call blocker device suggestions?

[John S]

On 3/29/2015 3:42 PM, Tim Wescott wrote:

On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 13:23:57 +0100, N_Cook wrote:

On 29/03/2015 13:12, bill ashford wrote:
Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where
no one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.
I'd like to add a phone call block if I can find the right kind. I see
many around the web for sale, but most of these have so-so reviews and
either end up not blocking enough numbers, or cutting off to many.
Then there is a tele device where a caller has to press 1 to reach the
person being called-- I like this, pretty foolproof, but the pricetag
seems a bit high at over $100. We have Verizon but nothing special. I
just use DSL on copper and all wired phones. So whatever is used will
have to work with this existing system. Anyone have ideas? Are there
any number pressing devices cheaper than $100?

Thanks-- bill

An answerphone message machine, just set on outgoing message and
speakerphone mode for any incoming call, and tell your friends about it,
so they can ignore it and not hang up, but keep the line open until
someone gets to the phone.

+1. Get the kind that plays the incoming caller on a speaker, and listen
for valid calls. The only feature that I'd want to add to such a setup is
a "hangup" button, although most robo-calls detect answering machines and
cut off.

Our current cordless phones also read out the Caller ID. The voice
synthesis is awful, but after a while you get to understand their mangled
version of the names of various friends and family members.

Check out NoMoRobo.

 

[Martin Brown]

On 29/03/2015 21:42, Tim Wescott wrote:

On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 13:23:57 +0100, N_Cook wrote:

On 29/03/2015 13:12, bill ashford wrote:
Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where
no one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.

I don't know if it works with US call farming but answering an unknown
caller with "dead air" can be moderately effective at putting them off.

Over in the UK we have a telephone preference service which allows you
to opt out of all reputable cold calling leaving only the disreputable
ones doing boilerroom scams by VOIP. There is a risk of collateral
damage if someone you know rings you up from an unusal number but once
they speak up you can carry on as normal if you recognise the voice.

An answerphone message machine, just set on outgoing message and
speakerphone mode for any incoming call, and tell your friends about it,
so they can ignore it and not hang up, but keep the line open until
someone gets to the phone.

+1. Get the kind that plays the incoming caller on a speaker, and listen
for valid calls. The only feature that I'd want to add to such a setup is
a "hangup" button, although most robo-calls detect answering machines and
cut off.

+1

A surprising number don't. I must make my outgoing answerphone msg a few
seconds longer since otherwise its memory clogs up with tail ends of
sales spiels ending along the lines of "or press 9 to opt out".

Our current cordless phones also read out the Caller ID. The voice
synthesis is awful, but after a while you get to understand their mangled
version of the names of various friends and family members.

Mine just shows it on a local LCD.

You get used to the exchange codes of dodgy cold call farms. Is there
any US equivalent of "who calls me" where you can report dodgy cold call
organisations and find out what it is they are selling?

I generally let the answerphone filter incoming calls.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Mark Lloyd:

When the federal Do-Not-Call list was new, I registered for it, and
forawhile was getting almost no junk calls. Now, I get as many as before.

My experience has been the same - with two additions:

- In the very beginning, I actually got a few bucks from the
Penna Atty Genera's office: my share of a settlement resulting
from a complaint I filed.

- I now have a stack of lame-sounding letters from the same Penna
Atty General's office to the effect that, since solicitors have
moved offshore and started using VOIP there's nothing they
can do. Which I translate to either "Somebody's paid off somebody,
somewhere, to reduce the budget for these prosecutions." or
"We have an already-limited budget and we have to prioritize."

It's probably #2, but my inner misanthrope likes #1.
--
Pete Cresswell

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Mark Lloyd:

Anyway, I've been hearing about this use of SIT for a long time now.
Wouldn't the robocaller machines been adapted already?

Seems to me like the only test would be two phones side-by-side on the
same exchange: one "With" and one "Without" and some record of calls to
each.

Having said that, I have had the SIT tone for "Number not working" in
the beginning of my answering machine announcement for at least 4 years
now and I do not perceive any improvement.

--
Pete Cresswell

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Dave Platt:

In some other cases, the telemarketers seem to be making short calls
(with no content) in the hope that people will see the "missed call"
indication on their Caller ID system, and call back... at which point
the marketer tries their sales pitch.

Supposedly there was a scam using that strategy: the CallerID number
would be one of those exchanges like the phone sex operators use where
the caller gets charged per minute and a percentage of the charge goes
to the operator.
--
Pete Cresswell

 

[Col. Edmund Burke]

"bill ashford" <billa!x@top.com> wrote in message
news:mf8q6h$l0o$3@dont-email.me...

