7 ms·

I had 5 spam calls this morning from various suspicious phone numbers, including one from Europe. That's more than I've gotten since I first got this phone numb

I had 5 spam calls this morning from various suspicious phone numbers, including one from Europe. That's more than I've gotten since I first got this phone number total. I guess it's unreasonable to expect the good times to last like that but man, I'm still deeply unhappy with T-Mobile right now.

samstave 5y ago
I get numbers from EU as well -- and I get some at ~3AM PST as well...
dheera 5y ago
I get about 10+ spam calls a day, I just block all calls except for a couple of whitelisted numbers, and forward the rest to something that plays a hold song endlessly.
- ARandomerDude 5y ago
  In before a 20yo culture warrior says "allowlist."
- capitainenemo 5y ago
  Sometimes I get calls from people I forget to whitelist or who might actually be important (workmen for example). So, I have my default phone ringtone set to a 0.1s, 200 byte mp3 of silence. Anyone in my address book gets my standard address book ringtone. Then I just check the emails of the voicemails once a day.
abawany 5y ago
Google Voice (GV) and Voip.ms have fairly sophisticated screening that tends to get the 'vehicle warranty' bots to hang up quickly. I wish our phone carriers offered such methods to ensure that their 'services' remain relevant in an increasingly spammy world. Edit: for GV, you will need to enable screening by going to https://voice.google.com/u/0/settings https://voice.google.com/u/0/settings and setting "Screen calls" and for Voip.ms, you will need to setup a IVR so that callers have to enter in a code before they are allowed through.
- dopamean 5y ago
  I've been using google voice for 7+ years and I get a TON of those vehicle warranty calls. At least one almost every day.
  - abawany 5y ago
    You need to enable screening by going to https://voice.google.com/u/0/settings https://voice.google.com/u/0/settings .
    - mfkp 5y ago
      I've got screening enabled and still get at least 3 spam calls per day, usually more.
      - abawany 5y ago
        I am surprised - they are ringing your phone/the app vs. just ending up as 'missed calls'? I presume you are also marking them as spam to prevent recurrence and that these numbers are not in your contacts? (Not being sarcastic, just trying to help.)
        mfkp 5y ago
        Yes, it rings my phone. Most are annoyingly early in the morning, and 90% of the time it comes from random numbers in the same area code as my phone number. I haven't been marking the numbers as spam, but maybe I'll try to do that to see if the number of calls reduces.
        abawany 5y ago
        One more thing to check: in the Legacy GV webapp (google.com/voice/b/0/redirection/voice) in the Groups tab, the Screening is On for anonymous callers in addition to the original place that I listed above? Hopefully marking as spam will help too. One thing I like about Voip.ms vs. GV is that in the former, I can mass block an entire range of number using wildcards, which is rather satisfying especially since I setup the rules to ring as busy vs. just hanging up to keep their systems online a bit longer vs. freeing them to disrupt their next victim.
S_A_P 5y ago
Don't feel bad- Im on AT&T and Ive noticed a HUGE uptick in spam sms messages. Pretty sure my number was leaked in some breach.
- judge2020 5y ago
  For what it's worth I've continued to report these to both AT&T[0] and Safe Browsing[1]. 0: https://www.att.com/support/article/my-account/KM1051831/#:~:text=Alert%20AT%26T%20by%20forwarding%20the%20suspicious%20text%20to%207726%20on%20your%20device https://www.att.com/support/article/my-account/KM1051831/#:~.... 1: https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_general/ https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_general/
- gruez 5y ago
  >Pretty sure my number was leaked in some breach. Why do spammers need leaked phone numbers? Can't they just call/message every number?
  - easrng 5y ago
    They can and do, but it's cheaper if they have a list so they can just text numbers they know get SMS.
  - pininja 5y ago
    Calling, while cheap, isn’t free or infinitely fast. They’d likely pay for knowing “active” or “lucrative” numbers. Jim Browning videos are a fantastic resource to learn more about the inner workings of scams https://youtube.com/c/JimBrowning https://youtube.com/c/JimBrowning
    - yuy910616 5y ago
      Calling isn't zero cost, and that spammer time isn't zero cost, so in this case, there is a incentive from the spammer to weed out people who costs the most. So isn't the popular idea that you should NOT answer spam calls wrong? Logically, you should answer every spam call and try to get them to stay on the line for as long as possible, therefore maximizing their cost. This is assuming they have some CMS software on the backend that allows them to categorize numbers.
aaaaaaaaaaab 5y ago
Is this a US thing? I’ve never received unsolicited spam calls here in Europe…
- brnt 5y ago
  Got it in France too all the time. Never in Switzerland or the Netherlands though.
  - BrandoElFollito 5y ago
    I got maybe two calls in France in the last 10 years, from companies I am with (but still unsollicited)
  - Bayart 5y ago
    In France I got one that I can remember of in all the time I've had this number, which is over ten years now. And it was an opinion poll. Also got 5 or 6 scam SMS.
- njovin 5y ago
  Yes, it's pervasive. I get 4-5 calls per day, most of them scams trying to sell auto warranties or cheap vacations. All of them spoof the caller ID of the caller so it looks like somebody from my area. We have a national do-not-call list is a joke but that only holds legitimate businesses accountable. There's almost no enforcement for these fly-by-night companies. There are initiatives in the works to prevent this behavior but they keep getting delayed, presumably because the telcos will have to do some work that doesn't fill their pockets so they're dragging their feet.
- ASalazarMX 5y ago
  Mexico too. Before the pandemic I had a few spam calls a month, but now there were days when I received 20-50 from a misconfigured call center automatic caller. It forced me to silence all calls from strangers. We have laws and a system to block and report spam callers, but it seems they don't work anymore.
  - 5y ago
ASalazarMX 5y ago
The amount of unwanted calls has skyrocketed this last year. I was forced to automatically reject calls that weren't in my contacts. Anyone important already can email or message me. Big email providers are very good at filtering spam, so if enough people blocks calls, the only spam venue left would be instant messaging.
- yuy910616 5y ago
  I've actually been answering each spam call - and try to get them to stay on the line for as long as possible. My assumption is that they have some sort of CMS software and that it costs money to call. If you don't answer - they'll keep trying you. But if you do answer and costs them money - they'll put you in the 'do not call' list. Just my guess - but so far it has worked for me personally.
  - mwint 5y ago
    I can confirm answering calls and using as much of their time as possible totally works. I’ve been doing this for a year or more now; I get excited when a spammer calls me now. It’s about a monthly affair. I have a bookmark for https://www.getcreditcardnumbers.com/ https://www.getcreditcardnumbers.com/ - I happily give them all the credit card numbers they want (the ones from that site pass the checksum, but of course isn’t valid in combination with a made up expiry and CVC). After a couple card numbers fail, they cuss me out, sometimes threaten my life, and never call again. My theory is they get flagged by their payment processor if they submit many bogus credit card numbers. It’s about a 10-minute investment once a month. Less time than I used to spend answering and hanging up on spam calls.
    - ASalazarMX 5y ago
      This is brilliant. I don't know what a pissed off spammer with who knows how many of your info could do, though. The last time I made one angry for wasting her time, I received even more calls from other spammers.
      - 5y ago
paulddraper 5y ago
I've gotten lots of scam calls over the past 12 months, and lots more over the last 30 days.
bpicolo 5y ago
I haven't gotten spam phone calls in 6-12 months. Today, I got 15.
sillystuff 5y ago
I'm not sure if it is coincidence, or if it is really helping, but I play SIT code to indicate a number that is not in service at the beginning of my voice mail message. Since then, the number of spam calls I've been receiving has been steadily decreasing. Install sox play -q -n synth 0.2 sin 950;play -q -n synth 0.2 sin 1400;play -q -n synth 0.2 sin 1800

