I may be one of few people who have noticed a considerable decline in the number of scam and phishing calls and texts since the COVID-19 pandemic was announced? I have received zero phone calls, texts, or emails over the last week and a half. Granted I am enjoying a break from the onslaught of annoying phone calls and text messages, but it’s started to have me wondering, are scam office managers around the world also sending their “employees” home as well? I also haven’t been called by any Mexican vacation or student loan re-fi companies over the last two weeks and that was pretty much a daily occurrence otherwise.
Has anyone else also noticed a similar trend?
I am not surprised that legitimate companies, no matter how illegitimate their calling practices may be, are not in business at this time, but I would have never guessed that the scummy scammer call centers based in India and Pakistan would have sent their workers home.
@Level420Scambaiting#133440 Refund scammers are typically from Kolkata and they operate form one or two rooms of home. Yesterday I encountered 4 of them.
And fake Covid-19 supplement pill hawkers employ call centers in the Philippines. One guy pretended to be in New York yesterday, but it was pretty obvious that he was working from home.
And fake Covid-19 supplement pill hawkers employ call centers in the Philippines. One guy pretended to be in New York yesterday, but it was pretty obvious that he was working from home.
Yes I’ve also noticed a sharp dropoff in scam calls. I’ve had my call blockers totally disabled for a week now and haven’t received a single one.
I'm debating shifting my scambait tactics to basically mocking them for COVID-19 running rampant through India and letting them know I look forward to hearing the agonized death rattles of them and their families.
Of course, I don't really wish that on them, but they don't know that and if it causes them mental distress in the meantime, that's usually good enough for me
Interesting. I thought myself that a lot of these people are working from home already but the sharp decline in calls I’ve received seems to suggest otherwise. I recently discovered Jim Browning on YouTube, the guy who gained access to the security cameras in an illegal call center and launched a BBC investigation into one of the major scam center organizations in India. I saw a brief portion of the doc where the BBC was interviewing a police officer tasked, in part, to bring down these organizations. I was shocked at the amount of complacency exhibited by this person. I understand that these people may be difficult to find, but c’mon, a British dude was able to expose an entire call center remotely! I sometimes wonder if the complacency is not entirely due to an inability to track and prosecute these criminals, and more related to the revenue these call centers generate within the country of India.
My point is that the drop in call numbers would suggest that most of these scammers are actually working from call centers and not their homes, in which case, I think it's disgusting that there hasn't been a greater effort put in place to end these horrible acts of crime.
Furthermore, before this whole COVID thing struck, I was still receiving illegal calls from student loan re-fi companies that were American in origin so India is not the only country dealing with this issue, albeit, their problem is of a much greater magnitude.
@dtwhite1993#133506 Check out Karl Rock on Youtube. He is Jim Browning’s “partner” on the ground in India. He has a brand new video about why the cops aren’t shutting down the scam call centers. Go check it out.
A month ago, I would get 3-4 zero interest rate credit card scams a day, at least. In the last two weeks, I have only received one, along with a lower my electric bill by going solar and one wanting to sell me extended car insurance.
@Otis#133682 you are a popular guy. I have 2 landlines that I swear is on everyone’s sucker list, but I didn’t get as many as you did. This week, only 2 robocall police or fire fundraising calls came in. I miss the zero interest folks (Indian accented), the iCloud “your Apple device had unauthorized uses”, even the electric meter guys.