Anyone else getting these spam calls?

I keep getting spam calls from 11800772xxxx.

The message is about my social security benefits being permanently suspended due to suspicious activity.  Press one to connect with the federal social security blah blah blah.

I'm not receiving social security benefits.

This whole thing reeks of spam, but it is a format I'm not used to.  Anyone else getting them?

Of course it’s spam.  I get similar calls from the IRS who will “send the cops to throw you in jail” if I don’t press 1.

Anyone else miss the days when the Do Not Call list was at least modestly effective?

My phone says scam likely as the caller whenever I get those. I wouldn't generally answer it as is, but I dont for sure then. 

I get calls from numbers that resemble my own or something close to an often dialed number. I let it go to voice mail. These are bots spoofing a real number. If you answer or deny the call they know it's a legit number and then continue their scam.

In reply to Curtis :

Off topic here but last night I went to a dinner theater.  I spent most of the time looking at the stage props and backgrounds.  Gave me a lot of respect for your job.

Been getting those social security calls on my land line. The irs ones come through the cell phone, along with medicare and card holder services.

I'm sure I'm on a list by now, because I answer them when I'm having a bad day and come up with very explicit, very obscene, possibly illegal things to say to them until they hang up. I  want them to press charges against me so they are forced to reveal an office address.

In the past month or so, the amount of spam calls I have received on my cell have exploded. I used to get maybe one or two a week but now its about 5 per day.

I got one at 5:30AM on Thursday. This is getting berkeleying ridiculous.

I'm trying to stem the tide using Mr. Number and Youmail. I like Mr. Number because I can block entire area codes and Youmail does a pretty good job determining possible spam calls.

That area code blocking thing is great until they start spoofing local numbers. 

I can't believe I actually forgot about this because I was so surprised in this day and age, but I've been getting callbacks from people who were called by my number being spoofed. Makes me think, since they don't seem to understand how spam calls work, that they are actually playing along with these scam artists when they answer. Good, stupidity should hurt. 

"you called me what did you want?"

Unless you're Gibbs Auto (they weren't) or my kids school (they weren't), I didn't call you. Those are the only two places I've dialed out in 3 months.

"But you're number was in my call log, you called me"

No dipE36 M3 it's called caller id spoofing, it's super easy to do with VOIP, and scammers have been doing it since before the age of cellphones. 

"but you're on my call log! you must have called me!"

Then give me your name, address, and SSN, and I'll make sure never to call you again. (usually when they get the hint and hang up). 

In reply to RevRico :

Yeah, I have separate work & personal cells and a couple of Saturday's ago some guy calls my work cell accusing me of just calling him. I was 3 hours into a 4 hour drive and hadn't made a call on that phone all day. Tried to explain that some scammer must have spoofed my number. He didn't get it, so after I told him again that I had not made an outgoing call that day, I hung up. He immediately texted me that I had called him 3 minutes ago...I ignored him & thankfully haven't heard any more from that moron...

Just read a Consumer Reports blurb on limiting robocalls.  There are some pay apps you can use (typically they run you $0.99 to $1.99 per month, but known databases are said to be updated daily).  Another method for iPhones that sounds clever and is free is to set your phone to Do Not Disturb, but allow all calls thru that are on your Contacts list.  So, if someone on your Contacts list calls they ring thru, but all that come in that are not on your list immediately get phonemail.  Idea is if tgey are legit, they will leave you a voicemail message that you can call back later, and robos won’t.

Since I also get 5 or more a day, I’m giving this a try starting today.

We got one of those and reported the number to OIG. They can pursue it if they are inclined.

Stampie said:

In reply to Curtis :

Off topic here but last night I went to a dinner theater.  I spent most of the time looking at the stage props and backgrounds.  Gave me a lot of respect for your job.

I did the same. Combination Christmas play with some improv mixed in, in a converted church. Pretty cool venue supported mostly by donors. It was a fun place. 

T-mobile flags incoming calls as likely spam. So I don’t pick them up. They almost always leave a three second voicemail that is silent. 

Curtis said:

Anyone else miss the days when the Do Not Call list was at least modestly effective?

It still works just fine, for people and corporations who obey the law.  The people running a spambot system that likely originates outside the US that is trying to scam people out of their money or identity are not too concerned about it.

I haven't received any social security voice mails yet, but I have gotten a few from a "local number" that are in a language I don't comprehend. 

I get all sorts of calls, unless I recognize the caller I let them go to my answering machine.   Some leave a message and tell me to push one now.

I have gotten several from "Microsoft Support" informing me that "My Microsoft subscription is about to expire". 

Interesting thing about this one was that it was recorded and you had to make a selection (Press 1?) to connect to a representative.

Sometimes I Press 1 just to screw with them...

I get "local" numbers calling me all the time. Nobody I know has a 609-517-xxxx number, so they all go to Voice mail. Usually they never leave a message.

The other day my work issued phone blew up with calls. Somebody named "tracy" is selling a mitsubishi and somehow put my work phone's number in. The calls I can deal with, the phone is just a dumb cell phone, so replying to texts is annoying..