• Re: OT: spam phone calls

    From D@21:1/5 to Richmond on Thu Mar 20 16:27:08 2025
    On Thu, 20 Mar 2025 15:21:54 +0000, Richmond <[email protected]> wrote:
    "Carlos E.R." <[email protected]d> writes:
    On 2025-03-20 13:10, Graham J wrote:
    I know you're all very knowledgeable here, so:

    There are groups more appropriate to phone trouble, like
    comp.mobile.android or uk.telecom.mobile. I have added them both to
    this post, so they will see your post below.

    Received a call on my mobile, from a lady in Scotland who says I rang
    her landline earlier this morning.� I did not, and my mobile phone
    has been sitting on the windowsill (being the only place it can get a
    signal) all morning, with nobody near it. The lady used 1471 to find
    out who had rung her number, and used it's recall facility to ring
    me; so she didn't make any transcription error in dialling my number.
    I'm aware that spammers spoof mobile numbers but had always assumed
    that they chose unallocated numbers.� That is now apparently no
    longer true - unless all you here can think of another way that the
    1471 service can see an erroneous number.

    I thought Britain had some new regulation about faking the A number in
    a call.
    I never return phone calls from unknown numbers. Only when I know the
    number is from some friend or family I return the call, but I prefer
    to let them try again, maybe they got interrupted.

    It doesn't yet cover spoofed mobile numbers in caller-id.

    it's telephone terrorism, and phone companies get their scintillas

    since their inception, telegraph and telephone companies have been
    (big brother's black magic marker redacting records of secret data)

    there's nothing to see here ... keep moving ... keep moving ...

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  • From AJL@21:1/5 to Carlos E.R. on Fri Mar 21 16:10:04 2025
    On 3/21/25 5:51 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:
    On 2025-03-21 12:41, John C. wrote:
    Newyana2 wrote:
    Graham J wrote:

    I know you're all very knowledgeable here, so:

    Received a call on my mobile, from a lady in Scotland who says I rang
    her landline earlier this morning.  I did not, and my mobile phone has >>>> been sitting on the windowsill (being the only place it can get a
    signal) all morning, with nobody near it.

    The lady used 1471 to find out who had rung her number, and used it's
    recall facility to ring me; so she didn't make any transcription error >>>> in dialling my number.

    I'm aware that spammers spoof mobile numbers but had always assumed
    that they chose unallocated numbers.  That is now apparently no longer >>>> true - unless all you here can think of another way that the 1471
    service can see an erroneous number.

       Not quite the same in the US, but similar. Here spoofed calls
    are possible. I've had calls from myself. :) But it could also
    be a scam, where someone gets you off balance and defensive,
    then pulls some kind of trick.

       Scammers/spammers have become so common that I just
    don't even answer the phone anymore unless I recognize the
    number. If it's a legit call they can leave a message.

    I add all such calls to my blocked list. Over time, that's helped reduce
    spam calls tremendously. Also, I'm like you in that I won't answer a
    call from a number I don't recognize.

    Unfortunately, as they are faking the caller-id number, and they rotate
    their numbers, you are probably blocking some innocent person, and not
    really blocking the spammers. That said, I also block them.

    I also use an application that has a huge list of numbers to block, >Truecaller.


    I simply use Do Not Disturb, a feature that came on my 5 year old Galaxy
    S10+ phone. If the number is not in my contact list the phone won't ring
    but will send it to Voicemail. I have Voicemail set to beep once so I can
    check it if I'm nearby. Dunno how many new phones still have this feature.
    So important calls like family, doctors, etc. get through but otherwise
    not. To my surprise looking at the missed calls list I've found that only
    around 1 in 10 non-contact (junk) calls leave a Voicemail, and even then I
    can easily dispatch it after listening only a few seconds, so IMO I'm ahead
    in the battle. YMMV...

