We are getting this phone call every day a dozen times ,we lift the phone and nothing happens , so we just look at it and go away.
The number is 02 563 972 98 , I went on the net and I found out that quiet a few people are getting the same calls. Is there a way to just stop that number ( the idiot ) to block it ? Cheers
Desert Dweller said
05:27 PM Nov 15, 2018
We get them every day on our landline & mobile phone. A few different numbers to yours but just as annoying.
We also get overseas call center people that are obviously ethnic, calling themselves names like Michael Savage, ringing us about our computer. We tell them that we don't have one but they still keep ringing.
We're with you, IS there a way to block these type of calls? We think not.
fwdoz said
05:56 PM Nov 15, 2018
I get the call centre type ones, Indian accent announcing himself as Joe from Sydney, and the calls have abated since I told them after keeping them on the line for a while "Thanks for staying on the line long enough for the REAL Telstra & the Australian Federal Police to trace this call & you can expect to be caught shortly"
The ones who ring & hang up are usually the ones that when you redial, charge you exhorbitant rates for the call.
Now if only I could stop all these Victorian Election calls at the moment
aussie_paul said
07:34 PM Nov 15, 2018
I just block each number in my mobile's settings.
Aussie Paul.
LLD said
08:08 PM Nov 15, 2018
Ditched my landline early last year but I can still see who calls via my NBN modem. I have a message on it saying number no longer in use but same numbers still keep ringing.
Never have an issue with mobile. Dont answer any numbers not in my directory. If they are genuine, they will leave a message. As I rarely get a repeat number and no message left, I expect it was a mis-dial.
dogbox said
08:14 PM Nov 15, 2018
had one today as a missed call called it back a message said please check the number an try again ? I have probably just left myself open for a whole lot of unpleasant things
Aus-Kiwi said
08:23 PM Nov 15, 2018
It was lotto ? Ahahaha
Desert Dweller said
05:10 AM Nov 16, 2018
We have one mobile between us, used mainly by the missus. She gets so many of these calls every day that she doesn't ring them back.
The other day she wasn't going to ring a number back but I insisted that she should.
It turned out to be BCF ringing that the gas regulator for our Coleman Road Trip BBQ that I'd ordered a few days earlier had arrived in store.
LLD said
08:08 AM Nov 16, 2018
Desert Dweller wrote:
We have one mobile between us, used mainly by the missus. She gets so many of these calls every day that she doesn't ring them back.
The other day she wasn't going to ring a number back but I insisted that she should.
It turned out to be BCF ringing that the gas regulator for our Coleman Road Trip BBQ that I'd ordered a few days earlier had arrived in store.
Did BCF leave a message?
In that circumstance I generally get an SMS when something I've ordered is ready to collect. I actually find this handy. Get all my medical appointment reminders this way too.
The Belmont Bear said
09:37 AM Nov 16, 2018
What annoys me is that online sites want either a phone number or an email address whenever you buy from them, if you don't enter the info in the appropriate * box it won't let you proceed . Nowadays we don't give anyone our landline number as we only kept it for making outgoing calls (which came at no cost) when we swapped over to the NBN. On the landline we let the answering machine click in and as soon as the voice prompt starts 99.9% of advertisers, charities, political callers or religous groups will hang up as they know that we aren't going to call them back. If we happen to be around we may pick it up if we hear a familiar voice or something we think is important but that's becoming less and less frequent as we have asked everyone to call our mobile number. I enter any wanted numbers I have given to people or businesses in my contacts list on the mobile so when they call their name will come up on the screen.
Works for us
BB
Aus-Kiwi said
09:55 AM Nov 16, 2018
Ask them what they are wearing ? Say your lonely., Ask THEM for money . My son does this . Sounds helerious !!
LLD said
10:32 AM Nov 16, 2018
Some companies will not deal with you unless you have a mobile (or landline) and an emai (YOUI insurance for one). I'm OK with giving out my email but I have two numbers for on-line purposes (03-9999-9999 and 0499 999 999).
02 56 39 27 98 rung 5 times yesterday , last one was at 8.30 pm . I like to get my hands around there necks , just for 3 minutes ,cheers
Peter_n_Margaret said
01:05 PM Nov 16, 2018
These callers use an automated dialling system and dial up to 10 different numbers at the same time.
When the first one answers, it hangs up on all the others.
Cheers,
Peter
Scroll through the comments....you will soon work it out if it is in fact a nuisance call.
Most of the nuisance calls we all receive are already listed with general comments.
