[SOLVED] Anything else I can do?

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
Long story short my grandmothers laptop managed to get hack and they got her phone number. From there they had access to her computer and were trying to sell her some kind of security plan. Fortunately she was smart enough not to pay anything and asked me to look into it. The laptop was compromised so I did a clean install of Windows 10 as there was nothing she wanted to save and I told her to change her passwords on any account that was saved to the laptop. She's still receiving phone calls from them so I'm thinking of having her change her number but is there anything else I can do to help protect her from these scammers? I've blocked a few of there numbers for her but I'm sure they have quite a few they can use and when you try to call them back on those numbers they come up as invalid or something really random. Is there a way to report them?

Edit: I'll probably have her change her cell phone number as well to help as we were planning on changing the service from Verizon to Visible to save money.
 
Solution
Yes.

You can go online and report scam calls to the FCC or perhaps the equivalent agency in your country. Do not expect much, if anything, will be done. However the problems are becoming serious enough that both the government and phone companies are taking more aggressive actions.

Place her number(s) on the national "Do Not Call" list. Legitimate businesses will not call. Scammers will call anyway but the overall number of calls should decrease over time.

If caller ID is displayed and the number unrecognized do not answer. Let the call roll over to the answering machine.

Never, ever call them back - not even to decline further calls. Scammers will not abide by any such rules. Calling them just reveals a live number that...

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Yes.

You can go online and report scam calls to the FCC or perhaps the equivalent agency in your country. Do not expect much, if anything, will be done. However the problems are becoming serious enough that both the government and phone companies are taking more aggressive actions.

Place her number(s) on the national "Do Not Call" list. Legitimate businesses will not call. Scammers will call anyway but the overall number of calls should decrease over time.

If caller ID is displayed and the number unrecognized do not answer. Let the call roll over to the answering machine.

Never, ever call them back - not even to decline further calls. Scammers will not abide by any such rules. Calling them just reveals a live number that will be sold again and more calls will come in.

Look for a free call blocking services such as Nomorobo.

https://www.nomorobo.com/

Just be aware that it will take some time for the number of calls to decline.

And, side note, I have noticed that whenever we make or receive a "long distance" call that call is likely to be followed by a flurry of incoming calls from "unknown" or anonymous numbers. Bad guys sniffing the communication channels for active numbers.
 
Solution

WildCard999

Titan
Moderator
Yes.

You can go online and report scam calls to the FCC or perhaps the equivalent agency in your country. Do not expect much, if anything, will be done. However the problems are becoming serious enough that both the government and phone companies are taking more aggressive actions.

Place her number(s) on the national "Do Not Call" list. Legitimate businesses will not call. Scammers will call anyway but the overall number of calls should decrease over time.

If caller ID is displayed and the number unrecognized do not answer. Let the call roll over to the answering machine.

Never, ever call them back - not even to decline further calls. Scammers will not abide by any such rules. Calling them just reveals a live number that will be sold again and more calls will come in.

Look for a free call blocking services such as Nomorobo.

https://www.nomorobo.com/

Just be aware that it will take some time for the number of calls to decline.

And, side note, I have noticed that whenever we make or receive a "long distance" call that call is likely to be followed by a flurry of incoming calls from "unknown" or anonymous numbers. Bad guys sniffing the communication channels for active numbers.
I'll report the numbers, none of them have shown up as block or anonymous so I will forward all of those calls onto the report. I'll change the service/number and then add her new number to the do not call list.

I just have to teach her/remind her not to answer any calls from a random number and let it go to voicemail.