UPDATED: Well... looks like I've l̶o̶s̶t̶ won the battle against scam callers

[Halcyon]

Phone-based scams are nothing new, however I've had the same mobile phone number since 1997. Until about 6 months ago, I might get 2 or 3 scam calls per year. Most recently it's closer to 1 per day (and they are the ones that get through the spam filter).

Obviously my number has finally made it onto some kind of list and it's the usual suspects calling constantly. I report and block every single number, but they simply buy a block of VoIP numbers and rotate them around. It would be nice if I could block an entire prefix, but it doesn't seem to be a feature on native Android (yet). It would prevent 99% of the callers, at least for a little while.

Another useful feature would be to only accept calls from those in my contacts, but again, not a feature that's available in the native phone application.

The Google call screening feature has been great (where I can screen calls without answering them) but it still required manual intervention and the scammers aren't smart enough to remove my number from their list, since they never actually get to a real human.

Keen to hear how others manage these nuisance callers.

Update: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/well-looks-like-ive-lost-the-battle-with-scam-callers/msg4914376/#msg4914376

Second update: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/well-looks-like-ive-lost-the-battle-with-scam-callers/msg5291752/#msg5291752

[Bud]

Another useful feature would be to only accept calls from those in my contacts, but again, not a feature that's available in the native phone application.

Exists natively on iPhone.

[Halcyon]

Another useful feature would be to only accept calls from those in my contacts, but again, not a feature that's available in the native phone application.

Exists natively on iPhone.

That's all well and good but I don't use Apple devices, mostly because they don't do what I want them to.

[ataradov]

Obviously my number has finally made it onto some kind of list and it's the usual suspects calling constantly.

I don't think there is a list, they just call all the numbers. But they tend to do this in waves.

And I think they may be focusing now on the rest of the world, since US finally did something and actually starting to enforce caller authentication.  The amount of calls I get dropped to zero in the last two weeks after getting 2-3 a day.

I report and block every single number,

There is no point, they are spoofing them anyway. You may be blocking someone's legitimate number.

Keen to hear how others manage these nuisance callers.

There is nothing you can do until government takes action. The solution is there, but telcos are making so much money on that, they don't want to do it unless forced.

[Halcyon]

There are several lists threat actors/scammers can obtain of legitimate numbers. Whenever there is a breach, those details appear on multiple sites on the internet for anyone to download. This includes a list of legitimate phone numbers. To call every number would mostly be a waste of time.

I'm not sure what the Australian telcos are or have done regarding caller ID authentication, but I've never had a case where a number has been spoofed. That's not to say I haven't heard of it happening, it's just extremely uncommon. Most of the time, they just buy a block of numbers from any cheap VoIP service and use those until they are exhausted. Going back through my block list, about 90% of calls originate from a +61 2 725x xxxx or +61 2 9564 7xxx number.

I'm honestly at the stage where I don't care if I'm completely unreachable via phone. My friends mostly call me on Signal and work calls me via Microsoft Teams anyway. Everyone else, including government agencies, I usually deal with via email or through their respective online portals.

EDIT: Telstra (Australia's largest telco) do actively block known scam calls. According to a blog post last year, Telstra block an average of 13 million scam calls per month at the network level.

[Ed.Kloonk]

I run a service that scrubs phone numbers off of scam call lists.

Send me $100 and your number and I'll fix it for you.

[ataradov]

Significant chunk of phone number is assigned to someone, so you will get a hit on random calls. Unless there is some more info on the target, I'm not sure what value the list like that would provide.

They may also save lists of number that were in service after random calling.

Some of them for sure just use sequential dialing, since I've heard stories of people with sequential corporate phones getting called in a row.

Here they used to spoof area code of the target phone. It is super obvious, since area code does not really mean anything on mobile numbers. If this is not the case, then I guess blocking would work. I was reluctant to block stuff, since some of the spoofed numbers actually belong to local businesses and even government agencies.

And yes, I basically don't pick up the phone unless it is in my address book or I'm actually expecting a call.

[Halcyon]

I'm honestly just sick of the interruptions. I don't have time for this shit. Maybe sending everything to voicemail initially might be the way to go. Scammers almost never bother to leave a message, particularly as a lot of those scam call centres don't accept incoming calls.

[johnh]

Scammer will use an valid calling number for the country they are targeting.
What piss's me off are the carrier/providers that don't care to make sure that they own the number, have the right to use.
i.e. Validate they can use the number or transit the call.

