robo call trickery, where are our legislators? (house, area code)

[Kracer]

So Nancy keeps calling. Wants to enroll me in some healthcare scam.


When I hear, 'This is Nancy', I just close the phone.


Friend said to listen to the call and at the end, an option to press #9 to place yourself on the no call list will be provided.


Turns out if you recognize such a call, just hit #9 and a recording places you on the no call list. Works great....for that number.


Problem with Nancy is when you press 9, to be placed on the no call list, 'she' simply uses another number.


So far Nancy has used 6 different numbers.


Had another call, warning of impending legal doom and given only one option to speak to someone about extricating myself from sure financial death. A #9 option was not given. However, if you press #9 the option to be placed on a no call list is given.


I rarely answer my phone these days unless I know the number. spend much time outdoors where the phone screen is unreadable. If I am expecting a return call, I blindly answer, thus the many repeat robo calls from Nancy.


So many variation on phone scams. a friend who has some service to stop robo calls still gets them.


Wish NJ legislators would act on consumer's behalf.


How prevalent are these phone scams?
Where is the tipping point for legal action by our elected officials?

[kateskouros]

honestly, i don't know why we have a land line anymore. most of the calls are telemarketers and the (dis)like. the only problem is i also get them on my cell phone. this has got to stop.

[qrysdonnell]

The new reality is you don't bother to answer the phone if you don't know the number. If the call is important they will leave a voicemail and you can then add that call to your contacts.

You can't block the calls, because the scams are pretty much all spoofing numbers so the number you see isn't the number they are calling from and they rarely call from the same number twice. You can't get on a list to not get called, because they just dial numbers either sequentially or randomly - there's no list. Likewise getting a new number doesn't help. Usually they try to spoof a number that looks like yours (it often has the area code and first three numbers in common) to presumably make it look like you should answer it.

I have a mobile phone through work with a 917 area code and I get a few calls a day. An extra benefit of having an NYC exchange is that in addition to the car warranty scams, solar scams, medical scams, social security scams and all that I also get Chinese visa scams. I had a friend who thought they were targeting her and wanted to know how they found out she was Chinese - but they didn't, they just call everyone in New York.

The House did pass a bill to try and help back in July
https://www.zdnet.com/article/house-...ted-robocalls/

But until the calls stop, just assume a call is a scam unless you know otherwise.

[Retriever]

Something that does help with your cellphone is a free app known as YouMail.
It doesn't eliminate scam calls, but it does reduce them to a great extent.

https://www.youmail.com/home/feature/stop-robocalls

[D_England]

Your phone ought to have a do not disturb setting that allows it to ring through when from people in your contacts. If it is real they will leave a message if outsiders.

I do not get bogus voicemails so it must thwart the auto dialers somehow.

It is about to be an election year, you will suffer if you don't do this.

BR,

Dave

[vision33r]

You don't need any app, if you don't know the number and the number is not identifiable then don't answer. If it's important someone will leave a message.

The government is too bureaucratic to stop shell companies that get formed and changed while using technology to conceal their identity.

It is up to the telcos to fix it, all they need to do is block phone number blocks that are known for spamming. They are the ones allowing these companies to communicate because they are either paying fees or have agreements. They should be revoke or blocked from spamming.

[CaptainNJ]

Originally Posted by vision33r

You don't need any app, if you don't know the number and the number is not identifiable then don't answer. If it's important someone will leave a message.

yeah, its not rocket science. im not sure why it bothers some people so much.

if i get a call when im commuting home ill pick it up in the hopes ill get someone i can mess around with.

[ansky]

The Android phone app has a built in call screen feature. When your phone rings from an unknown number, there is a "Screen Call" button that pops up. If you hit that, Google automatically tells the person to state why they are calling, and if they respond, anything they say is transcribed right on their screen, so you can then choose to answer the call if you want. Of course all these calls are scams, so they never respond and just hang up. I only get about 1 spam call per week, so it doesn't really bother me. As someone else pointed out, you can configure your phone's Do Not Disturb settings so that only numbers you know will ring your phone.

[vision33r]

There are a few patterns that I look at when screening calls. The robo calls usually use your area code and the prefix close to yours. I know it's robo call because nobody else I know have those numbers unless they are old colleagues and they are on my contact list.

All new businesses are using newer area codes. For 800 numbers the robo spammers are using unregistered numbers. All official businesses now are required to register and show up on CallerID who they are. Tmobile, Verizon, and ATT all use their own registered database for CallerID so robocallers cannot spoof CallerID as the IRS or Police Dept anymore.

[camaro69]

Originally Posted by Retriever

Something that does help with your cellphone is a free app known as YouMail.
It doesn't eliminate scam calls, but it does reduce them to a great extent.

https://www.youmail.com/home/feature/stop-robocalls

...and it gives your voicemail control to this app.

Do the research.