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New SIM card getting constant Chinese marketing calls and text

MD334
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎05-08-2022

New SIM card getting constant Chinese marketing calls and text

I am a new plusnet user so I received my plusnet SIM card. From the first hour I started using my sim I started getting Chinese marketing phone calls, to start with I thought it was just the wrong number so ignored it.

I am now in my second month of the new sim and I am now getting even more Chinese marking calls and now texts!

The sims number has never been given out so I should not be getting these communications. 

I tried blocking the number but obviously there are so many the change all the time. 

What can I do about this am I going to need a new number or will the same thing happen again have the plusnet numbers been compromised?

9 REPLIES 9
scharh
Newbie
Posts: 3
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎08-08-2022

Re: New SIM card getting constant Chinese marketing calls and text

Yeah, this is happening with the new SIM I got for my elderly mother too. I've seen some older posts on these forums talking about it as well. Brilliant.

Gandalf
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 26,563
Thanks: 10,265
Fixes: 1,599
Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: New SIM card getting constant Chinese marketing calls and text

Hi there,

I'm really sorry to see you're getting a lot of nuisance calls. 

I'm afraid there's not much we can do as whoever's calling would be dialling randomly so it's unlikely that a new number will help. There are a couple of things you can try though by signing up to the Telephone Preference Service and reporting the nuisance calls to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) which we detail Here.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
scharh
Newbie
Posts: 3
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎08-08-2022

Re: New SIM card getting constant Chinese marketing calls and text

I'm really not sure spam callers that I assume are spoofing or using a block of ip based numbers which are different every time are going to be following the TPS.

 

Annoying that it started within hours of putting the sim in for me too, when I've not had any in ten years on my actively used sim/umber with a different provider.

Stoker
Rising Star
Posts: 142
Thanks: 28
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎12-08-2012

Re: New SIM card getting constant Chinese marketing calls and text

Spammers use autodiallers which dial at random, but they seem to like Plusnet prefixes.

There are apps which block any number not in your contacts (I use "shouldianswer") but - as I realised recently - that's not helpful when someone has found your dog and dials the number on the id disc!

What I'd really like is a call pre-screener that answers silently and plays a message like "press 1 to continue". If they do my phone rings, if they don't it disconnects - just like the Truecall box on my land-line ("Truecaller" is completely different). That would at least stop all the pre-recorded autodialled calls.

Google have smart call screening for Pixel phones but it's not yet available on other Android devices.

 

ps Registering with the TPS won't help with these calls which originate abroad, with the callerid spoofed to appear local.

scharh
Newbie
Posts: 3
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎08-08-2022

Re: New SIM card getting constant Chinese marketing calls and text

Yeah those are options. I ended up just putting a bunch of custom/ generic ringtone about an unknown caller and making sure contacts had proper ringtones. That way if for some reason my mother is expecting a call from someone who is not a contact, it'll still ring.

I only really got the phone for her because the sim is cheaper than even just unlimited call optional extra for landlines. 2022 eh.

MD334
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎05-08-2022

Re: New SIM card getting constant Chinese marketing calls and text

What a poor response, contact the ICO about Chinese marketing numbers, LOL ok.  Standard customer service response there's nothing we can do and about it being 'random' 

I have been across different boards now and its the same story just like what has happened with us, within an hour of the brand new SIM card being put in these numbers start calling. 

Will be looking to change provider, as in 20 years I've never had this much issue with a sim, I've only ever had a handful of marketing calls over those years. Now getting them weekly with this brand new sim, and other users of plusnet I've talked to say the same thing

Truely awful

greygit
Rising Star
Posts: 196
Thanks: 20
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-11-2021

Re: New SIM card getting constant Chinese marketing calls and text

@Stoker

"Spammers use autodiallers which dial at random"

 

My understanding is that the hardware dials sequential numbers, not random numbers. A lot easier to code (and configure), rather than using pseudo-randomised (or truly randomised, but that requires the likes of Ernie) numbers, where there is the possibility of redialing a previous failed number.

 

And, yes, VoIP does give an entry point for offshore scammers. At the risk of someone accusing me of going 'off topic' I remember the day (that'd be sometime approaching twenty years ago) a voice call using VoIP from an African country presented itself with a UK number. The nuisance level 'problems' were apparent then. I seem to remember that banks tried to delve into VoIP (as part of cutting costs) and then retracted from the technology.

davidj66
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 746
Thanks: 56
Fixes: 4
Registered: ‎04-09-2008

Re: New SIM card getting constant Chinese marketing calls and text

I get them all the time on this PN SIM, that I've had for over 4 years -Only Chinese junk calls - always seem to leave a voicemail !! I've noticed recently ,that I've had a few using the first 7 digits of my own number, and then 4 random digits. Not too much of a nuisance as the phone isn't with me most of the day.

As a contrast on a BT SIM ,I get virtually no junk - just a very rare call re loft insulation !!

Alex
Community Veteran
Posts: 5,500
Thanks: 921
Fixes: 13
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: New SIM card getting constant Chinese marketing calls and text

If (a big if) it is outside of the UK then I fail to see how reporting it to UK based organisation is going to help?