This is one of the nice things about having gotten my cell phone while I was living in another state. If I get a call from Montana, it’s either a wrong number, a scam, or the alumni office. If I get a call from one of the Cleveland area codes, even if I don’t recognize it, it’s probably someone I actually know in some way.
That’s all optional. Here’s a page that explains it.
The modem goes between your computer and your wall phone jack.
I use a VOIP provider* whose premium level allows me to whitelist numbers that can get through. Everyone else gets a “this call has been blocked” message (I could also have them get “this number has been disconnected”). Total freight is < USD 20 / month.
* I’m not comfortable plugging specific products, however satisfied I may be. I figure anyone interested can find out easily enough.
Small problem: the only phone jack is on a different floor from the computer. I don’t know if there are ways around that that don’t require an electrician to wire in another phone jack downstairs (we use cordless phones so there is a cordless satellite unit downstairs) or moving the computer upstairs (not really an option).
Yeah, that is a problem.
This. My mobile has an MO area code. I now live in FL. I have a contact already for everyone I still know or still have business with in MO. Any call from any MO area-code that doesn’t map to a contact is assumed to be a spammer. And is 99% correct.
On the rare occasions a MO area code call leaves a voicemail I might listen to it if I’m bored. The recent trick of faking the same area code and first 3 digits as the target phone essentially backfires with me. Those are the ones I know for sure I won’t listen to. The other ones I might.
Most are still spammers but once I got an investigator a Sergeant at a county Sheriff’s office seeking one of their “customers” about a court date. I told the Sergeant I’d had this number for 15 years but I wasn’t that person. She was thankful I told her he hadn’t gotten the message. I assume the warrant for his arrest was duly issued.
That’s becoming a real concern for me. I add callers to my blocked-callers list all the time. Most are spoofing inactive numbers (how do they know???) at least on the rare occasion I redial them out of curiosity, but some are real numbers. How long will it be before nobody can call anyone because their number has been spoofed so much that it’s blocked everywhere?
Oh - and for the OP: set up Nomorobo, and don’t answer any call until it’s rung twice or more. They’ll block known spam numbers, and they won’t let any unidentified callers through without going through a process where the caller says their name.
Thank you for the suggestion, it sounds like a big improvement. Unfortunately, AT&T landline still doesn’t work with Nomorobo. Thanks, AT&T.
What we need is for the phone companies to set up a way that always tells us the real number the call is coming from, allowing it to be blocked if necessary. And, if that information is missing, the call could also be blocked.
The regular switching network for phones and cellular networks are set up where they know what number the call comes from. VOIP seems to be a wild west. However, if people start blocking calls that lack verified information, I think they could be forced to include identifiers. Though, honestly, some level of regulation (if they want to be able to call someone on a non-VOIP phone) could be quite valuable.
Caller ID can stick around. But it’s too easy to spoof to rely on. Services like Nomorobo are great, but they exist because of flaws in the system. And even they are relying on Caller ID to function.
And, yeah, many landlines don’t support them.
Fortunately (potentially) there is a new protocol in the works called “STIR/SHAKEN” that attempts to verify call origins on net-based communications.
That’s probably a good thing. But I can’t help thinking that it won’t take long for the bad guys to find a way around it. And so the game of whack-a-mole continues.
Do they try to solicit donations? I have a list of fake “machine testing” credit card numbers to use with scam callers. (I once led one of the “lower your interest rate” scammers through three different bogus credit card numbers, with at least a full minute going by after each one while he (I presume) tried and failed to steal my money with it, before he figured out that I was jerking him around, made several rude and anatomically implausible suggestions, and hung up.)
Xfinity/Comcast presumably is already using this – [V] leads off all verified IDs.
Not all IDs get verified – ones with just a location or a number, for example. We know we shouldn’t be picking up on anything without the [V] but sometimes my SO does anyway.
A long time ago I did much the same thing with the number from one of those pasteboard cards that come with “You’ve been preapproved!” mailings. After it failed, I said there must be something wrong with his system. Then I told him that was my only card, and he gave up (sans anatomical references).