Let’s Destroy Robocalls • Hacker News Board

Re: Let’s Destroy Robocalls

#131

Post by zackmorris » Mon, Mar 04, 2019, 6:40 PM UTC

cletus wrote: post #62

So robocalls are the result of: - Cost of phone calls decreasing to basically zero - Cost of automation going to basically zero - Phone calls that can come from the Internet so there are no national boundaries anymore - Caller ID operating on essentially the honor system - Bad actors (telephone companies) benefitting from this traffic by charging for it - Larger players having no incentive to punish bad actors There'…

Since caller id was implemented so poorly:

https://www.onsip.com/blog/how-caller-id-works-why-it-might-...

Maybe it would be nice if we had something kind of like a CAPTCHA, where an app on your phone would say "please dial and say your name to complete your call" and the person would have to dial it and say who they are to talk to you.

Totally knee-jerk idea I realize, but I literally get 10 SCAM LIKELY calls for every real call now, rendering my phone almost unusable. Huh, I just did a quick search and it looks like it might already be possible to install an app to do something like this. Anyone know if this works?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207099

Re: Let’s Destroy Robocalls

#132

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Mar 04, 2019, 6:40 PM UTC

petters wrote: post #81

cletus wrote: post #62

So robocalls are the result of: - Cost of phone calls decreasing to basically zero - Cost of automation going to basically zero - Phone calls that can come from the Internet so there are no national boundaries anymore - Caller ID operating on essentially the honor system - Bad actors (telephone companies) benefitting from this traffic by charging for it - Larger players having no incentive to punish bad actors There'…

> Why I can't get this is beyond me. The first setting in my default Android phone app is to block unknown callers. What specifically do you want?

[deleted]

Re: Let’s Destroy Robocalls

#133

Post by Evidlo » Mon, Mar 04, 2019, 6:40 PM UTC

escherplex wrote: post #87

cletus wrote: post #62

So robocalls are the result of: - Cost of phone calls decreasing to basically zero - Cost of automation going to basically zero - Phone calls that can come from the Internet so there are no national boundaries anymore - Caller ID operating on essentially the honor system - Bad actors (telephone companies) benefitting from this traffic by charging for it - Larger players having no incentive to punish bad actors There'…

A smart phone app which behaves as a firewall requiring callers to enter, say, a three character PIN code before phone rings may be useful. Incorporate two message files, one for leaving messages from those who know the PIN code and one those who don't, would allow for any contingencies. A front end answering machine box for the home with the same functionalities may be useful as well.

What if the caller was required to know the first character of the recipients last name and enter that on the keypad?

Re: Let’s Destroy Robocalls

#134

Post by xanipher » Mon, Mar 04, 2019, 6:44 PM UTC

sacul wrote: post #70

swampthinker wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hustle https://www.hustle.com/

(This turned into a bit of a rant...) So, AFAICT, Hustle provides a service that's nearly as bad as robocalls. From their front page: "Hustle works because people read and respond to texts—and to communication that feels more human." So it's a bait and switch, just like a robocall: you contact me in a way that makes you feel personal, approachable and reasonable to me so that you can gain my attention. Look, try to s…

It hasn't always been the case, mostly because for most of human history attention wasn't the limiting scarce resource to things.

Re: Let’s Destroy Robocalls

#135

Post by jngreenlee » Mon, Mar 04, 2019, 6:44 PM UTC

cfallin wrote: post #84

One solution, not practical for most folks but works well for me: live in a different area code than phone number. (My cell number is in the area code I grew up in.) It seems most spam calls either fake a source number that's in my phone's area code, or use a completely random source. Almost any inbound call I actually expect without an address-book entry would come from my (new) local area code, so I can pick up a c…

Ditto, same technique I use. My business phone uses (512) and my personal uses (469). I don't live or work in either one. I also use Google Voice on the personal one, with spam calls blocked (another good layer to have...these go directly to voicemail), and another randomly selected area code for the physical SIM (Straight Talk, 10GB $50/month).

