Latest Scam

Just to let people know the latest scam telephone calls received recently have come with our Area Code and realistic area number. It has the usual spiel about money having been spent on a credit card.

As we do not have a bank in our area it is easy enough to spot, but has caught my wife out once.

Regards

Gray,

I think the fact that some one calling from Nigeria can cloak the call with a UK dialing code is the telecoms industries greatest failing. For years they have said that they can't do anything about it. The fact is that they can but they won't.

I think Lee its got something to do with Revenue, Revenue ,Revenue !!!!!

Absoluteley!! We have put men on the moon but can't stop a Nigerian criminal posing as a UK caller, as Victor Meldrew said 'I can't believe it'

Tony

I've had one of these but as we don't answer calls from unrecognized numbers we let them go to answer phone. If someone starts to leave a message and we are near we can answer it if it seems legit (eg knowing the name of the person they are leaving the message for). As well as checking out unknown number online I have a second sim card in my mobile phone that I only ever use for checking out unknown numbers, and they usually come up as number not found. Any call coming to that second sim card is always going to be a scam call. My mobile phone provider often flags up incoming calls as possible scam calls, presumably because they detect a flurry of calls from the spoofed number or because other people have flagged it as dodgy.

The reason I have a second sim card is that it is the one supplied with the phone. The other one was transferred from a phone that died.

Marin C

I'm surprised if that's something new in the UK. It's been common here for a number of years leading to the government insisting that the telcos "do something about it". Predictably that has led to absolutely no difference.

They use spoofed local numbers to make you think that the call is from someone living nearby - an acquaintance or relative - so that you will pick up. It's so overdone though that it has the opposite effect ... legitimate calls from friends and relatives are more than likely shunted to answering machines/services.

Yeah and we stop an armada now we can't stop a small boar !!!!

I'm fairly sure that the telephone company's computer knows the actual origin of any call. That means it should be possible for customers to elect not to receive calls from countries they choose. (Or it might be easier for customers to choose the countries they will allow calls from). They (the telcos) could even market it as a value-added service - a travesty but still ....

I won't hold my breath.

Well god forbid anyone think I'm sticking up for big telecoms, but I can't think of a way of implementing this. The problem is that the after the initial dialling the telephone number isn't used for routing. It's carried as an data field that can be changed at any time to whatever. Telephone numbers don't have a physical reality, like website names, they're convenient for humans, but only used by the network to find a network address that could be anywhere in the world. There's no physical connection either between callers; instead the conversation is broken into packets each of which is routed independently by any of the available circuits. The system is highly efficient and resilient, but I'm not aware of straightforward way in which a source can be uniquely identified. Tracing stuff needs comprehensive access to the routing tables, which change rapidly, may be locked or abroad, and time is needed to backtrack through them.

Telephones use much the same technology as the internet, and the problem can be illustrated by using traceroute to see how I connect to the forum:

traceroute to www.model-engineer.co.uk (77.68.77.131), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 bthub (192.168.1.254) 4.221 ms 4.144 ms 4.112 ms
2 * * *
3 * * *
4 62.172.102.70 (62.172.102.70) 10.927 ms 62.172.102.68 (62.172.102.68) 14.268 ms 62.172.102.70 (62.172.102.70) 10.877 ms
5 peer8-et3-0-6.telehouse.ukcore.bt.net (62.172.103.133) 13.322 ms 62.6.204.197 (62.6.204.197) 13.163 ms 11.799 ms
6 linx.bb-d.ba.slo.gb.oneandone.net (195.66.236.98) 15.960 ms 11.936 ms 12.132 ms
7 port-channel-4.gb-glo-sgngdsr02.oneandone.net (88.208.255.4) 14.042 ms 13.963 ms 15.156 ms
8 109.228.63.205 (109.228.63.205) 13.341 ms 13.388 ms 13.290 ms
9 * * *
10 * * *
11 * * *
12 * * *
13 * * *
14 * * *
15 * * *
16 * * *
17 * * *
18 * * *
19 * * *
20 * * *
21 * * *
22 * * *
23 * * *
24 * * *
25 * * *
26 * * *
27 * * *
28 * * *
29 * * *
30 * * *

The trace took 30 jumps to get from my computer to the forum and only 8 of the steps played nice and provided any information. The first doesn't help at all - it's my router! Stages marked * * * have been configured not to respond to a trace, and getting access to the information would need special permission from whoever runs that part of the internet. And even then, this tool only gives names and IP addresses, not the underlying hardware addresses.

