Phone SPAM messages question

[Henro]

Recently I started receiving a message on my phone that are addressed to ten or twenty sequential numbers including mine. Meaning my number was in there around the others that were in the sequence of numbers provided as to where the messages were sent to.

IF anyone replies to this spam message, I get the reply.

If I want to block the numbers, I need to do it 20 times, and I realize I am blocking numbers that are as innocent as I am, so I do not do that.

Is there any relief? This almost seems like it should be a criminal act on the part of the perpetrator.

What is wrong with our regulators that they permit this to occur?

Should sign this as Pi$$ed off in Pittsburgh...

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

It's normally foreign originated / perpetrated so there isn't much our Government or laws can do about it.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

H. When you 'call block' ,you're blocking the CALLING number not the list of numbers that you're part of being called.

Actually there's a LOT the guvs 'could' do , but choose NOT to.....

I'd love to see mandatory FREE 'personal' call blocking Simple,easy effective..
If you get a call from ANYONE, you press *666 and that number IS blocked. doesn't matter where it's from of if 'no number displayed'...

Your phone then has a 'database' of blocked numbers, be they spammers,phishers,politicians, survey takers, etc.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

H. When you 'call block' ,you're blocking the CALLING number not the list of numbers that you're part of being called.

Actually there's a LOT the guvs 'could' do , but choose NOT to.....

I'd love to see mandatory FREE 'personal' call blocking Simple,easy effective..
If you get a call from ANYONE, you press *666 and that number IS blocked. doesn't matter where it's from of if 'no number displayed'...

Your phone then has a 'database' of blocked numbers, be they spammers,phishers,politicians, survey takers, etc.

The problem is that Scammers use VOIP (voice over internet protocol) and they can program any number in it, I've had my old number used as a spam number quite a few times.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

phone companies (whoever they are) KNOW the originating numbers (part of the 'tarriffs' for billing purposes and such'. The 'displayed' number doesn't HAVE to be the real 'calling' number.
One of my American friends didn't understand that 3 decades ago.. while talking to him 'I said, sounds lke you got a FAX..' he said it's from the White House !...I asked does it say meow in the 4th line ? THEN he understood WHERE it came from....

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

phone companies (whoever they are) KNOW the originating numbers (part of the 'tarriffs' for billing purposes and such'. The 'displayed' number doesn't HAVE to be the real 'calling' number.
One of my American friends didn't understand that 3 decades ago.. while talking to him 'I said, sounds lke you got a FAX..' he said it's from the White House !...I asked does it say meow in the 4th line ? THEN he understood WHERE it came from....

I don't think you understand....
These kinds of calls originate form a computer in another country not from a "phone company".
There is no originating phone company.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I have VOIP here and I can 'see' everything(server Id, chnls,pkts etc) all the way back TO the origin of the call.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I have VOIP here and I can 'see' everything(server Id, chnls,pkts etc) all the way back TO the origin of the call.

Well then you can tell all of us where the spam calls originate!

 

[Lil Foot]

We put a man on the moon in the sixties.
Folks say that after 53yrs of technical advances since then, we don't have the ability to stop phone calls, where ever they come from?
I call BS.

 

[Henro]

It's normally foreign originated / perpetrated so there isn't much our Government or laws can do about it.

But the funny thing is, I wonder what the motivation is.

Guess I should read one of these spam messages…and Hope I am not hooked.

But my recollection they did not make sense to begin with.

on a sidenote, I got a call from an unknown number today which I normally don’t answer but I decided to for some reason, and I asked the voice who are you? The answer was I’m your grandson. So I asked what is your name? The guy hung up.

I’m familiar with these kind of scams… And in the back of my mind I have questions that I would ask if a scammer called me claiming to be my grandson or granddaughter. You know, things like what is the name of the pet you had when you were five years old ? Or where did we used to go when you were little and had some fun together? Or things like that… Even what is your grandma‘s name? How old is she?

