The temperatures of the past Christmas and public holidays across Germany were more like a warm start to spring, although many people forget the icy December days in the first half of the month. But it was precisely this cold period that many telephone spam callers apparently used to conclude supposed electricity contracts (022165085679), pretend to be municipal utilities (01637875622) or offer advice (01631672226). The aim is to obtain meter numbers and account details.

December phone spam warning from Clever Dialer

Clever Dialer, the app for spam protection and caller ID, collects ten phone numbers every month that can be safely ignored and blocked. In addition to the electricity callers, another scam emerged in December: A number of competition subscriptions were offered, taken out and identified as attempts to deceive.

The most common telephone spam numbers at a glance (November), in descending order of frequency. Source: Clever Dialer
The most common telephone spam numbers at a glance (November), in descending order of frequency. Source: Clever Dialer

The spam phone numbers in December and the comments of those affected:

  • 06924743393805 (Other):
    The calls come every hour and no one answers.
    Really annoying!"
  • 08990423013 (Other):
    “Wanted to know if I had received my electricity bill yet.
    When I said no, I was told to tell them my meter number immediately. I didn't do that, but pointed out that I didn't have to hand over any data to them and that if they continued to harass me, a report would be made. Please be careful! I have no idea where they got my cell phone number.”
  • 01784133263 (competition):
    “I supposedly took part in a competition but lost.
    Now I would have another chance. The lady became very pushy. Have asked for no further calls. Blocked!!"
  • 01637875622 (Spam):
    “Pretended to be BEW (Bergische Energie und Wasser) and wanted my electricity meter number.
    A query to BEW revealed that the meter number was sufficient to cancel my electricity contract. So please be careful.”
  • 01631672226 (competition):
    “Caller says I took part in competitions and that she can help me delete my participation.
    In return she would send me termination documents. To receive this, I would have to provide my account details. When I said no, the call ended.”
  • 022165085679 (Other):
    “Call several times a day and want to sell electricity and gas cheaper, I told her to send it to me in writing.
    She hung up immediately.”
  • 040655890700 (Spam):
    Alleged energy advice.
    We wanted to speak to my husband, but unfortunately mispronounced his name. Then I told him I don't know him, he doesn't live here either. But I said that we weren't interested in energy advice or anything like that. About an hour later they tried again. And I asked if they were kidding me. Of course the number is now blocked.”
  • 015210923002 (cost trap):
    “Lotto Mafia: The callers claim that a previously free lottery subscription is now subject to a charge and are offering a time-limited 3-month subscription as an alternative to an expensive annual subscription.
    During the conversation they supposedly want to verify this data and ask questions that you should answer with “yes”. For example, they are “Am I talking to Ms....?”. A tape recording with a contract agreement should be cut together from this. Of course there is nothing true about the story and no one has anything to worry about if they don’t give out their account number or other details.”
  • 032211076735 (competition):
    “Apparently I didn't unsubscribe from a competition.
    They are very persistent and keep calling.”
  • 021332463885 (debt collection):
    “Apparently I have debts because of unpaid installments. But I don't have one because I never buy anything on installments. I can’t spend what I don’t have.”

Note: The user comments have been edited and the content has not been changed.

You can find all of Clever Dialer’s phone spam checks here .

Additional explanations

The telephone spam check scale indicates how often a telephone number was reported by those affected (marked in red, descending according to frequency).

Calls: Reported phone number
“Cost trap / competition / other: State the reason for the call.
Calls that cannot be clearly assigned to a category are grouped together under the label “Other”. Blockings: Frequency of blocks made by those affected compared to the total number.
Comment: selected, anonymous feedback on the spam call in question

Who is Clever Dialer?

Clever Dialer (www.cleverdialer.app) wants to give users back control over their calls on their smartphone. The app is used for caller identification and spam protection and makes telephoning transparent and safe for consumers again. In addition, some well-known directory providers, such as Das Örtliche, rely on the intelligent software. Clever Dialer is available for iOS, Alexa Skill and as a Software Developing Kit (SDK) for business customers.

Clever Dialer was launched in 2014. Since then, the team at validio GmbH & Co. KG around CTO and founder Thomas Wrobel has been working on new functions and expanding the business model.

Source:

Clever dialer

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