Solitary chicken - need advice

[soapdragon]

For the second time in a week I have had a call from someone asking about the car accident that I had last year and has everything been resolved? The salient fact is that I have not had an accident in about 17 years!

 

When I asked the 1st caller who they were and where they got the incorrect info from they put the 'phone down. Just now, the second caller kept saying 'thats scandalous that we've been given that info' but wouldn't say where it had come from apart from 'various insurance companies' which is clearly not true.

 

I cannot work out who these people are who are calling me and what they hope to gain - apart from really winding me up!

An elderly gentleman in the same village as me had an identical call last week which really upset him Does anyone know what this is all about? I am guessing MONEY but how does it work?

 

I have used comparison websites to get insurance quotes but have always stated, correctly, that I have 10 years NCB- which is the max they will allow so cannot think it comes from there?!

[gavclojak]

if I am correct I think claim companies buy 'list's' from data holding companies and just work their way through the list's cold calling. I guess for every few no's they may get a yes ££££

 

I had one last week when the guy said I am calling about....blah...blah...blah, I said no sorry and he just put the phone down!!! I was gutted I didn't get a chance to do it first.

 

I had another scam last year when I was receiving a call, as soon as I answered they put the phone down, apparently it was in the hope I would call them back and it was fixed so they would get a percentage of the call back fee which by all accounts was a premium rate number

 

I let no caller ID calls go to voicemail now

[Chickendoodle]

They are just fishing in the hope that they will call someone who will use their services. They have no information from anywhere. I frequently get texts telling me that the £4000 for my claim is still waiting for me, my ppi claim can be sorted and I have won free laser eye surgery. If they phone enough people they will eventually call someone who has had a motor accident. They can then encourage them to make an injury claim for which they will make a lot of money in referral fees.

 

Get yourself on the website where you can register to stop nuisance calls, I think it's the call preference site from memory and don't answer your mobile to a number you don't recognise. I always google numbers that call my mobile and invariably it is an insurance claims company. I had one number that rang my mobile 3 or 4 times a day for a week. I alternated between just cutting it off or answering it and just leaving the phone on the table and eventually they stopped.

[soapdragon]

Ahhh, all is becoming clearer! I am actually on the telephone preference service list but it only applies where someone is trying to SELL you something and not if they are doing market research or 'trying to help'

[sjp]

as said they've brought a list of numbers from somewhere I had a call a month or so back hung up as soon as they said I'd had an accident a while back. it got me thinking through I'd just had an appointment with the physio at the hospital and I'd had the same type of phone call a few year back after a physio appointment for my back it could be a coincident but been a cynical auld "Ooops, word censored!" I tend to think the worst with these sort of things

 

the PPI one through they get the info from the banks or the regulator as it's open information as to who took out PPI allegedly

[The Dogmother]

I used to get loads of them... I started off telling them that it couldn't possibly be me as I don't have a car (big lie, but it was fun) the calls got more numerous so I registered my mobile number with the TPS and they gradually stopped.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I pay for caller ID now and ignore any numbers I don't recognise or that say "private caller". It's annoying having to pay for it but it's worth it to avoid speaking to these people.

[Lavenders_Blue]

As others have said, it's just cold calling. I have a friend who does not hold a driving licence and therefore does not drive! Yet he regularly gets calls about his recent car accident

[PurpleTree]

I've had a few calls like that too saying they have information about an accident I, or someone in the household, has been in.

 

Interestingly I had one last week from a foreign sounding man claiming to be from the Telephone Preferance Service (which we are registered with), saying they have noted an increase in nuisance calls to our number. To help with this we could be upgraded to their premium service. I hung up then. I had a look on the TPS website straightaway and there is a warning on there about this sort of call. So just a warning to you all, as it was a new one on me.

[Charlottechicken]

I've also had a spate of these recently. Funnily enough, I've had three missed calls on my mobile today, two of which were instantly identifiable as cold callers of some kind. Then I can go for days or weeks without receiving one. One I'm getting a lot of lately is from several companies interested in whether I have a works pension or not I deny everything

 

Thanks for the info about the TPS upgrade scam, PurpleTree

[Valkyrie]

Our calls tend to be mostly computer related. I tell them I am the cleaner and then they ask for my name and phone number so I give them some fictitious name and number and they leave me alone. Or I tell them I haven't got one and they get ratty with me. Most recently I've just let it ring and go to answerphone. Never any message left. But it's pretty constant - about 4 or 5 daily.