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  • From micky@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Fri Mar 21 12:34:01 2025
    In comp.mobile.android, on Fri, 21 Mar 2025 16:10:04 -0000 (UTC), AJL <[email protected]> wrote:



    I simply use Do Not Disturb, a feature that came on my 5 year old Galaxy
    S10+ phone. If the number is not in my contact list the phone won't ring
    but will send it to Voicemail. I have Voicemail set to beep once so I can check it if I'm nearby. Dunno how many new phones still have this feature.

    I thought they all did? Not that I have experience with new phones.

    So important calls like family, doctors, etc. get through but otherwise
    not. To my surprise looking at the missed calls list I've found that only around 1 in 10 non-contact (junk) calls leave a Voicemail, and even then I can easily dispatch it after listening only a few seconds, so IMO I'm ahead in the battle. YMMV...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From AJL@21:1/5 to micky on Fri Mar 21 16:46:37 2025
    On 3/21/25 9:32 AM, micky wrote:
    In comp.mobile.android, on Fri, 21 Mar 2025 11:23:42 -0400, Newyana2 ><[email protected]> wrote:

    On 3/21/2025 8:51 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:

    Unfortunately, as they are faking the caller-id number, and they rotate
    their numbers, you are probably blocking some innocent person, and not
    really blocking the spammers. That said, I also block them.


    The chance that a number from Columbus, Ohio is a
    real person trying to reach me personally is pretty much
    zero. Even with the local numbers, a legit caller is very
    unlikely.

    This approach is not like what you're describing, blocking
    a large list of blacklisted numbers. I just get the call and
    wait if I don't recognize the number. If they leave no
    message, then I block it. If they leave a message, I pick
    up and apologize for screening. They invariably chuckle and
    say they understand.

    I haven't found that scammers are rotating through real
    numbers. they seem to use thesame ones repeatedly.
    Sometimes they spoof, but often it's things like salespeople
    using an actual phone. The same number might call several
    times per day. So blocking just a few numbers works well
    in my experience. I also set my phone for a silent first
    ring, so if someone is blocked I don't even have to know it.

    (This is on my landline phone/answering machine. I don't
    know about cellphones. I don't turn on my Android phone
    often enough to care about scam calls. And I don't give out
    that number, so I don't check messages.)

    You're a lot like me. I use my landline 95% of the time. I only turn
    on the cell when I go out, and not even always then. Only 4 pople have
    my cellphone number and 3 of them have probably lost it. (When I was
    visiting my brother, a friend of his, his wife, and his son, all called
    me, but they called me on my home phone, not my cell! And didn't get
    the messages until I got home. )

    When the one person who I do want to be able to call me on the cell
    calls, and I get home, I hang up and call her back on the landline,
    because the sound is better.

    I do use NOMOROBO for the landline (where it is free) and sometimes
    calls ring once. That usually means nomorobo has forwarded them to the
    great beyond.

    I used to use Nomorobo. The (gasp) paid version. Then I found something even
    better. I got rid of my landline...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Frank Slootweg@21:1/5 to AJL on Fri Mar 21 16:48:10 2025
    AJL <[email protected]> wrote:
    [...]

    I simply use Do Not Disturb, a feature that came on my 5 year old Galaxy
    S10+ phone. If the number is not in my contact list the phone won't ring
    but will send it to Voicemail. I have Voicemail set to beep once so I can
    check it if I'm nearby. Dunno how many new phones still have this feature.

    I don't use/need it, but I've just checked on my Samsung Galaxy A51
    (Android 13) phone and the 'Phone' app has a setting ('Block numbers' ->) 'Block calls from unknown numbers'.

    I haven't turned that on, so I don't know what it does exactly -
    redirect to voicemail? log the number/timestamp? other? -, but at least
    it seems to *be* a do-not-disturb setting, however it's not named as
    such.

    Of course there are also general 'Do not disturb' settings, but they
    also cover app notifications and alarms and sounds, not just calls and messages.

