To: Government
Bring back trust in the Telephone
Force BT and whoever else it takes to block calls from fake numbers.
Calls claim to come from STD codes that don't exist; from numbers that are an invalid length; from overseas but claiming to be from the UK.
These are mostly/frequently SCAM calls. The number presented should be reliable, genuine and traceable to the caller or their company. Companies should not be allowed to withhold their number.
Why is this important?
The phone used to be a tool, a useful convenience and a joy to many people. The technology has been taken over by criminals, to the extent that you can no longer trust any caller not personally known to you. Many people are now AFRAID to answer it! This is APPALLING.
We get several scam calls per week on landlines - sometimes several calls per day, sometimes on mobiles - from criminals trying to con us out of our money or identity details. Those calls appear to come from some number, or NO number, your BANK's number, literally ANY number they choose. This cannot be right. Non-existent numbers should be blocked. This is ENABLING crime and must be stopped.
Blocking those numbers is pointless because they simply pick another random number, perhaps for every call. Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is useless because only genuine, reputable companies check to see if they are allowed to call you. Scammers do not.
Companies genuinely needing to show a different number for some phones (maybe for outworkers) should have to register those numbers and display a real, company number which they actually own and can be traced to.
The ability to buy a number in some town or village where you don't live
or don't do business is also surely enabling crime or deception and should be investigated. It is readily available.
