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Beware of the Microsoft Windows support scame
I get them about 5 times a day, one is someone who calls himself Peter, when I asked him why he keeps phoning me, he said he had to, he had no choice!!!!! i do not actually have an internet connection, live in a Granny flat and use my daughters PC I explain this many times and they just keep calling. I am disabled so have to have a landline, for safety reasons and I get discount on it, in my British name, i went to the police and they said the only way they could do anything was if they put a permanent listening/tracking device on my phone, mmmm, not sure if I want all my calls listened to. It is really annoying and a complete scam.
Be really careful retired chef once they get on first name terms they think they can draw u in buy a whistle put it by the phone and blow hard into it next to the handset next time he calls he will soon stop
retiredchef, I'd agree with CC_R, you should avoid even talking to these people. By the sounds of it, if they are repeatedly calling you up, they have probably identified you as someone more likely to fall for their con. (I hope that you haven't told the callers as much information as you've posted here, as it identifies you to them as a potentially vulnerable person.) If it isn't Microsoft support, you'll probably start getting calls from people selling you wine, or shares, or whatever. As rude as it may seem, you should just hang up.
It's not just Brussels. I had them phone me at home here in West Flanders last Saturday. Kept the lady talking for a bit and then asked her how I can log on to my computer when I don't own one, haven't heard from them since :-)
I got a call a few weeks ago and just hung up. A couple of days later they called again, maybe the same guy. I blasted him with a bunch of stuff I cannot possibly mention here. They never called back.
They called me today. I answered in French and kept telling them "Sorry, no English" in a French accent and then I just hung up. The lady kept asking whether there was anybody in the household who speaks English.
I've got 'caller display' and 'voicemail' set up.
I don't know anyone who blocks their number so 'number withheld' means that I ignore the call.
I don't know anyone outside Belgium or the UK so numbers from Russia or Greece or anywhere else mean that I ignore the call.
If I answer a call and the caller says, 'Hello, my name is Mildred from Ripoff double glazing', I hang up.
There is no obligation to be polite to someone who is trying to sell you something that you don't want or otherwise part you from your money. You don't have to explain that you don't speak their language or enter into any discussion with them, just hang up as hundreds of others have already done to them and hundreds more will in the future.
Ultimately, if a caller is genuine, they will leave a message on voicemail.
I am not aware of ever missing a call that actually mattered.
I am neither vulnerable nor stupid, perhaps you did not read my reply properly, I do not own a PC, nor do I have an internet connection, I tell them this every time, I recive a lot of calls from friends all over the world many of whom have non disclosure numbers, including family who are UK contacts for my 95 year old Mothers care home. I cannot just ignore the landline. They call on automatic pre dialled numbers, so the people you speak to have no idea who they are calling each time. I put the Police recommendation in my first post and am not going to repeat my self again. I have used some very loud common language to them and 10 minutes later the same person calls again, hears my voice and hangs up. I am at home a lot which is I think why I get so many calls.
Retiredchef, don't know if this would help - when my dad was alive and living alone we had a call code so he wasn't bothered by call centres, we would call him, let the phone ring twice, hang up and redial. We got everyone to use this method and it worked very well for him, it might suit you too.