This seems to be the latest design of Phone Nuisance

[#1]

At 15.43 on 25 August 2018 I had an announced call from Karen. Who stated "I have just had a missed call" inferring I had called her. I replied "Not from me I haven't called anyone". Karen then went through normal well mannered  and short disbelief, and the call ended after a few seconds. Karen's phone number was 07941206720.

I might not have thought much about it except that I am getting missed calls quite often and sometimes several times a day. The calls are clearly designed to make it impossible to pick up the phone before the caller has put their phone down and I feel confident that the displayed numbers are "spoofed" that is "not correct", so I would certainly be wasting my time calling back.

This seems to be the latest design of nuisance call. All the "normal" nuisance numbers are blocked; they can't even ring the phone. But the pests can still make a nuisance of themselves by arranging missed calls with spoofed numbers: this time with an additional twist in hoping to get two innocent callers at loggerheads.  It must be a full time occupation.

Something needs to be done about deliberate phone pests!

[#2]

Hi Keith,

A warm welcome to the forums.

That number can be found many times on Google, such as here on Facebook … https://business.facebook.com/pg/KJs-Sandwich-Bar-and-Deli-204043819608624/about/?ref=page_internal … the manager is called Karen!!

It is though odd that the links to the website generate a FB warning and the actual website cannot be found … it could be that the business has closed … but Karen has retained here number.

EDIT: Indeed those premises are now the Dip Shop https://www.facebook.com/thedipshopsunderland/?rf=657667354247162

Therefore possibly not a scam as might first appear.  Are you local to KJ's?  They might have 

Just to be safe, I would be checking is that the number on your phone is the one you expect.  Dial 17070 … and ring your own number from a mobile and make sure it rings your phone.  One line touching another could also cause various issues. 

[#3]

The nuisance callers spoof the numbers the dial from, so you cannot report them, they dial masses of number by a computer and only the numbers which are answered are passed to their operator. The rest of the called number are just dropped. The end result, you and everyone else gets lots of missed calls where the phone barely rings, or stops ringing before you can get to the phone.

The simple answer is having your own caller filter, like the BT 8500 phone set. Only calls from known numbers get through, the rest have to go through a procedure to get through - nuisance callers never have the patience to do that, so your phone doesn't even ring.  

[#4]

Thanks for the answers to my post, it is all as I suspected. I am in Aldershot  Hampshire and I have a suspicion who the nuisance caller might be, but no proof, and I could be wrong. I am certainly aware of the civil laws of defamation. Without proof: The greater the truth the greater the damages! And anyway I wouldn't want to hurt any innocent bystanders.

I have a BT Décor 2600 phone set. This rings just once when these nuisance callers with spoofed numbers call. This happens once almost everyday and sometimes several times consecutively. At least now I do not have to pick up the phone to stop the racket as I had to previously.

The difference with Karen's call was that she went through the procedure of making an announced call where she has to give her name to get through. This is only the second such call I have had since last November when I got this phone.

If callers were forced to give their true caller number the pests could (perhaps) be stopped.

[#5]

Do you have Plusnet Call Protect? It has cut down - but not eliminated - the nuisance calls that we get. I tend to add the (apparent) phone-number of those that get through to the blocked list so, at least, they have to change their number for next time.

[#6]

I forgot to mention that I do have Plusnet Call Protect and I agree that it does help a lot.

Last November was a gamechanger for me I had been getting the nuisance calls which couldn't be answered everyday for possibly years but suddenly it became three times a day. This was when I purchased the BT 2600 Nuisance Call Blocker Phone and then set up Plusnet Call Protect. I now get no calls about replacement windows, or my computer having failed (for instance).

In fact the only phone nuisance I get is the scam number calls which can't be answered. And yes they do change the number every time.

I believe the caller is local to me. But I need proof. Then I would soon have no problem.