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How I fell for a BNZ text scam that cost me $35k
(www.stuff.co.nz)
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this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2023
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Aotearoa / New Zealand
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I keep getting scam texts and scam calls on my mobile constantly. It's so annoying. I keep blocking the number but they just change the number the number and call again. I really wish there was a proper way the government can deal with these scammers.
You can report them to the DIA. Not sure if it does anything though.
Also, make sure you don't interact in any way. i.e. don't answer calls, don't reply to texts.
In terms of "catching" the scammers, there isn't much that can be done. But DIA collect information about the scams to compile lists to help people stay aware and for other organisations to use to help with scam awareness.
I presume they are purchasing these numbers from spark or whoever right? If I report a number they know who bought it, they know what other numbers they bought and they can disable all of them. Seems like a simple solution to me
Nah, that's not how it works. Caller ID is surprisingly insecure. Basically, the phone number of the calling party is sent along with the phone call. All you need is special software in your call centre, and anyone you call will see whatever number you type in. So they set up software to automatically generate a phone number that appears to have a similar location to the one they are calling. They call you, it looks like it comes from NZ (or often Australia), but actually they are sitting in a call centre in pretty much any country in the world.
If someone is calling from overseas, there's very little that anyone in NZ can do. Call blocking only works on the caller ID; since you can generate infinite new phone numbers to send along the caller ID channel without needing to actually use that phone, it doesn't do a lot.
How do they not generate already existing phone numbers?
I've seen comments from people who've gotten calls from themselves, as in they've spoofed the number they're calling.
They do, but the possible numbers compared to the ones saved on your phone mean it's unlikely to be one in your contacts. It probably happens occasionally though.
Wow I didn't get notification of your reply. Interesting.