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FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

docs.fcc.gov

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Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#341

Post by anitil »

dsmithn wrote: post #153
mulmen wrote: post #3

Does this mean I can start answering my phone again? Are there other vectors for spam calling which are not addressed by this solution?

I really hope so. I stopped answering calls from unknown numbers until a year ago when I got a call from the same number twice and it was a paramedic calling to let me know my wife was in a car accident. She was awake enough to remember my number but her phone was lost. So now I can't help but answer calls from unknown numbers even though I know 999 out of 1000 of them will be spam. It's abusive and an incredible was…

That nightmare scenario is the only thing that makes me answer unknown numbers. Also, a family member has a job in health and often calls from a withheld number so I end up answering a lot of spam.

In Australia a lot of it seems to target Chinese international students for some sort of visa-related scam ('Your visa is out of date, the police are coming, you need to pay your fees immediately in gift cards').

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#342

Post by chillacy »

cletus wrote: post #184

Good. But really, why did this take this long? It should be relatively easy to identify the bad actors here and I don't mean the spammers, I mean the telcos that make this possible, deliberately so, by essentially "laundering" spam calls. My response to picking up a number is to answer the call and say nothing. Auto-dial systems will route the call to a person when they get a "live" response. I don't know the criteri…

> Good. But really, why did this take this long?

I know nearly nothing about telco software but after working at enough big places I suspect one likely answer is "because it's monstrously complex for both technical and human reasons, moreso than it might seem at first".

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#343

Post by pontifier »

chrisan wrote: post #299
m101 wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My strategy has been to do the exact opposite. I've claimed to have had the accident, spoken to the real person, asked them to hold the line whilst I finish something off some "urgent" work, received the follow up call after they hang up and asked them to call me back in a couple hours, again kept them waiting a few minutes. It really wastes their time and turns me in to an expensive call for them. Yes, it's wasted m…

There is actually a dude who streams this https://www.twitch.tv/kitboga I don't see how people can sit there and watch this live with him trying but normally the clipped/edited videos are pretty funny how much he can waste their time

I was livestreaming about a month ago and kept getting spam calls, so I decided to try to see what I could find out.

A website they pointed me to had a multidomain SSL certificate gave me a list of other scammy domains, and one that appeared to sell robocalling software. On that site I found a phone number to call to get started. I called the number and somebody immediately answered! I pretended to be an interested customer for a while, and he claimed to be the author of the software. I wasted his time for about 10 minutes asking questions about how it worked, and where i could get lists, etc. Then told him I wanted him to add a patch to prevent my number from being called again, and that I'd be calling him again if i got anymore calls.

It was very fun!

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#344

Post by karthikb »

spartas wrote: post #326
IgorPartola wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I employ one of two strategies. Either I answer with “911. What’s the location of your emergency?” or similar. If it’s a live person calling it usually gets them nice and confused. I then get to yell at them for calling an emergency line. My favorite was the guy I talked to when I pretended to be “Shepard Sharp, deputy director of the NSA”. “How did you get this unlisted number? Where are you located, we are dispatch…

https://donotpay.com is an automated service that will collect the information you obtain from illegal robocallers and allow you to craft a demand letter. Source: I've sent demand letters to vehicle extended-warranty robocallers using DoNotPay

Have the demand letters worked out so far?

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#345

Post by IgorPartola »

karthikb wrote: post #344
spartas wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://donotpay.com is an automated service that will collect the information you obtain from illegal robocallers and allow you to craft a demand letter. Source: I've sent demand letters to vehicle extended-warranty robocallers using DoNotPay

Have the demand letters worked out so far?

Is also like to know if this has worked.

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#346

Post by gnopgnip »

bmm6o wrote: post #125
gnopgnip wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are three big issues. Robocalls and spam were not as severe an issue until relatively recently. Political robocalls in the US are an important part of how some politicians get elected and raise funds. And these solutions cost a non trivial amount of money, without increasing revenue directly.

This is about requiring authentication, not blocking robocalls in general. Right?

Authentication means blocking any calls with spoofed or no info

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#348

Post by 75dvtwin »

chrisfinazzo wrote: post #325
dantheman wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ahem, the authority comes from Title 2 passed in 1934. In 2005, the FCC decided that ISPs should be regulated by them. From 2005 - 2012, Congress failed to pass new bills granting the FCC this authority. It was denied by congress. In 2015, the FCC decided that they didn't congress to grant that authority. So yeah, the FCC website claiming they have an authority is not an impartial source. Two years later, the FCC rev…

Seriously, read this - you'll learn something. https://www.rpc.senate.gov/policy-papers/why-title-ii-is-not... The GOP lays out an obviously slanted view about why they are opposed to the "utility-style" regulation that Title II entails. However, this assumes that the market is functional when it's been clear since the '96 Telecom Act that it has been anything but. The idea that the FCC can't claim this authority wit…

Bit off topic wrt robocalls, but on topic wrt FCC mandates.

What do you think about the 'Free Press' group asking FCC to sensor Trump's corona virus updates?

Does FCC have authority to do that?

https://thefederalist.com/2020/04/02/far-left-media-group-as...

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#349

Post by jazzyjackson »

IgorPartola wrote: post #310
m101 wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My strategy has been to do the exact opposite. I've claimed to have had the accident, spoken to the real person, asked them to hold the line whilst I finish something off some "urgent" work, received the follow up call after they hang up and asked them to call me back in a couple hours, again kept them waiting a few minutes. It really wastes their time and turns me in to an expensive call for them. Yes, it's wasted m…

I employ one of two strategies. Either I answer with “911. What’s the location of your emergency?” or similar. If it’s a live person calling it usually gets them nice and confused. I then get to yell at them for calling an emergency line. My favorite was the guy I talked to when I pretended to be “Shepard Sharp, deputy director of the NSA”. “How did you get this unlisted number? Where are you located, we are dispatch…

Yes when I'm getting a spoofed caller ID I like to ask where they're calling from, or just innocently, "who am I speaking to? what is your company name?"

I've never gotten enough information to file a complaint

Re: FCC will require phone carriers to authenticate calls by June 2021 [pdf]

#350

Post by bmm6o »

gnopgnip wrote: post #346
bmm6o wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is about requiring authentication, not blocking robocalls in general. Right?

Authentication means blocking any calls with spoofed or no info

Right, but does robocall imply spoofed or no info? Can't they just include authentication?
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