Have you ever had someone call you with the same prefix as your phone, and you think it’s legit? It happens a lot in my area. So you block the number. Then the same company/person calls you from a different number. Well, the NC GA wants to do something more about it
Lawmakers take aim at camouflaged robocalls
How many spam calls do you get a day on your cell phone?
Many of them look like local numbers, but they’re really sales calls.
State lawmakers filed a bill Thursday to try to crack down on phone scammers.
The scammers mask their real phone number so that the call shows up on your caller ID as a local number, or from a family member or even from yourself.
It’s called neighbor spoofing – using an alias number or name to hide the caller’s actual identity. Making it look like a local call or a call from someone you know increases the likelihood that you’ll answer it.
The practice is already illegal under federal law, but robocallers are using it anyway. And it seems to be getting worse all the time.
The proposed “Truth in Caller ID Act” would ban telemarketers from using fake numbers or names at the state level. Callers would have to use their own information or the information of the business they’re representing.
You might be saying “well, it’s already illegal under federal law (and, hey, what the hell’s with the do not call list?), so, what’s the point?” If the call is originating within the state, authorities would have the power to levy fines and even criminal penalties against the companies/people in violation. Otherwise, state officials have no power to go after those breaking federal law. This empowers them. If the calls are originating from outside NC, nothing can be done. A goodly chunk do originate locally, though.
Can we all get behind this going nationwide in a bipartisan fashion?
BTW, a great app to use is Mr. Number. Though, they want to charge you now after letting you use it with all the features free for years. However, if you get version 5.2.3-6703 for Android, and make sure you turn off auto-update. This will give you full functionality, spam blocking, show you the name if it is in the system. I had been using their other app, Hiya, since back when it was called White Pages, but, I don’t know the version that would let it be free. Not sure if you can do something like this with Apple. I one time fee would be one thing. They want a monthly payment.
I believe we should institute the death penalty for these SPAM callers. Once we’ve executed a couple of them I think the rest will get the message.
Suddenly, Porter Good is entirely in favor of SCAREY SCAREY GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS.
Funny how he’s all for government control when it suits him.
1) “Spoofing” is already illegal. It is, in fact, fraud.
2) This is not a control of telecommunications. That you would make such a representation shows a lack of understanding and a willingness to throw out false claims in a display of ignorance.
3) Spam calls costs people billions of dollars a year. Being that it is a fraudulent activity, the government has a compelling interest in this.
4) People / companies that call in spite of the federal / state “do not call” lists are in fact breaking the law.
One must wonder why you support criminals.
I was wondering how Boo Boo would make this about me, and he didn’t disappoint.
Of course, as a Classical Liberal I understand that there are times for government intervention, especially on things that negatively effect people with scams and fraud.
That is the function of government, that is why we have a police force. But government is not supposed to fall for a hoax like the climate religion.
Boo Boo
Yes. LOL.
Boo Boo- too funny. Can we use that?
Two more “solutions” to look into are “NoMoreRobo”
https://www.nomorobo.com/
And our favorite “The Jolly Roger Telephone Company” which is a paid service.
https://jollyrogertelephone.com/
Go to their site and see what they do. Listen to some calls and try not to laugh.
nomorobo is the best. It alone cuts out about 95% of all calls. The ones that get through are definitely illegal. I only wish that there was a good one offered by Verizon.
Verizon offers nomorobo.
https://www.verizon.com/support/residential/homephone/calling-features/stop-unwanted-calls
I also get an inordinate number of these. I recognize that there is no rational way for the government to police this activity since the criminals simply ignore the laws. Our best option is for the big phone services companies to learn to recognize these at the server level and squash then, like ISPs do for a huge majority of spam emails. It is all just digital signals so as long as there isn’t some sort of federal law that regulated phone company services, I expect they will do this on their own.
In the mean time, I have learned to let voice mail screen all my calls. I only answer ones in my address list.
It is all just digital signals so as long as there isn’t some sort of federal law that regulated phone company services, I expect they will do this on their own.
The phone companies cannot do anything. (At least right now.)
There is a federal law that requires all calls to be connected. It harkens back to the days of actual operators and people physically connecting calls, but the law requires that the telephone company completes and connects the call even though they know the caller id is being spoofed. (The technology is already in place.)
T-mobile often alerts me if it is spam. Not perfect, but, combined with Mr. Number, takes care of most
The FCC has fined robocallers $208 million. It’s collected $6,790.
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Since 2015, the Federal Communications Commission has ordered violators of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a law governing telemarketing and robodialing, to pay $208.4 million. That sum includes so-called forfeiture orders in cases involving robocalling, Do Not Call Registry and telephone solicitation violations.
So far, the government has collected $6,790 of that amount, according to records obtained by The Wall Street Journal through a Freedom of Information Act request.
https://www.foxnews.com/tech/the-fcc-has-fined-robocallers-208-million-its-collected-6790