Spoofed phone numbers are easy to fix only if you don''t understand how networks route traffic! It's not like when the village postmistress knew the vicar was talking to the squire, and Mrs Jones was connected to Griffiths the Grocer! Anyone who could solve the problem at reasonable cost would make a lot of money. Or be recruited by GCHQ!

Design is 'quite interesting'. Most engineering solutions are compromises, and it's not unusual for them to be brilliant at some things and useless at others. Not easy to make a car into a decent submarine, or a submarine into a decent car,,,

Dave

I currently have an internet only supplier, so landline dead, no dodgy calls!

Genuine callers know my mob no and my email addresses.

System works fine for me but I'm always roamin', looking for a better deal.

I think that the OP might have some sympathy with this!

Ega,

You are right on that score.

Wild Boar are more of a problem in this area than Scam phone calls. The once idyllic landscape of the Forest of Dean now resembles a cratered battle field landscape. I am waiting for some bright spark to suggest the introduction of Wolves to control the numbers, as clearly culling is not working.

Regards

Gray,

Gray:

I have seen some of their depredations but hadn't realised how bad it is now.

Presumably the culling is controlled as to numbers and needs to be more drastic.

Hi Ega,

Originally there were 90 released by a farmer in 2002 or there abouts. The last figures in the press prior to Covid showed the numbers were 1800 and that was after culling 500 that year. There cannot be a true number given the area these animals cover and the number of Rangers available to count them.

The Forestry Commission or what ever they call themselves these days agreed to keep the numbers to the same as the original 90 that were released. This was later revised to 400 when they could not manage to get down to 90.

It is ironic but a local sixth form student worked out what the population would be a few years back and so far he has been proven right.

The fact that no-one has been prosecuted for releasing these "Dangerous animals", (Ref DEFRA), into the wild leads me to think it was done intentionally and with the blessing of the Forestry Commission.

Why do I think this, well in the meantime we have had Beavers released as well as Pine Martin. Clearly it is all part of a covert plan. Hence my ref to Wolves.

Regards

Gray,

Hi Gray,

Dont forget the Bison in Kent!

John

When making these statements it re-emphasises the need for members' location information to give it some relevant context. I have not seen any wild boar around Hyde Park so must conclude that your reports are garbage.

Not aimed at DMB who simply included the necessary words.

Edited By Bazyle on 07/11/2022 19:00:04

I Thought the Forest of Dean was specified as the location for the wild boar.

Edited By V8Eng on 07/11/2022 19:45:11

Here’s another from my daughter involving text message from strange number

hi mum Iv lost my phone and I’m stuck without funds please will you send me ……xyzzys……….. Iv had to borrow a phone to send you this………

my granddaughter is 4 and needless to say she can’t text or could loose her non existent phone

Hi John,

We saw the report on one of the BBC programs. We also noted the the elaborate fencing installed when these Wild animals (ref DEFRA), are kept, by anyone other than the Forestry Commission.

I am just wondering if they will join the Boar here one day.

Regards

Gray,

Hi Bazyle,

I am sure I could arrange some exports if you should need them. After all they did roam through out the United Kingdom at one time. I certainly don't mind sharing.

As regards the garbage, you should see the streets of one of the Forest towns after these animals have been through on the night before Refuse collection the next day.

It is probably costing the ratepayers a load of money replacing the damaged waste bins, but not the Forestry Commission. It is a classic case of the boar population now being bigger than the naturally available food supply.

"Wild Boar Forest of Dean", on google will yield the proof you require.

Regards

Gray,