When a call comes in from those ACs (the one corresponding to the phone), I reject it. Very easy!

Re: Let’s Destroy Robocalls

#136

Post by jngreenlee » Mon, Mar 04, 2019, 6:45 PM UTC

bonobo_34 wrote: post #128

cfallin wrote: post #84

One solution, not practical for most folks but works well for me: live in a different area code than phone number. (My cell number is in the area code I grew up in.) It seems most spam calls either fake a source number that's in my phone's area code, or use a completely random source. Almost any inbound call I actually expect without an address-book entry would come from my (new) local area code, so I can pick up a c…

I get a lot of robocalls from spoofed numbers that have my area code and even the first 3 digits of my phone number in common. I guess the thought is that people are more likely to pick up if the number looks familiar? For me, it's just an indication of a robo call that I won't pick up.

I think they get an exit virtual POP in that AC to avoid extra charges, start at XXX-0001, XXX-0002, etc. It lowers cost and looks more relevant.

Re: Let’s Destroy Robocalls

#137

Post by Evidlo » Mon, Mar 04, 2019, 6:45 PM UTC

knicholes wrote: post #127

escherplex wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A smart phone app which behaves as a firewall requiring callers to enter, say, a three character PIN code before phone rings may be useful. Incorporate two message files, one for leaving messages from those who know the PIN code and one those who don't, would allow for any contingencies. A front end answering machine box for the home with the same functionalities may be useful as well.

Is there a way to access the call before it hits your phone? I looked briefly, because I'm very passionate about this problem, and couldn't find anything. I don't want to answer the call and wait for someone to enter a pin. I want them to have entered a sufficiently long randomly generated number (spoken to them by some voice generation service) before it even makes my phone send a notification to me.

You might be able to host an instance of Asterisk [0] and set up call forwarding based on the extension [1].

I haven't played with Asterisk before, so I'm not 100% certain.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterisk_(PBX)

[1] https://www.voip-info.org/asterisk-call-forwarding/

Re: Let’s Destroy Robocalls

#138

Post by angel_j » Mon, Mar 04, 2019, 6:46 PM UTC

We should destroy phone numbers instead, not only for spam, but for privacy and security. You might as well wear an RFID on your collar.

Replace phone numbers with DNS and spam blocking. Change it when you want instead of asking your provider. Tell people to contact you through your website.

Re: Let’s Destroy Robocalls

#139

Post by gph » Mon, Mar 04, 2019, 6:47 PM UTC

bonobo_34 wrote: post #128

cfallin wrote: post #84

One solution, not practical for most folks but works well for me: live in a different area code than phone number. (My cell number is in the area code I grew up in.) It seems most spam calls either fake a source number that's in my phone's area code, or use a completely random source. Almost any inbound call I actually expect without an address-book entry would come from my (new) local area code, so I can pick up a c…

I get a lot of robocalls from spoofed numbers that have my area code and even the first 3 digits of my phone number in common. I guess the thought is that people are more likely to pick up if the number looks familiar? For me, it's just an indication of a robo call that I won't pick up.

>I guess the though is that people are more likely to pick up if the number looks familiar? For me, it's just an indication of a robo call that I won't pick up.

That's probably good for the robo-callers. Just like with horrible spelling/grammar errors in spam emails, they don't mind if the smart folks can figure out their pattern. They are after the suckers born every minute.

Re: Let’s Destroy Robocalls

#140

Post by davesque » Mon, Mar 04, 2019, 6:47 PM UTC

I recently turned on "do not disturb" mode on my pixel phone once I started getting about 400% more robocalls than real calls per day. It's actually nice because now my phone only rings for people in my contacts list. So I'm in whitelist mode.

However, it's insane that I have to do this. At this point, having a phone with actual phone service seems basically pointless. It's one of those things that I pay for because I'm so used to paying for it.