Either it's a native number ( number range they purchased from the ACMA)  or ported to there network

There is a lot of complexity in SPAM prevention and some of the smaller carriers probably don't care as they make some money from every call that gets connected.
is this a diverted call?  Calling inbound numbers and there answer points.

Some of the major carriers are blocking millions of calls.

I still get the occasional "Wangiri" fraud call.
But, then i don't expect/receive  many international calls to my mobile 


But, the scammer are learning at the same time.   They aren't idiots just evil bastards

[BravoV]

When I got my new phone, every-times, I set the "DEFAULT" ringtones to none/silent, and also at the "DEFAULT" notification tone and vibration of any chat apps.

So everytimes an unknown caller or unknown/foreign chat message arrived, they will basically get silenced and no annoying notification at all.

For legit caller/contact or chat counterpart, you will have to assign notification tone for them individually, all you need is just to remember when adding a new contact, assign a notification tone for them each. Its a one time task.

[eti]

I run a service that scrubs phone numbers off of scam call lists.

Send me $100 and your number and I'll fix it for you.

Send me a $1,000 by W/Union and I’ll send your a signed certificate of ownership of your new bridge!

[Siwastaja]

I'm honestly just sick of the interruptions. I don't have time for this shit. Maybe sending everything to voicemail initially might be the way to go. Scammers almost never bother to leave a message, particularly as a lot of those scam call centres don't accept incoming calls.

Just accept the fact that telephone (voice call) is dead, RIP, rest in pieces? It lasted for 150 years.

It's baffling how difficult it is in modern times to contact a stranger, for example if you have something business-related. You can't call because telephone system have been terrorized dead, you can't email because of exact same reason. Basically it's back to snail mail or personally visiting.

[rdl]

Unless I'm expecting a call, I usually just ignore them if the number is not one of my contacts.

[hans]

All sensible advice, but it's still an interrupt.

People can contact me in tons of different ways. I prefer in person, voicechat, emails, chat, all above phone calls. Urgency and depth of conversation at orthogonal. So if someone calls me, I really want to pick up because it probably has some urgency to it.

Consider the difference between private/professional availability as well. Some friends don't pick up the first call if they are busy. If people call 2-3 times in a row, they know they have to drop what they're doing right now. I think some phones let you filter calls unless they are coming in a few times in a row. However, that's not really an option for everyone, especially professionally.

I'm not sure if a 'service' to scrub phone numbers is effective. The people that do scamcalls are criminals, and I'm not sure how a negotiation with criminals is going to look like. In my experience it's up there with human traffi*cough* recruiters etc. where if you ask them to delete your file/details because you're not interested (and EU privacy laws), they still don't budge. They don't care. If you sue them for having your number on their list, I suppose that law case is the least of their problems.

[NiHaoMike]

If it's a real caller, put the phone up to the smoke alarm and press the button.

[xrunner]

Select a distinctive ringtone for your contacts which is the same sound. All other ring tones will be unknown callers. Simply don't answer. If it's an important message from a long lost relative they will leave a message.

All the calls I get from people who want to buy my house (a bothersome problem for people in my area now) I don't answer. Guess what? They don't ever leave a message.

[m k]

A message is obvious next step if you have a legit case.

Around here the current issue is optical fibre.
How would a blocked general sales call go through to those who are possibly interested?
For now it's door to door and leaflets, after general awareness ads.

Here, still few years ago, don't know how it is now, voice was differently legislated, aerial radio and TV also.
For voice it was even a bit more different, telcos fought against VoIP, surprisingly they were never against cable TV.

In practice the law was that if you speak nobody is allowed to tap the call, without a special exception.
And it continued so that if that sound is not speak the law is still the same.
But then everything changed and protection of the law was not present for calls outside of the phone network.
And telcos argued that old legislation must be widened to cover all calls.
For protection of the public that was not, just a simple money thing it was.

Now all net addresses are free to grab.
I'd say that finally there must be a state operated gate keeper.
Here it already goes so that you can't manage your own addresses.
The real reason is that state had no entity to keep up so one commercial step was created in between.
It's still the same free to grab but state has less clueless questions to answer.

[Stray Electron]

Keen to hear how others manage these nuisance callers.

   1) NEVER answer a call unless you KNOW exactly who it is. If you do answer a call from a SCAMMER, you'll go right back to the top of not only their call list but also all of the list of all of the other SCAMMERS.

    2)  NEVER, EVER, EVER give your phone number to your doctor's office or any other business.  Take my word for it, they ALL sell their data to other companies (quaintly referred to as their "business associates") and your data will spread like wildfire.