I was still surprised to get a call from a scam artist that was obviously going to ask me to somehow pay some money to help out my grandson…I assume anyway, as it did not go that far.

what did surprise me though is the voice at the other end of the line did sound a bit like my grandson…

 

[Henro]

I have a Skype account that lets me make calls both in the US and internationally to Japan, and calls show up as originating from my cell phone number. This is convenient and I would hate to lose it.

BUT letting an entity to spam multiple sequential numbers is really unacceptable. what Normal user would need to do that? Answer: none!

 

[D2Cat]

We put a man on the moon in the sixties.
Folks say that after 53yrs of technical advances since then, we don't have the ability to stop phone calls, where ever they come from?
I call BS.

Bill, are you suggesting we didn't really get a man on the moon?

One would think after 50 years we'd have gone back at least once!

 

[xrocketengineer]

The problem is that with technology advances, the criminals are the first ones in line to take advantage of that. This one is the latest where you can not even help "somebody in need" without getting scammed.
https://www.wesh.com/article/venmo-theft-orange-county-boy-asking-help/39097535

 

[RCW]

I got a couple spam calls from my own landline phone number to my cell once or twice years ago….

 

[GreensvilleJay]

'SPAM' is all about getting MONEY from you. They are 'variations on a theme' but the end result is they get money . Some get you to open your computer for them (Windows support calling...) to then plant their ransomware into your computer...few days later ,you're paying them 1,000s to get rid of the 'new virus'... Bailing out a loved one from jail is a classic. 'Strange purchases on your VISA account, AMAZON acct, etc.'
99.44% of all SURVEYS are NOT legit. Phishing expeditions to extracts your personal info. Only 3-4 'surveys' are needed to get what they want..might take a few days 2 weeks tops.....Older folks are more vulnerable..as they tend to trust everyone...

Bottom line if someone asks for ANYTHING, simply say ' just mail it to me, thank you'.

 

[lugbolt]

If they ain't on my contacts list, it goes to voicemail

If they don't leave a voicemail, it wasn't important.

My voicemail is a recorded message that says "the number you are trying to call is disconnected or no longer in service", then a beep--those that know, will leave a voice mail. Scammers don't call the number again (usually)

Miscellaneous - Bell System Recorded Announcements

 

[NCL4701]

Bill, are you suggesting we didn't really get a man on the moon?

One would think after 50 years we'd have gone back at least once!

It’s kind of like New Orleans. Went there once. Glad I went. No desire to go back.

 

[leveraddict]

Henro I also get the spam text. There are probably 20 sequential numbers its sent to and the senders message is (STOP). I dont know their motivation but I NEVER reply. I just block the senders number. My guess is once someone replys they know its a good number and the spam calls start?

NOW! My land line starts ringing at 9am untill 6 or 8 pm. They never leave a message and I never pick up. Sometimes when Im bored, I will answer and torment the hell out of the spamer just to waste their time!

 

[GreensvilleJay]

37 minutes is my record for 'tormenting' THEM ! sadly I keep a record of it..... always talk sloooow, get them to yell( 'need new battery in hearing aid, can you speak up more please',repeat what they say.
If it's a 'survey' , I as how much they're paying me...great fun ,always say THEY'RE being recorded..

 

[torch]

My voicemail is a recorded message that says "the number you are trying to call is disconnected or no longer in service",

I have an old laptop running software called "PhoneTray Free" and a voice modem with caller ID capability. It can screen calls based on caller ID number, name or patterns with wildcards (eg: "800-???-????" or "V*", and if it finds a match, play any of a wide variety of recordings. My favourite is the SIT tone followed by the "This number is not in service" recording. Private callers get instructions on how to unmask their number for this call.

Caller ID arrives between the 1st and 2nd rings. I have Panasonic phones which offer the ability to remain silent on the first ring, so my phones don't make a peep until and unless the incoming call passes screening. The odd one sneaks through of course, but only once! For the most part, the only way I know I get these calls is by checking PhoneTray's call log once in a while.