Phone Companies Ink Deal With All 50 States And D.C. To Combat Robocalls
npr.org
npr.org
> Require Traceback Cooperation in Contracts. For all new and renegotiated contracts governing the transport of voice calls, use best efforts to require cooperation in traceback investigations by identifying the upstream provider from which the suspected illegal robocall entered its network or by identifying its own customer if the call originated in its network.
This is the amazing low-tech solution: It basically means companies will stop ignoring what they knew is happening for ages. As long as LE takes on the uncovered sources, I feel like this is the most important principle.
That's a pretty big if though, and if it doesn't work that statement precludes recourse.
If you think about it, most of our normal concepts of "recourse" involve things entirely under the other party's control, and in serious contracts, still often have a call out of "acts of God". It'd be like a football team offering legal recourse if the other team wins; not the brightest move.
Just like blocking .ru IPs or non-ARIN IPs on your local theatre blog.
https://www.androidcentral.com/how-use-call-screen-feature-p...
So they must have put me on a different list. Now I get the same call with the same intro, but when you press "1" - it connects you not to the scam operator, but to another hapless individual who's been robo-dialed. I get this call about 10x a day now.
I hope they throw the book at these clowns.
He just screamed "fuck you!" and hung up.
When you get a call, press a button to redirect them to your time waster. Hire them from the same area that the scammers hire people for these things.
See https://jollyrogertelephone.com/ and enjoy.
I like ScammerRevolts a bit more than the others simply because he fucks up the scammers' computers... :)
I unhooked my phone and called AT&T and tried to report it. They tried to get me to go through some absurd process and I dropped it.
I let all strange and not-in-my-contact numbers go to voice mail which I left in default. If it's important enough, hit my voice mail, I will call back. I got vastly reduced number of robocalls in the past year or so this way.
My friend used the Off-Hook tone [0] as th initial sound on their voicemail, then followed by them actually leaving an invation to leave a message. It seemed for a while there that the robocall would just interpert the off-hook tone as a dead number and not wait the 3 seconds. But then they started waiting until the line dropped and that trick stopped working.
It feels like there are so many easy ways to make the phone app better yet nothing ever seems to change with it. My phone is in my pocket now instead of on my desk, but it's basically the same thing I had in 1982. Why is there so little innovation around the telephone and voice calls?
I imagine patent trolls are to thank for this state of affairs, along with the system that enables them.
I don't have any evidence of that, though.
Unfortunately, it means I get various voicemails threatening to delete my SSN or that police are coming to arrest me. But, other than making it harder for scammers, I'm not sure what the fix is other than basically switching your phone to a pure whitelist system.
This guy is THE absolute worst. 51 attorneys general were able to rally to a cause that the chairman of the FCC could only pay marginal attention to (and under duress at that; he didn't pay this issue any attention until political blowback started).
How was he required to?
> The commission is made up of six members, who are appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. Each member serves a six-year term, and two seats are subject to appointment every two years. By law, no more than three commissioners can be members of the same political party, and at least four votes are required for any official commission action.
(Legally, I suppose he could've nominated someone from a third party for the slot, but practically that would've died with McConnell in the Senate.)
But I'm really struggling to find a charitable explanation for how Ajit Pai is conducting himself as FCC commissioner.
Can anyone think of a plausible theory that doesn't involve malice [EDIT: I should have said "self-serving" instead of "malice"] or extreme incompetence on his part?
What things are bothering you? Unlike the insinuation of the person your replied to, in reality he worked on this Caller ID issue almost immediately upon becoming chairman. (He put out an action paper July 2017, and became Chairman in January.)
Net Neutrality seems to have had zero actual (as opposed to theoretical) problems, so that wasn't a problem either.
So what things are you seeing that you want explanations for?
> "But I'm really struggling to find a charitable explanation"
An explanation for what?? Ajit Pai was the one who got this Called ID situation taken care of. What in the world do you have to complain about?
I don't need references - what are you complaining about?
Ajit Pai became chairman January 2017. So it took him a whole 6 months to work on the issue.
I really don't understand your criticism.
There is no one, either individual or business, that has the same area code and prefix as my cell phone and would have any reason to call me, so when I see my area code and prefix in the caller ID, I know it is a spam call.
For quite a while, I'd respond by immediately declining the call, but I wasn't careful how I did it. It turned out I was not just hanging up or sending them to voice mail--I was hanging up and sending back a text message that said something like "I'm not available right now".
