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I'm sure there's legit personal uses, but to me this seems like a tool for spam. I'm guilty of answering local area code numbers in higher frequency than non-l

I'm sure there's legit personal uses, but to me this seems like a tool for spam. I'm guilty of answering local area code numbers in higher frequency than non-local area codes. And I imagine someone else knows about that.

dominotw 9y ago
yea there was a change in law that allowed spammers to use your local area code for this precise reason. Not sure if you noticed, all spam calls lately are from your area code.
- XaspR8d 9y ago
  Yeah it was a rather amazing (and perverse) shift. The other day a spammer called me from a number less than 10 off of mine. They must have a bank of numbers they select from based on hamming distance, as I've seen near-permutations of my number as well.
  - milofeynman 9y ago
    They are usually spoofing the number when they're close to yours. Hoping you'll be curious and pickup.
- fps 9y ago
  citation? I belive that this local number spoofing is just a meme that's caught on within the junk calling industry. The people making these calls are already in violation of a pile of laws, but they don't care. Number spoofing was always something that was available to them, but not something they knew how to use effectively until recently. I highly doubt a change in the law changed their behavior that significantly.
mattbgates 9y ago
Hey Flux, You are certainly not wrong about that! By releasing this, I definitely could see the potential for abuse of a service like this. And I've incorporated a few scripts to check for specific types of abuse. It is something I'm still actively working on to prevent, but cannot fully predict every factor that might come into play. I was working on a script to make it so that you could call the number back and block it permanently.
nkrisc 9y ago
This is the reason I almost never answer my phone anymore unless the caller is already in my contacts. Spammers have rendered my phone useless for receiving calls from unknown numbers.
criddell 9y ago
Why is the phone-spam problem so hard to fix? I get far more spam calls than non-spam calls. I wish my phone had a setting to ring only for callers in my address book and then give a busy signal to all other callers.
- jeffmould 9y ago
  On Android (at least with Samsung Galaxy 6+) you can put your phone into do not disturb mode (settings, sounds & vibrations, do not disturb), then set up Custom Exceptions to allow calls and texts from Contacts Only. I believe you can also do the above on an iPhone, but not 100% positive. My GF has it setup and I'll have to ask her how she did it. As an added measure, under phone settings, you can block calls from unknown callers as well.
- millzlane 9y ago
  You should check out "Should I answer?" It's basically like a spam caller block subscription service for android. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mistergroup.muzutozvednout&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mistergrou...
omalleyt 9y ago
If I was a celebrity, I could see this being huge. I could only give out my virtual number even to friends and family. And then I could have my virtual number leaked but it wouldn't matter, bc I only whitelist my friends and family on that number (if I'm understanding this product correctly)
- mattbgates 9y ago
  Haha, that is a great idea! It wouldn't matter if your number got leaked. You rent your numbers on a month-to-month basis, so you can easily lose the number next month and get another one. You can also blacklist callers if you wish. It is definitely a good to have throwaway number service.
notyourwork 9y ago
Due to the spam and my move across the country I never answer numbers matching my area code and only answer calls from my contact list or from random area codes I am unfamiliar with. If a number is like xyz--* where xyz is my area code odds are its not legit.
- mattbgates 9y ago
  I've got a phone number from New Jersey, but moved across the country years ago, never changing my number. I get calls from New Jersey all the time.. I haven't lived there in over 5 years.. no business in NJ, why would they be calling me? Call Me Private (https://callmeprivate.com https://callmeprivate.com) was intended for the purposes of actually receiving calls that I want to receive because I am the one giving out that virtual number. If someone is calling it, than I know someone else gave it out or I keep track of what website or who I gave it to.. and this way I have an idea of what and who the "leak" was.
CodeWriter23 9y ago
Spammers can spoof numbers for half the price using a straight VoIP Service.

dominotw 9y ago

yea there was a change in law that allowed spammers to use your local area code for this precise reason. Not sure if you noticed, all spam calls lately are from your area code.

XaspR8d 9y ago
Yeah it was a rather amazing (and perverse) shift. The other day a spammer called me from a number less than 10 off of mine. They must have a bank of numbers they select from based on hamming distance, as I've seen near-permutations of my number as well.
- milofeynman 9y ago
  They are usually spoofing the number when they're close to yours. Hoping you'll be curious and pickup.
fps 9y ago
citation? I belive that this local number spoofing is just a meme that's caught on within the junk calling industry. The people making these calls are already in violation of a pile of laws, but they don't care. Number spoofing was always something that was available to them, but not something they knew how to use effectively until recently. I highly doubt a change in the law changed their behavior that significantly.

mattbgates 9y ago

Hey Flux, You are certainly not wrong about that! By releasing this, I definitely could see the potential for abuse of a service like this. And I've incorporated a few scripts to check for specific types of abuse. It is something I'm still actively working on to prevent, but cannot fully predict every factor that might come into play. I was working on a script to make it so that you could call the number back and block it permanently.

nkrisc 9y ago

This is the reason I almost never answer my phone anymore unless the caller is already in my contacts. Spammers have rendered my phone useless for receiving calls from unknown numbers.

criddell 9y ago

Why is the phone-spam problem so hard to fix? I get far more spam calls than non-spam calls. I wish my phone had a setting to ring only for callers in my address book and then give a busy signal to all other callers.

jeffmould 9y ago
On Android (at least with Samsung Galaxy 6+) you can put your phone into do not disturb mode (settings, sounds & vibrations, do not disturb), then set up Custom Exceptions to allow calls and texts from Contacts Only. I believe you can also do the above on an iPhone, but not 100% positive. My GF has it setup and I'll have to ask her how she did it. As an added measure, under phone settings, you can block calls from unknown callers as well.
millzlane 9y ago
You should check out "Should I answer?" It's basically like a spam caller block subscription service for android. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mistergroup.muzutozvednout&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mistergrou...

omalleyt 9y ago

If I was a celebrity, I could see this being huge. I could only give out my virtual number even to friends and family. And then I could have my virtual number leaked but it wouldn't matter, bc I only whitelist my friends and family on that number (if I'm understanding this product correctly)

mattbgates 9y ago
Haha, that is a great idea! It wouldn't matter if your number got leaked. You rent your numbers on a month-to-month basis, so you can easily lose the number next month and get another one. You can also blacklist callers if you wish. It is definitely a good to have throwaway number service.

notyourwork 9y ago

Due to the spam and my move across the country I never answer numbers matching my area code and only answer calls from my contact list or from random area codes I am unfamiliar with. If a number is like xyz--* where xyz is my area code odds are its not legit.

mattbgates 9y ago
I've got a phone number from New Jersey, but moved across the country years ago, never changing my number. I get calls from New Jersey all the time.. I haven't lived there in over 5 years.. no business in NJ, why would they be calling me? Call Me Private (https://callmeprivate.com https://callmeprivate.com) was intended for the purposes of actually receiving calls that I want to receive because I am the one giving out that virtual number. If someone is calling it, than I know someone else gave it out or I keep track of what website or who I gave it to.. and this way I have an idea of what and who the "leak" was.

CodeWriter23 9y ago

Spammers can spoof numbers for half the price using a straight VoIP Service.