Scam calls
 

Mods Pls move as requd. Did not find a similar thread.

In IL area scam / junk calls are on the rise. They are using sophisticated technology showing "Apple Computer" as caller id, or a name similar to a business you may have called. Often the area code and first three digits are similar to yours.

What are some of the ways to thwart them ?

I answer it as a business and immediately ask the persons name and company saying I have to log all callers . Most hang up, some scrappy ones question you !

I PROPOSE: We list the caller's number here. All of us call that number often, hopefully clogging up their lines.

On the iPhone, Mr. Number and Hiya work pretty well to ID spam/spoofed numbers when they show up. Or completely block them.

As the numbers are continuously randomly generated, and specific to your area code and exchange, listing them here won't do much.


(btw - you actually answer your phone when it ring and shows someone you don't know very well and/or are expecting?)

If you answer the phone, you'll be noted as someone who answers the phone. Then you'll get more calls.

The most likely fix is to implement STIR/SHAKEN. It's kind of like HTTPS for your phone. Dr. Evil could still call you, but he'd have to attest that he's Dr. Evil. Most carriers have signed onto this framework.

The caller id is spoofed. If you start calling the number that calls you, you will likely be calling some poor person who has absolutely nothing to do with it, but just had their number used.

There are some services that help with this, as @CPRich noted. Fios provides Nomorobo for our home phones and that works pretty well. Your best bet is to just not answer any number you don't recognize.

Thanks. On the cell I can block numbers.
Sometimes I do answer the landline phones, especially if I have just made an appt and the ID shows a very similar name !. Other times I just may answer to waste and play with the caller ! I will reply as " Thank you for calling Expert Consulting Services and immediately ask for their name and credit card number....why they ask ...." we charge $ 125 an hour to talk to us, so CC number please "!.

I used to get a few on my landline that would be "technical support" for my computer. I've told them I use my computer for internet banking only and am very worried if there's a problem. I can certainly connect to the internet but I'll need to hang up now to be able to connect. This usually generates questions as to why I have to do so and I say so the modem can dial my ISP. I then just put the phone down. A couple of them even called back and I put on an accent and pretend to be somebody else or a business. I don't have a landline anymore because they were the only people who called me on it.

On my cell/mobile that I use for calls I don't tend to get many maybe one every six months. On the phone I use for email, WhatsApp etc. about once or twice a fortnight I get called. As I don't take calls on that phone and don't hand the number out I can tell it's a likely to be a scammer and I don't answer. I may call the number back from my work but it nearly always turns out that the number is not in service.

I have done variations of your "system". I will act like a novice re computers, express horror and fear at the comp corruption, ask what can be done, where to pay how. ....then I ask for their advice as to what computer I should buy as I don't yet have one !When I have time

This - not only is caller ID spoofed, but the numbers are spoofed, also. Don't bother calling most of them back.

And, if you've been watching local Chicago news, you'd also know that they've been talking up the new "one ring" scam which results in international toll charges when you call back a spam caller. So yeah, don't do that either. Just hit the ringer and if it's important, they'll leave you a VM.

Thanks, new one on me...should watch local news !

What do you do with an old fax machine
 

Hook the fax machine to you phone line. When a live scammed comes onto the line, hit the receive button.

Now you tell me, years after I pitched the old machine !:)

On that note, is it possible that they'll consider the number active anyway if one rejects the call and makes it go to voicemail immediately? Is it better to have it ring the X number of times and have it go to voicemail on its own?

Another tool is a FOX40 whistle if you don't have a old fax machine.

Here is something very old-school you can gift to your caller by holding you phone to a speaker, and it lasts over three minutes!

So... what's the difference between Mr. Number (app by Hiya) and Hiya (app by Hiya)? Their App store pages looked almost identical to me.