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The FCC Has Fined Robocallers $208M, Collected $6,790

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231–240 of 432 posts

Re: The FCC Has Fined Robocallers $208M, Collected $6,790

#231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wished Apple would just add an option "Block all calls unless their number is in contacts". They added it in iOS 13 under Settings, Phone, Silence Unknown Callers. "Calls from unknown numbers will be silenced, sent to voicemail, and displayed on the Recents list. Incoming calls will continue to ring from people in your contacts, recent outgoing calls, and Siri Suggestions."

Jfc the last thing i want is a fucking voicemail, to listen to the tortuous preamble of robo voice saying the source phone number before listening to that empty click.

For me, skimming the transcription and swiping to delete is quick enough to manage.

Re: The FCC Has Fined Robocallers $208M, Collected $6,790

#232
post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because there's no good reason that these robocalls can't be treated like a DoS attack The problem here is that the origin can be spoofed. You are imagining a system where a telco like T-Mobile connects the caller directly to you. That's not how it works. The connection chain could look like this. bad caller 111-1111 -> A -> B -> C -> T-Mobile -> you 999-9999 All T-Mobile knows is that 111-1111 is calling 999-9999…

How much is "a lot", though? We already have $billions sloshing around in telecom.

I don't know but I would imagine it would be as annoying as getting everyone to switch from ipv4 to ipv6 in 1 or 2 years.

Re: The FCC Has Fined Robocallers $208M, Collected $6,790

#233

I see people here saying that spoofed numbers is the problem. Maybe it's a big part of it, but at the end of the day, the phone companies are complicit with the criminals because there's no good reason that these robocalls can't be treated like a DoS attack. These crooks make millions , of calls every year. My first employer was apparently making robocalls, though none of us were aware of it(there was a call center w…

> because there's no good reason that these robocalls can't be treated like a DoS attack The problem here is that the origin can be spoofed. You are imagining a system where a telco like T-Mobile connects the caller directly to you. That's not how it works. The connection chain could look like this. bad caller 111-1111 -> A -> B -> C -> T-Mobile -> you 999-9999 All T-Mobile knows is that 111-1111 is calling 999-9999…

So then T-Mob calls the NOC at C. Tells them to get this stopped and they have 24 hours, or they'll depeer.

6 hour later, C's NOC calls B's NOC, saying to knock it off, and they have 18 hours or they're getting booted.

6 hours later, B's NOC calls A's NOC, saying to knock it off, and they have 12 hours to figure it out or they're getting booted.

In under 12 more hours, A cuts off 111-1111.

If peeringDB is to be believed, big providers all require their peers to have a 24/7 NOC number to call.

Re: The FCC Has Fined Robocallers $208M, Collected $6,790

#235
I've asked my provider to just block Texas and Florida and they refuse. I don't know anyone that lives in those states.

I've tried a new method when I have the time. I waste their time. Ask a lot of questions so they have to explain things. Play dumb. Keep them on the phone for as long as you can

Re: The FCC Has Fined Robocallers $208M, Collected $6,790

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because there's no good reason that these robocalls can't be treated like a DoS attack The problem here is that the origin can be spoofed. You are imagining a system where a telco like T-Mobile connects the caller directly to you. That's not how it works. The connection chain could look like this. bad caller 111-1111 -> A -> B -> C -> T-Mobile -> you 999-9999 All T-Mobile knows is that 111-1111 is calling 999-9999…

So then T-Mob calls the NOC at C. Tells them to get this stopped and they have 24 hours, or they'll depeer. 6 hour later, C's NOC calls B's NOC, saying to knock it off, and they have 18 hours or they're getting booted. 6 hours later, B's NOC calls A's NOC, saying to knock it off, and they have 12 hours to figure it out or they're getting booted. In under 12 more hours, A cuts off 111-1111. If peeringDB is to be belie…

I agree completely. I work for a small ISP and we sometimes do the same thing for significant bad actors abusing our network. A phone call to the NOC of the ISP hosting the abuser or the NOC of their upstream transit providers usually gets the ball rolling pretty quickly.

That approach is obviously not very effective in a DDoS scenario, but as I understand it these robocalls typically originate from a handful of different VoIP termination services -- as opposed to tens of thousands of hosts in a DDoS scenario.

Re: The FCC Has Fined Robocallers $208M, Collected $6,790

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I said in another comment, why allow international numbers to spoof national numbers?

In the parent's description, it's not spoofing at all. They've purchased real american (local) phone numbers, and are routing calls through them through other means (like internet...). There's no telephone network level trickery or spoofing going on.

Not always. They will spoof legitimate numbers that they don't own. If you call them back you'll usually get some very confused person who just got a bunch of calls accusing them of making spam calls.

Re: The FCC Has Fined Robocallers $208M, Collected $6,790

#239
post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So then T-Mob calls the NOC at C. Tells them to get this stopped and they have 24 hours, or they'll depeer. 6 hour later, C's NOC calls B's NOC, saying to knock it off, and they have 18 hours or they're getting booted. 6 hours later, B's NOC calls A's NOC, saying to knock it off, and they have 12 hours to figure it out or they're getting booted. In under 12 more hours, A cuts off 111-1111. If peeringDB is to be belie…

I agree completely. I work for a small ISP and we sometimes do the same thing for significant bad actors abusing our network. A phone call to the NOC of the ISP hosting the abuser or the NOC of their upstream transit providers usually gets the ball rolling pretty quickly. That approach is obviously not very effective in a DDoS scenario, but as I understand it these robocalls typically originate from a handful of diff…

Exactly. Creating a proactive system might be difficult, but the apparatus is all there for being reactive.

Yet this has been going on for years, so I suspect shenanigans by providers too happy to continue charging their Tier7 peers for access.

Re: The FCC Has Fined Robocallers $208M, Collected $6,790

#240
post #228

I see people here saying that spoofed numbers is the problem. Maybe it's a big part of it, but at the end of the day, the phone companies are complicit with the criminals because there's no good reason that these robocalls can't be treated like a DoS attack. These crooks make millions , of calls every year. My first employer was apparently making robocalls, though none of us were aware of it(there was a call center w…

What's wrong with relying on your terminal device to decide whether to ring the call? That's the definition of a smartphone . In fact, Android has native spam blocking: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brookecrothers/2018/12/30/in-20... but it's quite reasonable for you to install whatever filtering app you choose. If you don't feel safe installing software on your phone, that's a problem with your phone OS.

I use Android's built-in spam blocking and have received 7 spam calls since Nov 1. It only blocked 1 of these.
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