If you do not want to receive calls from that number then block the number in your device. That can be harder from a home phone.
-- Edited by Dickodownunder on Friday 16th of November 2018 01:23:54 PM
Dickodownunder said
01:18 PM Nov 16, 2018
Just select Block this caller.
I found that for about a month or so I blocked every call from one of these call centres and eventually the number of calls diminished to maybe no more than one a week now.
The secret is not to answer just let it ring out and then look up the number and if it is not from long lost auntie Edna then block it.
I should add that the phone number displayed in my picture is NOT A NUISANCE CALLER, it is only an example from my phone for display purposes.
-- Edited by Dickodownunder on Friday 16th of November 2018 01:22:20 PM
-- Edited by Dickodownunder on Friday 16th of November 2018 01:25:36 PM
I am suspicious that these dud calls are made with inside Telstra information (outsourced off-shore people). How do they get an unused Telstra number? Below is a letter that I sent to Telstra & the Ombudsman. Problem is that how do I know when I complain about Telstra if it goes high enough up. I recently asked for the on-shore manager who was responsible for the off-shore support. I could not get anyone on-shore at all. I was passed around from various off-shore departments without ant satisfaction. When I complained to the Telecommunications Ombudsman the reply was if that's the way Telstra wants to run their business, that's their problem. Below is a document that I sent to Telstra in 2016.
Ref ID: SR1-xxxxxxxxxx (S xxxxxx)
Could you please forward this email onto the case manager for this problem (raised thru the TIO) and have that person read it before calling me?
Below are the numbers that have called me claiming to be Telstra since December 9th. I had no calls in the 3 months to December 9th. In late August I got an abusive call full of expletives from a Telstra person, I contacted Telstra and got a person who said my phone would be monitored for a month and I should call Telstra when I get another call. However, I never got a followup email or any details of who to call as this person stated. Given that I never got any scam calls for 3 months and did not have to call Telstra, I thought nothing of the absence of an email confirmation until a few days ago.
I cannot remember if I rang Telstra in August and got patched through to someone or I noted the issue on Telstra Live Chat and then Telstra got someone to ring me.
I have the reasons below that I believe there are employees at Telstra who are passing on information to these dodgy Telstra Techs:
1. I never received any calls for 3 months after I was told my phone was being monitored. Is information being passed on or can these Telstra people tell if my phone is monitored? (Same applies for Solar Rebates / Panels)
2. Within days of the 3 months, I was getting all the dud calls again.
3. If I got called as a result of the Live Chat and then given wrong information, then that is a worry.
4. Telstra started monitoring my phone again on 6 Jan 2015 for 1 month. On the afternoon of 7 Jan 2015 I received a call from Telstra (02 9675 7742). The person was very aggressive when I questioned whether she was really from Telstra and she finally hung up. Several hours later I got a call from the same number that I didnt answer and let it go to message bank. Shortly after that my phone was disabled and I was unable to make calls in either direction. After several lengthy calls with Telstra, it was found my phone had been disabled. The person was very helpful in solving my problem (took way too long) but appeared unwilling to say how / when it happened but insisted that disabling can only be done by a Telstra person. This leads me to think that either someone outside Telstra can do it or someone inside Telstra is working with the Telstra scammers.
5. When I rang Telstra (1800 805 996 case # S xxxxxx) on the evening of 7-Jan to report my weekly (Thursday) nuisance calls, the person I spoke to was very vague and unhelpful. I had trouble understanding what the person was saying and no confidence that what I was reporting was actually being reported.
6. Telstra are in denial that there could be employees passing on information. Every time Ive put that forward on a call, the consultant immediately goes into denial saying it could never happen. Its head-in-the-sand mode.
In total 17 calls from these numbers. Four in one day and 3 so far today (Jan 4). My Panasonic handset time gets reset to 1 Jan @ 12:00am on each occasion. No other calls do this to my phone. The phone is connected to an NBN modem / router.
02 9675 7742 14:49:11 7-Jan 1:42 Telstra
02 9675 7742 20:02:36 7-Jan 0:00 Didnt answer.