    So important calls like family, doctors, etc. get through but otherwise
    not. To my surprise looking at the missed calls list I've found that only
    around 1 in 10 non-contact (junk) calls leave a Voicemail, and even then I
    can easily dispatch it after listening only a few seconds, so IMO I'm ahead
    in the battle. YMMV...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From AJL@21:1/5 to micky on Fri Mar 21 16:52:18 2025
    On 3/21/25 9:34 AM, micky wrote:
    In comp.mobile.android, on Fri, 21 Mar 2025 16:10:04 -0000 (UTC), AJL ><[email protected]> wrote:



    I simply use Do Not Disturb, a feature that came on my 5 year old Galaxy
    S10+ phone. If the number is not in my contact list the phone won't ring
    but will send it to Voicemail. I have Voicemail set to beep once so I can
    check it if I'm nearby. Dunno how many new phones still have this feature.

    I thought they all did? Not that I have experience with new phones.

    Same here. As I said it's been 5+ years since I've fondled a new one...


    So important calls like family, doctors, etc. get through but otherwise
    not. To my surprise looking at the missed calls list I've found that only
    around 1 in 10 non-contact (junk) calls leave a Voicemail, and even then I >> can easily dispatch it after listening only a few seconds, so IMO I'm ahead >> in the battle. YMMV...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From AJL@21:1/5 to Frank Slootweg on Fri Mar 21 17:11:05 2025
    On 3/21/25 9:48 AM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
    AJL <[email protected]> wrote:
    [...]

    I simply use Do Not Disturb, a feature that came on my 5 year old Galaxy
    S10+ phone. If the number is not in my contact list the phone won't ring
    but will send it to Voicemail. I have Voicemail set to beep once so I can >> check it if I'm nearby. Dunno how many new phones still have this feature.

    I don't use/need it, but I've just checked on my Samsung Galaxy A51
    (Android 13) phone and the 'Phone' app has a setting ('Block numbers' ->) >'Block calls from unknown numbers'.

    That sounds like my Do Not Disturb IF they're also sent to Voicemail.

    My S10+ also allows blocking of individual numbers as they come in but I
    quickly found that a waste of time since spam always changes numbers

    I haven't turned that on, so I don't know what it does exactly -
    redirect to voicemail? log the number/timestamp? other? -, but at least
    it seems to *be* a do-not-disturb setting, however it's not named as
    such.

    DND bounced numbers also show up on my lockscreen so I can check further if
    curious...


    Of course there are also general 'Do not disturb' settings, but they
    also cover app notifications and alarms and sounds, not just calls and >messages.

    Yup. Perhaps the main reason I don't want a new phone is having to learn how
    to use it... :-/


    So important calls like family, doctors, etc. get through but otherwise
    not. To my surprise looking at the missed calls list I've found that only >> around 1 in 10 non-contact (junk) calls leave a Voicemail, and even then I >> can easily dispatch it after listening only a few seconds, so IMO I'm ahead >> in the battle. YMMV...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From AJL@21:1/5 to Davey on Mon Apr 28 18:59:55 2025
    On 4/28/25 11:13 AM, Davey wrote:
    On Thu, 10 Apr 2025 09:33:17 +0100
    Davey <[email protected]d> wrote:

    On Thu, 10 Apr 2025 09:16:48 +0100
    JMB99 <[email protected]> wrote:

    On 09/04/2025 11:45, Davey wrote:
    The one calling site that leaves a message is the one that claims
    to be from some charge card company, and tells me that there are
    two charges on the card, from businesses that I do not use.


    But never say which card!




    Well, no, that would be too much information! It is always the same
    message, with the same charges.
    I have recently had a spate of: "Your package is ready for
    pickup..." e-mail messages, and a couple of the "Thank you for
    renewing your Norton 360 subscription." ones. Since I have been
    exclusively a Linux user since 2010, that is well out of date!


    Yup, the Norton one I receive also. I am on Linux as well, and have
    also been since 2010.

