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Eliminating Robocalls

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Re: Eliminating Robocalls

#221

Post by joecool1029 »

mehrdadn wrote: post #218
joecool1029 wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I said, I got mine for free. I don't know what they currently charge. It is supported by their Scam block service (which is free and can be enabled by shortcode): https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-4041#fourthheading

You probably got it for free because you were a T-Mobile ONE Plus customer (likely already paying a lot) [1]... otherwise it's an extra $10/month. And either way it wouldn't even solve the problem of getting too much spam at your current number... [1] https://www.t-mobile.com/news/digits-launch

Nah, I'm Simple Choice NA. Spam's reduced, not eliminated with that shortcode.

Either way you asked for a VoIP number you could sign up to use places that don't allow them. That's what I originally answered.

Re: Eliminating Robocalls

#223

Post by masonic »

mehrdadn wrote: post #207
masonic wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because "that number" is generally fake. Caller ID became meaningless once VOIP was allowed to spoof it. Can we build a new system atop ANI?

> Because "that number" is generally fake. I'm not really convinced this is true, because there are numbers that are categorized as robocallers, and there are others that aren't. You'd think that if they were fake then they'd be random/uniform.

Robocalls I get typically assign a caller ID of my area code (and sometimes prefix) with random other digits.

Most 408-73x prefixes were originally specific to Sunnyvale CA and are therefore easy to distinguish.

Re: Eliminating Robocalls

#224

Post by mehrdadn »

masonic wrote: post #223
mehrdadn wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Because "that number" is generally fake. I'm not really convinced this is true, because there are numbers that are categorized as robocallers, and there are others that aren't. You'd think that if they were fake then they'd be random/uniform.

Robocalls I get typically assign a caller ID of my area code (and sometimes prefix) with random other digits. Most 408-73x prefixes were originally specific to Sunnyvale CA and are therefore easy to distinguish.

Yeah but I'm not sure they're genuinely random. If you try Googling them you see that they're generally listed as robocallers. Whereas if you Google people you know, I don't think you'll see them being listed as robocallers (at least it hasn't been the case when I've tried). That suggests they don't just randomly pick numbers.

Re: Eliminating Robocalls

#226

Post by eloisant »

fphhotchips wrote: post #55
godzillabrennus wrote: post #52

I have had a Google Voice number since it was Grand Central. It has gone on all of my business cards. It's at the bottom of every email. I put it on my website. Google does an amazing, world class, mind blowing, job of filtering out robo calls. I get maybe one a week at most. I get more calls direct to my cell number from random call bots that hit every number with mobile carriers than I do through my Google Voice nu…

> Android users have no excuse for not using Google Voice. Except that it's not available outside the US. The other 95% of us can pound sand, apparently.

Luckily we don't suffer robocall like in US. I'm in France, and I only get very rare scam calls on my cell phone, and no marketing calls.

Re: Eliminating Robocalls

#227

Post by eloisant »

froindt wrote: post #73
rhacker wrote: post #20

I'm waaay past trusting that network. I tell companies to text or email me. And texting is also starting to get spammed out. Right now, I can't even use apps like Hiya that implement prefix blocking. My method right now is to forward ALL calls to a google voice number, and those are transcribed or what-have-you. If you don't leave a message, I don't care about you. We need a signal, at the highest of levels to basica…

> If you don't leave a message, I don't care about you. Unfortunately spammers have started leaving messages, for me, in the past ~2 years. Prior to that, this heuristic worked very well!

It's still less annoying to have voicemail spam than picking up the phone to a spam.

Re: Eliminating Robocalls

#228

Post by dbg31415 »

godzillabrennus wrote: post #52

I have had a Google Voice number since it was Grand Central. It has gone on all of my business cards. It's at the bottom of every email. I put it on my website. Google does an amazing, world class, mind blowing, job of filtering out robo calls. I get maybe one a week at most. I get more calls direct to my cell number from random call bots that hit every number with mobile carriers than I do through my Google Voice nu…

Spot on, I have a cell phone that uses a different area code from the city I live in (it's actually Vegas, a city I've never lived in). Between Google Voice, and knowing that any local number is a wrong number, I don't ever have to deal with spam calls.

* How To Duck Cell Phone Taxes || https://www.forbes.com/2005/06/06/cz_sw_0606cellphone.html#2... (Not sure if this is still relevant, haven't looked at my cell phone bill in years... but never switched to a local area code since I liked the filtration side effect.)

Re: Eliminating Robocalls

#229

Post by oldgradstudent »

bradthater wrote: post #212
oldgradstudent wrote: post #199

The death penalty for robocalls coming from inside the US, and drone strikes and extraordinary rendition for robocalls originating outside the US are out of the question, right? But seriously, why is it so difficult to eliminate these robocalls. Each operation has to have employees, a call center (to handle the marks), payment processing, etc. It seems like a very easy target.

A lot of these robocall call centers are operating illegally in foreign countries that skirt their own laws, with export partners within the US that pop up and disappear quicker than the government can than they can be hunted. If you are interested there is a really good podcast by Reply All about tracking down one in person. Episode #102 and #103, some of their best stuff to be frank.

Just started the first one. Fascinating. Thanks for the recommendation.

https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/long-distance

https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/103-long-distance-part...

Re: Eliminating Robocalls

#230

Post by mcv »

I wonder why I'm not getting this barrage of robocalls. I live in Netherland, not the US, so presumably that's why, but are robocalls not a thing in Europe? Do we not have these kind of predatory companies? Do we have surprisingly effective legislation to stop robocalls?

The only phone spam I'm getting are people trying to sell me new energy contracts (that's something that happens when you have a company for some reason), and tons of British recruiters trying to get me to work in Belgium or Germany for some reason. Very rarely, I get a tech support call from Microsoft India. But always it's real people, not a robocall.

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