02 9675 7742 19:13:08 12-Jan 0:16 Telstra
( no number ) 13:41:15 13-Jan 0:33 Telstra
03 5997 1121 17:48:51 18-Jan 0:16 Solar
( no number ) 17:10:14 27-Jan 0:18 Telstra - hung up after intro
( no number ) 18:13:50 27-Jan 0:36 Solar
( no number 14:42:34 28-Jan 0:22 Telstra - hung up after intro
02 9675 7742 15:17:36 28-Jan 0:04 Telstra? Hung up as I picked up
02 4349 1985 16:23:54 29-Jan 0:16 Telstra? Hung up as I picked up
( no number ) 16:09:44 01-Feb 2:47 Telstra
( no number ) 18:16:09 04-Feb 0:32 Solar
( no number ) 18:16:09 04-Feb 0:32 Solar
02 9675 7742 15:52:27 05-Feb 0:00 Telstra? Hung up & re-rang
( no number ) 15:52:30 05-Feb 0:14 Telstra. This time w/out ID.
Some oddities:
Every time I get one the these dud calls, my landline handset date & time gets set to 1/Jan 12:00am. It stays that way until a real phone call come through.
The call at 20:02:36 on 7-Jan is out of sequence in my NBN modems call log. Its also the call after which my landline phone stopped working.
Thursday 28th reporting in. No confidence in the person I called. Repeating stuff I said she got it wrong. Also, someone was supposed to ring me back but I had no confidence that this was going to happen.
Dickodownunder said
07:56 PM Nov 16, 2018
Conspirisy theory....possibly.
Actual calls are from Telstra..... possibly.
Do you actually need to answer them....only if you feel the need..
Our phone numbers are really open slather these days..A lot of times you dont get a choice about sharing your phone number with the rest of the world.
Our personal details are very saleable even when you fill out an entry form at the supermarket checkout or sign up for retailers reward cards and other info sourcing methods.
I have found that generally after you provide you ph no and email is when you cop a plethora of extra crap from the promoters of their providers of suppliers from the WWW.
It is a bit like having a discussion about a subject with a friend and next you find a link on your Facebook page on the very subject that you and your friend were discussing. True story....
In summary these people want information from you and it will be a while before we all know of the technology used on us to get the info they want.
Just be aware of where you are putting your info.
Mike Harding said
07:59 PM Nov 16, 2018
The Belmont Bear wrote:
What annoys me is that online sites want either a phone number or an email address whenever you buy from them, if you don't enter the info in the appropriate * box it won't let you proceed
Lie.
Dickodownunder said
08:10 PM Nov 16, 2018
Mike Harding wrote:
The Belmont Bear wrote:
What annoys me is that online sites want either a phone number or an email address whenever you buy from them, if you don't enter the info in the appropriate * box it won't let you proceed
Lie.
Well I agree BB.
Most eBay purchases request a lot of detail incl phone nos.
haha Mike I just worked it out ... tell lies
-- Edited by Dickodownunder on Friday 16th of November 2018 08:12:48 PM
The Belmont Bear said
08:51 PM Nov 16, 2018
Mike Harding wrote:
The Belmont Bear wrote:
What annoys me is that online sites want either a phone number or an email address whenever you buy from them, if you don't enter the info in the appropriate * box it won't let you proceed
Lie.
Im a bit slow Mike at first I thought that you were calling me a liar before I realised that you meant when giving them the info. Have you also noticed after you visit a website to check out a product you cop pop up adds for months after especially on sites like facebook. I went on the Mitsubishi site and had a look at the Eclipse Cross a couple of months ago and Im still getting adds from them - maybe they think that we need to replace the one that we bought. If you really want to be bombarded every second day with unsolicited phone calls, email and snail mail try ordering some wine from Cellarmasters.
Cheers
BB
-- Edited by The Belmont Bear on Friday 16th of November 2018 08:51:49 PM
Izabarack said
07:31 AM Nov 17, 2018
Suggestion for screening calls - only answer calls from identified Contacts. Let the rest go to Voice Mail. Set up a Voice Mail message that does not include your name. Rather, something really bland that does not give a scammer any info, like "Hi, leave your name, number, and something about the purpose of your call and I will call you back". Most of the scammers just hang up.
Iza
Mike Harding said
09:27 AM Nov 17, 2018
The Belmont Bear wrote:
Mike Harding wrote:
The Belmont Bear wrote:
What annoys me is that online sites want either a phone number or an email address whenever you buy from them, if you don't enter the info in the appropriate * box it won't let you proceed
Lie.
Im a bit slow Mike at first I thought that you were calling me a liar before I realised that you meant when giving them the info
Sorry, yes it was ambiguous.
I have many internet identities which I use for different sites and interests - just because some stupid website instructs me to tell them my date of birth doesn't mean I have to tell them the truth - I usually use my ex-wife's DoB, and they *never* get my real phone number or home address (now no more :) ) unless they need it to deliver something and then I almost always use the PO Box. And for those sites which say they won't deliver to PO Boxes I rearrange it from "PO Box 1234" to "POB 1234" - human postal sorters know what I mean but computers are too stupid to realise and happily despatch the goods.