    Somehow I got my Chromebook browser completely locked up saying I had a
    virus and to contact xxxx to get rid of it. However since it said it was a
    Windows 11 virus I wasn't too worried. But I was surprised that it was able
    to lock up the Chromebook completely so that I had to reboot it to recover.
    Perhaps Chrome stuff is not really as safe as advertised...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Frank Slootweg@21:1/5 to AJL on Tue Apr 29 18:37:08 2025
    AJL <[email protected]> wrote:
    On 4/28/25 11:13 AM, Davey wrote:
    On Thu, 10 Apr 2025 09:33:17 +0100
    Davey <[email protected]d> wrote:

    On Thu, 10 Apr 2025 09:16:48 +0100
    JMB99 <[email protected]> wrote:

    On 09/04/2025 11:45, Davey wrote:
    The one calling site that leaves a message is the one that claims
    to be from some charge card company, and tells me that there are
    two charges on the card, from businesses that I do not use.


    But never say which card!




    Well, no, that would be too much information! It is always the same
    message, with the same charges.
    I have recently had a spate of: "Your package is ready for
    pickup..." e-mail messages, and a couple of the "Thank you for
    renewing your Norton 360 subscription." ones. Since I have been
    exclusively a Linux user since 2010, that is well out of date!


    Yup, the Norton one I receive also. I am on Linux as well, and have
    also been since 2010.

    Somehow I got my Chromebook browser completely locked up saying I had a
    virus and to contact xxxx to get rid of it. However since it said it was a
    Windows 11 virus I wasn't too worried. But I was surprised that it was able
    to lock up the Chromebook completely so that I had to reboot it to recover.
    Perhaps Chrome stuff is not really as safe as advertised...

    We had something like that in 2019 on my wife's laptop, in which a
    full page web page "Your system is infected with 3 viruses" seemed to
    have locked up the (Windows 8.1) computer. However it turned out that Ctrl-Alt-Del could still access Task Manager and Task Manager could End
    the offending process.

    The page had a Microsoft logo and "Windows" in the text, but no
    Windows version. It also had 'Scan Now' and 'Press OK to begin the
    repair process'. For some strange reason, I never tried those buttons.

    Of course there was no virus and it wasn't even a get-money/ransomware
    thing, more an ads things.

    According to my notes, the main culprit was rackcdn.com.

    I found the 'official' term for a thing like this, malvertising.

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  • From AJL@21:1/5 to All on Tue May 13 18:05:46 2025
    On Tue, 13 May 2025 22:52:51 +1000, Daniel70 wrote:
    On 9/04/2025 4:55 am, Mark Lloyd wrote:

    Currently, I find that most (not all) junk calls have the caller ID
    NAME the same as the number.

    WHAT?? So it looks like the Caller is phoning the Caller?? Really??
    That'd be a bit of a Give-away, wouldn't it?? ;-)

    IIRC these calls were successful at getting picked up because of recipient
    curiosity. They were quite common here (AZ US) for awhile and actually had
    newspaper warnings advising folks not to pick them up...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Richmond@21:1/5 to AJL on Tue May 13 19:33:28 2025
    AJL <[email protected]> writes:

    On Tue, 13 May 2025 22:52:51 +1000, Daniel70 wrote:
    On 9/04/2025 4:55 am, Mark Lloyd wrote:

    Currently, I find that most (not all) junk calls have the caller ID
    NAME the same as the number.

    WHAT?? So it looks like the Caller is phoning the Caller?? Really??
    That'd be a bit of a Give-away, wouldn't it?? ;-)

    IIRC these calls were successful at getting picked up because of
    recipient curiosity. They were quite common here (AZ US) for awhile
    and actually had newspaper warnings advising folks not to pick them
    up...

    I used to get my own number appearing if someone sent a text message to
    my phone. It would ring, showing my number, and when I answered it a
    computer would read out the text. So, maybe people answer it thinking it
    is a text message.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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