13 ms·

FCC finally starts tackling America's robocall scourge

240 points by thebetatester 6y ago

MiddleEndian 6y ago
Good start, but ideally networks should also be required to provide originator info (number, network, country of origin, as many hops as available basically) to cell phones, regardless of whether a call is blocked or has a different number set as caller id. So not only would the networks be blocking spam, end-users could then block whatever calls they want. Don't wanna get calls from any VOIP numbers or anyone out of your country? You can block them and chill out.
- mminer237 6y ago
  I believe the FCC started moving towards requiring that with SHAKEN/STIR a couple years ago, but the telcos were given a few years to implement it.
  - stjohnswarts 6y ago
    Nope they have to have it in place by June or July of this year I believe. If the software allows it I will drop any unsigned calls immediately, don't even let them go to voicemail. Let them keep shouting into the void. No I don't care if it causes some companies issues. I'm sick of spam calls. My car warranty is doing just fine.
    - social_quotient 6y ago
      It’s a good point. At the device level we don’t really have the same controls as we do with email spam. Maybe a 3rd party app like RoboKiller will be able to detect that unsigned call but I have a feeling this won’t be the case.
  - MiddleEndian 6y ago
    Glad to hear this will soon be a thing.
bmitc 6y ago
It’s not just robocalls, as it’s also spoofing numbers. I have received many phone calls from average joes who said they were returning a call from my number, but I had never called them. I’d say 95% of the calls I receive are spam. It’s so bad that I rarely even answer my phone anymore, instead letting it go to voicemail if the number is not in my contacts. Everything in life has turned to spam. My physical mailbox, my email, and my phone is bombarded by spam and there’s practically nothing I can do about it.
- pavel_lishin 6y ago
  Robocallers routinely spoof numbers.
  - dylan604 6y ago
    It's very meta when the caller ID shows you calling yourself
    - stjohnswarts 6y ago
      I would at least get a giggle out of that
      - dylan604 6y ago
        I had to grab a screen shot of it when it happened to me. Of course, that screen shot is only meaningful to me, as it just looks like a regular screen shot of an incoming call to anyone else.
- MiddleEndian 6y ago
  >instead letting it go to voicemail if the number is not in my contacts At some point I stopped checking my voicemail and it seems to have broken. I am better off for it, because now I no longer am notified about new voicemails.
  - galangalalgol 6y ago
ykevinator3 6y ago
Of all of the problems America faces, robo calling is just not a priority for spending tax dollars on.
- kstrauser 6y ago
  Says you. It’s rendered my phone basically useless.
  - ziml77 6y ago
    Not to mention those robocallers are scammers, draining the bank accounts of vulnerable people. They don't care that their tactics involve frightening people and it doesn't bother them when they hear the people crying over the needed money they've lost.
    - jen20 6y ago
      In addition to phones being made useless by the volume of spam, the scourge of mail dressed up to look official when it isn't also could use addressing. I recently bought a car for the first time in quite a while, and have been inundated with scumbags sending me official-looking doom letters about how my warranty is about to expire and it's vital I call their expensive phone number to pay them money immediately. Similarly, mail often arrives from the "loan disbursement centre" which are dressed up to look like official notifications but in fact are offers of awful credit lines. At least the phone issue is usually easily solved by setting the phone only to ring for those already in a contact lists, spoofing not-withstanding.
      - sigstoat 6y ago
        > I recently bought a car for the first time in quite a while ugh and they only get information about the loan's origination, so it all keeps going even if you pay the loan off early. my wife bought a car, had troubles, long long story, got a replacement but technically a separate loan. now she gets junk for both cars. they also dig up home mortgages for their junkmail, too.
trident5000 6y ago
If every call cost 5 cents to originate we would no longer have a spam problem.
- PenguinCoder 6y ago
  You're incorrect, and underestimating the potential profit vs cost. 5c per outbound call, but even if the scammers get 1 or two people a day for $100 (and likely MUCH more), it's just a drop in the bucket to operating costs.
  - trident5000 6y ago
    I doubt I'm incorrect. There were 46 billion robocalls in 2020. That would be a $2.3 billion operating cost. Make it 10 cents and its 4.6 billion. Robocallers are not making 2-5 billion per year scamming people.
    - bogidon 6y ago
      I wonder what’s the ballpark of what spammers are making and spending. And if that really is significant enough profit to the carriers to prompt inaction on an issue that clearly degrades the experience for the rest of their users. Or maybe this issue couldn’t be solved unilaterally, where one carrier could offer much better spam protection as a competitive advantage, and the industry is too decrepit for group effort that doesn’t have direct implications on their bottom line.
    - PenguinCoder 6y ago
      Yeah they are. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26813194 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26813194
  - yboris 6y ago
    $100 / $0.05 = 2,000 Do you think the scammers have a better return than $100 / 2,000 calls made?
    - 6y ago
marshmallow_12 6y ago
i don't get too many here in uk. And most of them are the 'guys themselves' phoning.
- SapporoChris 6y ago
  When I was in Japan, I had an account with DOCOMO (local cellphone service). I used the number frequently delivery services, bank services, hotels, etc. I never received a single unwanted phone call. I return to USA I get new cellphone service and same day I get dozens of unwanted calls and immediately have to block all numbers not in my contact list. Since the problem of unwanted calls doesn't exist in some countries, I have to assume that it is a solvable problem. Countries where it is a problem simply don't wish to solve it. I suspect it is simply some countries favoring corporations over individuals.
- mprev 6y ago
  It’s better now the PPI crap is over but I get plenty on our business line from robots claiming to be BT, HMRC, and Amazon.
- maccard 6y ago
  I had't had one in 12 months in the UK. It's time to renew my car insurance and I entered my number for a quote into one of the major providers websites, and I've had 3 in the last week. I hate to make assumptions, but it's just too coincidental.
Causality1 6y ago
It's easy to write spam off as a minor annoyance, but you're not the intended target. Your parents and grandparents are, and your immigrant neighbor who doesn't speak English well, and the intellectually disabled woman who waves to you at the grocery store. These are predators who prey on the vulnerable and ignorant and ruin lives on a daily basis. They are the absolute scum of the earth.
- devmunchies 6y ago
  > These are predators who prey on the vulnerable and ignorant and ruin lives on a daily basis most companies want to do this. the rub is that most advertising makes you think it was your choice or that it was a good deal.
- knodi123 6y ago
  > you're not the intended target. Your parents and grandparents are A significant number of the spam calls I get are just dead air. Like, ring ring, I pick up, I say hello {myname} here, and I hear nothing. I wonder if they're filtering out young voices? If I said hello in a quavery weak voice, would they start their pitch? Or is it some hapless scammer who just can't figure out how to set up his robocalling software?
  - ALittleLight 6y ago
    I think these are calls with a potentially live person at the other end. Their system dials X numbers simultaneously and then hands off any answers to an operator. If there's no available operator then you'll just get dead air.
    - knodi123 6y ago
      wow, talk about a "numbers game" strategy!
- habeebtc 6y ago
  Exactly so. I talk to scammers regularly. To waste their time, and also learn about what they do and how they operate. When I answer a call in my normal voice, they might hang up right away. They hang around more if I try and sound like an old person, or talk slower (like I may have lower cognitive or language skills).
