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Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

news.virginmediao2.co.uk

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Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#42

If you use a VoIP service like Twilio and voip.ms, you can set up a very simple IVR menu that just asks unknown callers to press 1 to be connected to you. No AI involved. For me, this has been surprisingly effective against robocalls. Obviously this isn’t going to work against scammers who call directly, but most of the spam calls I receive start with some pre-recorded message which isn’t going to pass the menu. Edit…

I think I've gotten exactly one spam call since I set up an IVR like that a few years ago, and it was probably not quite daily before that.

Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#44
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not intercepting calls over their network from suspected bad actors; rather, they've created some phone numbers that always go to Daisy - see https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2024/11/virgin-media-o...

Ah! So step 2 is wait for the spammers to automate blacklisting of Daisy phone numbers, and only then start rolling out a (paid) Daisy option to customers. Not connecting calls doesn't waste spammer money, but maybe Daisy does. If the big telco can find 10 righteous callers from a a bad actor telecom, they should keep routing the calls.

Then, once the spammers have blacklisted the Daisy numbers, cycle those spam-free numbers to their customers and start a new batch of Daisy numbers. This way, there is a constant flow of spammer free numbers being cycled into the pool. Of course, everyone and their dog wants your phone number, so you will have to be careful who you give it to if you want it to stay spam-free.

Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#45

Of course, the scammers have created their own AI to call people and scam them so it's just playing catchup. It's like corporate avatars for hiring or cold call bots for sales. I'd say stick to white listed numbers, but pro phones can't do that, and they are the most prone to spam.

So some time in the future, the Telcos will report, that 30%-50% of calls are Scammer AIs talking to Granny AIs

Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#47

If you use a VoIP service like Twilio and voip.ms, you can set up a very simple IVR menu that just asks unknown callers to press 1 to be connected to you. No AI involved. For me, this has been surprisingly effective against robocalls. Obviously this isn’t going to work against scammers who call directly, but most of the spam calls I receive start with some pre-recorded message which isn’t going to pass the menu. Edit…

My Pixel 8 (not sure what other Android phones do this) can screen calls using their AI assistant. It asks what the call is about. If they answer, it displays the text to you as it rings through.

It sounds surprisingly human-like, even saying "Hello?" in a slightly annoyed tone when the other person doesn't respond in time.

Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#48
My father setup his own solution for robocalls. If the phone rings more than three times it kicks the call to the fax machine. Apparently fax lines are supposed to be kept clear because of legal reasons? All I know is half the time I call I get a dialup sound as my call gets routed to the fax machine.
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