wherein Liz encounters a telephone scam

[edenfalling]

Ahaha, I just got one of those fake-IRS scam phone calls -- you know, the ones with the pre-recorded voice full of ~ominous pauses~ that says something to the effect of, "Hello. We have been trying to reach you. This is your last notice. The reason we have been trying to reach you. Is that the IRS is filing a lawsuit against you," blah blah blah, and then presumably goes on to say that your only hope is to immediately send money by X method to Y account, but I hung up before the robo-voice could reach that point because A) that is not how the IRS does stuff -- they send you physical mail and they always use your actual name, among other things -- and B) I have heard of this scam, and though wildly amused to have someone try it on me, was not feeling quite that indulgent.

This particular scammer's number, incidentally, was 360-780-3810. Is there a procedure for reporting such calls?

...

I am still annoyed that the automatic no-call list for cell phones is no longer a thing.

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ETA: I reported the call to the FTC, since the IRS didn't seem to have a procedure for robo-calls rather than actual humans impersonating IRS agents. It turns out that I did put my phone on the Do Not Call registry all the way back in 2006, but I guess the FTC has been very swamped this year, since I have received more junk calls in 2015 than in all previous years put together. (I am not including charities, etc., since the registry explicitly does not cover them. But like, NJ-based carpet cleaners? That is clearly something that should have been blocked, and wasn't. I think I will make a point of reporting such things from now on.)

Comments

[alexseanchai]

Wait. There really isn't a no-call list for cell phones? It's not just that telemarketers et al don't check the list?

[edenfalling]

I believe it was discontinued earlier this year -- or at any rate, I have noticed a BIG uptick in my own received junk calls. If so, I suspect the reasoning was that since many people no longer have landlines, it was not practical to keep exempting cell phones from such nuisances. (At least, if you want to have fundraising and surveys and telemarketing still exist as industries, to say nothing of political cold-calls, which... well. *sigh*)

[alexseanchai]

Oh. We're talking about different things, I think.