For one time e-mail use for confirmations and the like I normally use:
https://www.throwawaymail.com/
Facebook and its ilk pick up "tracking cookies" left by previous websites you have visited so they can present targeted adverts to you when you log in. There are a number of ways to prevent and/or discourage this obnoxious practice - Google will advise.
My advice, as it has been since I first came on-line well before the internet, is to place the absolute minimum amount of personal information on the net or with its users - once it's out there it will be there for *EVER* - as many have discovered to their distress.
Big Gorilla said
11:20 AM Nov 17, 2018
A lot of overseas calls and Scammers use a Skype number. The number looks like it is from an Australian number, also using Australian area codes. You can now list your numbers with https://www.donotcall.gov.au/ which should stop the callers. If they still call, you can report them thru the web site. I usually only answer calls from people in my address book. Sometimes when I'm feeling a bit frivolous, I will answer the call and say "Do you know this number is on the Do Not Call List" This usually gets rid of them. Sometimes I'll let them start off then say "Would you hang on for just a moment ? Someone is knocking on my door" After about 30 minutes and I pick up the phone, they have already gone !!! My date of Birth is 29 September 1889 !!! When asked for Nationality I say "Eskimo" and strangely I've never been questioned about my age (129) or my nationality !!!
LLD said
12:52 PM Nov 17, 2018
Careful what you list on Facebook and the likes. I picked up an abandoned pup at the local pub one night. Took me < hour via Facebook to track down the culprit. I'd looked up lost pets in my area and found one reported on Facebook. The culprit had two Facebook identities, one she'd posted that she'd lost her dog but with no contact and how to contact her. However there were links to other people including a round-about link to her real identity. I had her address, phone number and where she worked and other personal details in under an hour.
LLD said
12:56 PM Nov 17, 2018
Listing with www.donotcall.gov.au/ will not stop scammers. Scammers do not play by the rules. There is nothing concrete to identify them to report them.
outlaw40 said
12:06 PM Nov 18, 2018
The do not call register only applys to calls originating in australia .they have no control over overseas calls and the charitys within australia are also exempt .
HunnyBunny said
05:15 PM Nov 21, 2018
We got Telstra Guardian after many complaints about nuisance calls, they gave us the set for free. Ever since, no more nuisance calls.
We are getting this phone call every day a dozen times ,we lift the phone and nothing happens , so we just look at it and go away.
The number is 02 563 972 98 , I went on the net and I found out that quiet a few people are getting the same calls. Is there a way to just stop that number ( the idiot ) to block it ? Cheers
We also get overseas call center people that are obviously ethnic, calling themselves names like Michael Savage, ringing us about our computer. We tell them that we don't have one but they still keep ringing.
We're with you, IS there a way to block these type of calls? We think not.
I get the call centre type ones, Indian accent announcing himself as Joe from Sydney, and the calls have abated since I told them after keeping them on the line for a while "Thanks for staying on the line long enough for the REAL Telstra & the Australian Federal Police to trace this call & you can expect to be caught shortly"
The ones who ring & hang up are usually the ones that when you redial, charge you exhorbitant rates for the call.
Now if only I could stop all these Victorian Election calls at the moment
I just block each number in my mobile's settings.
Aussie Paul.
Never have an issue with mobile. Dont answer any numbers not in my directory. If they are genuine, they will leave a message. As I rarely get a repeat number and no message left, I expect it was a mis-dial.
We have one mobile between us, used mainly by the missus. She gets so many of these calls every day that she doesn't ring them back.
The other day she wasn't going to ring a number back but I insisted that she should.
It turned out to be BCF ringing that the gas regulator for our Coleman Road Trip BBQ that I'd ordered a few days earlier had arrived in store.
Did BCF leave a message?
In that circumstance I generally get an SMS when something I've ordered is ready to collect. I actually find this handy. Get all my medical appointment reminders this way too.
Works for us
BB
Some companies will not deal with you unless you have a mobile (or landline) and an emai (YOUI insurance for one). I'm OK with giving out my email but I have two numbers for on-line purposes (03-9999-9999 and 0499 999 999).
I use Reverse Australia or Number Lookup (Australia) to check numbers.
02 56 39 27 98 rung 5 times yesterday , last one was at 8.30 pm . I like to get my hands around there necks , just for 3 minutes ,cheers
When the first one answers, it hangs up on all the others.
