Call filtering?

swanseamale47

swanseamale47

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wayne clarke
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I know this isn't photography related but I'm hoping someone can help. My dear Mum is 85 and getting scam calls, does anybody know of a way of blocking all calls except from certain family numbers? (landline) she has to have a home phone for her lifeline and she's nearly got caught yesterday. All the gadgets and systems I looked at only seem to block calls from a list of numbers. Really she needs to either block all non family calls or have a person intercept all calls and check. I don't mind paying.
 
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I just keep them talking , and waste there time , they dont appreciate that very much. all they get is false information.
most these call are made using skype , and are from outside the eu, so are exempt from the CPS Register, the windup option is the only answer really
 
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We use an answerphone that is permanently on, the message says please speak to the machine if we're in we'll pick it up if not we'll call you back. We never pick up unless the caller speaks to the machine (all out friends know this) and the hoax callers never speak to the machine. Once we have had a hoax number call we then block the number via our service provider.
 
Truecall

Set it up for her and it just works ... can whitelist family & friends and assign pin code for Dr/Hospital etc.
Can even cheaply be connected to the Truecall Control to monitor/edit etc (via browser) from anywhere ... e.g. monitor how it's working from your home/office.
If Truecall doesn't like it the phone won't even ring so she's not worrried by calls.
 
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We use a BT 8610 Cordless Telephone with Answering Machine. We have a BT landline with callerid enabled. The phone can be set up to filter calls, block certain numbers, allow specific ones through, sending others straight to the answerphone or requesting the caller to announce their name & allow you to decide if you want to take the call. If you don't want the call, it is easy to add the number to a block list.

We routinely block all international calls, automatically allow calls from mobiles & a pre-programmed list of landline numbers. everything else is forced to announce. The phone hardly ever rings now. :)
 
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gramps said:
Truecall

Set it up for her and it just works ... can whitelist family & friends and assign pin code for Dr/Hospital etc.
Can even cheaply be connected to the Truecall Control to monitor/edit etc (via browser) from anywhere ... e.g. monitor how it's working from your home/office.
If Truecall doesn't like it the phone won't even ring so she's not worrried by calls.
Click to expand...

:plus1:

My Mum has a BT Decor 2600 which is powered by Truecall, and hasn't had a scam call since!
If a caller isn't on the whitelist or blacklist, it asks the caller for a name before it even rings...the scummers scammers always ring off without leaving a name, and we never even know anything happened!
Well, I think that's what's happening...the phone's been pretty quiet since we set it up!
Bliss!:giggle:

The only issue I can foresee is 'number spoofing' - where scammers can imitate a genuine number to fool you into thinking it's from a legitimate caller.
Though the chances they could spoof a number that's on your whitelist are tiny, so it's worth it in my book...and it hasn't happened to us yet.
 
steve_lyt said:
I just keep them talking , and waste there time , they dont appreciate that very much. all they get is false information.
most these call are made using skype , and are from outside the eu, so are exempt from the CPS Register, the windup option is the only answer really
Click to expand...
Not really helpful for an 85 year old though....
 
We no longer have a landline because we don't need one, but cellphone reception was feeble at her previous address. Nuisance/scam calls weren't a major problem but we did get some. They stopped immediately when we got a new phone with Truecall built in. There are various ways to programme it, but the whitelist option is simple and seemed to be pretty bulletproof. It sounds like the right choice for your mother.
 
My phone has BT call guardian built in, only let's calls programmed into it get straight through
everyone else has to announce themselves and even that you can stop
I only have family and friends numbers in my contacts list, phone very rarely rings, I use a mobile
for al outgoing calls
 
+1 for call guardian. Reduced our (and our 86 father in law) nusciance calls to 0. It needs setting up for them, and everything needs programming, but once it's working, it does the job.
 
Get her number changed, as a start. It seems her number is on the 'list'.
 
jondc said:
Get her number changed, as a start. It seems her number is on the 'list'.
Click to expand...
Yes, but there is no guarantee the ‘new’ number won’t be on an even bigger list — it’s possible that is more likely too, for obvious reasons. And then there is the difficulty of getting everyone to change to your new number — a non trivial task :( .
 
steve_lyt said:
they just dial random numbers, until they get an answer , they use skype , and give false numbers.
Click to expand...
Hence the long delay before they pick up. Also if you just answer but say nothing they ring off, where a human would say something.
 
My mum who is 92 was getting nuisance calls. I set up bt call protect and blocked a few calls that came through to start with. Now mum is freee from scam/ nuisance calls.
 
Lots of usefull help. Thanks everybody, I'll work through those. Many thanks.
 
GarethB said:
:plus1:

My Mum has a BT Decor 2600 which is powered by Truecall, and hasn't had a scam call since!
If a caller isn't on the whitelist or blacklist, it asks the caller for a name before it even rings...the scummers scammers always ring off without leaving a name, and we never even know anything happened!
Well, I think that's what's happening...the phone's been pretty quiet since we set it up!
Bliss!:giggle:

The only issue I can foresee is 'number spoofing' - where scammers can imitate a genuine number to fool you into thinking it's from a legitimate caller.
Though the chances they could spoof a number that's on your whitelist are tiny, so it's worth it in my book...and it hasn't happened to us yet.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have had a Truecall unit for over 10 years. 100% success in eliminating unwanted calls.
The OP may need to set it up if his mum is unable to do so.
The website has a demo video https://www.truecall.co.uk/product-p/cb1.htm
 
I come at this from the other side, not a scammer but someone who has to contact the elderly on a regular basis in the course of my work, I repair and supply stairlifts.
I have many experiences with having to leave an answerphone message and then calling back a couple times for the client to have screened who's calling before answering.
I find that the call guardian is used quite often and it seems to me that people have confidence and are more willing to answer immediately when using this system.
 
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