By Rita Deutschbein | Aug 03, 2023 1:11 p.m
Everyone knows it: the phone rings and an unknown caller answers. It is not uncommon for spam calls with little serious background to hide behind this. TECHBOOK lists the phone numbers that are currently causing trouble particularly often.
Whether during the day, in the evening or even at night – the companies and call centers behind the spam telephone numbers call at any time imaginable. Usually even several times in quick succession, which is also annoying. The reason: Computers often take over the calls, which often test a number until they get a response at the other end. As a result, people who are called who accept a call from such an unknown number often hear cracking and hissing on the line before they are – if at all – connected to an employee.
The callers are often sitting in call centers and have only one task: to request data from the person called and to lure them into flimsy sweepstakes or dubious contracts. In the worst case, such a call becomes really expensive for the recipient. However, commercial calls of this type are legally prohibited if the person called has not explicitly allowed them. Of course, the companies and call centers also know this. They therefore regularly change the numbers they use to call to distract themselves and avoid trouble. Sometimes they change the entire phone number, sometimes just the last few digits.
For this reason, the list of spam phone numbers active over a period of time is constantly changing. So it’s good that many sufferers report the spam numbers to the Federal Network Agency. They have the option of imposing penalties or even blocking telephone numbers. In any case, however, she creates a list of the numbers that are currently particularly active.
Also interesting: Federal Network Agency switches off almost 1500 phone numbers forever
The current spam phone numbers at a glance
The app operator “Clever Dialer” also takes a similar approach. Using its application, users can enter phone numbers that are harassing them and block them if they wish. Based on the data, Clever Dialer creates an up-to-date list of spam phone numbers that are currently causing trouble particularly frequently.
Advertising calls, competitions and cost traps are categorized accordingly by Clever Dialer. In the past few weeks, people who have been called in Germany have complained particularly frequently about the following telephone numbers:
The Berlin spam number 03025555-xxx has been causing trouble for the past three months with various final digits. And the phone number is also currently represented in various versions in the list of the most annoying spam phone numbers. According to Clever Dialer, the users who report the calls are reacting increasingly aggressively to the numerous contact attempts. While 03025555-xxx appeared in the list six times in the past month, the number in the current top 10 has dropped to at least four numbers. The common thing about the ever-changing final digits is that the scammers use them to bypass all locks on the phone. Because a small change in the last digits ensures that calls are put through.
The list is currently led by a spam number with area code from Hamburg. The number 040756748009 conceals alleged calls from “energy consultants” who contact users several times a day both on the landline and on their cell phones. A total of 8,763 complaints were received about the number in the past 30 days, and it was blocked 3,613 times by users. If you take a closer look, you will also find here: The fraudsters use the last digit scam mentioned above. Because the current 040756748009 was in second place on the list last month as 040756748090 – the last two digits were simply swapped.
Current scams that have reached TECHBOOK
TECHBOOK repeatedly reports scams that scammers use particularly often to get user data. The editors have encountered some of them themselves. For example, a colleague is currently receiving calls from two Austrian numbers particularly frequently – +43 681 84311844 and +43 676 3315819. He is even addressed by name on the phone, so at first glance it seems to be serious. However, one should not be fooled by a direct address, as the scammers may know the name from the mailbox, for example, if you have spoken it here.
Another current scam that has been with us for a long time is the Europol scam. Scammers call users on behalf of the law enforcement agency in an attempt to obtain sensitive information. A TECHBOOK editor was also called several days in a row by an alleged Europol employee. On the phone, she then informed about an alleged identity theft. In this case, the number the scammers used to call was +49 176 23816914. In some cases, however, they also manage to technically transmit Europol’s real number to give the impression that the police are actually on the phone. So be vigilant if Europol contacts you with alleged warnings.
Block spam calls
Fortunately, consumers can do something about phone spam. If they have staying power, they can simply ignore calls from unknown numbers. But it is even better to find out their origin on the Internet. To do this, they enter a spam phone number that keeps popping up on their phone into their browser’s search bar. This often reveals who is behind the calls.
If the number is questionable, it can be blocked easily and free of charge using most routers and smartphones. A small catch: Unfortunately, blocking only works for a specific number. If the companies change their spam numbers, they must be added to the list of blocked connections.
Also read: How to easily find out the owner of an unknown cell phone number
Via landline
Many routers from Netgear, D-Link, the Fritz boxes from AVM and others offer the option of blocking phone numbers in the menu under the “Telephone” or “Fixed Network” tab. Calls from these connections are then no longer put through to the telephone. It then quite simply stops ringing and the subscriber is no longer bothered.
On Android smartphones
Android phone owners can also block spam phone numbers using their Google account. To do this, open the phone app on your smartphone and click on the symbol with the three dots in the upper right corner. All unwanted numbers can now be entered under “Spam” or “Block”. If you like, you can even ignore all unknown phone numbers. Then the cell phone only puts through calls from contacts that are saved in the address book.
You can find out how blocking unwanted phone numbers works in our video:
On iPhone
Of course, blocking certain phone numbers also works on Apple’s iPhone. To do this, users go to their call list and select the appropriate call. Click on the button for more information, then a new page will open with the command “Block caller” displayed at the bottom.
Read more: How to Mute Unknown Calls on iPhone
If companies call from a blocked number, they can still leave a voicemail message, but the person called will not receive any notification of this. They also do not find out that they have been blocked by the recipient.