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Possible Phone Scam?

Dramaeion
I'm a participant level 1
I'm a participant level 1

So I recieve a call from "FIDO" many times/week it seems, saying "Hi, you have an important message from FIDO at P.O. Box blah, blah, Montreal Quebec..." and by this time I just hang up. I always pay my bills on time, and I'm next to certain this is a scam? I haven't heard much about it online so I'm wondering if anyone else has had this call, or if it's actually a legitimate call from FIDO? I'm curiouse as they call me A LOT.

 

Thanks!

3 REPLIES 3

Americo
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

Hello, I have been getting this annoying message for the last two weeks as well. It is Definitely a scam. I am very irritated with Fido I honestly get over 25 calls a day from so many scam calls not just this one. At this point I get 95 percent more scam calls then actual phone calls. I don't understand how so many scam calls get my information to call and try there scams daily. At least 10 of those callers try to identify as Fido. Security control seems to suck in the last two years, I have been with Fido since 2006 and the last two years have made me question the security protocol's set with our information.

Hello Americo,

 

  Welcome to the community!

 


@Americo wrote:

.... I don't understand how so many scam calls get my information to call and try there scams daily. At least 10 of those callers try to identify as Fido. Security control seems to suck in the last two years...


  I think everyone is rather fed up about getting SPAM and SCAM calls. However, I don't think the volume of calls because of any security breaches. It's highly unlikely the spammers/scammers have access to your information. It's more likely that the nefarious actors use computers to generate the calls.

 

  I understand might be concerning since some of the calls appear to target Fido customers. However, it's actually not that difficult for spammers/scammers to direct those calls to a particular provider. All phone numbers -- whether landline or mobile -- are in databases which are readily available online. Certain area code and prefix combinations are designated as landlines, others as Rogers, Fido, Bell, etc (see here). All a spammer/scammer needs to do is have a computer sequentially dial the numbers of a desired area code/prefix combination from 0000 to 9999 and all of those customers would be with their desired target (see here). They'll likely change the message depending on the area code/prefix combination. There have been instances where people who have ported their phone numbers to other providers still receive SPAM directed at their original providers.

 

  The mobile providers have implemented Universal Call Blocking which is meant to block calls from malformed phone numbers. That said, I'm doubtful whether it will have much of an effect on the amount of SPAM or SCAM calls since many of them appear to have properly formed phone numbers. In addition, a new technology, STIR/SHAKEN (Secure Telephone Identity Revisited/Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using Tokens) is being adopted to further reduce the amount of nuisance calls (see here). However, I have my doubts as to whether those measures will reduce the amount of SPAM calls. My understanding is the STIR/SHAKEN will only identify possible SPAM calls and mark the calls as suspected SPAM. In addition, there are circumstances in which the protocol might not work (see here).

 

Hope this helps 😀

 

Cheers


FidoAllan
Moderator
Moderator

Hey there @Dramaeion! Welcome to the Community and thank you for sharing this here. We definitely believe security and privacy are very important matters. 

 

We'll make sure to have a look into this. Could you please confirm which number this call is from?

 

In the meantime, I invite you to have a look on this page for more information regarding these scams. If you also receive suspicious text messages, you can also take a quick look here as well. Smiley