5 ms·
Once the relatives get wind of this, there is a simple solution. Get a new phone number for the person in question. And even more critical don't cancel the ol
by adekok 11y ago
Once the relatives get wind of this, there is a simple solution. Get a new phone number for the person in question. And even more critical don't cancel the old one.
Put an answering machine on the old one, and have a "safe" relative check it every other day or so. Give the new phone number to family and friends.
After a few weeks of getting nothing but answering machine messages, the scammers will go away.
If the old number has been cancelled, the scammers know you're on to them. And look for the new number. If the old number still works, they won't look for a new number. Mostly.
- nadams 11y ago> Once the relatives get wind of this, there is a simple solution. Get a new phone number for the person in question. And even more critical don't cancel the old one. Or an even better idea - transfer the number to a reputable VOIP provider and setup the number so that it rejects calls from all numbers except for the ones you specify. Your loved ones can still call but any other scammer would get a busy signal or whatever you specify as the destination. You could even direct unknown calls to you (you can setup a time condition) - and that would give you the ability to add that number to the whitelist if it was a legit caller. Added benefit - the service will be vastly cheaper. > If the old number has been cancelled, the scammers know you're on to them. I can guarantee you that they don't care if you are "on to them". They just stop calling because no one is picking up the line.
- kbenson 11y ago> I can guarantee you that they don't care if you are "on to them". They just stop calling because no one is picking up the line. I think that depends on how big a fish you are to them, or at least your relative size in their food chain. If you have someone worth a few hundred to you every month, you'll probably put in some extra work if you can't get that money for a month or two to try to recover that source.
- crpatino 11y agoThere's the opportunity cost to the attacker as well. Sure, they could walk around your barriers and scam your relative... or they could shrug it off, carry on with their list, and scam another five or ten people in the same time frame.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoWe could build this with Twilio.
- nadams 11y agoNo offense but I didn't mention a specific VOIP provider on purpose. However, callcentric already has it built and much easier to understand than twilio. I'm not saying that service is bad - but the average person doesn't know what API, cloud, or SIP means (or care). Callcentric makes it pretty obvious what their service is and provides and how to use it.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoI specifically mentioned Twilio because anyone can build a custom solution to address this problem. Someone already has done this (with Twilio) to win the FTCs RoboCall Challenge: https://www.twilio.com/blog/2013/04/twilio-powered-nomorobo-wins-ftc-robocall-challenge.html https://www.twilio.com/blog/2013/04/twilio-powered-nomorobo-... I also like Twilio ;)
- nadams 11y ago> There are no infrastructure changes, or hardware required. This was one of FTC’s guidelines for the contest. > Unfortunately, Nomorobo is not available on traditional analog landlines or wireless phones at this time. Sounds like he failed the challenge... I don't think his idea is revolutionary - one could setup Asterisk to do what he did.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago> I don't think his idea is revolutionary - one could setup Asterisk to do what he did. Twilio is stupid simple to prototype and get up and running with, at which point you could transition to your own SIP provider with a cluster of Asterisk servers when you're at scale.
- patio11 11y ago
- dtolb 11y agoPort that # into https://Ring.to https://Ring.to for free
- patsplat 11y agolike this... the best way to stop abuse is to waste their time not yours.