Bill? Are you having a happy day in spite of the phone?

 

[David E. Ross]

On 3/30/2015 7:42 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:

Per Mark Lloyd:
When the federal Do-Not-Call list was new, I registered for it, and
forawhile was getting almost no junk calls. Now, I get as many as before.

My experience has been the same - with two additions:

- In the very beginning, I actually got a few bucks from the
Penna Atty Genera's office: my share of a settlement resulting
from a complaint I filed.

- I now have a stack of lame-sounding letters from the same Penna
Atty General's office to the effect that, since solicitors have
moved offshore and started using VOIP there's nothing they
can do. Which I translate to either "Somebody's paid off somebody,
somewhere, to reduce the budget for these prosecutions." or
"We have an already-limited budget and we have to prioritize."

It's probably #2, but my inner misanthrope likes #1.

If the source is indeed off-shore -- that is, in another nation -- what
jurisdiction would the U.S. government or the government of any U.S.
state have in that other nation? Turn that around. If someone in the
U.S. violated a German or French patent, should those nations have the
right to go to Philadelphia and arrest someone, try him, and fine him?

--
David E. Ross

Why do we tolerate political leaders who
spend more time belittling hungry children
than they do trying to fix the problem of
hunger? <http://mazon.org/>

 

[Vic Smith]

On Mon, 30 Mar 2015 10:42:22 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)" <x@y.Invalid>
wrote:

Per Mark Lloyd:
When the federal Do-Not-Call list was new, I registered for it, and
forawhile was getting almost no junk calls. Now, I get as many as before.

My experience has been the same - with two additions:

- In the very beginning, I actually got a few bucks from the
Penna Atty Genera's office: my share of a settlement resulting
from a complaint I filed.

- I now have a stack of lame-sounding letters from the same Penna
Atty General's office to the effect that, since solicitors have
moved offshore and started using VOIP there's nothing they
can do. Which I translate to either "Somebody's paid off somebody,
somewhere, to reduce the budget for these prosecutions." or
"We have an already-limited budget and we have to prioritize."

It's probably #2, but my inner misanthrope likes #1.

I rarely get non-charity/political calls. I did get a call a couple
weeks ago from a vent cleaning company.
What kind of calls would come from overseas?

 

[Martin Brown]

On 30/03/2015 16:34, Vic Smith wrote:

On Mon, 30 Mar 2015 10:42:22 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)" <x@y.Invalid
wrote:

Per Mark Lloyd:
When the federal Do-Not-Call list was new, I registered for it, and
forawhile was getting almost no junk calls. Now, I get as many as before.

My experience has been the same - with two additions:

- In the very beginning, I actually got a few bucks from the
Penna Atty Genera's office: my share of a settlement resulting
from a complaint I filed.

- I now have a stack of lame-sounding letters from the same Penna
Atty General's office to the effect that, since solicitors have
moved offshore and started using VOIP there's nothing they
can do. Which I translate to either "Somebody's paid off somebody,
somewhere, to reduce the budget for these prosecutions." or
"We have an already-limited budget and we have to prioritize."

It's probably #2, but my inner misanthrope likes #1.

I rarely get non-charity/political calls. I did get a call a couple
weeks ago from a vent cleaning company.
What kind of calls would come from overseas?

Round here most of them. Might be different in the USA.

Cold calls originating in the UK are regulated by an impotent toothless
regulator and the existence of sites like "Who calls me" that names and
shames any transgressors. Typically they are solicitors soliciting and
claims firms drumming up applicants for fake whiplash claims.

However, VOIP allows the cold calling drudges to be located anywhere in
the world where labour is cheap and so bypasses all domestic controls.
Forged CLID is increasingly common too.

Many phones offer blocking known chunks of bad behaviour and some phone
services here allow blocking of individual bad numbers (optional extra).

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

 

[s|b]

On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 08:12:53 -0400, bill ashford wrote:

Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where no
one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before.

You /do/ realize you're crossposting to alt.windows7.general, yes? (Just
checking...)

--
s|b

 

[Leif Neland]

Dave Platt har bragt dette til verden:

In some other cases, the telemarketers seem to be making short calls
(with no content) in the hope that people will see the "missed call"
indication on their Caller ID system, and call back... at which point
the marketer tries their sales pitch. This may be a somewhat feeble
attempt to avoid the Do Not Call list, because the marketer didn't
*technically* make a sales call to the consumer (just a call with no
message) and the consumer ended up calling the marketer back and is
thus "fair game" for a sales pitch.

Some dead-air calls are scammers, trying to get you to call back to an
overseas/overcharged number.
Some calls can cost up to $20/min.