Cheers,
Peter
If you dont know who it is use Reverse Call Up
www.reverseaustralia.com/lookup/0256392798/
Scroll through the comments....you will soon work it out if it is in fact a nuisance call.
Most of the nuisance calls we all receive are already listed with general comments.
If you do not want to receive calls from that number then block the number in your device.
That can be harder from a home phone.
-- Edited by Dickodownunder on Friday 16th of November 2018 01:23:54 PM
Just select Block this caller.
I found that for about a month or so I blocked every call from one of these call centres and eventually the number of calls diminished to maybe no more than one a week now.
The secret is not to answer just let it ring out and then look up the number and if it is not from long lost auntie Edna then block it.
I should add that the phone number displayed in my picture is NOT A NUISANCE CALLER, it is only an example from my phone for display purposes.
-- Edited by Dickodownunder on Friday 16th of November 2018 01:22:20 PM
-- Edited by Dickodownunder on Friday 16th of November 2018 01:25:36 PM
Ref ID: SR1-xxxxxxxxxx (S xxxxxx)
Could you please forward this email onto the case manager for this problem (raised thru the TIO) and have that person read it before calling me?
Below are the numbers that have called me claiming to be Telstra since December 9th. I had no calls in the 3 months to December 9th. In late August I got an abusive call full of expletives from a Telstra person, I contacted Telstra and got a person who said my phone would be monitored for a month and I should call Telstra when I get another call. However, I never got a followup email or any details of who to call as this person stated. Given that I never got any scam calls for 3 months and did not have to call Telstra, I thought nothing of the absence of an email confirmation until a few days ago.
I cannot remember if I rang Telstra in August and got patched through to someone or I noted the issue on Telstra Live Chat and then Telstra got someone to ring me.
I have the reasons below that I believe there are employees at Telstra who are passing on information to these dodgy Telstra Techs:
1. I never received any calls for 3 months after I was told my phone was being monitored. Is information being passed on or can these Telstra people tell if my phone is monitored? (Same applies for Solar Rebates / Panels)
2. Within days of the 3 months, I was getting all the dud calls again.
3. If I got called as a result of the Live Chat and then given wrong information, then that is a worry.
4. Telstra started monitoring my phone again on 6 Jan 2015 for 1 month. On the afternoon of 7 Jan 2015 I received a call from Telstra (02 9675 7742). The person was very aggressive when I questioned whether she was really from Telstra and she finally hung up. Several hours later I got a call from the same number that I didnt answer and let it go to message bank. Shortly after that my phone was disabled and I was unable to make calls in either direction. After several lengthy calls with Telstra, it was found my phone had been disabled. The person was very helpful in solving my problem (took way too long) but appeared unwilling to say how / when it happened but insisted that disabling can only be done by a Telstra person. This leads me to think that either someone outside Telstra can do it or someone inside Telstra is working with the Telstra scammers.
5. When I rang Telstra (1800 805 996 case # S xxxxxx) on the evening of 7-Jan to report my weekly (Thursday) nuisance calls, the person I spoke to was very vague and unhelpful. I had trouble understanding what the person was saying and no confidence that what I was reporting was actually being reported.
6. Telstra are in denial that there could be employees passing on information. Every time Ive put that forward on a call, the consultant immediately goes into denial saying it could never happen. Its head-in-the-sand mode.
The numbers that Ive got Telstra calls from:
02 6172 8611
02 4965 9573
02 4965 8048
02 9304 4360
02 9675 7742
02 4349 1985
In total 17 calls from these numbers. Four in one day and 3 so far today (Jan 4). My Panasonic handset time gets reset to 1 Jan @ 12:00am on each occasion. No other calls do this to my phone. The phone is connected to an NBN modem / router.
Using www.reverseaustralia.com it appears that all these numbers are from nuisance callers.
02 9675 7742 14:49:11 7-Jan 1:42 Telstra
02 9675 7742 20:02:36 7-Jan 0:00 Didnt answer.
02 9675 7742 19:13:08 12-Jan 0:16 Telstra
( no number ) 13:41:15 13-Jan 0:33 Telstra
03 5997 1121 17:48:51 18-Jan 0:16 Solar
( no number ) 17:10:14 27-Jan 0:18 Telstra - hung up after intro
( no number ) 18:13:50 27-Jan 0:36 Solar
( no number 14:42:34 28-Jan 0:22 Telstra - hung up after intro
02 9675 7742 15:17:36 28-Jan 0:04 Telstra? Hung up as I picked up
02 4349 1985 16:23:54 29-Jan 0:16 Telstra? Hung up as I picked up
( no number ) 16:09:44 01-Feb 2:47 Telstra
( no number ) 18:16:09 04-Feb 0:32 Solar
( no number ) 18:16:09 04-Feb 0:32 Solar
02 9675 7742 15:52:27 05-Feb 0:00 Telstra? Hung up & re-rang
( no number ) 15:52:30 05-Feb 0:14 Telstra. This time w/out ID.