[soapdragon]

Had another one this evening - I asked what he was selling - you can tell, can't you - and he then said all calls were recorded and then launched into the spiel about accidents etc. I told him this was the third call in 1 week/no accident for 18 years/leave me alone! Agggghhhhh!

[The Dogmother]

I never answer a call to my home number if I don't know the number, or if it's an international number - the more you answer, the more they will ring.

 

Both that and my mobile number are on the TPS, which has really cut down on nuisance calls, although it doesn't have any jurisdiction on overseas numbers.

[soapdragon]

Have now decided not to answer any calls that say 'out of area' or private caller' so hopefully will keep the blood pressure down! If anyone is legit they can leave a message - mind you, our answerphone turns everyone into a dalek anyway so its hard to tell who is who from where!

 

We now don't get sales calls thanks to the TPS but such a shame that they don't cover 'surveys' as these smart people now tend to call them or so called 'helpful' calls like the ones I have had regarding my 'accident'.

[Cinnamon]

Just had a text message like this - number now added to my call blocker app

[soapdragon]

Just had a text message like this - number now added to my call blocker app

 

Oh, bloomin' 'eck! They'll be on the doorstep soon then!!! Is there no escaping them!

[Cinnamon]

LOL! - let them try!

[Purplemaniacs]

Just had a text message like this - number now added to my call blocker app

I had one last night too. Never had one like it before, as soon as I saw it I thought of Omlet

 

Chrissie

[HarrisonFamily]

I often answer these as follows....

 

Sorry can you hold on a minute .........and then just leave them on the end of the line for ages....

 

If it is computer related.....I work for the police and am now tracking this call and you personally.....(they really put the phone down quick)

 

Double glazing .....I live in a lighthouse (Really confuses them )

 

My personal favourite I just pass the phone to a group of children and get them to scream - the children I care for love that one and are ready to scream everytime the phone rings...

 

Ok - I know I need to get out more ....

[The Dogmother]

I hate to be a killjoy, but by answering the calls, you are encouraging them to ring again... the programs they use to dial out will stop dialling a number if they never get a response, so if you pick up, then they will continue to dial at the times when they know someone will answer the phone.

[Purplemaniacs]

I hate to be a killjoy, but by answering the calls, you are encouraging them to ring again... the programs they use to dial out will stop dialling a number if they never get a response, so if you pick up, then they will continue to dial at the times when they know someone will answer the phone.

That is just what my OH says, he says ignore it and in the end they will stop calling.

 

Chrissie

[soapdragon]

These calls always come between 5pm and 8.00pm - very rarely during the day...just when I am busy with boys supper/bath etc In spite of good intentions I did answer one last night as I forgot to check the caller ID.......even more annoyingly it was just silence which I found very spooky. After a few 'hello, hello' s I said a very bad word

 

From now on I WILL ignore 'private caller' of 'out of area' or even area codes that I don't know...I hope the message gets through eventually.

[The Dogmother]

When you get the silence, it's because the automatic dialling program has dialled loads of random numbers and when it gets an answer it routes that call through to a salesperson. If there's no salesperson free then you get the silence as it logs off.

 

Most of these programs are written to recognise the times when it will get a response from your number, and will call again around that time.

[HarrisonFamily]

I hate to be a killjoy, but by answering the calls, you are encouraging them to ring again... the programs they use to dial out will stop dialling a number if they never get a response, so if you pick up, then they will continue to dial at the times when they know someone will answer the phone.

 

Unfortunately as I childmind and the parents call from a whole range of numbers I always have to answer.....so yes I do get a whole range of nuisance calls....

[soapdragon]

When you get the silence, it's because the automatic dialling program has dialled loads of random numbers and when it gets an answer it routes that call through to a salesperson. If there's no salesperson free then you get the silence as it logs off.

 

Most of these programs are written to recognise the times when it will get a response from your number, and will call again around that time.