    3) Block the phone number of EVERY unknown caller that you get a call from. (You can later unblock the number if it turns out that the call was legitimate.)  Tele SCAMMERS do change their phone numbers periodically but after a time they seem to reuse their old numbers again.  So if you block them after the first call, you'll never be bothered again.

    4)  Re-read rule #2!   I don't care what excuses or reasons they offer, do NOT give them your phone number or you will be on everyone's call list.

 
  Over the last 20 or so years I've tried every combination and technique but the rules above are the only thing that has worked.

      I was particularly upset to find that at least two of my Dr's offices were "sharing" my information, in direct violation of the Hippa Act.

[Stray Electron]

Another useful feature would be to only accept calls from those in my contacts, but again, not a feature that's available in the native phone application.

Exists natively on iPhone.

   There is a setting for it on my Samsung phone but it doesn't work!   

[Stray Electron]

I'm honestly at the stage where I don't care if I'm completely unreachable via phone.

    X2.  This is where I'm at too.  My family and friend's know how to find me.  Everyone else can FO. It's not worth being interrupted 10 to 20 times PER DAY to get one legitimate call.

    Thanks to the telemarketers, pollsters, political calls, charity hoaxs and other SCAMMERS and the inaction of the phone companies, the days of the "Telephone" as a useful tool are over with IMO.   In my younger years I didn't have a phone and I'm ready to go back to not having one.

[5065AGuru]

I wish there was a way to charge callers say 10 cents to call me. That would cut down on spam calls!

Cheers,

Corby

[mendip_discovery]

    2)  NEVER, EVER, EVER give your phone number to your doctor's office or any other business.  Take my word for it, they ALL sell their data to other companies (quaintly referred to as their "business associates") and your data will spread like wildfire.

We have laws here in the UK that prevent that but sadly too many big firms leak data all the time. I don't like having to give my mobile over for 2FA as that is just another way for scammers to get my mobile.

We also have a system that makes it illegal for businesses to do unsolicited calls. You go on a register and any UK firm found to be flaunting this gets a hefty fine. Sadly some uk scan firms setup work and close before the government bodies can get a case against them. Often this is for loft insulation scams.

I guess the root of the problem is the internationally way we work these days. It's possible to buy a country based number and use it from a VOIP system in another country. The phone companies don't seem to be interested in putting in checks to prevent this abuse, but that would affect profit.

The scary ones are when I get a call from local number (10mile radius) as it maybe family on a borrowed landline. I would like to know how the scammers know where my phone is so they can target with a local number. I know this happens as I have worked away before and got a call from a local number to that area, an area in have only been in for less than 24hrs.

[m k]

For local numbers,
they can have a scanner but that is not practical, even that big city tower can receive quite many numbers.

Probably their guess of your location is from wider data mining operation.
It can finally be also just a lucky guess, you're just giving it unnecessary strength.

[Kasper]

Telus has 'call control', it works very well.

With Call Control on, when a caller phones you for the first time, they’ll be prompted to enter a number on their keypad. If they enter it successfully, the call will go through to you and they won’t be prompted again (as long as they’re one of your 25 most recent callers).
[...]
You can add phone numbers to your Accepted list to avoid having them screened when they try to reach you.
[...]
If you don’t want to receive calls from certain numbers at all, you can put them on your Blocked list.

You can also see a list of who tried and failed to get through.

I recently got a business line.  Before I did anything with it, I got lots of robo calls.  Exchanged for a different number a few times to no avail before giving up. 

[EPAIII]

Reading this thread has given me some insight into my own present position. I am a dinosaur. I have both a cell phone and a land line. The cell phone is with Pure Talk, a discount carrier, and the land line with AT&T, bundled with my internet and TV. So I don't pay a lot for either of them or for both together.

I give out the land line to everyone who wants my phone number and that number gets dozens of scammer calls every day. If I don't recognize the caller ID, I just don't answer. Only big problem is clearing out the "missed calls" on my desk phone every day or two. I use that phone for my answering machine so I can get messages but, as someone said above, scammers do not leave messages. So that's no problem.

My cell number is only given to family and friends. I get almost no scam calls on it. And I like it that way. Since it is in the same area code as my land line, I guess that argues against the scammers just calling every number. No, I think they are buying lists.

I guess I just stumbled into this system, but it seems to work for me. Who says that land lines are no longer useful? Mine seems to be doing a great job.