orev 6y ago
We need to start targeting the companies who profit from it: the telcos who deliver the calls (i.e. AT&T, Verizon, etc.). That’s the only way to get a solution. Telcos get a multiple benefits from spam: they charge fees to the originating carriers, and in the long term it kills voice service which they have been eager to shut down for at least a decade. Data is clearly the future and that’s where they make most of their money. People giving up on wireline voice allows them to more easily make the argument to shut down all that old wireline infrastructure.
- nostromo 6y ago
  Telcos don’t have the legal authority to block spammers. They are required to fulfill the call. Think of it as a voice version of net neutrality. This is a legal problem that requires a legal solution. Just two years ago the FCC gave telcos the ability to block spam texts (over Twilio’s objections). But no permission was given to block voice. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna947091 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna94...
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - Broken_Hippo 6y ago
    I don't think they have to fulfill the call. I can block a number from calling me - and they don't have to let the call go through. They don't have to let folks harass. It isn't even a technical issue: "mobile companies can in fact block most robocalls but choose not to, in large part because it costs money to do so and at the same time they make money from those calls." (from the article). In other words, they can still allow me to choose to block those calls, but it seems they only really offer it to non-prepaid customers, charge a fee for the service, and don't exactly advertise that they have the ability.
  - Frost1x 6y ago
    That's not entirely true: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/151/text?overview=closed https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/151... There's an authentication piece (sec 4) that allows telecos to block calls that are unauthentic in origin.
bogidon 6y ago
One hack if you get those robocalls that match your area code. Get a new phone number for an area code you think you’ll never go to and use a smart blocking app[1] to block the entire area code. It’s a brutalist solution that’s not for everyone, but it has restored my sanity. [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wideprotect-spam-call-blocker/id1171024059 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wideprotect-spam-call-blocker/...
- heliodor 6y ago
  Anyone know of an Android app for blocking an entire area code?
  - lots2learn 6y ago
    I use Hiya for this purpose
- devmunchies 6y ago
  i used to live in seattle and have a 206 area code. now live in cali and it does help me ignore calls.
- knodi123 6y ago
  I used something just like that for a year, and then iOS changed the rules about whether apps are allowed to intercept calls before they ring, and it just stopped working. Do you vouch for this app working within the last 6 months?
  - bogidon 6y ago
    Yes. I do not get 803 calls at all anymore. Am on iOS 14.4.2. I also use T-Mobile Scam Shield so I can see all the calls that have come in from the carrier’s perspective, so before iOS blocks them. It’s interesting, of the last 24 calls from the 803 area code (most recent was yesterday) only 9 were identified as spam by T-Mobile and blocked by them. The others were blocked by the WideProtect app. Certain all of them were spam. (I lived in SC 10+ years ago. The only people I met there are in my contacts and excluded from the blocklist.)
AdrianEGraphene 6y ago
I see a few answers here touting the use of a fee and I couldn't help but ask for feedback on my in-production solution with a few thousand users. It uses a refundable $0.05 fee, which is refunded if a call lasts more than 25 seconds. [1] A business model we're pursuing is to let legitimate callers pay willing recipients $/min according to the recipients predetermined rate. [2] I'd love more users/feedback/customers. iOS is in the works for Summer 2021. [1] https://karmacall.com/ https://karmacall.com/ [2] https://thecompanybrief.com/briefs/rhntb https://thecompanybrief.com/briefs/rhntb
imwillofficial 6y ago
By siding with Facebook?
devmunchies 6y ago
It would be nice if there were an Adnauseam[1] that answered calls for me and carried on a life-like humanoid conversation with the spammer or asked a question as a CAPTCHA. [1]: https://adnauseam.io/ https://adnauseam.io/
- function_seven 6y ago
  There's something like that: https://old.reddit.com/r/itslenny/ https://old.reddit.com/r/itslenny/ Read the sidebar. You can set your phone up to forward to that number. It's not as automated or foolproof. But it's fun.
  - danparsonson 6y ago
    That's wonderful - my favourite moment from the video I picked was when 'Lenny' was invaded by ducks :-D
- ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
  RoboKiller. Works a treat. https://app.robokiller.com/ https://app.robokiller.com/
- rPlayer6554 6y ago
  The Google Pixel has a feature which can answer a call for you with a recording. It then asks why they are calling and shows a transcript on the screen for you. You can ask some preset questions as well. That way you don't have to actually pick up unless they are someone you acctually need to talk to. A lot of robocalls auto-hangup when they get to this assistant for some reason anyways.
dmckeon 6y ago
Try nomorobo.com - free for Voip numbers, $20/year for mobile. Not 100% perfect, more like 95%, but it will suffice until the FCC improves the situation ... soon. Other similar services exist, and would likely be as effective.
- gogopuppygogo 6y ago
  Buy a number on Twilio and forward it to your cell. It’s $1/month for the number and if you don’t get many calls it’ll be pennies a month to get calls. Plus, you can setup a greeting and have an AI speak to your callers. Basically vanishes all robocalls.
chris_wot 6y ago
Is it just me, or did Arjit Pai seem to be actively avoiding the Robocall issue?
- mminer237 6y ago
  I think that's what SHAKEN/STIR was supposed to address largely, but he gave carriers a couple years to get it implemented.
  - stjohnswarts 6y ago
    June 30th, 2021. We'll see if everyone is actually done by then. I really hope they are.
- habeebtc 6y ago
  Avoidance was sort of his signature move.
varispeed 6y ago
I would love that someone investigated why Google pulled call recording API from Android 9 onwards. Given that I was scammed by insurance companies twice over the phone and I could have lost substantial amount of money if I couldn't prove the scam, I think call recording feature is essential for a consumer to be able to protect themselves from distance selling scammers or even honest mistakes. There are other benefits like being able to record your parents or other family members and keep their voice forever or simply being able to listen again your conversation with a doctor, so you don't have to bother the clinic if you forget something about dosage etc. The official reason is that it is for privacy (oh good lord...) and that in some countries it is illegal and basic narrative is that they don't want people to secretly record others. This falls apart quickly - you can record someone secretly using your built-in phone camera and microphone, but somehow that's okay, they won't disable the camera and in my country, for example, call recording is perfectly fine. So who lobbied Google? Removing such API is not a trivial task, it takes time, planning, resources, developers and then dealing with the fallout. Who wanted people to be defenceless against phone scams?
- kaali1 6y ago
  The API was never removed, it's just behind a system permission (only system apps can be granted this permission). Before Marshmallow (2015), recording phone calls was behind the same permission as recording the mic. This was obviously bad as voice calls are much more privacy sensitive than the mic. In Marshmallow, phone calls recording was updated to be guarded by a new permission, a system one, so only system application can access it. Nevertheless, there were multiple ways to bypass the new system permission, which call recording apps made use to continue recording calls even without the system permission. Those ways were fixed one after the other as part of securing and refactors of the audio stack. The last such bug was fixed in Android 9. Any OEM can bundle a call recording apps, it's just that many don't.
