Robocall Strike Force

Channel98

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Feb 2, 2019
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memebag said:
I don't answer the phone, so I never get these.

*Ring.....ring.....ring.....ring.....ring.....* "Mr. Goldberg? Mr. Bag is not answering his phone." "Well, that's too bad. We will just have to award our $1,000,000 Publishers Clearing House prize to someone else."
 

Channel98

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"Mr. Bag, this is Andy Goldberg, CEO of Publishers Clearing House. We're calling to let you know that you were the winner of our $1,000,000 grand prize but our rules specifically state that your entry must include your real name, not an alias or a screen name. We're sorry to have to disqualify you. Don't forget you can still subscribe to Redbook, Trailer Life or Martha Stewart Living for the low price of only $18 per year. Have a nice day." *Click*
 

Channel98

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This technology uses digital signatures to verify whether a phone number that shows up on a caller ID is the number the call was made from. If the number isn't "verified," we know not to answer – although I think most of us ignore 99% of these calls anyway.

A new tool in the fight against robocalls
STIR/SHAKEN will help stamp out call spoofing but experts expect scammers to adapt.
NBC News, May 1 2019

Robocalls have skyrocketed in recent years, with the call-blocking service YouMail estimating that 5.2 billion calls were placed to US numbers in March, up from 2.5 billion three years earlier. But carriers are in the early stages of implementing new protocols aimed at stamping out one of the most common tactics used by robocall scammers. The protocols, STIR (Secure Telephony Identity Revisited) and SHAKEN (Secure Handling of Asserted information using toKENs), will make it harder for scammers to hide their actual phone numbers.

Phone service providers have a new tool to fight robocalls. It won’t be enough.
 

Channel98

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I got a call today. Caller ID showed "CT TOURING" and a phone number. Of course I didn't answer it. I checked the number and it belongs to Colonel Tom Touring, a company headquarted in Clarkville, Tennessee. They handle video production for concerts and special events. I'm sure the number was spoofed. Why would a concert video producer be calling me? I can't even dance!
 

Channel98

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The FCC is warning Americans of a robocall scam originating in West Africa. Someone will phone, often in the middle of the night, and hang up after one ring. If you return the call, you supposedly get hit with huge toll charges.

FCC: Beware of new ‘One Ring’ robocall scam

But fact-checking site Snopes.com says the reports of the "One Ring" scam are "mostly false." So who do we believe, Snopes or the FCC? Oh, wait a minute. My phone is ringing.

FACT CHECK: What is a 'One Ring' Scam?
 

hyson

Forum Jerk
Oct 19, 2008
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Someone from the DRC hotline keeps calling me and hanging up....sum bitches.
 

Channel98

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Caller ID is pretty much worthless nowadays. Robocallers outside the US are able to spoof names and numbers so people think they're getting a call from someone in their local area. When they answer, a man with a thick accent launches into a sales pitch for viagra, home loans, insurance, solar panels or some other service or product. The FCC today voted to ban calls using spoofed numbers. Fine – but enforcing the ban will be pretty much impossible.

 

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
49,832
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Toledo, Ohio
I get the same call once or twice a day. It's a prerecorded scam for something, not sure what though, since the recording starts before my vm message is finished. Something something, press whatever to talk to someone, then a robot voice mumbling a few numbers. It always comes from a different phone number. I block the number and report it as spam, but it doesn't matter.

The only way it'll stop is if they stop making money from people that answer and give them a chance to make money.
 

Wolf

Well-Known Member
Oct 11, 2008
33,309
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Phoenix
Every other day I get a phone call from the same number and I know it's a scam. I block them and I still get alerted they tried to call me.

Earlier this week I received a call from a 844 # and of I coarse I don't answer phone calls I don't recognize. They left a voicemail saying something like:

"This is the Social Security office and we received a alert and we locked your SSN. Please give us a call."

Yea like I'm going to fall for that, first off I never gave the SS office my phone # and second I can alerted from Credit Karma and the real credit bureaus.
 

Channel98

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AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and eight other phone companies agreed to offer robocall blocking at no cost to consumers – but this "deal" is non-binding. I have a feeling robocall blocking won't remain free for long. I hope I'm wrong.

 

memebag

Top Brass, ADVP
Oct 11, 2008
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Lake Huntzing
This is a good test of capitalism. If capitalism is working as designed, one of the carriers, or a brand new carrier, should be able to offer robo-call free service, capture market share and/or force the other carriers to do the same.

The fact that that hasn’t happened indicates that capitalism isn’t working as designed.
 

Channel98

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"Hello." "Hello, sir, my name is Jawalapur. I am calling from New Delhi and I can offer you 5,000 generic Viagra for only four cents a pill." "Jawalapur, maybe you haven't heard about the TRACED Act. Let me tell you about it......."