Stopping those Robocalls

[stevej37]

Just received an email from Xfinity with a new plan to stop them....I hope it works.


"Stronger robocall protection is coming soon
Your Xfinity Voice service already includes Spam Blocker, which helps identify and block unwanted calls, and great news – you’ll soon have even more protection!
Starting later this month, when Spam Blocker detects a potential robocall, an automated voice will ask the caller to enter a two-digit code. If it’s a live person calling and they enter the right code, your phone will ring. If not, the call will go directly to your Xfinity Voicemail."


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[rwest]

Two digit code... the robo callers will just enter “69” and get through to 90 percent of young people!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by stevej37

Just received an email from Xfinity with a new plan to stop them....I hope it works.


"Stronger robocall protection is coming soon
Your Xfinity Voice service already includes Spam Blocker, which helps identify and block unwanted calls, and great news – you’ll soon have even more protection!
Starting later this month, when Spam Blocker detects a potential robocall, an automated voice will ask the caller to enter a two-digit code. If it’s a live person calling and they enter the right code, your phone will ring. If not, the call will go directly to your Xfinity Voicemail."


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T-mobile has a SPAM blocker. They have some way to identify calls as being SPAM. I'm not sure if that's because of a specific signature or specific numbers or a combination of both (that's my guess). If you enable their SPAM blocker, then all of those calls identified as SPAM get blocked. It's still possible to get calls from SPAM/SCAMers, live or robo. I occasionally get a call where the called ID shows up as "SCAM likely". I guess those are calls that they think are bogus, but they aren't 100% positive.
I don't get a ton of bogus calls. I ignore most of the calls that I don't recognize, and those folks almost never leave a VM. On the odd chance that I do answer a call, it's almost always a real person, and it's usually just annoying, (cold calling head hunters, cold calling folks wanting to buy the "vacant" property that we live on in a house, etc...).

Originally Posted by rwest

Two digit code... the robo callers will just enter “69” and get through to 90 percent of young people!

I'm assuming maybe the system will say "enter 34 to proceed" (probably some random number that changes every call) kind of like the Captcha "check the box if you are a real person". But maybe I'm wrong.

[stevej37]

Any that they can stop will be an improvement.
I'll try to notice if I see a difference...they said it will start later this month.

I think it's a good idea.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by stevej37

Any that they can stop will be an improvement.
I'll try to notice if I see a difference...they said it will start later this month.

I think it's a good idea.

Yep, agreed. Even if there are 10 holes in the dike, if you can get someone to wedge some bubble gum into one of the holes, that's a welcome addition.

I get very few calls like that now. I still get texts, but any improvement is a good thing.

[MBAtarga]

Still won't stop SMSHing messages - where spammers text you instead of call.

[stevej37]

Most all of mine are robocalls from Medicare advantage plans. Open enrollment to change plans just opened and that will be 3 more months of calls. I wish there was somehow to conceal ones age.

[KFC911]

Big yep for T-Mobile's blocking SPAM calls from even getting through. But my buddy "Scam Likely" gets through about 3-4 times each day.... haven't spoken to him ..... ever. Text filters a lot of BS too...

[john70t]

Originally Posted by MBAtarga

Still won't stop SMSHing messages - where spammers text you instead of call.

Got many of those daily text messages with the last election cycle.
Every time from a different number. Same org. The titles became emotional and hilarious after a while. Wish I'd saved them.
"Stop" did not do anything.
-----

I recently ticked off the wrong scammers:
Acted like the old confused man in a croaking voice with tons of debt who didn't know what to do.
[Be careful not to use your real voice. Deepfakes...]
Got 'elevated' to the next tier scammer.
Then I played them an insulting song. Several times.
They started calling from numbers spoofed from every state. For several weeks. Where is the FCC?
I ignored most of them. Put them on block. Maybe they will run out of spoofed phone numbers?

Call-backs lead me to a pre-recorded message of "wrong number"..
And finally busy signals every single time..
If they are going to waste my time, I am going to waste theirs.

And then it stopped.