  - varispeed 6y ago
    This is interesting - there is plenty of recording apps and suddenly users no longer can use them and Google killed their business. I wonder if that broke any anti-trust laws. It's kind of like Google disabled features that let apps like Whatsapp work and then only allowed phone manufacturer to install their own chat app... Does it mean if I had a rooted phone I could get the call recording working on latest Android? I am still going with 2018 phone and it's a bit worn now. Only thing that stops me from buying a new phone is that missing feature and when I ask about call recording the sellers would say yes there are plenty of apps in Play Store, but they don't know these apps don't work. I don't know how reliably I can find out if the phone at least has a manufacturer's call recording app.
unsignedint 6y ago
I may have written this in the past, but I still don't get why we still use PSTN where identifying caller is next to impossible, and very easy to be exploited (allowing mass dialing easily) E-mail is not perfect, for example, but at least its address provides bit more context than the seemingly random number showing up, legit or not. If we are insisting to use the current system, norm really should shift to a strict white list at least for residential inbound. The current system is simply not sustainable, and more and more people are not taking the call from the number they don't recognize anyways.
- tenebrisalietum 6y ago
  - PSTN is well-established. The phone network has had global reach for a very long time, probably longer than the Internet. Phone numbers have been part of people's lives for a century. - Some locations in some countries are probably still using mostly analog switching equipment and can't upgrade to cellular or anything more modern/secure for various reasons. - PSTN has government-agency or at least a subsidized/privileged monopoly status in most countries, so it won't die a natural death. I just wonder why it took until iOS 12 or whatever for my phone to be able to drop calls from unknown contacts.
stjohnswarts 6y ago
shaken/stir is supposed to go in July, I hope that the tools that come on phones for that allow you to just immediately drop the call. No voice mail, no "silent notice", just let them sent their crap to /dev/null and give them nothing to waste my time.
iamthemalto 6y ago
Interesting that seems to be an exclusively American problem (as far as I know). I’ve experienced exactly 0 robocalls in all the other countries I’ve lived. My friends and I are constantly astounded when our American friends complain about spam calls, it’s just unheard of here and everywhere else I’ve ever lived.
yalogin 6y ago
These are very easy to illustrate to the law makers. It costs almost nothing to incessantly call the phone numbers of the most influential lawmakers. All someone has to do is do it for a week and we would get a new law against it. Wonder why no one did it till now.
dejawu 6y ago
I think we've all taken the wrong approach to the phone spam problem. Whenever I get a scam call, I always answer. I let the guy do his spiel about the free vacation he's got for me, then when he asks me for my credit card, I hit him with one of the ligma jokes [0] and hang up. Never takes more than five minutes of my time and it's a source of great joy for me. I've gotten the same guy three times and he's fallen for it every single time; at this point I'm starting to develop a bond with him. If we pushed a social movement that popularized this, we could basically DDOS phone scamming out of being viable. [0] https://github.com/tphecca/awesome-ligma https://github.com/tphecca/awesome-ligma
- CivBase 6y ago
  That wastes a lot of my time as a call receiver. I'd rather the telephone companies do this for me instead. They could put together an automated service to receive calls from blacklisted numbers instead of just blocking them. That service would play along with the scam and keep them on the line as long as possible. A YouTuber my wife watches, Kitboga, tried something like that about a year ago[0]. Unfortunately, something like this isn't quite as effective for robocalls. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5R0Vnp6w4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5R0Vnp6w4
- clan 6y ago
  Around here I mostly get calls from "Microsoft Support". I tell them I need to get to my computer and put the phone down on the table. They are surprisingly patient. When they get desperate to talk with me I'll spout a little giberish which keeps them connected a little longer. It does not take much effort keeping them busy. It works for me as it is not a problem to block the line for 5 - 10 minutes. If I am bored I engage with the call. But that spiel is getting old.
mgleason_3 6y ago
About frickin’ time, the amount of money that has been scammed from some of those who are most at-risk is ridiculous. And get your ass in gear and require companies implement a positive ID system that makes call spoofing impossible.
cik 6y ago
This is incredibly solvable, and it costs me $2 per month. I use a VOIP provider and give out that phone number. I ban all incoming calls from numbers not in my phonebook. The phone number plays an IVR - and you can leave a voicemail which is e-mailed to me. If you're someone I know (friend, bank) you have my extension - unlisted in the IVR, and you can enter it. I've received zero unwanted calls in the 2 years I've been doing this.
dwheeler 6y ago
There are so many robocalls, typically for scams, that our phones have been effectively stolen from us. We can often no longer practically use them for their intended purpose. I hope the FCC gets serious.
jmann99999 6y ago
Google Voice’s call screening feature has made robocalls a non event for me. I have Voice set to screen calls, so when the robocall comes in, it usually hangs up when it encounter’s Voice’s questions. I get one ring on my cell phone and nothing else. It’s somewhat satisfying every time it happens.
- js2 6y ago
  I get 7-10 spam text messages/week to my GV number. Most of them are addressed to someone named "Miller." It's been occurring for over a year and GV never detects that it's a spam text message. "Miller, you've won this. Click on this link." GV obviously doesn't do any spam detection on SMS if it isn't catching these.
RickJWagner 6y ago
It seems it would be very easy to accept a robocall, follow the money to the advertiser and begin the investigation there. Follow the money and fine the living fire out of the dirtbags that do the robocalling. It seems we're taking a different tack, though.
faded242 6y ago
I met Ajit shortly after he started in his role. I specifically told him how we can track and trace back these robocalls via SS7 (at least once they hit the PSTN - SIP ingress even easier to track back to the trunks they originate), and I even had proof of concept code and examples. He seemed really excited, then did nothing. No follow-up, etc. It would only work if mandated by the FCC because there is no financial incentive for the telcos to do it.
hulahoop56 6y ago
