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.
Why do spammers need leaked phone numbers? Can't they just call/message every number?
Jim Browning videos are a fantastic resource to learn more about the inner workings of scams https://youtube.com/c/JimBrowning
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.
You also have to factor in your costs as well. I checked a random VOIP service and they charge a penny per minute, or $0.60 per hour. The federal minimum wage is an order of magnitude higher at $7.25/hour. Therefore it's more expensive for you to stay on the line to mess with them.
[0] https://lennytroll.com/about.php
On the tangential topic of war dialing (calling every number as an exploration) I recommend checking this discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27602383
0: https://www.att.com/support/article/my-account/KM1051831/#:~....
1: https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_general/
I know I can block a caller, but I don’t know enough about how these scams work to know if blocking a number slows them down at all.
I just don’t let my phone ring ever so I don’t deal with too much of the spam. Every once in a while I open the phone app and see I have like 15 new voicemails. I’m guessing I do that once a month so they are just calling every other day.