Of course the text message does not go to the spammer. It goes to the person whose number is being spoofed, who would then sometimes text me or call me trying to find out who I was and why I suddenly text them out of the blue.
Take a moment to make sure you know what the various call decline options on your phone actually do.
It took a little bit of convincing for them to believe I wasn't the nefarious caller just pretending to be ignorant. Or they just got tired of sending me messages. Either is good, really.
I've had a couple of French phone numbers over the past 15 years and I can't recall a single time I got spam call (though I did get an occasional spam text message with a shady link). I know my parents occasionally get some call but it's a small handful of offenders that keep repeating the same call again and again.
I don't think it's a technical difference as you can make call using IPBX/VOIP without too much trouble here.
Also they're more obvious because they're always from a landline number, and barely anyone uses landlines anymore. In America landline and mobile numbers are mixed so you can't tell (as far as I know).
My VOIP provider charges a lot more for EU call termination, which probably makes scattershot robocalls unprofitable.
disclaimer: google employee.
Disclaimer: also google employee.
Edit: I don't think he's being negative - he's saying "don't do it" and i agree.
Next, if the voicemail is clearly a robot voice, make sure they don’t respond until checking with you first. That should weed out another big chunk.
They have a finite set of responses, though. Ask them what the difference is between a burrito and an enchilada.
Just yesterday, I got a call with caller ID for Chase bank, audio in Chinese. Trusting caller ID is a bad choice (at least currently)
On the plus side, when I get a call from a textual non-contact number it's a heck of a strong signal I don't need to pick up.
I usually start with, "hey, quick question before I give you the CC#: why did you spoof your number?" I had one guy try and tell me I didn't understand "VoIP, that's just how it works." Weirdly, I ended up hanging up on him, because he wanted to continue to argue after I told him he was wrong.
I'm waiting for the "gotchas" to come to light that will allow the status quo to continue. Seems par for the course so far.
I've seen Europeans on HN complaining about robocalls. I'm pretty sure Germany is one of the countries that gets them.
Also depends on whether your EU country has a developing nation source for < 1 EUR/hr labour.
France and UK, sure. Germany and Italy, not so much.
I haven’t gotten a robocall since the beta started and it’s been great.
Change your number to an area code that is outside of where you live - ideally a different state altogether.
If you get a call from an area code outside of where you live it’s probably Robo. If you get a call from area code of where you actually live, it’s probably legit. Ex: kids school, daycare, healthcare provider etc.
People move around. My legitimate calls can be from all over, even when it is just the coworker in the cubicle over who lived somewhere else 15 years ago.
This idea doesn't work for landlines, of course.
For legitimate new callers, they'd be shunted just once.
The issue is that the telephone system basically has no security/privacy/abuse defense mechanisms, and phone companies have done nearly nothing to fix that in the last 100 years. Well, unless your scam is stealing from the phone company (ala phreakers). Then maybe they'd try to fix it.
Some additional features I'd like to see:
- Allow repeated calls through the second time
- Allow apps to pass the filter somehow (uber, door dash etc.) or make it easily to temporarily disable for 10min.
Even without these features it's by far the best solution.
The blacklists never worked well and were just hacks.
I get at least 3 calls a day although the volume will drop and climb here or there.
Capital, irreversible punishment should be for capital, irreversible acts.
Why do people perform transactions or give ANY trust over phone calls they didn't initiate directly or indirectly? It's not rocket science and I'm sorry old people are so trusting but at this point everyone should know better. At some point people have to pay for their stupidity unless you want to assign everyone a personal babysitter.
If I'm already at risk of death penalty, I'll have fewer compunctions about assaulting or killing someone who threatens to out me.
2. Auto-transfer any incoming calls not in my contact list to voicemail. Apple?
If you mean getting punishment that wasn't meted out to them by a judge in prison by other inmates, this is not really how law is supposed to work; you are entitled to the punishment given to you by a judge and no more.
If you think penalties should be increased (maybe they should) then you should work logically and level-headedly within the law and lobby your representatives to increase it.
It would be better if society, especially one with so much money and resources, would find a way help the really mentally ill before they commit horrific acts or all types, instead of using primitive, childish, and retrogressive ideas of evil and good to justify revenge-based emotional acts that aren't grounded in logic. This honestly doesn't make you much better than most criminals.
Your way is really little better/civilized than vigilante justice.