Getting hammered with (Asian) spam calls on mobile?

[Old_Skool_Fool]

Hi all

Need some advice / help if possible.

Got an old iPhone 5 about a month or so ago started getting spammed with calls from what sounds like Asain/Chinese. It's now getting to the point of multiple calls a day.

I looked on internet and seen apps recommended like Hiya, RoboKiller, TrueCaller, Call Control?

Just wondered if someone could advise if any of these are any good or if there's anything else that can be done.

As always, many thanks in advance for any help / advice given.

Thanks
OSF

[V8covin]

Why would you be using a phone that is 10 years old ?
I'd be surprised if the apps you list would work on something that out of date

[MesoForm]

Have you tried putting your phone number into Google and seeing what comes up? They may be scraping the number from a website so if that is the case it might be less hassle just to get a new SIM card (assuming you're SIM-only!)

[V8covin]

MesoForm said:

Have you tried putting your phone number into Google and seeing what comes up? They may be scraping the number from a website so if that is the case it might be less hassle just to get a new SIM card (assuming you're SIM-only!)

A new SIM will only work if they change their phone number.
That's quite a hassle for most people

[sparkyhx]

keep blocking the numbers they come thru on, - the spam is on the phone number not the phone itself. Most will likely spoof the calling number but quite often they come thru on the same number
Get a new phone number (ie new sim)
set the Ignore 'unknown numbers' setting - which is fine if you are not on dating sites or job hunting etc when you would actively want unsolicited calls.

[98elise]

Not a mobile, but when I first retired I was getting multiple scam calls a day on our home phone.

I just made it my mission to string them along for as long as possible, and slip the odd insult in whenever I could. Eventually they stopped calling me. I imagine the number on some sort of scammers "do not call" list now

[Old_Skool_Fool]

Thanks for all the replies.

I googled my mobile number and it came up with only a few weird pages, not even websites

I check my settings / options on the phone and there's no option to block unknown callers, guess the phone is too old. I manually block each and every scam call by adding to block list. I look at the numbers and there's rarely the same number.

I guess I'll have to change phone.

We're on the TPS for the home phone, so rarely get scam calls, maybe once a month. My mobile number is linked to my paypal, ebay amazon etc and I've not had a problem with fraudulent activity. These "asian" calls started a few months back but were only once a month or so, but about 6-8 weeks ago they became more prevalant, and now it's a bit of a nightmare.

I currently have a Plusnet SIM, but this is being discontinued in a few months, so will have no choice but to change.

Any recommendations for a cheap / pay as you go SIM deal would be appreciated.

[V8covin]

Lebara

[wyson]

I used to get a fair number of these calls (my mobile is registered with the TPS) but when I switched from O2 to EE they stopped. I ported the number over, so I reckon EE is doing more to block these types of calls in the background than O2.

Edited by wyson on Friday 13th October 22:07

[Mikebentley]

I’ve a Samsung A51 that I’m provided with by a company I sub contract for that I use as a sort of PDA for using their own application on. I don’t use it to make calls. Since Tuesday I have begun to receive about 3 spam calls a day. When I answer them there is a pre recorded voice speaking in what I assume is Chinese.

[blackscooby]

Mrs. BS is getting exactly these her phone.
Vodafone subscriber, different number presented each time.
Pre-recording in what we think is Chinese.

[Old_Skool_Fool]

Many thanks for all the replies.

Thought I'd give an update as some others have said they're experiencing something similiar. I'm not sure how practical this will be for others, or how long it'd last, but I thought I'd post incase it might help.

I use my home PC for emails, banking, Ebay / Amazon etc. My iphone is pretty much a phone and camera for when I'm out and about. This gave me the flexibility to do something a bit drastic and that was to pull my sim card from my phone since I last posted.

I popped it back in last night and had a text from NHS appointment appear but no calls. I don't know how pulling the sim card impacts my phone, but seeing as I got a reminder text from NHS about an appointment next week I'm guessing/presuming some things can still get through(?), but there were no missed calls or the usual 10+ messages on answerphone from these spam calls.

In all honesty I'm a bit of a tech-no phobe and don't like change, so don't understand modern technology at all. I have no idea if this is just coincidence or whether pulling the sim card for a week does work, but thought I'd let others know.

As always, many thanks for all the replies and help given so far.

[x5tuu]

blackscooby said:

Mrs. BS is getting exactly these her phone.
Vodafone subscriber, different number presented each time.
Pre-recording in what we think is Chinese.

Same here on my works number - really annoying and they seem to call at all times of the day and night. First half of the voicemail is Chinese and the second half in broken English about a package at an airport that needs claiming.

[Old_Skool_Fool]

Just thought I'd give an update..

After pulling my sim card the calls stopped completely for a little while (weeks), but now they're back.

Just wondered about the others who posted here if they've had any changes?

OSF