Here in India, the telecom authority (TRAI) has prescribed various measures to curb unwanted calls and messages[1], with mixed success. They also have an app released[2], which essentially uses a template to send SMS to the number denoted for complaining about spam. After a lot of action for around nine months, I got junk SMS and spam calls (both automated and otherwise) to a bare minimum. It did take some time and there were a lot of frustrations along the way, but was completely worth it. Some good practices I figured from all this: 1. For spam calls where there is an actual human speaking to you, try and get them to reveal the name and location of their call center. Most of the time, the culprits are the same for different types of calls. Requesting to speak to their manager and having a friendly chat about the TRAI penalty system helped a lot in reducing the calls. Having a log of when they had called you in the past is also helpful; at least it conveys that you aren't some buffoon shouting at the clouds. 2. For SMS spam where the sender is a bunch of letters (eg. ZZ-ABCDEF), iPhone isn't able to add that contact to the block list. Using T9 to figure out those numbers and adding them[3] to the blocklist that way works. This is mostly for your telecom service provider who feels free to send you spam with no way for you to complain to TRAI, because you're using their service, and they don't care about do-not-disturb for such cases. 3. Naming and shaming on Twitter and email helps, especially for companies depending on their brand name. Funded startups in particular are abusers of spam calling and SMSes, but are also fearful of complaints on social media going viral. 4. This might be anecdotal, but I found I actually received fewer spam calls after removing my number from TrueCaller[4]. Ironically the service is used to figure out who's calling you, but I found that I don't need it at all, and not having my number in there has somehow proved beneficial. 5. Certain mobile service providers are more serious about acting on spam complaints than others. If you find that your provider is not heeding complaints about spam, definitely switch to another service if possible. 6. Some services do provide a DNC (Do Not Call) registry on their website. Do use those and keep a record of you having added your name to it. [1] https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/RegulationUcc19072018.pdf https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/RegulationUcc190... [2] https://apps.apple.com/in/app/trai-dnd-do-not-disturb/id1443781196?ls=1 https://apps.apple.com/in/app/trai-dnd-do-not-disturb/id1443... [3] https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/features/iphone-how-to-block-sms-from-any-sender-including-bulk-messages-797992 https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/features/iphone-how-to-bloc... [4] https://support.truecaller.com/hc/en-us/articles/212063089-How-do-I-unlist-my-phone-number- https://support.truecaller.com/hc/en-us/articles/212063089-H...
Alex5899 6y ago
I wish there was a way to stop this bs. Robocall numbers used to be easily identifiable. Nowadays, robocalls shows up as a random-similar number of a third party person, which is never repeatedly dialed, so even blocking the number won't stop calls from coming it (as it'd just dial from a different similar number...)
CivBase 6y ago
Legal threats and spam blacklists are an endless game of whack-a-mole. I'm not convinced robocalls will ever disappear until the telephone protocol is updated so a receiver can confidently verify the identity of the sender. Once calls are authenticated, the problem will evaporate practically overnight.
rapht 6y ago
I'm always flabbergasted at seeing how these things are handled in America. Long ago in the country where I live, the regulator: - set up an opt-out central register where the owner of any phone number can freely declare they do not want any unsollicited calls - made this register freely available to all businesses - required from telcos that they make it easy for customers to report infringing calls - made telcos liable if they do not swiftly take action whenever they have 'sufficient' reports (10s not 1000s) that one of their clients is infringing on the opt-out list, including by cutting off all of the client's numbers. ... does not seem such a big deal to set up.
- jjcon 6y ago
  Nobody is talking about sales pitches - the FTC in the USA also has a do not call list. This is about scam callers that set up pop up operations make a few bucks close down and repeat. This happens just as much here in the EU. Most of these calls do not even come from the EU/USA though they do have operatives here. The vast majority of victims are older people that don’t understand they are being scammed.
- CivBase 6y ago
  All of the scam/robocalls I get come from India and use spoofed numbers. We have do-not-call lists, but why should a telco across the world care about it? How can we even identify the relevant telco when the scammers are routing VoIP calls through spoofed numbers?
  - MiddleEndian 6y ago
    Phone companies know if it's spoofed or VOIP. They could just not forward spoofed numbers, or inform your cell phone that it's a spoofed number so you can silently block it on your end (or auto-respond with your own bot that pretends to be a person lol). https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26803498 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26803498 seems like the FCC is doing something like this, how it will work is TBD I guess.
nichohel 6y ago
The two companies named are of course receiving PPP "loans". So they are literally being paid, by you (American taxpayer), to annoy you. https://www.federalpay.org/paycheck-protection-program/r-squared-communications-llc-dublin-oh https://www.federalpay.org/paycheck-protection-program/r-squ... https://www.sba.com/ppp-funded-companies/florida/tellza-inc-178893 https://www.sba.com/ppp-funded-companies/florida/tellza-inc-...
achenatx 6y ago
my dad (80 YO) has a PhD in computer science and has been scammed multiple times. I have had multiple employees buy about 7K in gift cards for scammers. I personally bought a $200 electric surfboard that ended up being a $20 boogie board (facebook ad). I immediately realized it was a scam but paypal wouldnt let me cancel the transaction. They said I had to receive the item first. Then when I received the item the refund link wouldnt work (errored out). I ended up just giving up and eating the $200. A retired friend had all bank accounts and investment accounts drained (millions). Im not sure how this happened, but 2FA is a must for big accounts. Im pretty sure scammers make a lot of money. These days I mainly get car warranty calls.
Dumblydorr 6y ago
I got in trouble for not answering my phone when HR was trying to call, because the number was unknown and I get about a dozen spam calls every single day. It's ridiculous, my actual work productivity greatly suffered due to the spam flying in daily.
fallingfrog 6y ago
The FCC should not only force them to block all robocalls, but fine them an amount in the billions for what amounts to pissing in the well of public trust for decades. I mean, I don’t ever answer a number I don’t recognize anymore. If the doctors office calls, and I don’t remember the number, they are going to have to leave a message and play phone tag. What is the social cost of an entire population of people who basically don’t trust their phone or anyone who calls them? Some survey company tried to call me last year, and I didn’t answer it because I assumed it was some kind of scam. It doesn’t have to be this way. The way phone companies have conducted themselves constitutes gross negligence and betrayal of the public trust. I want to see jail time, not a slap on the wrist.
criddell 6y ago
I use Google Fi and I wonder if these changes are responsible for my recent problems with caller ID when I call somebody. My phone number is 512-xxx-yyyy and when I call anybody in Canada and some US phones I've been told my number shows up as +51-2xx-xyy-yy or just as unidentified caller. When I text my daughter, my incoming texts show up under that number but she can't reply on that number. It's very frustrating.
- curryst 6y ago
  That is weird, it's ringing as an international number. +1-512-xxx-yyyy is your international number. Seems like it's making it an international call, but not actually using the country code.
thesis 6y ago
It takes me far more time to sort through all the crap I get in my mailbox delivered by USPS. I either don't answer the call, or hang up 5 seconds after answering. In general I worry that blocking legitimate "robocalls" will make people miss important events. My mortgage company was trying to contact me and the phone was displaying "Spam Likely". Another instance last year was my city sending out an emergency alert for a hurricane.
brewdad 6y ago
Like a lot of you, I don't answer my phone ever unless the number is in my contacts or I am expecting a call. Today I got my first ever porn spam via SMS. So glad to have that to look forward to over the coming months/years. eyeroll
makecheck 6y ago
It’s funny, I remember when the iPhone was announced Steve Jobs said “the killer app is making calls!” and then proceeded to show (correctly at the time) how hard making calls with phones was, and how much better it was going to be. And now? I literally don’t use this feature. I turn on Do Not Disturb and “block unknown callers”, and turn on emergency-mode for anyone I actually care about, and receive no other rings on my phone. At this point, I refuse to spend even a moment considering any call that does not leave a voice mail.

