Calling a real estate robocaller back • Hacker News Board

Re: Calling a real estate robocaller back

#91

Post by gnicholas » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 6:01 PM UTC

I regularly receive calls from an agent at a reputable (or at least I used to think) brokerage here in Silicon Valley.

They use the typical trick of calling you twice simultaneously, so the second call can go straight to your VM box. The message was boiler plate: "we're looking for a home in your neighborhood for a client, but inventory is very thin as you know so we're wondering if you know anyone who might be open to selling."

The thing is, there were 3 houses for sale on my street at the time, so it was immediately clear this wasn't based on an actual client. I had recently spoken with an agent from this brokerage firm and I sent her a follow-up email to let her know that her colleague's (illegal) shenanigans were undercutting her company's reputation.

Re: Calling a real estate robocaller back

#92

Post by fpgaminer » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 6:12 PM UTC

taborj wrote: post #14

Not sure if this is carrier-specific, but the phones my family uses will receive robocalls, but they come in with the name "Scam Likely." So somewhere, someone is keeping track of the various numbers that are used in a list, and using that to alter the carrier ID information to our benefit. It doesn't catch all, but it hasn't incorrectly flagged one yet.

T-Mobile does this, at least. You can also turn an account option on which will just plain block "Scam Likely" calls.

Re: Calling a real estate robocaller back

#93

Post by URSpider94 » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 6:13 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #85

zaroth wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t want to be the “Bank” with only one note tying up a large percentage of your capital. Just ask Donald Trump.

You do if you need the risk adjusted return and can’t get it elsewhere.

I think the issue is diversification. Carrying the note for a buyer can be a decent idea for a developer who owns 100 properties, but probably not if the loan represents 50% of your assets. Calculations like "risk adjusted return" start to fall apart when you get out of continuous statistics and into single-event probabilities ...

Re: Calling a real estate robocaller back

#94

Post by Larrikin » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 6:13 PM UTC

turc1656 wrote: post #90

FussyZeus wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one who thinks this is bullshit? How is PATLive not also complicit in the crimes they're looking for "Will" to prosecute in? I get so tired of these B2B service providers who get caught up doing borderline illegal shit and then just shrug their shoulders and say "not our responsibility." Everybody has these clauses doing the ass covering so they can sell services to anyone who knocks and they're never h…

On a related note - I've had the opposite experience but it wasn't with telecom related services - it was cloud services. A friend of mine started a business that focuses on the highly anticipated luxury clothing and sneaker releases. He basically does a proxy business that routes traffic through his network so that people can use multiple IPs that aren't banned on those retailers websites so that they can purchase m…

I applaud them. Reseller middlemen buying up the releases so they can profit are awful and inhibiting that activity is a greater good for society. In the ideal world sneakers could only be sold at retail, let the people who actually want to wear them buy them.

Re: Calling a real estate robocaller back

#95

Post by CodeMage » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 6:17 PM UTC

danso wrote: post #4

There's an idea for a dystopian comedy skit somewhere in this: > Will’s so busy leaving messages all over town that he never answers the phone when you call him back...Sometimes calls were forwarded to a host of people who went by “Pat.” They said they worked for PATLive, an answering service firm that takes calls for businesses when they’re busy or closed. Pats were taking messages for “Steven’s Office” in Alexandri…

> Asked why there were several Pats, a Pat said: "We're all Pat."

"His name is Robert Paulson."

Re: Calling a real estate robocaller back

#96

Post by fpgaminer » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 6:22 PM UTC

We all hate robocallers and scammers. We all hate getting called every day by them. But did you know there's something worse? My wife recently discovered a not so fun side effect of spam calls...

Scammers have this popular trick of spoofing the caller ID for a number local to you. People are more likely to pick up the call if it's a number that seems familiar to them (like, the first 6 digits are the same as your phone number).

I've known about this trick, but I never really thought about the collateral damage. See ... that number they're faking is a _real_ phone number. And it's someone else's phone number. It's not the scammer's number.

Well my wife's phone number got used. You wouldn't believe the number of people who call scammers back! She was getting hundreds of calls a day; non-stop. Most people were calling back trying to figure out who called them. Some were angry. A few threatened her with violence.

And there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. You can't stop someone from spoofing your phone number on Caller ID. You can't stop people from mistakenly calling "you" back. You're just stuck in phone hell. The only solution is to change your phone number ... not really a great option.

It lasted about a week; we resorted to just keeping her phone on Do Not Disturb.

What a nightmare.

Re: Calling a real estate robocaller back

#97

Post by CWuestefeld » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 7:01 PM UTC

FussyZeus wrote: post #56

tyingq wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read their "how it works" and other pages, and the sales pitch isn't bad. They should be more selective about clients though. https://www.patlive.com

Am I the only one who thinks this is bullshit? How is PATLive not also complicit in the crimes they're looking for "Will" to prosecute in? I get so tired of these B2B service providers who get caught up doing borderline illegal shit and then just shrug their shoulders and say "not our responsibility." Everybody has these clauses doing the ass covering so they can sell services to anyone who knocks and they're never h…

I'm just puzzled about how law enforcment is apparently at a dead end. Why can't PATLive be subpoenaed to provide information about one of their clients who's breaking the law?

Re: Calling a real estate robocaller back

#98

Post by softwaredoug » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 7:05 PM UTC

fpgaminer wrote: post #96

We all hate robocallers and scammers. We all hate getting called every day by them. But did you know there's something worse? My wife recently discovered a not so fun side effect of spam calls... Scammers have this popular trick of spoofing the caller ID for a number local to you. People are more likely to pick up the call if it's a number that seems familiar to them (like, the first 6 digits are the same as your pho…

I’m totally ignorant here, so I’m sure there’s a good reason: why is secure caller id so hard?

Re: Calling a real estate robocaller back

#99

Post by MagicPropmaker » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 7:11 PM UTC

Why is it so hard to catch them? Can't the FTC set up a house sale, and when the buyer presents himself at closing, have him arrested? Eventually the buyer needs to be available to close the sale. I suppose it can all be done electronically (I bought property with an electronic closing) but for the demographic they're trying to market from, electronic signatures and document handling may not be easy. Someone will have to meet with them, and there an arrest can be made (for the robocalling).

Re: Calling a real estate robocaller back

#100

Post by NickBusey » Tue, Apr 30, 2019, 7:13 PM UTC

fpgaminer wrote: post #96

We all hate robocallers and scammers. We all hate getting called every day by them. But did you know there's something worse? My wife recently discovered a not so fun side effect of spam calls... Scammers have this popular trick of spoofing the caller ID for a number local to you. People are more likely to pick up the call if it's a number that seems familiar to them (like, the first 6 digits are the same as your pho…

Yup. I've had this happen on my Verizon business phone. I called Verizon and was told the only recourse was to change my number, but of course the rep acknowledged the spammers could spoof any new number I received just as easily. So Verizon's only answer was basically "Deal with it."