Does Anyone Else Do This?

[blas]

Whenever I get a phone call from a number I don't recognize, usually an 800 or similar number, or sometimes even just a local number, I google it to see what I get.

Sometimes I get nowhere other than just to what city the call came from or what provider it came from, but other times I get directed to whocalledus.com and it has really helped me weed out telemarketers and scam companies.

Just today, I filed a complaint against a company pretending to be AT&T. I never answered the calls that I've gotten, but I googled the 800 number and got a site where several people were complaining of constant calls telling them that their bill was late, they faced service shut off, and it wanted their SSN and credit card # to turn service back on.

I know it seems a little duh, but I just figured I'd give others a heads up and share what I've found. If you're like me and you screen all your calls and don't answer ones you don't recognize but are still curious, google them. You never know what you might find!

[BookstoreEscapee]

I never thought to google it, but I've gotten several calls recently from an 866 number. I'll have to find it in my phone log and see what comes up..

[Lady Legira]

I've done it a couple of times and been glad I missed the call.

[blas]

Oh I hear you there! I'm so glad I didn't answer that call....not that I would have given them any info, but I probably would have waited to be connected to a "rep" and probably given them a piece of my mind.....considering I'm not the person who gets the bill for my cell phone (mom is) and she has an auto pay set up so she is never late......and if they think I'm dumb enough to believe I am getting shut off for a service that I don't get billed for, they really need to try harder next time. But then again, they'd probably take my advice.

I hope something gets done about them, I am glad I took initiative and filed a complaint, but it was extremely vague, because they didn't actually get anything from me and since I didn't answer the phone, I don't have much of a story, just from the sites I've visited.

[MaggieTheCat]

I google a lot of the numbers that I don't recognize, especially if they don't leave a message or if they call repeatedly. Fortunately, I don't get a lot of them. My husband has been getting one in particular pretty often for the last few weeks, though, that we keep meaning to check in to.

[Kiwi]

I rarely answer if I dont recognise the number, I let it go to voicemail. I screen our home phone calls as well though.

I also google the numbers, my number must be old because I had telemarketers calling from day one.

[blas]

whocalledus.com is always where I get directed to when I google an 800 number. It's very helpful because I'm usually not the first person they have called and many people have already commented on what happened and who they think that number was.

[NightAngel]

I Google almost every number I don't recognize as we don't get too many calls from telemarketers, thankfully.

I love whocalledus.com as well. It's good for some non-800 numbers as well. Had one from a Cali area code the other day- looked like a regular home or cel phone number. I checked on whocalledus and found out that it's an automated system that reminds you of doctor's appointments- which we had one so, yeah. :)

[Talon]

I never answered the calls that I've gotten, but I googled the 800 number and got a site where several people were complaining of constant calls telling them that their bill was late, they faced service shut off, and it wanted their SSN and credit card # to turn service back on.

Oh great, the phishing scammers have migrated from email to phone lines.

Come to think of it, how did we get along before the internet? Just a little while ago we had a door-to-door salesman type try to sell us on a "free" replacement water tank. Thanks to Google we discovered the scam: the tank they were offering was a rental with a 15-year payment contract. It would have been cheaper to just buy a new tank.

The economic meltdown seems to have brought the scammers out in full-farce.

[Kullervo]

I had an interesting one where someone called and my roommate answered and they said it was "Kullervo's work.". And roommate blurted out my company name as a reflex.
They could have gotten my name from my voicemail since it was only my first name.
They proceeded to give a bogus name/number to call and the caller ID was a different local number but it wasn't valid either.
Its been about a month now and haven't heard anything new.
googled both numbers with no success.

[Becks]

I google a lot of the numbers that I don't recognize, especially if they don't leave a message or if they call repeatedly.

I do that. Turns out one of the NJ members of the male harem is in CT now.

[jedimaster91]

I've done that as well. Most of the time it's just a wrong number. Not too long ago I missed a call and the person didn't leave a voicemail (I hate it when they do that). So I called it back and was directed to a voicemailbox wanting me to leave personal info, including my SSN. Alarm bells were going off in my head since I know better than to give out my social to whomever asks for it. I called back a little while later to see if I could get a person on the line and it turned out to be the state unemployment office with some questions about my claim. Whew!

[draftermatt]

I do it, and my wife will actually text me from work asking me to Google numbers for her.

It's a great tool.

[taxguykarl]

I do that too. There are so many scammers trying to collect imaginary debts. It helps to have a name to go with the number when you file an FTC complaint.

[tropicsgoddess]

I google unfamiliar numbers all the time. It's a good thing to do, especially now with all these scammers out there too.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Yep. Guilty.

[blas]

You aren't the guilty one, RK.

I find it a very pro-active act myself :)

[Eric the Grey]

Honestly, I had never thought of doing this. In fact, I was wondering exactly how to track down who actually called me yesterday, leaving a number for me to call back.

Said number, when I called today turned out to be a "Locating Service" that, for only $9.95 a month, would apparently help me in some way... :rolleyes:

However, the company name is a real debt collection agency....

The number that came up on my caller ID is valid, and for the company they were supposed be, so I'm going to call them tomorrow (the number from the companies web page, not the one in the automated message) and see what's up.

Anyway, thanks for that bit of advice. I'm sure it'll come in handy later on. :lol:



:cool: Eric the Grey