4 ms·

What an utter technological failure. How and why is this even (still) possible?

TeMPOraL 3y ago
Why are ads a thing on cable? On the web? It's literally the same problem, and since this site's audience is likely more familiar with the latter, it should be clear it's not a technological failure, but a social/legal one.
- sk0g 3y ago
  YouTube ads have no ability to interrupt my day-to-day life out of the blue, and also don't poison a legitimately useful communication medium for personal relationships. Phone spam is much more harmful than ads you kinda-sorta opt into, IMO.
- stetrain 3y ago
  Ads are not the same thing as impersonation, lying about who you are and where you are calling from. Cable is not full of ads that say they are from AT&T and you need to contact them about your bill at <number> but the ad isn't from AT&T and the number goes to a scam call center.
  - TeMPOraL 3y ago
    Yes, but most scam calls aren't impersonations either. I bet if you tallied it up, there's many more people being tricked into taking on bullshit contracts with legitimate companies[0] and losing much more money in total, than there are victims of actual impersonation scams. I firmly believe both schemes are morally equivalent, and that one of them is still considered legal only means we should push firmly for a change in laws. Even the impersonation angle isn't clear-cut. When a telco calls me with their newest scam, it's always via a third-party call centre they outsource this job to. Where I live, it's also historically has been a major source of contact and personal information for scammers - always a "disgruntled employee" leaving and "covertly" taking the customer database with them. -- [0] - Telcos are my go-to examples here, they're notorious for borderline fraud. For example, just under a year ago, a billion-dollar telecommunications corporation named after a color, one of three major telcos in my country, tried to scam my own grandmother hard, after my grandfather passed away, and almost succeeded. More generally, after many years of near-misses and one or two mistakes, most people in my family learned to never talk to phone companies cold-calling with offers.
    - InitialLastName 3y ago
      > Yes, but most scam calls aren't impersonations either. Most of the spam texts I get lately are from non-US numbers claiming to be USPS trying to resolve a delivery exception.
    - stetrain 3y ago
      All of the spam calls that are an annoyance to me are clearly spoofed numbers from my home area code. That’s impersonation. I know they are spoofing numbers because my own numbers gets spoofed as well. Real people call me back and leave voicemails saying I’m the one who called them. None of this is standard advertising.
- wise_young_man 3y ago
  Ads are not illegal. Spam is regulated by laws like the TCPA for sms and CAN-SPAM for email.

Why are ads a thing on cable? On the web? It's literally the same problem, and since this site's audience is likely more familiar with the latter, it should be clear it's not a technological failure, but a social/legal one.

sk0g 3y ago
YouTube ads have no ability to interrupt my day-to-day life out of the blue, and also don't poison a legitimately useful communication medium for personal relationships. Phone spam is much more harmful than ads you kinda-sorta opt into, IMO.
stetrain 3y ago
Ads are not the same thing as impersonation, lying about who you are and where you are calling from. Cable is not full of ads that say they are from AT&T and you need to contact them about your bill at <number> but the ad isn't from AT&T and the number goes to a scam call center.
- TeMPOraL 3y ago
  Yes, but most scam calls aren't impersonations either. I bet if you tallied it up, there's many more people being tricked into taking on bullshit contracts with legitimate companies[0] and losing much more money in total, than there are victims of actual impersonation scams. I firmly believe both schemes are morally equivalent, and that one of them is still considered legal only means we should push firmly for a change in laws. Even the impersonation angle isn't clear-cut. When a telco calls me with their newest scam, it's always via a third-party call centre they outsource this job to. Where I live, it's also historically has been a major source of contact and personal information for scammers - always a "disgruntled employee" leaving and "covertly" taking the customer database with them. -- [0] - Telcos are my go-to examples here, they're notorious for borderline fraud. For example, just under a year ago, a billion-dollar telecommunications corporation named after a color, one of three major telcos in my country, tried to scam my own grandmother hard, after my grandfather passed away, and almost succeeded. More generally, after many years of near-misses and one or two mistakes, most people in my family learned to never talk to phone companies cold-calling with offers.
  - InitialLastName 3y ago
    > Yes, but most scam calls aren't impersonations either. Most of the spam texts I get lately are from non-US numbers claiming to be USPS trying to resolve a delivery exception.
  - stetrain 3y ago
    All of the spam calls that are an annoyance to me are clearly spoofed numbers from my home area code. That’s impersonation. I know they are spoofing numbers because my own numbers gets spoofed as well. Real people call me back and leave voicemails saying I’m the one who called them. None of this is standard advertising.
wise_young_man 3y ago
Ads are not illegal. Spam is regulated by laws like the TCPA for sms and CAN-SPAM for email.