samstave 5y ago

I get numbers from EU as well -- and I get some at ~3AM PST as well...

dheera 5y ago

I get about 10+ spam calls a day, I just block all calls except for a couple of whitelisted numbers, and forward the rest to something that plays a hold song endlessly.

ARandomerDude 5y ago
In before a 20yo culture warrior says "allowlist."
capitainenemo 5y ago
Sometimes I get calls from people I forget to whitelist or who might actually be important (workmen for example). So, I have my default phone ringtone set to a 0.1s, 200 byte mp3 of silence. Anyone in my address book gets my standard address book ringtone. Then I just check the emails of the voicemails once a day.

abawany 5y ago

Google Voice (GV) and Voip.ms have fairly sophisticated screening that tends to get the 'vehicle warranty' bots to hang up quickly. I wish our phone carriers offered such methods to ensure that their 'services' remain relevant in an increasingly spammy world. Edit: for GV, you will need to enable screening by going to https://voice.google.com/u/0/settings https://voice.google.com/u/0/settings and setting "Screen calls" and for Voip.ms, you will need to setup a IVR so that callers have to enter in a code before they are allowed through.

dopamean 5y ago
I've been using google voice for 7+ years and I get a TON of those vehicle warranty calls. At least one almost every day.
- abawany 5y ago
  You need to enable screening by going to https://voice.google.com/u/0/settings https://voice.google.com/u/0/settings .
  - mfkp 5y ago
    I've got screening enabled and still get at least 3 spam calls per day, usually more.
    - abawany 5y ago
      I am surprised - they are ringing your phone/the app vs. just ending up as 'missed calls'? I presume you are also marking them as spam to prevent recurrence and that these numbers are not in your contacts? (Not being sarcastic, just trying to help.)
      - mfkp 5y ago
        Yes, it rings my phone. Most are annoyingly early in the morning, and 90% of the time it comes from random numbers in the same area code as my phone number. I haven't been marking the numbers as spam, but maybe I'll try to do that to see if the number of calls reduces.
        abawany 5y ago
        One more thing to check: in the Legacy GV webapp (google.com/voice/b/0/redirection/voice) in the Groups tab, the Screening is On for anonymous callers in addition to the original place that I listed above? Hopefully marking as spam will help too. One thing I like about Voip.ms vs. GV is that in the former, I can mass block an entire range of number using wildcards, which is rather satisfying especially since I setup the rules to ring as busy vs. just hanging up to keep their systems online a bit longer vs. freeing them to disrupt their next victim.

