Leicester Phone Number Scam Affects Me

I started getting a number of calls that started with 0116 and were of 11 digits each (including zero). I had missed them all but the last one on day one, because I had been away from the phone. The last time I picked up the phone, I heard the phone ringing at the other end, instead of someone speaking, as is supposed to happen when someone calls you. So someone had rigged the phone such that when I picked up the phone, it would ring somewhere and I would become the caller rather than the person whom someone had called. I also realized that the number was from abroad. That meant I would be billed heavily for the call as a caller, a call that I had no desire to respond to, to start with. I did all this thinking fast enough so that I disconnected the call after the first ring at the other end.
The next day I got a few more calls from the same initial digits in the numbers, though the last couple of digits were different. I rejected the calls. Then I did a Google search and found out the following information.

1. 0116 area code was for Leicester, UK.
2. One can buy these numbers, so that the recipient of the calls believes the caller is from Leicester, UK, while he could be anywhere in the world, where the calls would be diverted by the company who sold these numbers. Read more about it HERE. This company seems to be doing legitimate business, as far as I can see. But someone is probably using the service for other purposes.
3. There is new telephone scam, reported by Trading Standards officers, Leicester, UK. Read more about it HERE. The recipient is asked to pay money to stop getting these type of calls. It seems a number of people do that.
4. In the numbers I had received the calls from, only the last two digits were changing. So one will have to block only 20 numbers to stop getting calls from these spammers/fraudsters. I wish MTNL permitted blocking telephone numbers with a wildcard. Then all calls from Leicester, UK could be blocked at one go, using 0116*. Of course one could not do it if one had friends in Leicester, UK.

I hope this helps people out there, whom someone tries to trick as I was tricked. If I am wrong in my thinking anywhere, please email me and correct my thinking. Thanks.