Is it worth registering my number with the federal government (which presumably already has access to my information) to avoid spam calls? Does it work? Is there a downside?
And also, why does this sub require a URL to post a question? Like, what if my question was so truly stupid that there was no related website?
And also, why does this sub require a URL to post a question? Like, what if my question was so truly stupid that there was no related website?
The sub does not require a URL to post. What client are you using?
It has helped at least a little for me. It depends though.
I got lots of annoying calls about selling land because they mixed my information with someone else’s I guess. After i signed up, I got less calls like that.
IMO the best thing you can do is be very selective with what info you give out. Use a privacy focused browser, use ublock and privacybadger as well.
Also switching from Verizon to T-Mobile helped with spam. I get way less spam on tmobile at least it feels that way. This is all anecdotal so take it with a grain of salt.
If internet companies would fix VOIP protocol, so that spammers couldn’t spoof any phone numbers they wanted, then 95% of spam calls would disappear.
The Do Not Call registry was the easiest thing in the world for Congress to do, because it didn’t actually do anything and it didn’t cost them anything to do. You can’t catch a spammer unless you can identify them. And you can’t do that with a spoofed phone number
That’s what STIR/SHAKEN is about. The FCC is starting to crack down on providers that attest A when they really shouldn’t.
It’s not internet companies.
It’s the backbones.
CID is an arbitrary field sent over the D channel of a ISDN or T1/T3/etc.
Nearly every phone system, be it Lucent, ATT, Cisco, etc can set the outbound caller ID to anything they want.
The carriers accept it and transmit it. They do that so things like Hospitals can all call from the same number, or one office can call from a specific number and the hospital can change it as needed without the phone company.
And that’s where shit falls apart cause it’s built with the assumption of good intent, like the first mainframes didn’t have logons and passwords, they just accepted anything given.
People ruin things.
Internet companies contribute heavily, but they are more like a flat tire on a car with a bad transmission.
Sure, fix the tire and it’ll roll better… The car is still fucked.
Not really, least in my experience.
I’ve had spammers call me a few times. Now what did work, was when I got personal with them. I haven’t gotten a spam call in a few months now. It’s bliss.
Don’t feel guilty treating these people like shit, they chose to do this. People try framing it all like “they were forced to by crazy psycho bosses! have mercy!” Nah, even if that wasn’t the case…they still willingly chose to do this.
There are actually tons of trafficked people working in overseas call centers and no “getting personal” with them doesn’t do anything, they don’t give a shit they have bigger problems than a rude person on the line
I’ve been using call screening in iOS and it’s stopped pretty much all unwanted calls. Automated systems do not know how to handle it yet and they waste their time because the call is “answered” and sent to whatever agent they use.
So that’s what that is. I haven’t heard of the call screening thing til now but lately half the time I call clients I get this weird answering machine telling me to say my name and what I want and I never know what to say so I just launch into my usual voicemail spiel until it cuts me off and the client answers
Gotta say, I think I prefer just leaving a voicemail for clients
The registry only works for legitimate companies that are playing by the rules. That is to say that it does jack shit, at least for me
I get dozens of spam calls and texts a day, mostly political in nature but with some good loan scams mixed in for variety.
I think political calls are basically exempt from it, anyways.
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/political-campaign-robocalls-and-robotexts-rules
“Prior consent” is basically moot if you ever donate to a y campaign, ever, because you have to provide a real phone number. Or if you sign a petition your party is running, or somehow end up having that party get your number some other legitimate way. They have no way to prove (or you to disprove) your consent.
I just treat them all as spam, and report/block accordingly.
iOS 26 gave people the built-in call screening, which has been amazing for weeding out garbage calls, at least. Text messages are a different evil, but there are apps you can use to trash text messages that contain specific words, etc.
Political campaign-related autodialed or prerecorded voice calls, including autodialed live calls, autodialed texts, and prerecorded voice messages, are prohibited to cell phones, pagers, or other mobile devices without the called party’s prior express consent
Most companies/political callers don’t do regular manual calling anymore… They pretty much all use some sort of system to automatically dial numbers
I’m aware. Several issues there.
- They use / buy lists of people to robo-dial
- They don’t bother opt-out request handling on those lists reliably
- The opt-out process is per-campaign, not party-wide, so the process is an endless cycle for all party candidates, and even the same ones running in future elections. Because we have no way to our out at the party level, the data is basically always there.
This is by no means am exhaustive list.
Yup, you’ve hit it on the head The worst is when they don’t handle consent withdrawal properly…
Call screening is actually one of the reasons I’ve been thinking about going back to a Pixel, I had that on my Pixel 5 and Fold.
Fortunately, the Google messages app (default for Android) does a half decent job of filtering spam texts for me. I go through the filter every couple days and just report them to my provider en masse.
What are those texting apps? I think the entire Democratic Party has sold my cellphone number to each other for fundraising and I want to not see any of it
The DNC just gives it to any Dem campaign. RNC is the same. I use SMS Filter+.
It did until the Trump administration. Also most of the violators are from overseas using spoofed numbers.
Same. I’ve had mine registered since its inception in 2003. It worked great for a while. Now I get at least 10 spam calls a day.
And also, why does this sub require a URL to post a question? Like, what if my question was so truly stupid that there was no related website?
That might be an issue with your app/client/browser, because if you look at the rest of the sub there’s plenty of posts without a link. Unless it was changed between your post and the one before it.
Edit: It’s because I chose “Link” as the type of post. If I had chosen “Discussion”, a URL wouldn’t have been required.
I always do this - I ask questions first and click around later. JFC, I don’t know if I’ve got ADHD or just come down with a case of boomeritis.
Thanks for this!
The field was marked required, with a red asterisk. I tried posting without a URL, and it did not accept the webform. Said I needed to fill in the required field.
I took a screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/gbF3jP3
(And if Imgur doesn’t meet Lemmy standards, I’m happy to use a different service.)
Keep in mind it only works for callers who play by the rules.
In France, the Do Not Call registry will tell every company on the planet that your phone number is valid. Which means “more spam.” Hilarious, and I expect it’s the same in the USA.
I added my number to the list and within a month I started getting A LOT fewer spam calls. I still get a couple here and there, but before it was like 5 a week.
I report spam calls to them everytime I get one and the spam calls stop after about a week or two, I say they work.
Works really well in Australia