Leif

--
https://www.paradiss.dk
Ting til konen eller kĂŚresten.
Eller begge.

 

[Mark Lloyd]

On 03/29/2015 11:37 PM, ChairMan wrote:

[snip]

it doesn't matter, they are robocalling. They take a prefix
and area code, the computer starts calling all the possible
combos, logs what number answered and what time.
They sell that data and there you have the birth of a
telemarketer

I seem to remember it being illegal to do this (call all possible
combos). Of course, I don't expect it to stop them.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"He is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who
believes what is wrong." --Thomas Jefferson

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

On Sun, 29 Mar 2015 09:40:33 -0400, Big_Al wrote:

> And what about the 4 extensions in the rest of the house?

They stop ringing when the call is blocked, unless they're on a second
phone line (i.e., a different phone number).

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

 

[Mark Lloyd]

On 03/30/2015 10:34 AM, Vic Smith wrote:

[snip]

I rarely get non-charity/political calls. I did get a call a couple
weeks ago from a vent cleaning company.
What kind of calls would come from overseas?

"Microsoft" scams?

I haven't gotten one of those, maybe since I seldom answer junk calls. I
think if I got one of those calls I'd be suspicious about how someone
knew so much about MY computer.

I have gotten junk calls for home security systems, extended vehicle
"warranties", and credit cards.

As to answering machine messages, most of these callers don't leave
messages, although I have gotten unintelligible sounds (like too many
people talking) and dial tone. The few that do usually DON'T wait for
the beep.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"He is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who
believes what is wrong." --Thomas Jefferson

 

[Mark Lloyd]

On 03/30/2015 12:04 PM, Martin Brown wrote:

[snip]

However, VOIP allows the cold calling drudges to be located anywhere in
the world where labour is cheap and so bypasses all domestic controls.
Forged CLID is increasingly common too.

But not forged very well, so CID is still useful. The junk is often
obvious like "V2345679845". Do you know anyone with that NAME?

Many phones offer blocking known chunks of bad behaviour and some phone
services here allow blocking of individual bad numbers (optional extra).

I have that (blocking individual numbers) available, and use that when
possible (like for charities).

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"He is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who
believes what is wrong." --Thomas Jefferson

 

[Brian Gregory]

On 29/03/2015 13:38, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

In message <mf8q6h$l0o$3@dont-email.me>, bill ashford <billa!x@top.com
writes:
Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where no
one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.
I'd like to add a phone call block if I can find the right kind. I see
many around the web for sale, but most of these have so-so reviews and
either end up not blocking enough numbers, or cutting off to many. Then
there is a tele device where a caller has to press 1 to reach the person
being called-- I like this, pretty foolproof, but the pricetag seems a
bit high at over $100. We have Verizon but nothing special. I just use
DSL on copper and all wired phones. So whatever is used will have to
work with this existing system. Anyone have ideas? Are there any
number pressing devices cheaper than $100?

Thanks-- bill

Mention of Verizon (and $) suggests you are in US, so this probably
won't help, but: in UK, silent calls are illegal, and the originator can
suffer quite a large fine.

They're caused - or so we are told - by autodiallers, machines which
dial numbers at random (or from a list?), when such machines are
operated by a company that doesn't employ quite enough humans, so the
situation can arise where it dials someone but there's no-one to talk to
the victim when the victim answers. They've been made illegal mainly, I
think, due to distress caused to those who think it may instead be a
burglar or similar, checking in advance.

If it isn't already, you could pester your councillor/senator/whatever
to have similar legislation passed there. In the meantime, I presume
there _is_ at least some mechanism for reporting "nuisance callers",
though like here it was probably set up to deal with heavy breathers and
the like. Otherwise, the suggestion of an answerphone set on speaker
sounds like a good compromise for now.

It's nice that silent calls are illegal here but since almost all of
them come from overseas it does no real good.

--

Brian Gregory (in the UK).
To email me please remove all the letter vee from my email address.

 

[Mayayana]

| But not forged very well, so CID is still useful. The junk is often
| obvious like "V2345679845". Do you know anyone with that NAME?
|

I've had calls from myself and last week I had a
call from directory assistance. Most calls I get
at least seem to be local, but I don't pick up unless
I recognize the caller ID, so I'm not really sure.

I saw an interview recently with the man who started
nomorobo. He said something to the effect that
"if a halfwit like me can easily compile a blacklist
of phone numbers the government could certainly
do it." Good point.

