Spoofed spam phone calls -- a modest proposal

[Brisketexan 105095]

So, it's now at a point where pretty much everyone with a cell phone -- even with your number on a do-not-call list -- receive multiple calls a day from spoofed phone numbers (for a while, I was getting a series of calls that purported to be from a number in Lockhart).  The most common one for me is the duct cleaning guy trying to sell me duct cleaning services.  But the key is the inception point -- each one of these attempted transactions starts with a lie -- the deceptive phone number.

So, my proposal is simple -- add a new item to the list of deceptive trade practices:

Quote

(b) Except as provided in Subsection (d) of this section, the term "false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices" includes, but is not limited to, the following acts:

(1) passing off goods or services as those of another;

(2) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to the source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or services;

[etc. etc. up to item 33]

[New item:]

(34) soliciting business or any business transaction, or attempting to do so, from a telephone number that does not belong to the caller.

[and I would add to some of the definitions something like the following]

With respect to item (34), liability attaches to the person or entity making the call, any person or entity working in concert with the person making the call, and any person or entity benefiting or seeking to benefit from the call, including any provider of goods or services who receives or attempts to receive business obtained by such call.  The minimum damages for each call shall be $500, liability for such damages shall be joint and several among all parties listed above.

These calls kinda piss me off.

[Trey3216 15346]

It's even crazier when you get one from yourself

[Dennis Taylor 18812]

good theory but crooks don't give a shit about laws in the first place 

[hayden_horn 11362]

11 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

It's even crazier when you get one from yourself

i always recognize the spam calls because the three digit exchange matches my own. surely that's not a coincidence, right?

[Trey3216 15346]

Just now, hayden_horn said:

i always recognize the spam calls because the three digit exchange matches my own. surely that's not a coincidence, right?

About 99% of the time

[TwiceHorn 31450]

2 minutes ago, hayden_horn said:

i always recognize the spam calls because the three digit exchange matches my own. surely that's not a coincidence, right?

Yuup. That seems to be the new, new thing. Have yet to get one from myself though. 

[Sbbruin 21842]

Trivial things that make brisket surly.

[Jimbaround 975]

I got one today where the first words out of the robot's mouth were: "Do not hang up, this is NOT a sales call."  Then proceeded to try and sell me nursing care or some bullshit like that.

Edited January 24, 2019 by Jimbaround

[Brisketexan 105095]

18 minutes ago, Dennis Taylor said:

good theory but crooks don't give a shit about laws in the first place 

That's why the scope of liable person goes beyond the person making the call.

Duct Scammer Call Inc. makes the call.  IF he books a duct-cleaning job, he gets a cut of the proceeds.  But local Duct Cleaning Co. is the one that shows up to clean your ducts, and to get paid.  They are liable as well.  Everyone in the chain is on the hook.  And the local guys are getting paid, and have assets and/or a revenue stream to tap.  Put local Duct Cleaning Co. on the hook, and they won't agree to be part of Duct Scammer Call Inc.'s scam.

[RDCanecutter 26411]

Just quit carrying the phone everywhere.

[Beau Vine 54211]

1 hour ago, hayden_horn said:

i always recognize the spam calls because the three digit exchange matches my own. surely that's not a coincidence, right?

I got the app MR Number, which allows me to block all calls that have numbers like that.  Great success!

[MAROON 445]

I don't  answer any phone call that is not already in my list of Contacts.  If they leave a message I'll listen.  If it's a robo call I then block that # (not sure that actually works on an I-phone).  If it's legit I'll call back.

 

but ya it pisses me off as well.

[Trey3216 15346]

6 minutes ago, MAROON said:

I don't  answer any phone call that is not already in my list of Contacts.  If they leave a message I'll listen.  If it's a robo call I then block that # (not sure that actually works on an I-phone).  If it's legit I'll call back.

 

but ya it pisses me off as well.

This is the correct answer

[Underdog 28611]

1 hour ago, Trey3216 said:

It's even crazier when you get one from yourself

Have you checked on the children? 

[Trey3216 15346]

2 minutes ago, Underdog said:

Have you checked on the children? 

My iPad is always nearby 

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

1 hour ago, Trey3216 said:

It's even crazier when you get one from yourself

It's awesome. I showed my son that my phone was ringing from "me". Pretended to answer it and told him it was me from the future giving me instructions on who the next "Hitler" would be.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

21 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

Just quit carrying the phone everywhere.

That candy ain't going to crush itself, bro.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13510]

16 minutes ago, MAROON said:

I don't  answer any phone call that is not already in my list of Contacts.  If they leave a message I'll listen.  If it's a robo call I then block that # (not sure that actually works on an I-phone).  If it's legit I'll call back.

 

but ya it pisses me off as well.

I hear ya but I give out my mobile # to people at work.  I get legitimate work calls from a host of area codes since people now have their phone number from when they were 15.  I don't really have the luxury of screening all of my calls.