240 points by thebetatester 6y ago

Good start, but ideally networks should also be required to provide originator info (number, network, country of origin, as many hops as available basically) to cell phones, regardless of whether a call is blocked or has a different number set as caller id. So not only would the networks be blocking spam, end-users could then block whatever calls they want. Don't wanna get calls from any VOIP numbers or anyone out of your country? You can block them and chill out.

mminer237 6y ago
I believe the FCC started moving towards requiring that with SHAKEN/STIR a couple years ago, but the telcos were given a few years to implement it.
- stjohnswarts 6y ago
  Nope they have to have it in place by June or July of this year I believe. If the software allows it I will drop any unsigned calls immediately, don't even let them go to voicemail. Let them keep shouting into the void. No I don't care if it causes some companies issues. I'm sick of spam calls. My car warranty is doing just fine.
  - social_quotient 6y ago
    It’s a good point. At the device level we don’t really have the same controls as we do with email spam. Maybe a 3rd party app like RoboKiller will be able to detect that unsigned call but I have a feeling this won’t be the case.
- MiddleEndian 6y ago
  Glad to hear this will soon be a thing.

bmitc 6y ago

It’s not just robocalls, as it’s also spoofing numbers. I have received many phone calls from average joes who said they were returning a call from my number, but I had never called them. I’d say 95% of the calls I receive are spam. It’s so bad that I rarely even answer my phone anymore, instead letting it go to voicemail if the number is not in my contacts. Everything in life has turned to spam. My physical mailbox, my email, and my phone is bombarded by spam and there’s practically nothing I can do about it.

pavel_lishin 6y ago
Robocallers routinely spoof numbers.
- dylan604 6y ago
  It's very meta when the caller ID shows you calling yourself
  - stjohnswarts 6y ago
    I would at least get a giggle out of that
    - dylan604 6y ago
      I had to grab a screen shot of it when it happened to me. Of course, that screen shot is only meaningful to me, as it just looks like a regular screen shot of an incoming call to anyone else.
MiddleEndian 6y ago
>instead letting it go to voicemail if the number is not in my contacts At some point I stopped checking my voicemail and it seems to have broken. I am better off for it, because now I no longer am notified about new voicemails.
- galangalalgol 6y ago

ykevinator3 6y ago

Of all of the problems America faces, robo calling is just not a priority for spending tax dollars on.

kstrauser 6y ago
Says you. It’s rendered my phone basically useless.
- ziml77 6y ago
  Not to mention those robocallers are scammers, draining the bank accounts of vulnerable people. They don't care that their tactics involve frightening people and it doesn't bother them when they hear the people crying over the needed money they've lost.
  - jen20 6y ago
    In addition to phones being made useless by the volume of spam, the scourge of mail dressed up to look official when it isn't also could use addressing. I recently bought a car for the first time in quite a while, and have been inundated with scumbags sending me official-looking doom letters about how my warranty is about to expire and it's vital I call their expensive phone number to pay them money immediately. Similarly, mail often arrives from the "loan disbursement centre" which are dressed up to look like official notifications but in fact are offers of awful credit lines. At least the phone issue is usually easily solved by setting the phone only to ring for those already in a contact lists, spoofing not-withstanding.
    - sigstoat 6y ago
      > I recently bought a car for the first time in quite a while ugh and they only get information about the loan's origination, so it all keeps going even if you pay the loan off early. my wife bought a car, had troubles, long long story, got a replacement but technically a separate loan. now she gets junk for both cars. they also dig up home mortgages for their junkmail, too.

trident5000 6y ago

If every call cost 5 cents to originate we would no longer have a spam problem.

PenguinCoder 6y ago
You're incorrect, and underestimating the potential profit vs cost. 5c per outbound call, but even if the scammers get 1 or two people a day for $100 (and likely MUCH more), it's just a drop in the bucket to operating costs.
- trident5000 6y ago
  I doubt I'm incorrect. There were 46 billion robocalls in 2020. That would be a $2.3 billion operating cost. Make it 10 cents and its 4.6 billion. Robocallers are not making 2-5 billion per year scamming people.
  - bogidon 6y ago
    I wonder what’s the ballpark of what spammers are making and spending. And if that really is significant enough profit to the carriers to prompt inaction on an issue that clearly degrades the experience for the rest of their users. Or maybe this issue couldn’t be solved unilaterally, where one carrier could offer much better spam protection as a competitive advantage, and the industry is too decrepit for group effort that doesn’t have direct implications on their bottom line.
  - PenguinCoder 6y ago
    Yeah they are. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26813194 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26813194
- yboris 6y ago
  $100 / $0.05 = 2,000 Do you think the scammers have a better return than $100 / 2,000 calls made?
  - 6y ago

marshmallow_12 6y ago

i don't get too many here in uk. And most of them are the 'guys themselves' phoning.

SapporoChris 6y ago
When I was in Japan, I had an account with DOCOMO (local cellphone service). I used the number frequently delivery services, bank services, hotels, etc. I never received a single unwanted phone call. I return to USA I get new cellphone service and same day I get dozens of unwanted calls and immediately have to block all numbers not in my contact list. Since the problem of unwanted calls doesn't exist in some countries, I have to assume that it is a solvable problem. Countries where it is a problem simply don't wish to solve it. I suspect it is simply some countries favoring corporations over individuals.
mprev 6y ago
It’s better now the PPI crap is over but I get plenty on our business line from robots claiming to be BT, HMRC, and Amazon.
maccard 6y ago
I had't had one in 12 months in the UK. It's time to renew my car insurance and I entered my number for a quote into one of the major providers websites, and I've had 3 in the last week. I hate to make assumptions, but it's just too coincidental.

Causality1 6y ago

It's easy to write spam off as a minor annoyance, but you're not the intended target. Your parents and grandparents are, and your immigrant neighbor who doesn't speak English well, and the intellectually disabled woman who waves to you at the grocery store. These are predators who prey on the vulnerable and ignorant and ruin lives on a daily basis. They are the absolute scum of the earth.

devmunchies 6y ago
> These are predators who prey on the vulnerable and ignorant and ruin lives on a daily basis most companies want to do this. the rub is that most advertising makes you think it was your choice or that it was a good deal.
knodi123 6y ago
> you're not the intended target. Your parents and grandparents are A significant number of the spam calls I get are just dead air. Like, ring ring, I pick up, I say hello {myname} here, and I hear nothing. I wonder if they're filtering out young voices? If I said hello in a quavery weak voice, would they start their pitch? Or is it some hapless scammer who just can't figure out how to set up his robocalling software?
- ALittleLight 6y ago
  I think these are calls with a potentially live person at the other end. Their system dials X numbers simultaneously and then hands off any answers to an operator. If there's no available operator then you'll just get dead air.
  - knodi123 6y ago
    wow, talk about a "numbers game" strategy!
habeebtc 6y ago
Exactly so. I talk to scammers regularly. To waste their time, and also learn about what they do and how they operate. When I answer a call in my normal voice, they might hang up right away. They hang around more if I try and sound like an old person, or talk slower (like I may have lower cognitive or language skills).

