Spam calls?

[flyingkytez]

Probably not the right forum but I'm getting spam phone calls daily.. mostly robo calls.. does any of you get them? Any way to avoid it? They just keep changing the number..

 

[anony_mouse]

Where are you? If you are in the UK, sign up for the Telephone Preference Service (https://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/index.html). It may reduce the number of spam calls you get.

 

[Mooncatt]

This isn't specific to the V20, and there's no way to stop it. These spammers likely don't even pay attention to "to not call" lists, so I wouldn't bother trying to sign up for it. Blocking them doesn't work either because they change the numbers often, as you've seen.

I've heard of apps that can screen calls similar to how Captcha is used to prove you're a human. I've never used one, so I can't say how successful they may or may not be.

 

[Almeuit]

Nope -- happening on all carriers.

 

[gipper69]

The 2 legged sacks of excrement behind the scam and spam calls don't care about these lists.

 

[strongandsteady25]

No they sure don't, and they are non stop with the calls.

 

[AtTheHop]

The 2 legged sacks of excrement behind the scam and spam calls don't care about these lists.

Here is my new tatic to drive them crazy. I answer and when a human comes on I say "suicide hot line, do you need help? I can call 911 and have the police sent to your location" then I hear a click and hope I get banned from their network.

 

[recDNA]

Here is my new tatic to drive them crazy. I answer and when a human comes on I say "suicide hot line, do you need help? I can call 911 and have the police sent to your location" then I hear a click and hope I get banned from their network.

My understanding is that any human answering makes your number valuable to other spammers so they happily record it, bundle it with a thousand others, and sell it to dozens of other spammers.

 

[Javier P]

This is what I think. Our contacts list is not private anymore and there's no way we can stop those spam calls. It doesn't matter what we do, they are professional, making money from it and they will always be a step ahead of us.

I get lots of those calls and always think the same. They are annoying as hell but the person calling is just a kid trying to pay their bills no matter how awful their work is.

Never be rude to those kids, please.

 

[anony_mouse]

These spammers likely don't even pay attention to "to not call" lists, so I wouldn't bother trying to sign up for it.

I don't agree. It is worth signing up to the "do not call" lists. The UK list does make a significant difference. Don't expect it to stop all calls, but it will reduce them substantially. What have you got to lose?

The way to stop these calls is to make sure that neither you, nor anyone you know, ever buys anything from these people. If no-one gave them any money, they wouldn't call.

 

[Mooncatt]

I don't agree. It is worth signing up to the "do not call" lists. The UK list does make a significant difference. Don't expect it to stop all calls, but it will reduce them substantially. What have you got to lose?

The way to stop these calls is to make sure that neither you, nor anyone you know, ever buys anything from these people. If no-one gave them any money, they wouldn't call.

For legitimate telemarketing, I would agree. But that's not what these spam calls are, at least not in the U.S. In principle, these are no different than spam email. I never get telemarketing calls, but get the spam calls all the time. And like spam email, any response can signal the spammer that the line is active. With spam email, using the unsubscribe or even viewing the email and loading the photos will tell them you're there and they can sell your info for more money. With phone calls, the best you can do is let it ring through to voice mail. If you answer, they know you're there. If you swipe the call away to end it without picking up they know you're there.

 

[anony_mouse]

For legitimate telemarketing, I would agree. But that's not what these spam calls are, at least not in the U.S. In principle, these are no different than spam email. I never get telemarketing calls, but get the spam calls all the time. And like spam email, any response can signal the spammer that the line is active. With spam email, using the unsubscribe or even viewing the email and loading the photos will tell them you're there and they can sell your info for more money. With phone calls, the best you can do is let it ring through to voice mail. If you answer, they know you're there. If you swipe the call away to end it without picking up they know you're there.

I agree, but I still think it's worth signing up to the "do not call" lists. That significantly reduced the number of spam calls I receive.

 

[Rukbat]

It will probably change in the UK eventually. I've been on the Do Not Call list since it was initiated in the US, in the summer of 2003, Enforcement began in October 2003. And it never worked that well.

With the advent of robocallers that change their callerID on every call, it can't work unless the phone carriers help and, since they get paid for every incoming call, they aren't about to. (Besides, we exempt charities, political calls and a few others.)

I used to have a "honeypot" Google Voice number - I'd add everyone who called it to my blocking list but 1, you still get 1 ring (callerID comes between the first and second rings here) and 2, with callerID spoofing, and rotating spoofing, the only thing that works is blocking *, then whitelisting any numbers you want to get through to you. And for most people, that's just not an option. (And with 4 totally different numbers, I do a lot of hangups.)

 

[DsM]

My Note 8 gets 4 or 5 spam a week. Not a problem. My Wife's Apple 8+ gets 10 or more a day and she's never modified out of the box--no new apps etc.

It's obviously not the phone but a list. Haven't seen any viable answers on this post. Blocking, etc, does nothing. Can only think of changing her number. Please, open to any other ideas.

 

[tickerguy]

It's illegal as hell in the US but, as with so many other things, nobody will enforce it.

The carriers are the ones who ought to be fined out of business for this -- specifically, the "SIP" carriers which is how this is being done. It's a deceptive and unfair practice (FTC jurisdiction) to do that, never mind fraud if the number belongs to someone else (and it usually does.) It would be utterly trivial for the SIP carriers to refuse to allow you to set the outgoing caller ID to a number you did not have proof of ownership of.

They just refuse to do it and the government refuses to enforce the law.

 

[anony_mouse]

It will probably change in the UK eventually. I've been on the Do Not Call list since it was initiated in the US, in the summer of 2003, Enforcement began in October 2003. And it never worked that well.

An advantage of being on the "do not call" list is that it is clearly illegal to call you (at least, in the UK). Companies are prosecuted and fined (or sometimes shut down) for doing so. If you are not on the list, companies can call you as much as they like without any legal risk.

Clearly these lists are not perfect and don't stop all calls, but I still recommend to sign up. You have nothing to lose. It sounds like the situation is worse in the US - remember to use your vote wisely next time.

 

[mrdave570]

I am getting spam text messages now. 3 per day all saying the same crap: Here's your PIN code, do not share it with anyone else. I block the phone numbers but they change every day. Today's texts came at 7AM.....

 

[Chromium 4]

I have T-mobile and they provide a service which indicates "scam likely" on questionable calls so I just don't answer.

 

[flyingkytez]

Where are you? If you are in the UK, sign up for the Telephone Preference Service (https://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/index.html). It may reduce the number of spam calls you get.

I'm in California, USA... I think it's partly my fault for giving my phone number out

 

[flyingkytez]

This isn't specific to the V20, and there's no way to stop it. These spammers likely don't even pay attention to "to not call" lists, so I wouldn't bother trying to sign up for it. Blocking them doesn't work either because they change the numbers often, as you've seen.

I've heard of apps that can screen calls similar to how Captcha is used to prove you're a human. I've never used one, so I can't say how successful they may or may not be.

When you pick up and stay on the line, the robo call asks you to press 2 to be removed from the call list. I honestly don't think that does anything... Another time I asked to be connected to a live person and asked them to remove me.. don't think that helps either..

Also, does anyone remember the presidential election when they called you to vote for them? How did they get your phone number?