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Report Phone Spam – Shut down robocallers and text spammers

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

#291

Post by sentientslug »

owlbite wrote: post #184
gwbas1c wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(This is a US-based response response about the US phone system.) Because it's a political problem, not an engineering or business problem. In order to prevent monopolies, we have very strict requirements about carrying all calls that enter the network. Otherwise, phone companies would randomly block each other as part of anti-competitive tactics to push each other out of business. The telephone spammers take advanta…

Of course, that would require the politicians to first opt their own political calls in to the existing (if largely useless) measures such as the Do Not Call registry.

There are rules in place specifically for political calls and texts: https://www.fcc.gov/rules-political-campaign-calls-and-texts

Notably they can't use autodialers without having prior consent from you.

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

#292

Post by ghaff »

efitz wrote: post #271
matsemann wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is cultural. I've never ever left a voice message, and never will. I've also never received one, the few I get are robocallers not understanding no one picked up. If you want me to pick up, send an sms explaining what it's about.

Many of us here grew up in the answering machine era where leaving a message was normal, expected behavior- when phones were not carried on your person.

I'm always struck in these threads how much variation there is. I doubt I receive one SPAM/scam text or phone call a week. It would seem weird that I'd want to make myself potentially unreachable to avoid the odd junk. I guess if I got multiple per day I'd need a different strategy.

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

#293

Post by sentientslug »

demosthanos wrote: post #134
aimor wrote: post #81

I've been reporting spam calls and texts to the FCC for a few years now. Does it do anything? I don't know, certainly not immediately, and the problem persists. I tried the method spelled out here for my latest batch of "Your USPS package has arrived" texts, but the phone numbers (example: +63 936 631 6676) just give an "invalid number" response. Not unexpected. Every official channel seems to be failing us on this o…

I've had some luck with reporting phishing domains to their registrars. It doesn't always work, but I have gotten a few taken down that way.

Yeah, I too noticed the similarity in approaches. Generally I've not had good luck with reporting spam domains because the registrars are sketchy. Makes me wonder if reporting spam calls is going to have the same lack of success.

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

#294

Post by nilamo »

ipython wrote: post #172
davidmurdoch wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uh, it gives us zero power to enforce anything whatsoever.

It provides a private right of action for you to sue the culprit in civil court. I have personally received thousands of dollars in compensation for every case I’ve brought under the statute. Unfortunately most of the culprits nowadays are overseas scammers, in which case it’s no help. I would agree in that case- the only way to stop these folks is through the carriers themselves and they don’t seem too keen on doing…

Ok, but who's the culprit for "unknown caller"? If we don't have info, how do we go after them ourselves?

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

#295

Post by barryrandall »

paultopia wrote: post #2

Is there any reason to think that this would work for political party donation spam? Do the telecom carriers that provide services for all those horrific text messages about how the other party is going to install a dictator unless you donate to them right now actually care enough to punish those?

No. There are no requirements that politicians respect your communication preferences, honor your opt-out requests, or handle your data. At the end of the election cycle, everything is torn down, voter files get copied to local party databases, state party databases, federal party databases, preferred contractors for campaign infrastructure, any interested consultants, and on and on. There are no limits and the data handling reflects this. You can, at best, opt out from a given campaign for the current election cycle.

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

#296

Post by ghaff »

MissTake wrote: post #232
baby wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally everybody I know uses whatsapp

Personal anecdotal knowledge does not a standard make. I’d not be shocked if many in my circle use WhatsApp but since I’ve never used it myself - ever - I’d not know for certain. Neither statement makes the case for usage of WhatsApp a “standard” or not.

There are 2 or 3 international people I use WhatApp with once in a great while. I've never used it with someone in the US and I bet a number of the people I communicate with via SMS would stare blankly if I suggested using WhatsApp.

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

#297

Post by immibis »

tiborsaas wrote: post #213
MiddleEndian wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The spammers have won only because the phone system (in which the phone companies are complicit) is designed to let them win. When you get a call from Verizon's number, they know the actual originator of the call (or perhaps they know it up to some known-to-be-not-so-trustworthy-source). They know that the number is not Verizon's phone number. But the phone company chooses to blindly display the spoofed caller ID. No…

What systems rely on spoofed called ID-s? I would assume carriers don't like this too much, but so much legacy crap is built on this that they are just rolling with it and just accepting the bad rep for spam.

AFAIK, just about any time you get a call from a business - the specific desk phone that you were called from has a number, but they prefer to ID as the receptionist or the menu system so you'll get that when you call back.

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

#298

Post by immibis »

InCityDreams wrote: post #217
yonatan8070 wrote: post #186

Who's actually benefitting from these spam/scam/advertising phone calls? Whenever I get one I pick up, realize I'm listening to a recording, and hang up immideately, I don't know what it was trying to shove in my face. Who's listening to these calls and doing something that benefits the spammers?

At the end of the recorded speech is a human. Let the speech play, then don't talk to the human. Let them listen to ... silence. They'll soon stop calling.

If you're bored, you can also choose to waste their time by pretending to be a gullible human, but not sending any money.

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

#299

Post by immibis »

nebula8804 wrote: post #285
furyg3 wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like others, I'm confused about how there's so much variation between countries on this one. In the US, the calls and texts are a plague. If you've had a phone number for a few years you're probably getting multiple texts and calls a day, even if you are on the Do Not Call registry, from advertisers of every type and scammers alike. Lots of people have apps for blocking spam and they still get through. In the Netherl…

This was many years ago but I was trying to set up a Twilio number in the Netherlands to do a crank call on a friend there. I thought it would be as straightforward as the US(ie. Just sign up, add some money and pick a number from their available pool). No....from what I recall you need to submit an actual physical address and there was some mechanism for verifying I think as it failed the first time I tried. Now I t…

It's the same in Germany. You need an address and a passport or national ID card before you can get an IP address or phone number.

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

#300

Post by dylan604 »

freeone3000 wrote: post #182
koolba wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The US is a big enough destination that threatening to drop incoming calls would work. They should threaten to drop outgoing calls too. That’d eliminate all the useless offshore call centers.

Some sort of quite tall wall, perhaps made of fire…

i don't know about being tall. by any definition i'm familiar within context, 1RU is about the smallest possible.
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