 

[Robert Baer]

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

In message <mf8q6h$l0o$3@dont-email.me>, bill ashford <billa!x@top.com
writes:
Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where no
one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.
I'd like to add a phone call block if I can find the right kind. I see
many around the web for sale, but most of these have so-so reviews and
either end up not blocking enough numbers, or cutting off to many. Then
there is a tele device where a caller has to press 1 to reach the person
being called-- I like this, pretty foolproof, but the pricetag seems a
bit high at over $100. We have Verizon but nothing special. I just use
DSL on copper and all wired phones. So whatever is used will have to
work with this existing system. Anyone have ideas? Are there any
number pressing devices cheaper than $100?

Thanks-- bill

Mention of Verizon (and $) suggests you are in US, so this probably
won't help, but: in UK, silent calls are illegal, and the originator can
suffer quite a large fine.

They're caused - or so we are told - by autodiallers, machines which
dial numbers at random (or from a list?), when such machines are
operated by a company that doesn't employ quite enough humans, so the
situation can arise where it dials someone but there's no-one to talk to
the victim when the victim answers. They've been made illegal mainly, I
think, due to distress caused to those who think it may instead be a
burglar or similar, checking in advance.

If it isn't already, you could pester your councillor/senator/whatever
to have similar legislation passed there. In the meantime, I presume
there _is_ at least some mechanism for reporting "nuisance callers",
though like here it was probably set up to deal with heavy breathers and
the like. Otherwise, the suggestion of an answerphone set on speaker
sounds like a good compromise for now.

Unfortunately, those calls are illegal here as well.
But 105% of the ones i get are illegally spoofed so the caller ID is
worse than useless.
Nobody with a modicum of "authority" gives a shit, and the FCC has
opted out ages ago.
The so-called "do not call" list is a major joke; one gets MORE calls
if you try it,and changing phone number is of no help unless you want to
change it every week.

 

[Martin Brown]

On 31/03/2015 00:25, Brian Gregory wrote:

On 29/03/2015 13:38, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message <mf8q6h$l0o$3@dont-email.me>, bill ashford <billa!x@top.com
writes:
Enough is enough. My wife is getting upwards of 10 calls daily where no
one is on the line when she answers. We have caller ID and it shows
numbers never heard of before. For about 4 years, we've both put up
with it but over the last couple of years, the calls have increased.

Thanks-- bill

Mention of Verizon (and $) suggests you are in US, so this probably
won't help, but: in UK, silent calls are illegal, and the originator can
suffer quite a large fine.

They're caused - or so we are told - by autodiallers, machines which
dial numbers at random (or from a list?), when such machines are
operated by a company that doesn't employ quite enough humans, so the
situation can arise where it dials someone but there's no-one to talk to
the victim when the victim answers. They've been made illegal mainly, I
think, due to distress caused to those who think it may instead be a
burglar or similar, checking in advance.

You can play them back by answering with dead air.

It is every bit as disconcerting for the system and/or the sales drudge
to be faced with a completely silent line as it is for the consumer.

If it isn't already, you could pester your councillor/senator/whatever
to have similar legislation passed there. In the meantime, I presume
there _is_ at least some mechanism for reporting "nuisance callers",
though like here it was probably set up to deal with heavy breathers and
the like. Otherwise, the suggestion of an answerphone set on speaker
sounds like a good compromise for now.

It's nice that silent calls are illegal here but since almost all of
them come from overseas it does no real good.

And our watchdog is still pretty toothless. The odd big fine. eg

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22199699

I think the name and shame websites are almost as effective at keeping
the excesses of the cold calling industry under control.

Until a few years ago the fines for this were low enough to be
considered as just another operating expense.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per David E. Ross:

If the source is indeed off-shore -- that is, in another nation -- what
jurisdiction would the U.S. government or the government of any U.S.
state have in that other nation? Turn that around. If someone in the
U.S. violated a German or French patent, should those nations have the
right to go to Philadelphia and arrest someone, try him, and fine him?

Knowing absolutely *nothing* about law enforcement, my
totally-uninformed, unencumbered by any knowledge though would be honey
traps:

- Recruit a bunch of people with phones (state employees?) who agree
to participate

- Issue them special-purpose credit card numbers. There are credit
card accounts that will give you a virtual one-time-use credit
card number each time you want to buy something.... so the
control aspect is there.

- When they get a suspect call, they go the whole route.
Sooner-or-later, money changes hands and the ultimate
recipient of the money becomes the target.

If they're in the USA, done deal. Otherwise ? ....
maybe extradition?

Like I said at the start, I know nothing.

But I would bet a week's pay that if those same robocalls were
threatening some highly-placed political figure the perpetrators
would be dead or in jail within a week - maybe within 48 hours
if the figure was high enough.
--
Pete Cresswell