orev 6y ago

We need to start targeting the companies who profit from it: the telcos who deliver the calls (i.e. AT&T, Verizon, etc.). That’s the only way to get a solution. Telcos get a multiple benefits from spam: they charge fees to the originating carriers, and in the long term it kills voice service which they have been eager to shut down for at least a decade. Data is clearly the future and that’s where they make most of their money. People giving up on wireline voice allows them to more easily make the argument to shut down all that old wireline infrastructure.

nostromo 6y ago
Telcos don’t have the legal authority to block spammers. They are required to fulfill the call. Think of it as a voice version of net neutrality. This is a legal problem that requires a legal solution. Just two years ago the FCC gave telcos the ability to block spam texts (over Twilio’s objections). But no permission was given to block voice. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna947091 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna94...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- Broken_Hippo 6y ago
  I don't think they have to fulfill the call. I can block a number from calling me - and they don't have to let the call go through. They don't have to let folks harass. It isn't even a technical issue: "mobile companies can in fact block most robocalls but choose not to, in large part because it costs money to do so and at the same time they make money from those calls." (from the article). In other words, they can still allow me to choose to block those calls, but it seems they only really offer it to non-prepaid customers, charge a fee for the service, and don't exactly advertise that they have the ability.
- Frost1x 6y ago
  That's not entirely true: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/151/text?overview=closed https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/151... There's an authentication piece (sec 4) that allows telecos to block calls that are unauthentic in origin.

bogidon 6y ago

One hack if you get those robocalls that match your area code. Get a new phone number for an area code you think you’ll never go to and use a smart blocking app[1] to block the entire area code. It’s a brutalist solution that’s not for everyone, but it has restored my sanity. [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wideprotect-spam-call-blocker/id1171024059 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wideprotect-spam-call-blocker/...

heliodor 6y ago
Anyone know of an Android app for blocking an entire area code?
- lots2learn 6y ago
  I use Hiya for this purpose
devmunchies 6y ago
i used to live in seattle and have a 206 area code. now live in cali and it does help me ignore calls.
knodi123 6y ago
I used something just like that for a year, and then iOS changed the rules about whether apps are allowed to intercept calls before they ring, and it just stopped working. Do you vouch for this app working within the last 6 months?
- bogidon 6y ago
  Yes. I do not get 803 calls at all anymore. Am on iOS 14.4.2. I also use T-Mobile Scam Shield so I can see all the calls that have come in from the carrier’s perspective, so before iOS blocks them. It’s interesting, of the last 24 calls from the 803 area code (most recent was yesterday) only 9 were identified as spam by T-Mobile and blocked by them. The others were blocked by the WideProtect app. Certain all of them were spam. (I lived in SC 10+ years ago. The only people I met there are in my contacts and excluded from the blocklist.)

AdrianEGraphene 6y ago

I see a few answers here touting the use of a fee and I couldn't help but ask for feedback on my in-production solution with a few thousand users. It uses a refundable $0.05 fee, which is refunded if a call lasts more than 25 seconds. [1] A business model we're pursuing is to let legitimate callers pay willing recipients $/min according to the recipients predetermined rate. [2] I'd love more users/feedback/customers. iOS is in the works for Summer 2021. [1] https://karmacall.com/ https://karmacall.com/ [2] https://thecompanybrief.com/briefs/rhntb https://thecompanybrief.com/briefs/rhntb

imwillofficial 6y ago

By siding with Facebook?

devmunchies 6y ago

It would be nice if there were an Adnauseam[1] that answered calls for me and carried on a life-like humanoid conversation with the spammer or asked a question as a CAPTCHA. [1]: https://adnauseam.io/ https://adnauseam.io/

function_seven 6y ago
There's something like that: https://old.reddit.com/r/itslenny/ https://old.reddit.com/r/itslenny/ Read the sidebar. You can set your phone up to forward to that number. It's not as automated or foolproof. But it's fun.
- danparsonson 6y ago
  That's wonderful - my favourite moment from the video I picked was when 'Lenny' was invaded by ducks :-D
ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
RoboKiller. Works a treat. https://app.robokiller.com/ https://app.robokiller.com/
rPlayer6554 6y ago
The Google Pixel has a feature which can answer a call for you with a recording. It then asks why they are calling and shows a transcript on the screen for you. You can ask some preset questions as well. That way you don't have to actually pick up unless they are someone you acctually need to talk to. A lot of robocalls auto-hangup when they get to this assistant for some reason anyways.

dmckeon 6y ago

Try nomorobo.com - free for Voip numbers, $20/year for mobile. Not 100% perfect, more like 95%, but it will suffice until the FCC improves the situation ... soon. Other similar services exist, and would likely be as effective.

gogopuppygogo 6y ago
Buy a number on Twilio and forward it to your cell. It’s $1/month for the number and if you don’t get many calls it’ll be pennies a month to get calls. Plus, you can setup a greeting and have an AI speak to your callers. Basically vanishes all robocalls.

chris_wot 6y ago

Is it just me, or did Arjit Pai seem to be actively avoiding the Robocall issue?

mminer237 6y ago
I think that's what SHAKEN/STIR was supposed to address largely, but he gave carriers a couple years to get it implemented.
- stjohnswarts 6y ago
  June 30th, 2021. We'll see if everyone is actually done by then. I really hope they are.
habeebtc 6y ago
Avoidance was sort of his signature move.

varispeed 6y ago

I would love that someone investigated why Google pulled call recording API from Android 9 onwards. Given that I was scammed by insurance companies twice over the phone and I could have lost substantial amount of money if I couldn't prove the scam, I think call recording feature is essential for a consumer to be able to protect themselves from distance selling scammers or even honest mistakes. There are other benefits like being able to record your parents or other family members and keep their voice forever or simply being able to listen again your conversation with a doctor, so you don't have to bother the clinic if you forget something about dosage etc. The official reason is that it is for privacy (oh good lord...) and that in some countries it is illegal and basic narrative is that they don't want people to secretly record others. This falls apart quickly - you can record someone secretly using your built-in phone camera and microphone, but somehow that's okay, they won't disable the camera and in my country, for example, call recording is perfectly fine. So who lobbied Google? Removing such API is not a trivial task, it takes time, planning, resources, developers and then dealing with the fallout. Who wanted people to be defenceless against phone scams?

