Time To Ban Caller-ID Spoofing (Again)? - Comments Page 2

I used to use the Should I Answer? app and got more spam calls than ever. When I got a call from my own number, that was one too many. I switched to the Hiya app and have not received a spam call since.

https://hiya.com/

Somehow it knows when caller ID has been spoofed and either blocks the call outright or sends them a text saying if they are legitimate, try again with a real caller ID.

Bob, what about those who take your number and call other people? This has happened to me three times in the past three months when I get an angry or inquisitive call that asks why I called them? I haven't called them but obviously someone who used my # called them. One young lady swore at me several times as I tried to explain what happened to her. The 1st time the called had experienced the same problem himself and explained it to me. This is becoming a big problem. How can we stop it. Consumer Cellular won't allow you to block any numbers.

This is an escalating game of spoofing as were are now beyond duplicate JUST the area code and has begin to duplicate/spoof your local 3-digit prefix, as well.
I am am a fairly private person but have owned the same personal phone# for well over 3 decades. I use nomorobo, also have a gVoice and another VoIP phone# that are either spam buckets or share for business purposes when I must give out a phone# if mandatory. I ONLY share my direct phone# with friends, relatives and known/trusted associates. I may average a maximum of 2 to 3 telemarketer (and/or spoofed) calls per WEEK. Maybe I am blessed or extremely blessed.

BTW >> I am still in Kansas, Toto!
Caveat Lector!
"Please leave a name/#/message and I will return your call promptly. Thank you!"
*82, over and out.

I get these on my landline, and found that not answering didn't prevent them from calling several times a day. (I kept track of the numbers for several weeks to see where they were coming from.) It was also irritating to have the answering machine kick in just enough to record a brief blank message.

I decided to try answering as soon as I saw the caller ID, and immediately hanging up. That actually cut the numbers of calls drastically. Once I hung up on my aunt's new cell phone, but when she called right back, I suspected it might be someone I wanted to talk to who might have thought my phone messed up and cut her off. So I waited for the answering machine to kick in and heard her voice.

Spoofing local numbers is particularly irritating, but I wait for the answering machine if I believe they might be valid. Whatever the number, I am particularly amused by the caller IDs that show up as "Invalid Number".

Here in the UK we have GP Surgeries and the local hospitals calling in with 'No.Witheld'. Most unhelpful and I can't get an explanation. Usually I block any unknown number but cannot block these in case something important is incoming. Fortunately the call is often accompanied by a text message to one's mobile which allows verification but there is still doubt.

I get those types of calls. Some spam calls come with both a local number and a name. Spammers have starting to use real numbers of people as the number that appears on the caller ID. About a month ago I got a call from a woman asking me to quit calling her. Seems the spammer used my number to show up on their calls. I convinced her I was not making the calls so she decided to block my number, I assume there must be people who fall for the scams or they would stop making the calls.

They're tricky, reporting is useless. I've a spam blocker app which catches most. But as Bob noted, of late they're using my area code and prefix. When I look up the number it is an actual person not "you stayed at one of our resorts", which I have NEVER in my life done. So I just block, keep my contacts up to date and if it doesn't come from a known number, I block. No limit on my iPhone or Mr. Number.

I buy a lot of stuff online which puts me at the top of 'sucker' lists. I was getting 5 a day on my landline, so bought a Panasonic phone with a block call key. One click to kill that number. After a few months, I'm down to maybe 3-4 a month.

Unfortunately, this is a land line and I don't see any easy solution for cell phones.

I get several SPAM phone calls a day to what I believe is to my business phone number. This number is forwarded to my cell phone because my wife gets really really angry when she gets "Hi, this is Sharon from Google...".

Anyways, lately I've been getting a lot of phone calls with the prefix "V" and then a strange series of numbers, and with what purports to be a legit phone number underneath it.

Any idea why and what the "V" signifies...other than a SPAM call?

I had forgotten about this...

Usually when my wife calls me on my cell but from my business line, my company name shows up and I know it's her.

A year or two ago I got a call on my cell but my business NUMBER shows up (as opposed to my company name). This was curious enough to make me answer it, and sure enough, it was a SPAM call...from my own number yet!

We have a Federal Government sponsored Do Not Call facility by which you can register your home phone or mobile and all Telemarketing calls are registered and available to the Telemarketers. It is an offence for them to call you and, upon, reporting to the controlling authority, they may be taken to court. Exemptions for politicians (who else??!!) apply.

