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For me personally, robocalls outnumber legit call calls 10:1 these days. Interestingly, most robocalls I get come from numbers that match the first 6 digits of

For me personally, robocalls outnumber legit call calls 10:1 these days. Interestingly, most robocalls I get come from numbers that match the first 6 digits of my own phone number. I don't know why they do that, but it makes it easier to screen calls.

huntie 9y ago
I was in the same boat, so I started just leaving my phone silenced all of the time. I almost never get robocalls anymore. Interestingly, it seems like whenever I turn my ringer on because I'm expecting a call I get a robocall. It's probably just coincidence though.
jethro_tell 9y ago
They do that because it makes it harder for me to screen calls, I have kids at schools where landlines will have the same first 6 digits, if I get a call like that, I assume that it's a garbage call but I have to answer it in case I need to pick up a child or go to the doctor.
- ryandrake 9y ago
  Add a contact in your address book with the school’s number(s)? Sure there is still a small chance of collision with the spammers’ fake numbers, but it should help. My mobile gets an average of 3 robocalls a day, so I’m 100% whitelist at this point. If the caller’s number is not in my address book it gets ignored.
  - eridius 9y ago
    That requires you to actually know the number they'll be calling from though.
    - jethro_tell 9y ago
      Also, assumes that it's not a local teacher calling from a cell phone.
- ams6110 9y ago
  I tell my kids that if they are calling me from someone else's phone or a school office phone I probably won't answer but they should be sure to leave a voicemail because I will listen to that.
tyingq 9y ago
Me too. Car warranty calls, "Free Vacation/Hotel Scams", and a bunch of calls in Spanish.
wwalser 9y ago
100% of phone calls to my mobile device are robo calls. I get around 5 per day and (because of this) I never answer the phone. I actually tried to uninstall the dialer app but it seems to be fairly well-integrated into Android. The humans in my life call via voip(ish) apps (Messenger and Facetime mostly). Part of my monthly cell service cost is ostensibly for the line. Which I don't use and would prefer not to have all.
- raverbashing 9y ago
  Aaah the beauty of "pay per airtime" fleecing by US phone companies Meanwhile phone spammers pay 10x less for international minutes
  - DrScump 9y ago
    I think very few non-prepaid mobile plans have metered airtime for donestic calls anymore.
    - raverbashing 9y ago
      True, but it doesn't matter, because it's not the caller paying the extra fee to call a mobile, you are. The pricing structure incentives robocalls
Fins 9y ago
I believe the assumption is that if the number is (apparently) on the same exchange as yours, it might be your neighbour, kid, etc. and you'd be more likely to pick up. Since most of those originate from a VOIP box in some low cost country, they do not necessarily know that this is unlikely to work in reality.
DrScump 9y ago
They spoof Caller-ID to give an illusion of being local. They are generally out of area, calling from VOIP "boiler rooms".

huntie 9y ago

I was in the same boat, so I started just leaving my phone silenced all of the time. I almost never get robocalls anymore. Interestingly, it seems like whenever I turn my ringer on because I'm expecting a call I get a robocall. It's probably just coincidence though.

jethro_tell 9y ago

They do that because it makes it harder for me to screen calls, I have kids at schools where landlines will have the same first 6 digits, if I get a call like that, I assume that it's a garbage call but I have to answer it in case I need to pick up a child or go to the doctor.

ryandrake 9y ago
Add a contact in your address book with the school’s number(s)? Sure there is still a small chance of collision with the spammers’ fake numbers, but it should help. My mobile gets an average of 3 robocalls a day, so I’m 100% whitelist at this point. If the caller’s number is not in my address book it gets ignored.
- eridius 9y ago
  That requires you to actually know the number they'll be calling from though.
  - jethro_tell 9y ago
    Also, assumes that it's not a local teacher calling from a cell phone.
ams6110 9y ago
I tell my kids that if they are calling me from someone else's phone or a school office phone I probably won't answer but they should be sure to leave a voicemail because I will listen to that.

tyingq 9y ago

Me too. Car warranty calls, "Free Vacation/Hotel Scams", and a bunch of calls in Spanish.

wwalser 9y ago

100% of phone calls to my mobile device are robo calls. I get around 5 per day and (because of this) I never answer the phone. I actually tried to uninstall the dialer app but it seems to be fairly well-integrated into Android. The humans in my life call via voip(ish) apps (Messenger and Facetime mostly). Part of my monthly cell service cost is ostensibly for the line. Which I don't use and would prefer not to have all.

raverbashing 9y ago
Aaah the beauty of "pay per airtime" fleecing by US phone companies Meanwhile phone spammers pay 10x less for international minutes
- DrScump 9y ago
  I think very few non-prepaid mobile plans have metered airtime for donestic calls anymore.
  - raverbashing 9y ago
    True, but it doesn't matter, because it's not the caller paying the extra fee to call a mobile, you are. The pricing structure incentives robocalls

Fins 9y ago

I believe the assumption is that if the number is (apparently) on the same exchange as yours, it might be your neighbour, kid, etc. and you'd be more likely to pick up. Since most of those originate from a VOIP box in some low cost country, they do not necessarily know that this is unlikely to work in reality.

DrScump 9y ago

They spoof Caller-ID to give an illusion of being local. They are generally out of area, calling from VOIP "boiler rooms".