kaali1 6y ago
The API was never removed, it's just behind a system permission (only system apps can be granted this permission). Before Marshmallow (2015), recording phone calls was behind the same permission as recording the mic. This was obviously bad as voice calls are much more privacy sensitive than the mic. In Marshmallow, phone calls recording was updated to be guarded by a new permission, a system one, so only system application can access it. Nevertheless, there were multiple ways to bypass the new system permission, which call recording apps made use to continue recording calls even without the system permission. Those ways were fixed one after the other as part of securing and refactors of the audio stack. The last such bug was fixed in Android 9. Any OEM can bundle a call recording apps, it's just that many don't.
- varispeed 6y ago
  This is interesting - there is plenty of recording apps and suddenly users no longer can use them and Google killed their business. I wonder if that broke any anti-trust laws. It's kind of like Google disabled features that let apps like Whatsapp work and then only allowed phone manufacturer to install their own chat app... Does it mean if I had a rooted phone I could get the call recording working on latest Android? I am still going with 2018 phone and it's a bit worn now. Only thing that stops me from buying a new phone is that missing feature and when I ask about call recording the sellers would say yes there are plenty of apps in Play Store, but they don't know these apps don't work. I don't know how reliably I can find out if the phone at least has a manufacturer's call recording app.

unsignedint 6y ago

I may have written this in the past, but I still don't get why we still use PSTN where identifying caller is next to impossible, and very easy to be exploited (allowing mass dialing easily) E-mail is not perfect, for example, but at least its address provides bit more context than the seemingly random number showing up, legit or not. If we are insisting to use the current system, norm really should shift to a strict white list at least for residential inbound. The current system is simply not sustainable, and more and more people are not taking the call from the number they don't recognize anyways.

tenebrisalietum 6y ago
- PSTN is well-established. The phone network has had global reach for a very long time, probably longer than the Internet. Phone numbers have been part of people's lives for a century. - Some locations in some countries are probably still using mostly analog switching equipment and can't upgrade to cellular or anything more modern/secure for various reasons. - PSTN has government-agency or at least a subsidized/privileged monopoly status in most countries, so it won't die a natural death. I just wonder why it took until iOS 12 or whatever for my phone to be able to drop calls from unknown contacts.

stjohnswarts 6y ago

shaken/stir is supposed to go in July, I hope that the tools that come on phones for that allow you to just immediately drop the call. No voice mail, no "silent notice", just let them sent their crap to /dev/null and give them nothing to waste my time.

iamthemalto 6y ago

Interesting that seems to be an exclusively American problem (as far as I know). I’ve experienced exactly 0 robocalls in all the other countries I’ve lived. My friends and I are constantly astounded when our American friends complain about spam calls, it’s just unheard of here and everywhere else I’ve ever lived.

yalogin 6y ago

These are very easy to illustrate to the law makers. It costs almost nothing to incessantly call the phone numbers of the most influential lawmakers. All someone has to do is do it for a week and we would get a new law against it. Wonder why no one did it till now.

dejawu 6y ago

I think we've all taken the wrong approach to the phone spam problem. Whenever I get a scam call, I always answer. I let the guy do his spiel about the free vacation he's got for me, then when he asks me for my credit card, I hit him with one of the ligma jokes [0] and hang up. Never takes more than five minutes of my time and it's a source of great joy for me. I've gotten the same guy three times and he's fallen for it every single time; at this point I'm starting to develop a bond with him. If we pushed a social movement that popularized this, we could basically DDOS phone scamming out of being viable. [0] https://github.com/tphecca/awesome-ligma https://github.com/tphecca/awesome-ligma

CivBase 6y ago
That wastes a lot of my time as a call receiver. I'd rather the telephone companies do this for me instead. They could put together an automated service to receive calls from blacklisted numbers instead of just blocking them. That service would play along with the scam and keep them on the line as long as possible. A YouTuber my wife watches, Kitboga, tried something like that about a year ago[0]. Unfortunately, something like this isn't quite as effective for robocalls. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5R0Vnp6w4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5R0Vnp6w4
clan 6y ago
Around here I mostly get calls from "Microsoft Support". I tell them I need to get to my computer and put the phone down on the table. They are surprisingly patient. When they get desperate to talk with me I'll spout a little giberish which keeps them connected a little longer. It does not take much effort keeping them busy. It works for me as it is not a problem to block the line for 5 - 10 minutes. If I am bored I engage with the call. But that spiel is getting old.

mgleason_3 6y ago

About frickin’ time, the amount of money that has been scammed from some of those who are most at-risk is ridiculous. And get your ass in gear and require companies implement a positive ID system that makes call spoofing impossible.

cik 6y ago

This is incredibly solvable, and it costs me $2 per month. I use a VOIP provider and give out that phone number. I ban all incoming calls from numbers not in my phonebook. The phone number plays an IVR - and you can leave a voicemail which is e-mailed to me. If you're someone I know (friend, bank) you have my extension - unlisted in the IVR, and you can enter it. I've received zero unwanted calls in the 2 years I've been doing this.

dwheeler 6y ago

There are so many robocalls, typically for scams, that our phones have been effectively stolen from us. We can often no longer practically use them for their intended purpose. I hope the FCC gets serious.

jmann99999 6y ago

Google Voice’s call screening feature has made robocalls a non event for me. I have Voice set to screen calls, so when the robocall comes in, it usually hangs up when it encounter’s Voice’s questions. I get one ring on my cell phone and nothing else. It’s somewhat satisfying every time it happens.

js2 6y ago
I get 7-10 spam text messages/week to my GV number. Most of them are addressed to someone named "Miller." It's been occurring for over a year and GV never detects that it's a spam text message. "Miller, you've won this. Click on this link." GV obviously doesn't do any spam detection on SMS if it isn't catching these.

RickJWagner 6y ago

It seems it would be very easy to accept a robocall, follow the money to the advertiser and begin the investigation there. Follow the money and fine the living fire out of the dirtbags that do the robocalling. It seems we're taking a different tack, though.

faded242 6y ago

I met Ajit shortly after he started in his role. I specifically told him how we can track and trace back these robocalls via SS7 (at least once they hit the PSTN - SIP ingress even easier to track back to the trunks they originate), and I even had proof of concept code and examples. He seemed really excited, then did nothing. No follow-up, etc. It would only work if mandated by the FCC because there is no financial incentive for the telcos to do it.

