, 809, 829, 849, 868, 876, and 869.  (You don't have to dial a country code to call these international numbers.)  If you don't recognize who is calling, forget about it.  Don't answer.  DO NOT call back, unless you've got $20.00 per minute to burn!  If it's important they'll leave a message and/or call again.

What can you do?

1)  Block the calling number.  Most cell phone service providers (and some cell phones themselves) have blocking services.  Many land line phone providers also have blocking services.  Contact your service provider (cell or land-line) to find out how to do it.  For a nominal one-time investment you can purchase a simple plug-in add-on device that allows you to manually block numbers to your land-line (Google "call blocker").  Note that these callers don't use a number very long before they switch to another and hit you again.  Get used to it.  It's an unadvertised perk of having phone service.

2)  If you do answer a call and get a real person talking to you, you have established a "business relationship" which takes you out of any Do Not Call Registry restrictions with them….as if they were abiding by those regulations anyway.  Engage them in non-committal conversation as long as you possibly can.  Act VERY interested.  Mess with their minds.  Give them phony credit card numbers.  Give them fictitious addresses.  Make up names.  Consume as much of their time as you can.  While you are taking up their time they cannot harass someone else, so you are performing a vital civic service.  When they do finally hang up, block their number on your phone.

3)  DO NOT call them back!  DO NOT select the button that is supposed to remove you from their database.  These actions only registers your phone number as valid so they can add it to their list to sell to other scammers.  Such action also establishes that you have "done business with them before" which takes you off of the Do Not Call Registry for them….as if they would even consider abiding by the law anyway.

4)  Telephone communications are regulated by state and federal governments.  Carry a card with the phone number of your State Attorney General (who has the responsibility of enforcing telecommunications laws).  When you get an unsolicited call tell them that they have caught you on a phone that can't be used for personal use (or they've caught you on your cell) and ask them to call back on a different number.  Give them the Attorney General's number, hang up, and immediately block their number on your phone.