[RDCanecutter 26411]

3 minutes ago, Cheeseweasel said:

It's awesome. I showed my son that my phone was ringing from "me". Pretended to answer it and told him it was me from the future giving me instructions on who the next "Hitler" would be.

Extra credit if you told your son that the next Hitler would be him.

[Brisketexan 105095]

8 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I hear ya but I give out my mobile # to people at work.  I get legitimate work calls from a host of area codes since people now have their phone number from when they were 15.  I don't really have the luxury of screening all of my calls.

This is my challenge.  And, as a function of my business, I take calls from client contacts at all kinds of hours, often with some urgency behind them.  So, I don't always have the luxury of screening.

[RDCanecutter 26411]

[AUS-97HORN 11757]

38 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I take calls from client contacts at all kinds of hours, often with some urgency behind them. 

uh brisket...... I uh..... well see there was this 18 year old babysitter, and well, uh we kinda uh got together and my dick just, uh fell into her vagina.... and uh.... my wife caught us and uh......    do you have a good contact number to get blood out of carpet?

 

 

for me all the spam numbers i get match my area code and 3 digit exchange- every single one. and since my cell # was from my time in Kansas 20 years ago.... there is nobody in Kansas calling me anymore that I dont know, so I know its a spam number every time.

 

full disclosure, if I am bored, around every 20 calls or so, I will answer the call and act like a sucker for a while and waste their time so they arent scamming someone for real. 

[TwiceHorn 31450]

45 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

This is my challenge.  And, as a function of my business, I take calls from client contacts at all kinds of hours, often with some urgency behind them.  So, I don't always have the luxury of screening.

 

[Underdog 28611]

Damn good movie, I need to watch it again. 

[XYZ 2154]

I don’t know which agency handles the do-not-call list, maybe it’s the FTC. Whoever it is, they clearly don’t give a shit about telemarketers wiping their ass with the do-not-call list. They must have better things to do. Things like, I don’t know, enabling big corporations to make even more money and amass even more power. Protecting you and me sure doesn’t seem to be among their priorities.

Some of this stuff has to be solvable from a technical standpoint. Like for example a company being able to spoof any phone number they want. WTF is that, and why doesn’t the fucking FTC put a stop to it? Companies that generate phone calls not from an actual phone should be given numbers with certain area codes. Then everybody would know that if you get a call from a certain range of area codes, that’s somebody trying to sell you something. And if they go around that, send somebody to jail, not a fucking $500 fine or whatever bullshit it is. That’s always how it is with regulators. If a regular guy does some kind of scam, prison. But if a company does it as a business model, then the regulator slaps them on the wrist, which doesn’t deter them at all. Has any large company gotten its charter revoked in this country, EVER?

[Underdog 28611]

Have always been tempted to blast an air horn whenever I get these calls.  

[Incredulity 11665]

For a few years in my twenties my brother and I would put on a pretty elaborate script of drunken husband/abused wife whenever we got a telemarketer call at our apartment.

I then moved on to a extremely over interested/uncomfortably personal questions gag in my thirties.

Now I don’t answer.  Fuck telemarking.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Incredulity

[Francisco 2.0 32389]

5 hours ago, Trey3216 said:

It's even crazier when you get one from yourself

I was about to post getting them from your employer is aggravating enough, but this takes the cake.

We have 80 numbers at work.  Probably half have been spoofed, including some of our fire alarm numbers.  The amount of calls our secretaries get each day from the public in callbacks just for spoofing is infuriating.

[Francisco 2.0 32389]

1 hour ago, XYZ said:

Some of this stuff has to be solvable from a technical standpoint. Like for example a company being able to spoof any phone number they want. WTF is that, and why doesn’t the fucking FTC put a stop to it? Companies that generate phone calls not from an actual phone should be given numbers with certain area codes. Then everybody would know that if you get a call from a certain range of area codes, that’s somebody trying to sell you something. And if they go around that, send somebody to jail, not a fucking $500 fine or whatever bullshit it is. That’s always how it is with regulators. If a regular guy does some kind of scam, prison. But if a company does it as a business model, then the regulator slaps them on the wrist, which doesn’t deter them at all. Has any large company gotten its charter revoked in this country, EVER?

 

It's just too damned easy to spoof a number.  Really, all you have doing this is a PC, some dialing software and VOIP connection, and stick in an area code and prefix and tell it to go.  If someone picks up, it transfers the call to a recording or someone overseas making $2 a day.    The entire thing can be setup for pennies, simple enough that a bored 14 year old could do it, using a home internet connection and taken down just as quickly.  And, it's profitable...that's why it happens more and more.  You don't need a room full of phone equipment and a dozen people making calls.

 

[Upgrayedd 5810]

I fuck with them.  Had one recently told me I won a cruise.  Great, I get out of prison in three years.

How did you get a phone in prison?

I keistered it.

click

[NeverMarryAStripper 21898]

Yesterday I got a call from some guy wanting to know why I called him. I didn’t call him, apparently he got a spam call from someone spoofing my number.

[bschoolprof 6252]

Just use a spam call blocker on your phone you old fucks. 

