Like any other normal human being, I’ve got a lot of pet peeves of varying degrees.
They bounce around between brief annoyance and deep-seated and rage-inducing.
Usually, it’s the former but lately, the latter have been popping up with frightening regularity.
The prime example of this is spam calls with phone numbers that look like they should be from local callers.
This is called “number spoofing,” better defined as the practice of causing the telephone network to indicate to the receiver of a call that the originator of the call is a station other than the true originating station.
Spoofing can lead to a caller ID display showing a phone number different from that of the telephone from which the call was placed.
Unfortunately, a lot of people are unaware of spoofing and there is little to nothing that can be done about it.
On a personal note, I’ve received spoof calls as of late asking me to authorize payments for a new iPhone 11 via Amazon – which is nothing I’d ever buy!
There are also the usual “insurance” warranty scam calls and the automated systems trying to reach me for some sort of contest winnings.
It’s all garbage and exceedingly frustrating.
Even when the automated system tells you that you can opt-out of getting those phone calls again.
The latest iPhone spoof just transfers me to a call center in the middle of nowhere and none of those people get the picture that I don’t want to be harassed by their garbage.
That’s the worst part!
Jumping through their hoops leads to nothing useful or helpful.
Minus blocking the numbers.
Even then, that’s a task easier said than done when you’ve got a landline phone that’s ringing off the wall nearly every hour for 24 hours.
I get that they might be successful with a handful of people they call, but it only makes me angrier and more creative in telling them off.
I’ve tried nice plenty of times but after the 17th call, it’s going to be ugly from here on out.
Mom keeps telling me just to press “1 for no” and tell the call center people to stop calling and Mike finds my ugly dealings at least worth a chuckle.
But, I’m at my wits’ end and I can feel my blood pressure going up every time the phone rings.
I just hope that our readers don’t fall for their tactics and that sooner rather than later, call spoofing is declared illegal and punishable.
The Federal Communication Commission says that the calls should just be ignored and allowed to go to voicemail.
Also, if you do answer the phone, never give out personal information such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, mother's maiden names, passwords, or other identifying information in response to unexpected or suspicious calls.
Apparently, the FCC also says that if you answer the phone call and choose an option that it could target you for more scam calls.
Learning the above just makes me more agitated!
All in all, nothing ruins my weekend more than dealing with scammers from half a world away.