hulahoop56 6y ago

Here in India, the telecom authority (TRAI) has prescribed various measures to curb unwanted calls and messages[1], with mixed success. They also have an app released[2], which essentially uses a template to send SMS to the number denoted for complaining about spam. After a lot of action for around nine months, I got junk SMS and spam calls (both automated and otherwise) to a bare minimum. It did take some time and there were a lot of frustrations along the way, but was completely worth it. Some good practices I figured from all this: 1. For spam calls where there is an actual human speaking to you, try and get them to reveal the name and location of their call center. Most of the time, the culprits are the same for different types of calls. Requesting to speak to their manager and having a friendly chat about the TRAI penalty system helped a lot in reducing the calls. Having a log of when they had called you in the past is also helpful; at least it conveys that you aren't some buffoon shouting at the clouds. 2. For SMS spam where the sender is a bunch of letters (eg. ZZ-ABCDEF), iPhone isn't able to add that contact to the block list. Using T9 to figure out those numbers and adding them[3] to the blocklist that way works. This is mostly for your telecom service provider who feels free to send you spam with no way for you to complain to TRAI, because you're using their service, and they don't care about do-not-disturb for such cases. 3. Naming and shaming on Twitter and email helps, especially for companies depending on their brand name. Funded startups in particular are abusers of spam calling and SMSes, but are also fearful of complaints on social media going viral. 4. This might be anecdotal, but I found I actually received fewer spam calls after removing my number from TrueCaller[4]. Ironically the service is used to figure out who's calling you, but I found that I don't need it at all, and not having my number in there has somehow proved beneficial. 5. Certain mobile service providers are more serious about acting on spam complaints than others. If you find that your provider is not heeding complaints about spam, definitely switch to another service if possible. 6. Some services do provide a DNC (Do Not Call) registry on their website. Do use those and keep a record of you having added your name to it. [1] https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/RegulationUcc19072018.pdf https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/RegulationUcc190... [2] https://apps.apple.com/in/app/trai-dnd-do-not-disturb/id1443781196?ls=1 https://apps.apple.com/in/app/trai-dnd-do-not-disturb/id1443... [3] https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/features/iphone-how-to-block-sms-from-any-sender-including-bulk-messages-797992 https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/features/iphone-how-to-bloc... [4] https://support.truecaller.com/hc/en-us/articles/212063089-How-do-I-unlist-my-phone-number- https://support.truecaller.com/hc/en-us/articles/212063089-H...

Alex5899 6y ago

I wish there was a way to stop this bs. Robocall numbers used to be easily identifiable. Nowadays, robocalls shows up as a random-similar number of a third party person, which is never repeatedly dialed, so even blocking the number won't stop calls from coming it (as it'd just dial from a different similar number...)

CivBase 6y ago

Legal threats and spam blacklists are an endless game of whack-a-mole. I'm not convinced robocalls will ever disappear until the telephone protocol is updated so a receiver can confidently verify the identity of the sender. Once calls are authenticated, the problem will evaporate practically overnight.

rapht 6y ago

I'm always flabbergasted at seeing how these things are handled in America. Long ago in the country where I live, the regulator: - set up an opt-out central register where the owner of any phone number can freely declare they do not want any unsollicited calls - made this register freely available to all businesses - required from telcos that they make it easy for customers to report infringing calls - made telcos liable if they do not swiftly take action whenever they have 'sufficient' reports (10s not 1000s) that one of their clients is infringing on the opt-out list, including by cutting off all of the client's numbers. ... does not seem such a big deal to set up.

jjcon 6y ago
Nobody is talking about sales pitches - the FTC in the USA also has a do not call list. This is about scam callers that set up pop up operations make a few bucks close down and repeat. This happens just as much here in the EU. Most of these calls do not even come from the EU/USA though they do have operatives here. The vast majority of victims are older people that don’t understand they are being scammed.
CivBase 6y ago
All of the scam/robocalls I get come from India and use spoofed numbers. We have do-not-call lists, but why should a telco across the world care about it? How can we even identify the relevant telco when the scammers are routing VoIP calls through spoofed numbers?
- MiddleEndian 6y ago
  Phone companies know if it's spoofed or VOIP. They could just not forward spoofed numbers, or inform your cell phone that it's a spoofed number so you can silently block it on your end (or auto-respond with your own bot that pretends to be a person lol). https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26803498 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26803498 seems like the FCC is doing something like this, how it will work is TBD I guess.

nichohel 6y ago

The two companies named are of course receiving PPP "loans". So they are literally being paid, by you (American taxpayer), to annoy you. https://www.federalpay.org/paycheck-protection-program/r-squared-communications-llc-dublin-oh https://www.federalpay.org/paycheck-protection-program/r-squ... https://www.sba.com/ppp-funded-companies/florida/tellza-inc-178893 https://www.sba.com/ppp-funded-companies/florida/tellza-inc-...

achenatx 6y ago

my dad (80 YO) has a PhD in computer science and has been scammed multiple times. I have had multiple employees buy about 7K in gift cards for scammers. I personally bought a $200 electric surfboard that ended up being a $20 boogie board (facebook ad). I immediately realized it was a scam but paypal wouldnt let me cancel the transaction. They said I had to receive the item first. Then when I received the item the refund link wouldnt work (errored out). I ended up just giving up and eating the $200. A retired friend had all bank accounts and investment accounts drained (millions). Im not sure how this happened, but 2FA is a must for big accounts. Im pretty sure scammers make a lot of money. These days I mainly get car warranty calls.

Dumblydorr 6y ago

I got in trouble for not answering my phone when HR was trying to call, because the number was unknown and I get about a dozen spam calls every single day. It's ridiculous, my actual work productivity greatly suffered due to the spam flying in daily.

fallingfrog 6y ago

The FCC should not only force them to block all robocalls, but fine them an amount in the billions for what amounts to pissing in the well of public trust for decades. I mean, I don’t ever answer a number I don’t recognize anymore. If the doctors office calls, and I don’t remember the number, they are going to have to leave a message and play phone tag. What is the social cost of an entire population of people who basically don’t trust their phone or anyone who calls them? Some survey company tried to call me last year, and I didn’t answer it because I assumed it was some kind of scam. It doesn’t have to be this way. The way phone companies have conducted themselves constitutes gross negligence and betrayal of the public trust. I want to see jail time, not a slap on the wrist.

criddell 6y ago

I use Google Fi and I wonder if these changes are responsible for my recent problems with caller ID when I call somebody. My phone number is 512-xxx-yyyy and when I call anybody in Canada and some US phones I've been told my number shows up as +51-2xx-xyy-yy or just as unidentified caller. When I text my daughter, my incoming texts show up under that number but she can't reply on that number. It's very frustrating.

curryst 6y ago
That is weird, it's ringing as an international number. +1-512-xxx-yyyy is your international number. Seems like it's making it an international call, but not actually using the country code.

thesis 6y ago

It takes me far more time to sort through all the crap I get in my mailbox delivered by USPS. I either don't answer the call, or hang up 5 seconds after answering. In general I worry that blocking legitimate "robocalls" will make people miss important events. My mortgage company was trying to contact me and the phone was displaying "Spam Likely". Another instance last year was my city sending out an emergency alert for a hurricane.

brewdad 6y ago

Like a lot of you, I don't answer my phone ever unless the number is in my contacts or I am expecting a call. Today I got my first ever porn spam via SMS. So glad to have that to look forward to over the coming months/years. eyeroll

makecheck 6y ago

It’s funny, I remember when the iPhone was announced Steve Jobs said “the killer app is making calls!” and then proceeded to show (correctly at the time) how hard making calls with phones was, and how much better it was going to be. And now? I literally don’t use this feature. I turn on Do Not Disturb and “block unknown callers”, and turn on emergency-mode for anyone I actually care about, and receive no other rings on my phone. At this point, I refuse to spend even a moment considering any call that does not leave a voice mail.