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'One Ring' Phone Scam

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Re: 'One Ring' Phone Scam

#81

Post by copperx »

khazhoux wrote: post #64

Similarly, I don't understand why people answer the front door when they can hear or see (through peephole or Ring) that it's a stranger. I don't need your magazines, your house-painting services, your church, or whatever else. If you're lost and looking for your friend's house you're supposed to be at, sorry I'm not gonna be able to help you anyway.

Sometimes a neighbor you haven't met is the one ringing the doorbell.

I recently had to leave my car parked in front of a stranger's house, so I rang the doorbell to let them know, but they didn't answer even though they were clearly home. Capitalism might be great and all, but door-to-door marketing and phone spamming have killed reasonable methods of communication.

I refuse to let these things die, so I still open the door if I don't know the person (I have a hotel-like door latch now to help prevent someone from kicking in the door or shooting an arrow at me). You just have to learn to be aggressive and say "I'm not interested" if it's a salesman or Jehovah's Witness.

Re: 'One Ring' Phone Scam

#82

Post by kalleboo »

mey wrote: post #31
saalweachter wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I occasionally contemplate trying to find a data-only plan for my cell phone, with no associated cell number.

That may be impossible under current cell designs. WiFi hotspots even have assigned phone numbers.

You'll always have a phone number, but on an SMS- or Data-only plan it will never ring (MVNOs in my country offer these types of plans at a discount because reserving a voice phone number here is subject to ID verification and higher fees)

Re: 'One Ring' Phone Scam

#83

Post by c22 »

droithomme wrote: post #60
shereadsthenews wrote: post #5

I can’t imagine why anyone ever answers the phone. I get at least ten robocalls every weekday. I don’t ever look at my voicemail and I haven’t answered a call in ages. Edit: I know I’m not alone because CNN just released a poll with no responses from people under the age of fifty, because they couldn’t reach enough of them by phone.

> I can’t imagine why anyone ever answers the phone. I get at least ten robocalls every weekday. I answer the phone all the time and it's always someone I know. I do not have a caller id display. Here's how I managed that. Only 4 people know my real phone number and are under orders not to add it to any digital address book. My phone number is registered to an alias. I pay for my phone using cash. My area code is in…

I get maybe 3 or 4 spam calls a year. I've had the same number for over 20 years and I've given it to thousands of people. Like you, I only give it to real actual people who I want to call me, though many of them were strangers. I never placed any restrictions on how they store it or made any other effort to keep it private. Since 2009 or so I have had a google voice number in a different area code that I use to fill out forms and give to strangers, but since blocking calls to it from that same area code I let it ring through to my main number now and it also gets virtually no spam (it's possible the 3 or 4 I get are actually from this number).

My main actual trick has been to be discerning in the things I sign up for and never filling in information that's not required.

Re: 'One Ring' Phone Scam

#84

Post by [deleted] »

homero wrote: post #58
ignoramous wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think there is a real need for email equivalent of a VOIP solution where there is automatic spam filtering just like emails. https://truecaller.com uses a crowd-sourced model to help you identify PSTN callers and spammers not in your contacts. Besides, I think WhatsApp had the right idea around personal communication at least when Jan and Brian called the shots. > If every cell phone has LTE and internet connecti…

These apps steal your phonebook and upload it

[deleted]

Re: 'One Ring' Phone Scam

#85

Post by kalleboo »

throwawayjava wrote: post #61
spectramax wrote: post #8

I feel like if FCC/Telephone providers don't fix this soon, traditional cell phones will become unreliable and we will need to adopt a new system or just use existing framework (facetime, whatsapp, etc.). If every cell phone has LTE and internet connection, why the fuck do we need traditional cell phone number? I never use it except for calling my pharmacy, customer support or restaurants/shops. All conversations wit…

> we will need to adopt a new system or just use existing framework (facetime, whatsapp, etc.). I already use white lists -- I simply don't answer the phone if the person isn't in my contacts list and I'm not expecting a call from an unknown number. I assume this is pretty common practice. > If every cell phone has LTE and internet connection, why the fuck do we need traditional cell phone number? I almost never have…

> I almost never have LTE or even mobile data of any kind when I'm outside of cities (for a liberal definition of city)

I'm curious what countries /places these are. My operator doesn't even activate 3G on modern phones, I literally have nothing aside from LTE/VoLTE. Since LTE got deployed on the low frequencies reclaimed from analog TV, the reception is generally BETTER than 3G etc.

Also when there are natural disasters, the voice infrastructure is the first to collapse, but data in chat apps still makes it through

Re: 'One Ring' Phone Scam

#86

Post by Salgat »

CPLX wrote: post #59
yebyen wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

70% of the spam calls I get could be stopped simply by blocking the exact same exchange that my number is in. Do spam callers really think I'm expecting a call from the same area code, same exchange as my own number? Do most people have friends that have phone numbers with the same first six digits in common with their own? I feel like this trick can't possibly work on anyone who has already seen it twice, and just b…

The way a friend described it to me, if you have a child, and that child is out of your sight, you sort of have to be open to answering phone calls from your local area.

One thing I like with Google Voice is that it has a phone screen where you have to say your name and then it plays it back to me before I decide to accept the call.

Re: 'One Ring' Phone Scam

#87

Post by tcberry »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #44
yebyen wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

70% of the spam calls I get could be stopped simply by blocking the exact same exchange that my number is in. Do spam callers really think I'm expecting a call from the same area code, same exchange as my own number? Do most people have friends that have phone numbers with the same first six digits in common with their own? I feel like this trick can't possibly work on anyone who has already seen it twice, and just b…

Yep. This works for me, I have a 310 area code and live in 425, so almost anything 425 and 206 is legit, anything 310 is probably not.

I use the same tactic as someone with a 310 number who does most of their living in 805.

Re: 'One Ring' Phone Scam

#88

Post by probably_wrong »

vpzom wrote: post #46

What does someone gain by doing this? Wouldn't the charges just go toward the caller's phone company?

If they make you call a premium-rate phone number[1], they get to charge you more for the call and keep a percentage of it.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premium-rate_telephone_number

Re: 'One Ring' Phone Scam

#89

Post by seumars »

throwawayjava wrote: post #65
Brajeshwar wrote: post #26

I started with an experiment about a year back and now I've practically stopped answering phone calls. My phone responses are now async. Just like an email, I look up the missed calls list once a while and call back if I know someone or was expecting a call from a particular number. The phone is kept silent at all times and is on DND mode from the first minute of the day to the last. The only call that passes through…

...do you have kids?

Nothing is an emergency, ever! How naive.
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