S_A_P 5y ago

Don't feel bad- Im on AT&T and Ive noticed a HUGE uptick in spam sms messages. Pretty sure my number was leaked in some breach.

judge2020 5y ago
For what it's worth I've continued to report these to both AT&T[0] and Safe Browsing[1]. 0: https://www.att.com/support/article/my-account/KM1051831/#:~:text=Alert%20AT%26T%20by%20forwarding%20the%20suspicious%20text%20to%207726%20on%20your%20device https://www.att.com/support/article/my-account/KM1051831/#:~.... 1: https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_general/ https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_general/
gruez 5y ago
>Pretty sure my number was leaked in some breach. Why do spammers need leaked phone numbers? Can't they just call/message every number?
- easrng 5y ago
  They can and do, but it's cheaper if they have a list so they can just text numbers they know get SMS.
- pininja 5y ago
  Calling, while cheap, isn’t free or infinitely fast. They’d likely pay for knowing “active” or “lucrative” numbers. Jim Browning videos are a fantastic resource to learn more about the inner workings of scams https://youtube.com/c/JimBrowning https://youtube.com/c/JimBrowning
  - yuy910616 5y ago
    Calling isn't zero cost, and that spammer time isn't zero cost, so in this case, there is a incentive from the spammer to weed out people who costs the most. So isn't the popular idea that you should NOT answer spam calls wrong? Logically, you should answer every spam call and try to get them to stay on the line for as long as possible, therefore maximizing their cost. This is assuming they have some CMS software on the backend that allows them to categorize numbers.

aaaaaaaaaaab 5y ago

Is this a US thing? I’ve never received unsolicited spam calls here in Europe…

brnt 5y ago
Got it in France too all the time. Never in Switzerland or the Netherlands though.
- BrandoElFollito 5y ago
  I got maybe two calls in France in the last 10 years, from companies I am with (but still unsollicited)
- Bayart 5y ago
  In France I got one that I can remember of in all the time I've had this number, which is over ten years now. And it was an opinion poll. Also got 5 or 6 scam SMS.
njovin 5y ago
Yes, it's pervasive. I get 4-5 calls per day, most of them scams trying to sell auto warranties or cheap vacations. All of them spoof the caller ID of the caller so it looks like somebody from my area. We have a national do-not-call list is a joke but that only holds legitimate businesses accountable. There's almost no enforcement for these fly-by-night companies. There are initiatives in the works to prevent this behavior but they keep getting delayed, presumably because the telcos will have to do some work that doesn't fill their pockets so they're dragging their feet.
ASalazarMX 5y ago
Mexico too. Before the pandemic I had a few spam calls a month, but now there were days when I received 20-50 from a misconfigured call center automatic caller. It forced me to silence all calls from strangers. We have laws and a system to block and report spam callers, but it seems they don't work anymore.
- 5y ago

ASalazarMX 5y ago

The amount of unwanted calls has skyrocketed this last year. I was forced to automatically reject calls that weren't in my contacts. Anyone important already can email or message me. Big email providers are very good at filtering spam, so if enough people blocks calls, the only spam venue left would be instant messaging.

yuy910616 5y ago
I've actually been answering each spam call - and try to get them to stay on the line for as long as possible. My assumption is that they have some sort of CMS software and that it costs money to call. If you don't answer - they'll keep trying you. But if you do answer and costs them money - they'll put you in the 'do not call' list. Just my guess - but so far it has worked for me personally.
- mwint 5y ago
  I can confirm answering calls and using as much of their time as possible totally works. I’ve been doing this for a year or more now; I get excited when a spammer calls me now. It’s about a monthly affair. I have a bookmark for https://www.getcreditcardnumbers.com/ https://www.getcreditcardnumbers.com/ - I happily give them all the credit card numbers they want (the ones from that site pass the checksum, but of course isn’t valid in combination with a made up expiry and CVC). After a couple card numbers fail, they cuss me out, sometimes threaten my life, and never call again. My theory is they get flagged by their payment processor if they submit many bogus credit card numbers. It’s about a 10-minute investment once a month. Less time than I used to spend answering and hanging up on spam calls.
  - ASalazarMX 5y ago
    This is brilliant. I don't know what a pissed off spammer with who knows how many of your info could do, though. The last time I made one angry for wasting her time, I received even more calls from other spammers.
    - 5y ago

paulddraper 5y ago

I've gotten lots of scam calls over the past 12 months, and lots more over the last 30 days.

bpicolo 5y ago

I haven't gotten spam phone calls in 6-12 months. Today, I got 15.

sillystuff 5y ago

I'm not sure if it is coincidence, or if it is really helping, but I play SIT code to indicate a number that is not in service at the beginning of my voice mail message. Since then, the number of spam calls I've been receiving has been steadily decreasing. Install sox play -q -n synth 0.2 sin 950;play -q -n synth 0.2 sin 1400;play -q -n synth 0.2 sin 1800