have ceased to be simply annoying. They are now getting dangerous.
For the past few weeks we have been getting two strings of unwanted calls. One string comes from a call centre somewhere.
A voice asks,
"Is that Mrs...."
"There is no Mrs...."
"Is that the owner of the number?"
No, it isn't. If you knew anything about the household then you would know that Mrs....is no longer alive. She died almost eighteen years ago. You would also know that I am not the owner of the number you called.
I have tried simply hanging up. They keep ringing back. I have tried telling them to stop calling. They keep ringing back. On one occasion when I hung up after telling them to please leave us alone they rang back immediately insisting that I had to listen to them. I told them we were on the "DNC" (Do Not Call) register. Did it make any difference? No, I "had" to listen to them. I hung up again. The Senior Cat has hung up on such calls as well.
The number comes up as "unavailable" so we have no way of reporting these people. They call at weekends and there was a call yesterday afternoon. Yesterday was a public holiday which shows they are not a government department or a medical appointment reminder.
But that is where it is starting get dangerous. One day it might be one of those things and the Senior Cat will hang up. People will think he was being rude. It won't be that at all. It will be sheer frustration on his part. He doesn't understand the often heavy Chinese or Indian accents from the call centres in Asia. It isn't prejudice against those races. He simply doesn't want phone calls which bypass the law by moving businesses overseas.
I have tried asking to speak to the supervisor but that has achieved nothing. No, I am told, you must listen to us. I have said, "If you want to tell me something then write a letter." A genuine caller would do that if it was important. I hang up again.
And then there is the other string of phone calls. They started out as silent hang ups. Wrong number? It was possible but there were too many of them. They don't come from a call centre. Someone checking to see if we were home? Possible but again there were too many of them. A would be thief would not be that persistent...and what do we have worth stealing anyway? Nothing. No, it was none of those things. I took some action to check if I was right in my suspicions and I will be dealing with those calls shortly.
But all this is a serious invasion of our privacy. As the Senior Cat finds it hard to get to the phone quickly and tries to hurry - even though I say, "Don't hurry.Let it ring. If it is important they will call back." - then it is also physically dangerous for him.
And the other thing is the increasing likelihood that one day the call will be important and we will not get it because, out of sheer fury and frustration, I will hang up again...and again.
It worries me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
I wonder if this is a result of a recent data breach of Australian information. Perhaps identity thieves have come across archived information including your number. News article here:
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-06/australian-data-may-be-compromised-in-pageup-security-breach/9840048?pfmredir=sm
"The company has a long list of major Australian companies as clients, with the ABC confirming Target, Telstra, Reserve Bank of Australia, Medibank, Officeworks, Kmart, Commonwealth Bank, Jetstar, NAB, Aldi, Linfox, Coles, Australia Post and Lindt as clients of the company.
Australian Government departments are also involved in the data breach ..."
It concerns me that too many people have too much trust in electronic systems. In the past, it was practice to keep manual/hard copy back up systems because electronic data was considered volatile and at high risk of getting lost or wiped. It disturbs me when people are relying on electronic systems alone.
My retaliation to unwanted calls is to put the phone handset on a table without hanging up. Eventually the phone company will disconnect the call. It doesn't prevent the calls I receive, but it ties up the callers phone line long enough to prevent them calling a few more victims. I, too, am on a No-call list.
Post a Comment