PS to my submission...
I omitted that this applies to Australia.

Well my technique for these bogus calls is to answer whoever is trying to cheat me or sell me something is my reply. "Your mother is a prostitute"
I have noticed these calls have diminished. Maybe I have been put on a "don't call list" I certainly hope so,

Here in the U.S., we have the Do Not Call list. It's a joke because politicians (polite term for them), charities, and survey companies (most of whom are working for the politicians) are exempt. Robo calls are not exempt on landlines. I finally had to get rid of my landline because of the flood of spam calls I was getting on it, especially during elections, despite my efforts to keep my phone number off the spammers lists.

Those efforts mostly consisted of having an unlisted phone number and giving out my phone number as little as possible. When companies I did business with insisted on me providing them with my phone number when they don't need it, I gave it to them but replaced the exchange with 555. That way, if a caller was stupid enough to try to call the fake number I gave them (it's amazing how many idiots there are that don't know 555 is a fake exchange), it would ring over to directory assistance instead of an innocent person if I had just given a random number.

While that tactic worked for a while, random robo calling killed that advantage. My only defense was to get rid of the landline. Since robo calls are banned on cell phones, I replaced the landline with a cellular replacement that connects to my home cordless phone system. That has been working well for me for the past three years. I rarely get spam phone calls anymore. I reused the phone number on my old flip phone that I had had for ten years since that number received pretty much no spam calls because I rarely gave that number out.

The new flip phone that replaced the old one came with a preused number. Like the old phone, it is on a prepaid plan. Since I got charged for incoming calls, even if the phone was turned off, I had to track down the previous owner of that phone and threaten legal action in small claims court if she didn't notify her caller list that the number was no longer hers (heck, I was getting calls and texts from her sister, her bank, the school her children or grandchildren went to, etc.). That slowed down the flood. I also had to disable text messaging and voicemail so the spammers wouldn't run up the phone bill when the phone was turned off (it stays turned off to preserve battery life—that's how the old phone's battery lasted ten years—and so it doesn't bother me; I turn it on only on the rare occasions I'm actually going to use it, such as when traveling). I now get, maybe, one spam call a month between my two phones.

Why can't we reverse the law and make rule that the phone companies can only put through calls from numbers the customer allows?

This article touches on a problem that affects ALL of us!

I have had my share of robocalls, spamming phone calls & plain irritating phone calls. These have been mostly on my landline phone. My cell phone will get them, once in awhile, but I have been getting messages for "renewing your car's extended warranty", when my car is 14 years old!!!

I just got HiYa and Mr.Number on my phone by reading the comments from William and a couple of others. I am impressed with both of these programs. It may be "overkill" but I don't mind a backup for good service.

Just a note: Both HiYa and Mr.Number are by the same company. Both looked at my phone calls that I missed and told me which ones needed to be blocked and who they were. I really like that, since I do hate having mystery callers! }:O)

a note to srsvii - we have Consumer Cellular and I have a list of blocked numbers on my phone. So as far as I know they do allow it.
I have, for years, even in the day of the old answering machine, only answered calls I knew the number. If someone wants me bad enough they can leave a message and I'll call back. My drs. office uses the no number or private number and they always leave a message so I just return the call. These spammer/scammers are a pain but I refuse to let them get any of my time.

Hot topic, I know Heather got just last week. I fill up my blocking allocation dump it and go again. I have to remember some in my area code that come unknown and one time for the voice mail and they're done. What a pain and I found from your previous articles that I had opted out in 2015. Not much good is it?
Thanks, PMW

I have gotten calls on my house phone showing my cell phone number. I have been using nomorobo for a couple of years. It will catch most of the robo calls,but not all.Best thing is let it go to your answering service.

To "The Other Al" who asked: "...is there a law against blowing a VERY SHRILL whistle into the phone?"
No, there is no law, but there is a limit to how much volume can actually pass through any phone line, due to the specifications of the equipment used throughout the system. Using an extremely loud voice, even shouting, will not really sound much louder than a normal strong speaking voice to the person at the other end of the line . Blowing a loud whistle will, however, sound annoyingly shrill to the person blowing it and other people or pets in the house (and perhaps innocent neighbors).