[TwiceHorn 31450]

Just now, bschoolprof said:

Just use a spam call blocker on your phone you old fucks. 

AFAIK, because spoofed calls only use a number a relatively few times, and the spoofed number actually belongs to someone like you or me, none of the spam blockers make any attempt  to block them.

[bschoolprof 6252]

Mine works like a charm. Went from 4-5 calls a day to 0. It does a great job with neighbor spoofing. 

Edited January 25, 2019 by bschoolprof

[Blotto 23497]

The fastest path to the White House is running on a one issue platform. If elected, I promise to commit the full resources of the US intelligence agencies to rooting out and eliminating the robocall industry. Any individual caught running a robocall operation will be sentenced to death. 

[XYZ 2154]

7 minutes ago, Blotto said:

The fastest path to the White House is running on a one issue platform. If elected, I promise to commit the full resources of the US intelligence agencies to rooting out and eliminating the robocall industry. Any individual caught running a robocall operation will be sentenced to death. 

Fuck it, I’ll vote for you.

[RPM 26318]

I just had a minor rodeo with my bank over a mobile deposit. The girl at the bank tried calling me several times for 3 days from a different branch than I use. I didn't recognize the number so I sent them to voicemail, but she never left a message. Finally a week later I get an email explaining the problem (didn't like the endorsement). I take the checks in and deposit them in person. I replied back to the girl at the bank I had fixed it and maybe leave a message so I know you're not a robocall. I get 5 or 6 a day from spoofed numbers.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13510]

10 hours ago, Underdog said:

Damn good movie, I need to watch it again. 

Michael Clayton doesn’t get enough love.  It would also make a good remake as a tv series.  

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

14 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

This is my challenge.  And, as a function of my business, I take calls from client contacts at all kinds of hours, often with some urgency behind them.  So, I don't always have the luxury of screening.

I'd subscribe to a thread of your posting these conversations. 

[llanoflash 151]

yeah.. getting about 10 a day from Burnet/Liberty Hill numbers. Pain medication, mortgage bullshit, truck warranty crap etc.

I am fucking pissed too. DO SOMETHING!

[huge 3793]

The HIYA app recognizes spoofing and alerts you to them

I think you can have the numbers blocked through that.

Also recognizes telemarketers.

Check it out

[Red Five 40852]

They’re getting harder to fuck with. You show any kind of resistance to their spiel and they hang up on you. That’s no fun at all.

[Js1 85311]

If you have ATT, you can download their Mobile Security app which has "call protect" - you get alerted to the type of call - "Political Call;" "High Spam Risk Alert Call"

[Nice Guy Eddie 13510]

Worst is when someone calls me asking why I was calling them. I didn’t call you. I tired once to explain spoofing to a stranger. I gave up half way and hung up. 

Edited January 25, 2019 by Nice Guy Eddie

[UTPhil2006 3807]

16 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I hear ya but I give out my mobile # to people at work.  I get legitimate work calls from a host of area codes since people now have their phone number from when they were 15.  I don't really have the luxury of screening all of my calls.

This.  My number is easily accessible and I'm not gonna put every realtor/mortgage broker/client in my phone.  Just not a feasible option in certain industries

[TwiceHorn 31450]

54 minutes ago, huge said:

The HIYA app recognizes spoofing and alerts you to them

I think you can have the numbers blocked through that.

Also recognizes telemarketers.

Check it out

 

38 minutes ago, Js1 said:

If you have ATT, you can download their Mobile Security app which has "call protect" - you get alerted to the type of call - "Political Call;" "High Spam Risk Alert Call"

AFAIK, all of these (certainly Hiya and Trucaller) work off databases where people have reported spam calls from certain numbers.  The latest trend, as noted here, is to spoof a number in the callee's area code and exchange that actually belongs to a real person, and use that number for a dozen or so spam calls, then change it.  That does not, as far as I can tell, generate entries in those databases, so those apps are ineffective against those calls.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21898]

I’m pretty sure that there are ways to identify if someone is spoofing. I’m just not sure that technology is out there for regular people. I would pay for a spoof identity app.

[Js1 85311]

5 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

 

AFAIK, all of these (certainly Hiya and Trucaller) work off databases where people have reported spam calls from certain numbers.  The latest trend, as noted here, is to spoof a number in the callee's area code and exchange that actually belongs to a real person, and use that number for a dozen or so spam calls, then change it.  That does not, as far as I can tell, generate entries in those databases, so those apps are ineffective against those calls.

I used to get a lot of that where the first 6 numbers matched mine.  They've been blocked lately by this app.

[Jerry Callo 8700]

AT&T app alerts potential spam calls, but does not pick up numbers using the same 6 digits as my number.  I was at home for lunch one day and both my cell phone and home phone rang at the same time from the same number - that's next level spammery.

[Gene Parmesan 4005]

I can feel for the people that have to be accessible to clients all day.  I don't have one of those jobs, but I realize they exist.  I do find that most of the people I hear bitch about spam calls also don't have one of those jobs, so I have very little sympathy for the subject.