[id10t]

don't answer the phone if the number isn't in my contacts and i don't recognize it

For email, every entity I give one to I use a unique address, and since I run my own mail server, I can do fun things with that, like redirect the traffic school spam from when I paid my one speeding ticket (had spam in the mail before I finished payment process....) to the email address of the highest person in the responsible org that I can find (in this case, the county tax collector...)

[RANDY P]

Block all calls not in contact list, email filter rules based on keywords.

Ready to ditch my smartphone- tired of being contacted by the 3rd world.

rjp

[CurtEgerer]

^^^ I currently have 678 numbers on my block list I tried 2-3 apps that claimed to block everything except the contact list. Seemed to work OK for calls, but not very well for texts.

[GH85Carrera]

The only way it will ever stop is when Congress passed a law and directs the FCC to mandate all phone calls show the actual number calling, and eliminate the spoofing of numbers. I had one lady call me and was mad that I was calling her, and I had never called her, the spammers were using my phone number. One day I received a call from myself! It is impossible to call yourself, so I knew for certain it was a spam call.

When the FCC decides to make all the telecoms fix the spoofing of numbers, and make real caller ID show who is calling, the spam calls will stop.

I wish I had the money, and expertise to do the spam calls. I would find the phone number of the FCC big wigs, and set up calls for penis enlargement, and porn sites 100 time per day. Maybe then something would change.

[Rick Lee]

New FCC rule taking effect on 01/27 that bans autodialers calling anyone who has not given express permission to call them and sharing or reselling those leads. It obviously won't stop any of the offshore call centers, but it should slow down some of the domestic ones. I think the rule will get tossed by the new admin when a new FFC commissioner takes office.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

The only way it will ever stop is when Congress passed a law and directs the FCC to mandate all phone calls show the actual number calling, and eliminate the spoofing of numbers. I had one lady call me and was mad that I was calling her, and I had never called her, the spammers were using my phone number. One day I received a call from myself! It is impossible to call yourself, so I knew for certain it was a spam call.

When the FCC decides to make all the telecoms fix the spoofing of numbers, and make real caller ID show who is calling, the spam calls will stop.

I wish I had the money, and expertise to do the spam calls. I would find the phone number of the FCC big wigs, and set up calls for penis enlargement, and porn sites 100 time per day. Maybe then something would change.

The problem with that and the reason why it isn't likely to work is because of corporate environments. If you can imagine a downtown full of high rises full of people and desks, probably at least 50% of those folks DO NOT have a real phone number on their desk phone, so when someone sitting at a desk calls out to someone in the real world, the corporate phone system puts a real number in the "from" field. And depending upon the company and setup of things, there may be a bunch of different numbers that get used. So that ability to insert a from number has to stay.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by masraum

The problem with that and the reason why it isn't likely to work is because of corporate environments. If you can imagine a downtown full of high rises full of people and desks, probably at least 50% of those folks DO NOT have a real phone number on their desk phone, so when someone sitting at a desk calls out to someone in the real world, the corporate phone system puts a real number in the "from" field. And depending upon the company and setup of things, there may be a bunch of different numbers that get used. So that ability to insert a from number has to stay.

But there can be a $ charge for a spoofed number number. Wouldn't take a large charge to upend the economics for spammers, while not affecting corporates.

[fastfredracing]

I can't even begin to imagine a world without robo calls . It's to the point where my phone at work is almost useless . 1 out of 10 calls are actually clients, the rest, just pure garbage .
For me, its made the phone the bottom of the barrel for communicating with clients, and potential customers .
A world without phone solicitation , would be a world full of puppies and rainbows

[fintstone]

I have rental homes in several states. The biggest problem I have are real estate investors calling to try to buy these homes (that they assume they could buy at a "distressed" price). They "mine" property tax listings for homes that list out of state owners and call the numbers over and over. They must not keep track of results, because even if you are not polite, they still call again in a few days. I recognize their voices. It is a bit better since I got rid of my land line as some were obviously calling from old lists.

[Rick Lee]

I signed up for a Krav Maga class in November, made a one year commitment and they draft my Amex each month for it. I go 3-4x per week. The boss there still calls, texts and emails a few times per week, following up on my initial visit, trying to get me to sign up. I've told him in person several times and he acts like he knows nothing about it. It's all autopilot and AI.