Some oddities:
Every time I get one the these dud calls, my landline handset date & time gets set to 1/Jan 12:00am. It stays that way until a real phone call come through.
The call at 20:02:36 on 7-Jan is out of sequence in my NBN modems call log. Its also the call after which my landline phone stopped working.
Thursday 28th reporting in. No confidence in the person I called. Repeating stuff I said she got it wrong. Also, someone was supposed to ring me back but I had no confidence that this was going to happen.
Actual calls are from Telstra..... possibly.
Do you actually need to answer them....only if you feel the need..
Our phone numbers are really open slather these days..A lot of times you dont get a choice about sharing your phone number with the rest of the world.
Our personal details are very saleable even when you fill out an entry form at the supermarket checkout or sign up for retailers reward cards and other info sourcing methods.
I have found that generally after you provide you ph no and email is when you cop a plethora of extra crap from the promoters of their providers of suppliers from the WWW.
It is a bit like having a discussion about a subject with a friend and next you find a link on your Facebook page on the very subject that you and your friend were discussing. True story....
In summary these people want information from you and it will be a while before we all know of the technology used on us to get the info they want.
Just be aware of where you are putting your info.
Lie.
Well I agree BB.
Most eBay purchases request a lot of detail incl phone nos.
haha Mike I just worked it out ... tell lies
-- Edited by Dickodownunder on Friday 16th of November 2018 08:12:48 PM
Im a bit slow Mike at first I thought that you were calling me a liar before I realised that you meant when giving them the info.
Have you also noticed after you visit a website to check out a product you cop pop up adds for months after especially on sites like facebook. I went on the Mitsubishi site and had a look at the Eclipse Cross a couple of months ago and Im still getting adds from them - maybe they think that we need to replace the one that we bought. If you really want to be bombarded every second day with unsolicited phone calls, email and snail mail try ordering some wine from Cellarmasters.
Cheers
BB
-- Edited by The Belmont Bear on Friday 16th of November 2018 08:51:49 PM
Iza
Sorry, yes it was ambiguous.
I have many internet identities which I use for different sites and interests - just because some stupid website instructs me to tell them my date of birth doesn't mean I have to tell them the truth - I usually use my ex-wife's DoB, and they *never* get my real phone number or home address (now no more :) ) unless they need it to deliver something and then I almost always use the PO Box. And for those sites which say they won't deliver to PO Boxes I rearrange it from "PO Box 1234" to "POB 1234" - human postal sorters know what I mean but computers are too stupid to realise and happily despatch the goods.
For one time e-mail use for confirmations and the like I normally use:
https://www.throwawaymail.com/
Facebook and its ilk pick up "tracking cookies" left by previous websites you have visited so they can present targeted adverts to you when you log in. There are a number of ways to prevent and/or discourage this obnoxious practice - Google will advise.
My advice, as it has been since I first came on-line well before the internet, is to place the absolute minimum amount of personal information on the net or with its users - once it's out there it will be there for *EVER* - as many have discovered to their distress.
A lot of overseas calls and Scammers use a Skype number. The number looks like it is from an Australian number, also using Australian area codes. You can now list your numbers with https://www.donotcall.gov.au/ which should stop the callers. If they still call, you can report them thru the web site. I usually only answer calls from people in my address book. Sometimes when I'm feeling a bit frivolous, I will answer the call and say "Do you know this number is on the Do Not Call List" This usually gets rid of them. Sometimes I'll let them start off then say "Would you hang on for just a moment ? Someone is knocking on my door" After about 30 minutes and I pick up the phone, they have already gone !!! My date of Birth is 29 September 1889 !!! When asked for Nationality I say "Eskimo" and strangely I've never been questioned about my age (129) or my nationality !!!
We got Telstra Guardian after many complaints about nuisance calls, they gave us the set for free. Ever since, no more nuisance calls.
https://www.smh.com.au/technology/call-guardian--telstras-answer-to-nuisance-calls-20150610-ghl52f.html
Well our land line was disconnected when the NBN got connected ,cheers