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Report Phone Spam – Shut down robocallers and text spammers

reportphonespam.org

241–250 of 339 posts

Re: Report Phone Spam – Shut down robocallers and text spammers

#241

I wish we could euthanize this garbage, antiquated phone system. It shouldn't be expected/required that every adult has a phone number when the system is so irredeemably broken and dangerous. If the web didn't have HTTPS, it would be illegal to conduct sensitive business over it. Yet we're stuck with this entrenched telephone system, the best we can do is STIR/SHAKEN, and that's not real security.

100%. My son got sick at school last week and I ignored the call from the school nurse because I have been so thoroughly conditioned by daily scam calls to ignore any unrecognized number. It’s insane that this is still a problem.

I guess this is the problem: you have to answer before you know what it is about. With email, you can immediately at least read the title of the email, or even the contents, before deciding if you want to respond or not.

Re: Report Phone Spam – Shut down robocallers and text spammers

#242
Burn this statement into your brain: "Take my contact details off your list and never contact me again!"

Do whatever you can to make the scam caller hear you make this statement, loud and clear.

The moment they hear it they are supposed to comply, or they will face immense fines. This statement is anathema to the scammer.

I've had a lot of fun with this over the years.

My favorite variety of scamming the scammers involves leading them to believe that I am an old senile guy scared to death of "Windows Security" and that I will do anything to let them fix the problem, including giving them my password, which is of course, the above statement, which I often have to spell out, letter for letter, before they get it: "Take my contact details off your list and never contact me again!"

;)

Re: Report Phone Spam – Shut down robocallers and text spammers

#243
post #199
post #63

I got a spam call seemingly “from Verizon” (their main number) on my Verizon phone. I called them and told them and they said “oh yeah that happens all the time don’t pick up when we call” That’s when I realized we’ll never win. The spammers have won.

Just disable all calls. That’s what I do. Real people call you on whatsapp or other similar apps.

my parents would probably say something along the lines of 'what is whatsapp'. My sister would say 'i dont use that' my wife would say 'yet another freeking app?!' my tech friends would say 'no i am not signing up for yet another account'

Re: Report Phone Spam – Shut down robocallers and text spammers

#244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every time you post...with a brand new account? You don't even have any submissions, yet.

Some folks cycle throwaways over time instead of allowing a consistent identity to be built. The guidelines request nicely against doing so but some always do anyways of course.

doesnt matter anyway there is a 'ai' that can troll thru the posts and figure you back out. unless you change the way you type and the words you use every time too.

Re: Report Phone Spam – Shut down robocallers and text spammers

#245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100%. My son got sick at school last week and I ignored the call from the school nurse because I have been so thoroughly conditioned by daily scam calls to ignore any unrecognized number. It’s insane that this is still a problem.

I have defaulted to No Phone/Voice Calls for over 5+ years. By default, everyone is blocked, and I maintain a whitelist (a group named "!DND") of numbers who can go through — school numbers, including quite a lot of teachers, the bus driver, and the bus assistant can get through. This is working so far.

I could see this failing because the nurse's phone number is different than the school. Any large institution usually has multiple lines.

Re: Report Phone Spam – Shut down robocallers and text spammers

#247
The best part of all of the number spoofing is now I get real calls from real people who are "calling back" the spam call they received from my number.

So I'm getting double-hit by the fact that somehow you're just allowed to place calls from a number you don't own and that's considered a valid part of the phone system still in 2023.

Re: Report Phone Spam – Shut down robocallers and text spammers

#248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What an utter technological failure. How and why is this even (still) possible?

Why are ads a thing on cable? On the web? It's literally the same problem, and since this site's audience is likely more familiar with the latter, it should be clear it's not a technological failure, but a social/legal one.

Ads are not the same thing as impersonation, lying about who you are and where you are calling from.

Cable is not full of ads that say they are from AT&T and you need to contact them about your bill at but the ad isn't from AT&T and the number goes to a scam call center.

Re: Report Phone Spam – Shut down robocallers and text spammers

#249
post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just disable all calls. That’s what I do. Real people call you on whatsapp or other similar apps.

my parents would probably say something along the lines of 'what is whatsapp'. My sister would say 'i dont use that' my wife would say 'yet another freeking app?!' my tech friends would say 'no i am not signing up for yet another account'

On iOS at least you can block calls from outside your contact list. Which is what I do.

Anyone outside my contact list can leave a voicemail.

Re: Report Phone Spam – Shut down robocallers and text spammers

#250

Does this work internationally?

If you can find a Web site or API that offers carrier lookup for a given country's phone numbers, the same process should work. That's far from guaranteed, but Twilio's "Line Type Intelligence" API claims to support other countries. I'm not sure whether that includes carrier name, so you'll need to try it: https://reportphonespam.org/#not-in-the-us-or-canada , https://reportphonespam.org/#Twilio
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