4 ms·

Or neighbors need to agree on policing, for example any company/country that lets 10% of its phone traffic be spams just gets disconnected from the network flat

by petee 5y ago

Or neighbors need to agree on policing, for example any company/country that lets 10% of its phone traffic be spams just gets disconnected from the network flat out. Want your service back? Fix your house first. I'd be shocked if most of the US's spam doesn't come from within. I'm not against attempting a global body to regulate, but I doubt it would work. We can't even get internet providers to ensure their traffic isn't spoofed, and that's just firewall rules. Edit: maybe not shocked, but personally the only out of country voices I hear now are when I call GoogleFi support.

mojuba 5y ago
The question is, are phone operators even interested in doing this? Marking robocalls as such - sure, but blocking altogether - I don't think so. Something interesting happened I think a few years ago, when a hosting company in the US that turned out to be the major hoster for spammers went down for technical reasons and the world went spam free (by 90%) for a couple of days. You'd think it was obvious what to do... but nope, once the hoster was back everything was back to normal like nothing happened.
- petee 5y ago
  I agree, I don't think they have any incentive to, and it would take strong regulation to force them. We would also have to stop pretending that calls are some 'divine message' that can't be interfered with, and be morally ok with cutting off an entire country if they won't curb spam.
  - shkkmo 5y ago
    It seems easy to me, pass a law that says if a telecom can't trace the source of a call to where it entered their network, they are legally liable for the content of the call.
pavel_lishin 5y ago
In my limited experience as an American, most of the callers sound like they have American accents to me; maybe 10% that actually get through sound like they're from South Asia, which is what I used to associate with spam. I also suspect that a lot of spam calls are coming from within the prison system - not prisoners trying to run scams off payphones, but actually working from a phone bank at a prison for a nickel an hour. It's the only thing I can think of that explains their dogmatic adherence to the script in front of them. Free scammers from overseas will start insulting you once you're onto their scam; free scammers from the U.S. will typically just hang up and try again; but if you're a prison worker, the punishment for going off script is much worse than just losing your job. Wish I could prove or disprove my theory.
- mwint 5y ago
  To be clear, your theory is that these calls are coming from operations run by American prisons?
  - pavel_lishin 5y ago
    Yes. Not all of them, but enough that I don't think messing with them is morally justifiable.
- iratewizard 5y ago
  I answer and talk to the scammer every time. I ask them why they do this for a living and generally try to make it psychologically hurt for the scammer. I've done this more than 50 times at least. The vast majority have Indian or Pakistani accents. A small percentage have south American accents. None have had American accents.
  - petee 5y ago
    I'm curious if they have ever divulged their actual location to you? Obviously with a big grain of salt.
    - iratewizard 5y ago
      A few have told me they were from Pakistan when I asked them questions like why such a high percentage of the country defecates in the streets.
      - abdabab 5y ago
        It’s funny that you could ask the same question to anyone living in San Francisco, particularly Tenderloin.
  - pavel_lishin 5y ago
    Weird! I wonder why there's such a difference in our experiences. I also don't think making it psychologically hurt is going to make any difference, especially not when you're asking them why their fellow countrymen shit in the streets. Based on what I've heard and read, a lot of them justify their work by villainizing us in their eyes. Which isn't unfair! We're vastly richer than them, and they don't see any particular problem in what they see as being a Robin Hood-like character. Insulting and abusing them just further justifies their actions in their mind. I used to try to waste their time as well, but after I postulatede my prison-work theory, I no longer do that - they don't have a choice, and it's cruel to put them through that.

by petee 5y ago

mojuba 5y ago

The question is, are phone operators even interested in doing this? Marking robocalls as such - sure, but blocking altogether - I don't think so. Something interesting happened I think a few years ago, when a hosting company in the US that turned out to be the major hoster for spammers went down for technical reasons and the world went spam free (by 90%) for a couple of days. You'd think it was obvious what to do... but nope, once the hoster was back everything was back to normal like nothing happened.

petee 5y ago
I agree, I don't think they have any incentive to, and it would take strong regulation to force them. We would also have to stop pretending that calls are some 'divine message' that can't be interfered with, and be morally ok with cutting off an entire country if they won't curb spam.
- shkkmo 5y ago
  It seems easy to me, pass a law that says if a telecom can't trace the source of a call to where it entered their network, they are legally liable for the content of the call.

pavel_lishin 5y ago

In my limited experience as an American, most of the callers sound like they have American accents to me; maybe 10% that actually get through sound like they're from South Asia, which is what I used to associate with spam. I also suspect that a lot of spam calls are coming from within the prison system - not prisoners trying to run scams off payphones, but actually working from a phone bank at a prison for a nickel an hour. It's the only thing I can think of that explains their dogmatic adherence to the script in front of them. Free scammers from overseas will start insulting you once you're onto their scam; free scammers from the U.S. will typically just hang up and try again; but if you're a prison worker, the punishment for going off script is much worse than just losing your job. Wish I could prove or disprove my theory.

mwint 5y ago
To be clear, your theory is that these calls are coming from operations run by American prisons?
- pavel_lishin 5y ago
  Yes. Not all of them, but enough that I don't think messing with them is morally justifiable.
iratewizard 5y ago
I answer and talk to the scammer every time. I ask them why they do this for a living and generally try to make it psychologically hurt for the scammer. I've done this more than 50 times at least. The vast majority have Indian or Pakistani accents. A small percentage have south American accents. None have had American accents.
- petee 5y ago
  I'm curious if they have ever divulged their actual location to you? Obviously with a big grain of salt.
  - iratewizard 5y ago
    A few have told me they were from Pakistan when I asked them questions like why such a high percentage of the country defecates in the streets.
    - abdabab 5y ago
      It’s funny that you could ask the same question to anyone living in San Francisco, particularly Tenderloin.
- pavel_lishin 5y ago
  Weird! I wonder why there's such a difference in our experiences. I also don't think making it psychologically hurt is going to make any difference, especially not when you're asking them why their fellow countrymen shit in the streets. Based on what I've heard and read, a lot of them justify their work by villainizing us in their eyes. Which isn't unfair! We're vastly richer than them, and they don't see any particular problem in what they see as being a Robin Hood-like character. Insulting and abusing them just further justifies their actions in their mind. I used to try to waste their time as well, but after I postulatede my prison-work theory, I no longer do that - they don't have a choice, and it's cruel to put them through that.