(864) 651-1002
Pendleton, SC
Called my cell at 9:15AM (EST) on Tues.
4/5/16... A gentleman by the name of "Alam" had an accent sounding somewhat like a middle eastern decent left a voicemail message stated if I in fact "wanted more information" for me to call back ... Of course I won't be calling back —Nauturally I blocked the # but definitely resembled a scam like call. #CallerBlocked #NoThanks #Scam #CallerReported #DoNotCallRegistry
I STRONGLY BELIEVE THESE CALLS ARE A DIRECT RESULT OF DATA BREACHES WHICH HAVE INCREASED EXPONENTIALLY IN RECENT YEARS.
In September 2015 major credit bureau Experian had a breach that allowed hackers access to personal information (social security numbers, passports, military IDs, names, addresses, etc) of up to 15 MILLION T-Mobile customers. Ever since then, I've noticed a substantial increase in scam/spam caller activity - around a 500% increase since before the breach. I define scam/spam callers as calls that do not have someone at the other end of the line trying to sell me something or ask me to participate in a survey, and/or a call that does not leave a voicemail when not answered. While the data breach at Experian did not say that mobile telephone numbers were also breached, I believe they would have to be since they're part of the T-Mobile customer account data.
Now I never answer a call from a phone number I don't recognize. This is somewhat inconvenient, because it's not possible for me to know every number that might call me, but it has become a necessary part of my response following the carelessness of organizations like Experian which had ONE JOB TO DO and didn't do it correctly.