Die, robocalls, die: A how-to guide to stop spammers and exact revenge

[IronLionZion]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/04/04/die-robocalls-die-how-to-guide-stop-spammers-exact-revenge/?utm_term=.b6fa2a1bea60&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1

We tested six apps and services to find the best way to fight back against bots, telemarketers and fraud.



“Call me, maybe?” is on the brink of becoming “Call me, never.”

Robocalls, those computer-generated shysters, are making some people stop answering the phone altogether. The rest of us trust unknown calls about as much as truck-stop sushi. By several estimates, Americans got more than 5.2 billion automated calls in March — a record of about 16 for every man, woman and child.

It’s happening because the Internet made it incredibly cheap and easy to place thousands of calls in an instant. But we don’t have to just bury our heads in the spam and take it. While lawmakers debate what to do about the robo-scourge, engineers have cooked up clever ways to make bots work for us, not against us. Verizon just started offering free spam-fighting technology like AT&T and T-Mobile, if you sign up. The right app or service on your phone can make it safer to say hello again — or even extract revenge.

Yes, revenge.

So let’s battle, bots. I collected dozens of robocalls from my Washington Post colleagues along with the (good grief) 30 I received in March. I get lots in Chinese. One colleague gets one for a “medical-grade brace” he definitely doesn’t need. Then I took this list of 100 naughty numbers — and a few legitimate calls such as pharmacies and schools — to six tech companies that flag and block robocalls on cellphones: Hiya, Nomorobo, RoboKiller, TNS, Truecaller and YouMail. (Landlines and VoIP phones also get barraged, but some of the solutions are different.)

My test lasers in on one important question: Who was first at identifying the bad guys? I discovered no service could flag more than two-thirds of the calls on my list, in part because so many robocalls spoof their identities. Those are the calls that look conspicuously similar to your number, or that copy the caller ID of some poor soul who gets lots of angry return calls.

[Cracklin Charlie]

1. I get the one for the brace several times a day.

It’s so annoying. I block that number, and a few days later, they’re calling me on a different number.

It happens so often, that my 3 year old grand girl knows not to answer calls from “quality affordable braces”.

[PeeJ52]

2. I finally took the bait the other day from "Senior Benefits"...

they call every day trying to sell funeral insurance. I kept saying no, take me off your list. reported them to Do Not Call, cussed them out, everything. Finally I said, yeah, I was wanting something like that. They then passed me on to someone to verify me for "quality insurance" who told me one of their agents would contact me in a few days.

The next week, I actually did get a call from an insurance agent but he didn't identify himself as "Senior Benefits", he just said he was informed I was interested in one of his products. Once he told me the product I realized who he was, thanked him for calling me on an identifiable number, did a reverse lookup and found his agency, and told him I was reporting him for his harassing sales tactics. He tried to weasel out and say he had nothing to do with it that it was his agency's marketing firm, and I told him he better tell his agency to get ready because I'm reporting them.

I called the FTC and they seemed very interested in the information I had to give them and said they would investigate my complaint. I had seen on DU a breaking news article they had just busted 4 of these call centers and fined them recently. Hopefully they'll get these guys too.

I think I'm up to about 98% useless spam calls on my land line. It's crazy.

[Phentex]

3. Good job!

[IronLionZion]

4. Good for you

FTC, FCC, and Better Business Bureau all need formal documented complaints with as much information as you can get. It makes a difference.

Sometimes there are even class action lawsuits if it is a large well-known company who employs shady marketing firms to harass you with dishonest messages and won't stop when you ask to be added to their do not call list.

[ProfessorPlum]

5. that's a great strategy

now why didn't I think of that

[TruckFump]

6. I bought a call blocker for my land line.

Over a year now, I am up to 400+ blocked numbers.

One thing I do if to screw with them is to answer, "Los Angeles County Morgue." About 50% of the time, they say they will delete the number from their list. The really dumb ones persist and I say, "First tell me the date of death." Do this in a Boris Karloff type voice and that usually ends the problem. The penultimate dumb ones, keep on going and I ask if they have a clue what a "morgue" is!

[FoxNewsSucks]

7. I got one of the "disconnected line" boxes from Radio Shack

When you pick up the receiver, it gives a short computer tone that indicates a non-working number to other computers. Live callers just hear a beep. It coesn't block anything, but Robocall computers then delete your number from their call list. It After a couple months, the calls pretty much come to a stop.

When I moved, I didn't use it and now don't know where it is.

While I was typing this, the phone rang so I did the "Sedgwick County Morgue" thing. It was a live call, she didn't sound foreign, and was obviously not expecting to reach a morgue. She asked how we took payments, so I asked if she knew what a morgue was. She said yes, and I said even hospital morgues don't take payments but this was a county morgue and was government funded. She said I'll mark this "government" and hung up.

That tells me 2 things, first, it's not only funny but apparently effective.

And second, it's no wonder government hasn't done anything about these calls, THEY don't have to put up with them.

[TruckFump]

9. Oh, wow!

I like that device...but the "morgue" answer truly is more fun!!!

[happybird]

8. Some give "press 7 to be removed from our list"

or similar instructions if you listen all the way through the recording.

Does that really work?

Or am I really just informing them that it's a valid number and a real person both answered the phone and punched a button?

[NurseJackie]

10. Nope! It lets them know that you listened and followed instructions...

Nope! It lets them know that you listened and followed instructions... and that they have a "live" person at that number who's willing to listen to an entire message.

Expect more calls as a result. (Sorry.)

[IronLionZion]

12. It depends on if it's a legit organization or not

Scammers will just call you more.

Legit organizations will remove you from their list. If you can get a human, just ask them "please add me to your do not call list".

And of course if they have a foreign accent and are threatening to send police to arrest you if you don't pay a fine, just hang up and don't even talk to them.

[NurseJackie]

11. We use "NOMOROBO" on our house phone...

... and that service requires that we add a "Nomorobo" phone number as a "simul-ring" on our house phone. If the Nomorobo service detects that it's a blacklisted number, then Nomorobo picks up first (and we only hear one ring because they intercepted the call.)

But... we got tired of hearing single rings all day long, so my husband found a device on Amazon that suppresses the first ring. It prevents our landline phones from ringing ONLY the first ring for every call ... our phones don't make a sound until the 2nd ring.

This means that Nomorobo can operate silently in the background... intercepting calls on the first ring, while our ring-suppressor device intercepts the physical ring.

Blissful silence!

[boston bean]

14. what product do you have that supresses the first ring. We really have had good results with the

nomorobo, and would also like to supress that first ring.

[NurseJackie]

15. Here's the item... works beautifully!

It's $35... you kinda gulp at the price of something so simple. BUT, it works great, just as it's supposed to.

FRS22100 First Ring Suppressor Silencer for Robocall blocking services

Short Link: http://tinyurl.com/y5aey5gu

Full Link: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BPFMHPD/

[boston bean]

16. Thanks Jackie! I ordered one!

[NurseJackie]

17. 👍😍❤️

[Exotiki]

13. I hate robocalls

More than anything and anyone.