3 ms·

I don't know how iOS handles this, but on Android you can get permissions to check if the user is currently in a call. Often this is done to mute media when you

I don't know how iOS handles this, but on Android you can get permissions to check if the user is currently in a call. Often this is done to mute media when you accept a call, but I can also imagine any sensitive apps popping up a message on their home screen to indicate whether or not a real customer support agent is trying to reach out to you. I don't think you can get details about the call that easily (like phone number and such) but with the right permissions it may also be feasible to maintain a scam number list based on user reports that sends out a notification when a known scammer is trying to call you.

vitus 3y ago
Phone number is unfortunately not reliable, since it can be spoofed (and phone companies are broadly uninterested in doing more than the bare minimum to address this). There are plenty of scams based on impersonating some official (FBI, IRS, etc). It's not hard to imagine a scammer spoofing your bank's phone number [0, 1, 2, 3]. [0] https://www.snbonline.com/about/news/scammers-can-spoof-an-official-phone-number-heres-how-to-tell https://www.snbonline.com/about/news/scammers-can-spoof-an-o... [1] https://www.westernbank.com/fraud-prevention/what-you-should-know-about-caller-id-spoofing/ https://www.westernbank.com/fraud-prevention/what-you-should... [2] https://www.wellsfargo.com/privacy-security/fraud/bank-scams/bank-imposter/ https://www.wellsfargo.com/privacy-security/fraud/bank-scams... [3] https://www.fcc.gov/spoofing https://www.fcc.gov/spoofing
- Sebb767 3y ago
  > Phone number is unfortunately not reliable, since it can be spoofed (and phone companies are broadly uninterested in doing more than the bare minimum to address this). I think this can be solved far more simply by only showing the notification/warning (or showing it more visibly) when the app detects you are in a call.
  - vitus 3y ago
    Right. I was commenting specifically on the effectiveness of > with the right permissions it may also be feasible to maintain a scam number list based on user reports that sends out a notification when a known scammer is trying to call you.
  - lxgr 3y ago
    What if I call the bank from another phone?
tgsovlerkhgsel 3y ago
That's my biggest worry about this: That every app on my phone that considers itself important decides to attempt to notify me during every call, leading to a wall of notifications.
- jeroenhd 3y ago
  Disabling notifications is easy (hold notification, click "disable") so if it rolls out and you don't care, it's quite trivial to get rid of the notification wall. So far, no apps that I know of have any such feature. If only one single app does it, it shouldn't cause a problem for anyone.
  - tgsovlerkhgsel 3y ago
    Many apps make this impractical by not separating the notifications into separate categories, so you either have to accept the spam, or break functionality that spans from convenient (credit card payment notifications) to critical (2FA push prompts that may only be accessible from the notification). > If only one single app does it, it shouldn't cause a problem for anyone. And that's how every app justifies doing it...
    - jeroenhd 3y ago
      > Many apps make this impractical by not separating the notifications into separate categories I can't say I share your experience. There are apps that spam you with notifications and intentionally don't use categories but I generally just uninstall those.

vitus 3y ago

Phone number is unfortunately not reliable, since it can be spoofed (and phone companies are broadly uninterested in doing more than the bare minimum to address this). There are plenty of scams based on impersonating some official (FBI, IRS, etc). It's not hard to imagine a scammer spoofing your bank's phone number [0, 1, 2, 3]. [0] https://www.snbonline.com/about/news/scammers-can-spoof-an-official-phone-number-heres-how-to-tell https://www.snbonline.com/about/news/scammers-can-spoof-an-o... [1] https://www.westernbank.com/fraud-prevention/what-you-should-know-about-caller-id-spoofing/ https://www.westernbank.com/fraud-prevention/what-you-should... [2] https://www.wellsfargo.com/privacy-security/fraud/bank-scams/bank-imposter/ https://www.wellsfargo.com/privacy-security/fraud/bank-scams... [3] https://www.fcc.gov/spoofing https://www.fcc.gov/spoofing

Sebb767 3y ago
> Phone number is unfortunately not reliable, since it can be spoofed (and phone companies are broadly uninterested in doing more than the bare minimum to address this). I think this can be solved far more simply by only showing the notification/warning (or showing it more visibly) when the app detects you are in a call.
- vitus 3y ago
  Right. I was commenting specifically on the effectiveness of > with the right permissions it may also be feasible to maintain a scam number list based on user reports that sends out a notification when a known scammer is trying to call you.
- lxgr 3y ago
  What if I call the bank from another phone?

tgsovlerkhgsel 3y ago

That's my biggest worry about this: That every app on my phone that considers itself important decides to attempt to notify me during every call, leading to a wall of notifications.

jeroenhd 3y ago
Disabling notifications is easy (hold notification, click "disable") so if it rolls out and you don't care, it's quite trivial to get rid of the notification wall. So far, no apps that I know of have any such feature. If only one single app does it, it shouldn't cause a problem for anyone.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 3y ago
  Many apps make this impractical by not separating the notifications into separate categories, so you either have to accept the spam, or break functionality that spans from convenient (credit card payment notifications) to critical (2FA push prompts that may only be accessible from the notification). > If only one single app does it, it shouldn't cause a problem for anyone. And that's how every app justifies doing it...
  - jeroenhd 3y ago
    > Many apps make this impractical by not separating the notifications into separate categories I can't say I share your experience. There are apps that spam you with notifications and intentionally don't use categories but I generally just uninstall those.