Is there anything that can be done about they f-ing PPI/scam calls? We get them daily. I find it quite funny to lead them on and the such although sometimes its just outright annoying and having to listen to the phone ring 10 times before they hang up isnt great.

Wound one up today until he got so annoyed he hung up on me. He then called me back (whole number was 0501) and said "fuck off arsehole". Which again is kind of funny but then again I wonder why these companies are even allowed to operate in such away.

Will Virgin care if I phone them up and ask for them to ban those calls? Is it even possible?

Sign up for this... http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/index.html
takes care of most spam calls.

regards

g.man

g.man wrote:

I am old and slow. g.man

Not at all g. what if three has me on ignore? Then he won't see my post, making yours the defacto answer. So therefore you win.

(Actually, good point, does all useful information now need to be posted by two separate individuals to avoid potential skim reading and the implementation of an ignore button)?

M0stly harm13ss and g.man, thank you both, and equally.

kisses.

Any email equivalent? I'm getting them every day. I could just get rid of hotmail I suppose, which is basically a massive spam collection vat.

Go to phonepayplus for any dodgy texts.

What if the texts don't come from premium rate numbers? I only ever get them from normal mobile numbers and thought that the text STOP thing was fishing for active mobiles. Not that not responding has stopped the texts.

Most annoying one I had was some guy asking for a Mr Bollockoff and when I asked what it was regarding (before saying this is he) he said it's none of my business. So I said you can fuck off then.

handsofblue wrote:

What if the texts don't come from premium rate numbers? I only ever get them from normal mobile numbers and thought that the text STOP thing was fishing for active mobiles. Not that not responding has stopped the texts.

Lifted this from the Information Commissioner's Office

Text messages about accidents, debt management, PPI and pay day loans

We are aware that lots of people are receiving unsolicited text messages (SMS) relating to accident claims, debts or mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).

The messages vary in content but will typically say that you are entitled to money because of an accident, debt or mis-sold payment protection insurance. You are then asked to text ‘stop’ or ‘claim’ in response to the text. We are also aware of a new type of unsolicited text message which is directed to an incorrectly named person, for example ‘Hi Shirley, get your £100 - £1000 funds today only. No checks, no fees’ or ‘Hi Tom here’s that site I was telling you about. Made £630 in the last week already’.

Who is sending the messages?

We believe the messages are being sent by lead generation companies – companies that are trying to find people who will respond so they can sell those people’s details to claims or debt management firms. The companies behind these messages are looking to earn money by selling these leads.

Where did they get my details?

In most cases we believe the companies sending the messages don’t hold any information about you – including whether you have actually had an accident, have debts or PPI – before they send you the message. Many of the people who have told us they are receiving these texts have never provided their mobile phone number to any organisations and have not had a recent accident or had any of the problems referred to in the text message.

We believe the companies sending the texts are randomly generating mobile telephone numbers and sending several hundreds, or thousands, of texts in the hope that a proportion may reach the mobile phone of someone who has recently had an accident, or been sold a financial product, and who will then reply.

Are these messages illegal?

The messages appear to breach the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations because they are being sent to individuals without prior consent and without identifying the sender. The messages also appear to breach other legislation and codes of practice.

What should I do?

The law says that any organisation looking to offer this kind of service must identify themselves when they contact you. The companies sending these messages are therefore breaking the law and we would therefore advise that you do not reply to these messages.

How can I stop receiving messages from these organisations?

You can report them to your network operator, who may be able to prevent further spam from the originating number. Unfortunately as the numbers often change, your network provider cannot guarantee to stop all unsolicited messages. You can either contact your network operator’s customer services, or forward spam text messages to 7726 (SPAM).

What is the ICO doing about this?

We are tackling this problem in three ways:
[ol][li]Working closely with other regulators and industry bodies to try to identify the companies responsible for these messages and put an end to any illegal practices.[/li][li]Educating and warning the public about the problem to stop people being able to make money from this practice.[/li][li]Educating organisations about the risks of accepting leads generated through spam texts.[/li][/ol]
Do you need me to complain to the ICO to help with your investigation?

If you have received one of these text messages but have not responded, then we do not need you to complain to us. We have a large amount of evidence to support our investigation and we will provide updates on our website as this progresses.
 
If you have responded, and have evidence that suggests your details have been passed on to one of these claims companies, please call our Helpline on 0303 123 1113. We would be particularly interested to discuss your case and we will tell you if we need you to send us more details.

Its all about the data. Most of the reasons you are called is to find out more about you. this information can be sold on to other companies that will then call you and try to sell you stuff.  It cuts down on the number of calls that have to be made to make a sale. 
You can buy lists of people that fit into a certain demographic that you want to target.  
All these free competitions on Facebook? If you enter there is a chance the company will mine your details and hold on to it later on to sell back to you in terms of offers. 
The telephone way is more haphazard and isn't as successful. You generally will be called from abroad to avoid the TPS. The law covers where the activity comes from, and usually the telemarketing is outsourced so it's difficult to complain about the company. The onus is then on the call centre that doesn;t care because the laws don't apply to it.   Its usually for PPI claims, insurance claims, stuff like that where the leads themselves are worth quite a bit of money.

Too busy running their one good record into the ground.

Bollockoff wrote:

Most annoying one I had was some guy asking for a Mr Bollockoff and when I asked what it was regarding (before saying this is he) he said it's none of my business. So I said you can fuck off then.

When I phone people from work, it shows up as a blocked number.  I've had many a person answer and assume, from the off, that I'm telesales.  After I've explained who they've just directed their foul language towards, I like to think they'll be less abusive to telesales employees in future.

For the last 2 days I've been able to smell cigarette smoke wherever I've gone.
At home, on the train, at work. Didn't think much of it, but it's starting to get annoying now. I don't smoke, so it's not attached to me, any ideas?

You're right, bizarre.
Still not quite sure if it's something I should worry about though.

Ask your doctor, sas.