Phone calls, spam, surveys, BS...

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

I get calls on my cell usually a few times a day. They come from numbers I don't recognize. I usually check for info on the numbers when I notice the call. (I have the general ring-tone set to silence and a specific ring-tone for about a half dozen family members. For calls not from family my phone doesn't ring at all.)

Once I look up the mystery number on a few websites that I use, I usually read some of the comments left by others about for that number. I occasionally read a comment from someone saying that they are unlisted. Some others say that they are on the list not to be called.

There are 395 in use of the total possible of 999. Within each area code there are 999 possible exchanges and within each exchange there are 10,000 possible numbers. Computerized dialing makes it possible to call a number of phones simultaneously, determine which are not in service, pass on to a recording (or maybe even a human) those calls that get a live answer and move on to the next number group.

It was news to me that some of these telescammers even spoof the numbers that appear on the caller ID. For the Philly area the 215 area code has about 765 active exchanges. Extrapolating for 395 area codes times 765 times 10,000 I get a bit more than 3 billion numbers. Making a few guesses, I think a single call center with a few dozen employees can call every number in every area code within about 9 years. I infer that lots of these places buy other ccdata about inactive numbers and use this data to fine tune their efforts.

Do any you smart folks have any further visibility into the dark world of telemarketing, phone scammers, etc.?

Thanks

[MontanaMama]

1. I don't have any insight to

your question but I have noticed that the scammers are getting lots better at the numbers they choose to show up on our phones. I've had scammers call and what shows up on the caller id is "Internal Revenue Service" with an 800# following it. I get calls on my cell phone from scammers that have a 406 area code. Well, ALL of Montana has a 406 area code so it seems like those would be safe to pick up but I've learned that they aren't. They even choose #'s from super small towns in MT...not sure how they accomplish that either.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

2. It's been my experience that some of these scammers...

...pick a random number with the same area code and exchange as the number they are calling.

[ret5hd]

3. You should edit your subject to phn-clls_spm_srvys

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

4. There's a capital idea!

[Wellstone ruled]

5. My investagation into these unwanted calls

lead me to thisExperian,if you have ever went to a Insurance Company Web site for a quote,or to a Bank for a Mortgage quote,or to a Car Dealer looking for a quote. Well my friends,chances are this info is controlled by one company and that is Experian the people .

If you have a 800 or above,you better get to their web site and make darn sure they remove you name and phone number or they will continue to sell it to whom ever

A Banker Friend says these people pretty much control the sale of names to boiler room operators.

Same for Junk Mail Offers,read the fine print,another E

[MontanaMama]

6. Sooooo Experian

the credit reporting agency? Really? That's disturbing. And not surprising I suppose after the Equifax debacle.

[Wellstone ruled]

7. Read your junk mail fine print.

Experian seems to be the most egregious when it comes to mailing lists. Also notice,when you do fill our the opt out thing,it will tell you about the lead and lag time it takes for this to go into effect.

[MontanaMama]

8. Effing losers.

Organized crime. Again...still.

[Wellstone ruled]

10. Now you see and hear why

Senator Warren is so angry with the Banksters and their rating agencies. All about Consumer Protections and there ain't anymore.

[left-of-center2012]

9. I use a call blocker on my Android phone

Blacklist pro from the Google store

Blocks spam (as well as numbers I input)

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

12. I will look at that app

I have a blocking app but that sounds better. TY

[left-of-center2012]

13. It's free, or ...

I paid $2.99 for the "Pro" edition because it comes with a 'log' of calls it blocked.

[SeattleVet]

11. The scammers have figured out that someone is more likely to answer...

if they see a number from their own area/exchange.

The auto-dialers they use can be programmed to fake the Caller ID to be anything - a number close to the one that is being called, or even the number itself (I have set my phone system up to automatically block all calls from 'my own' number - since I would never call myself on the same phone!). We were on vacation a while back and I got a scammer call from a number that was 5 off from mine (my number minus 5). A few minutes later I got a call from a number that was 5 up from mine, asking why I had called. I explained the way the scammer was working the numbers. This pretty well avoids any people that block known scam numbers - they are never making a cal that appears to be from the same number twice.

Some people will claim that the federal Do Not Call registry does not work, but I have found that it really works quite well. I have not received a call from a *legitimate* telemarketer in several years (other than from a company that I had an existing business relationship with). All of the calls are from scammers, spammers, or other criminal elements and assorted lowlifes, who are not going to be following the law in any case. (They are already breaking multiple laws with their scams - do you think that they are going to be worried about adding a violation of the Do Not Call registry to their crimes?)

Most of the calls are from out of the country, and out of easy reach of our various law enforcement agencies. Pakistan and India are two of the biggest employers for boiler-room scammers (fake IRS, duct cleaning, 'Windows' support, and the like). Their autodialers usually fake the ID to be local to the number they are calling at the time.

I have found that the best we can do at this point is to ignore any calls we are not expecting, or where I do not recognize the number. If it is a real contact, they will leave a voice message and I can call them back. The scammers rarely do - except once in a while their robocall winds up leaving a partial message.

I use a VOIP phone system at home (Ooma), which has some excellent blacklisting features and has robo-call detection and blocking available. Some - mostly domestic - scammers use known blocks of numbers, and I have blacklists set up to reject calls from entire ranges of numbers.

If I do see a number I don't recognize and I am at my desk I turn on the scanner and answer, "North precinct, fraud division. Clearly state your name and company name for the record", with police calls going on in the background. The scammers can't hang up fast enough.

All calls for alleged charities, polls, surveys, fundraisers, etc. get the same response - we never give out any personal or financial information based on telephone cold calls; thank you; put this number on your organization's do not call list; goodbye. We make all of our donations directly to the organizations themselves.


By being diligent about this, we have gone from receiving as many as 4 or 5 scam calls a day a couple of years ago to maybe 1 or 2 a month...a manageable number.