Spam and unsolicited calls

[MaximumMini]

I just got a new phone.
From day one I'm getting bombarded with spam calls. Obviously the number is on a robocall hot list.

Anyone else?

 

[Rand]

what kind of phone? what carrier?

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

I just got a new phone.
From day one I'm getting bombarded with spam calls. Obviously the number is on a robocall hot list.

Anyone else?

Because more than likely your cell phone carrier sold your number.

 

[Lyman]

I have had more SPAM calls in the last 3 weeks than ever before in my life. I have no idea what happened. I have had the same number for 20+ years. It seems to be the same people trying to loan me money. All calls from different numbers that I block every single time. I have even tried reporting them.

 

[CleanSump]

I have had more SPAM calls in the last 3 weeks than ever before in my life. I have no idea what happened. I have had the same number for 20+ years. It seems to be the same people trying to loan me money. All calls from different numbers that I block every single time. I have even tried reporting them.

Ditto. And they're both calling and texting me about a loan I never applied for---Scam calls

 

[2010Civic]

I have had more SPAM calls in the last 3 weeks than ever before in my life. I have no idea what happened. I have had the same number for 20+ years. It seems to be the same people trying to loan me money. All calls from different numbers that I block every single time. I have even tried reporting them.

Same here, it is slowing down now though.

 

[oldcodger]

They are really bad here. 25-30 per day sometimes. I have seriously thought of giving up phones completely. Nothing works. I bought a call blocker and after using it to block 250 numbers I gave it up. Nothing seems to work. My numbers are on the do not call registry. I have reported them to the Secretary of State office. No results.

 

[opus1]

I went through a stretch about 3 months ago where I was getting multiple calls a day, sometimes 3-4 in a 10 minute span.

I started calling the numbers back and hanging up, and repeating the process. I don't know if that did anything beyond a feeling of revenge, but they did taper off after about 2 weeks of doing that.

 

[ecotourist]

When my wife got a new cell phone she started getting calls from all over asking for "Edith" to offer her a variety of loans and vehicles.

Seems Edith was leading quite a life. Wonder what happened to her? Seems she could no longer afford her cell phone. Bankrupt? In jail maybe?

If you've been offering to sell cars to Edith you can stop any time.

When my wife said "There's no Edith here", a couple of them switched over and wanted to loan her money.

 

[MaximumMini]

The numbers seem to be spoofed.
Two years ago I started getting tons of calls out of the blue and I thought they were spam calls......until I started playing along and started answering them.

They turned out to be people ticked off at me for calling THEM (which I was not).
Apparently a spammer was spoofing MY phone number and people were mad at my phone number. I finally had to create a recording explaining that it was not me calling them and my phone number was being spoofed. Some understood, other not.

It eventually stopped after about 2-3 weeks.

 

[MaximumMini]

They are really bad here. 25-30 per day sometimes. I have seriously thought of giving up phones completely. Nothing works. I bought a call blocker and after using it to block 250 numbers I gave it up. Nothing seems to work. My numbers are on the do not call registry. I have reported them to the Secretary of State office. No results.

Right?
It baffles me that with all the high tech and AI they cannot stop this nonsense.
It's also very costly in terms of the economic impact. Things I never thought of.

 

[CKN]

Because more than likely your cell phone carrier sold your number.

They do...but to get it's also likely the number can be auto generated and called.

 

[KCJeep]

IOS 26 has a call screening feature I’ve been using about two weeks, so far it’s been awesome. Kinda fun too.

 

[Panda87]

I have Verizon and use the “Call Filter” app they have. Works really well. For an iphone, you have options under “Settings>Apps>Phone>Call Filtering and Call Blocking and Identification” that can significantly reduce all of those nuisance calls.

 

[dubber09]

Don't answer calls from unknown callers, block numbers that don't leave voice mail or leave spam vm. This approach will reduce number of spam calls gradually to basically none.

 

[Panda87]

Don't answer calls from unknown callers, block numbers that don't leave voice mail or leave spam vm. This approach will reduce number of spam calls gradually to basically none.

It has zero effect on number spoofers. They have your number and they spoof legitimate numbers to try to get you to answer.

 

[IveBeenRued]

I have T-Mobile post pay which comes with their “Scam Shield” service. I have yet to receive any spam calls in over 2.5 years. The occasional spam text gets through (maybe 2-4 per year) but they are always caught by iOS’ excellent spam filter and never actually gets through to me.

OP, you may want to enroll in an online data deletion service. That also helps cut down on unwanted calls and texts.

Lastly, get yourself a Google voice or other VOIP number that can receive SMS and use that for all random things you have to sign up for. Food orders, loyalty programs, online orders, etc. That will significantly cut down on the number of companies with your physical cellphone number.

 

[Arc]

Right?
It baffles me that with all the high tech and AI they cannot stop this nonsense.
It's also very costly in terms of the economic impact. Things I never thought of.

They can stop it but they don't because it's profit for the carriers. Before cell phones they let people rent out space right at the phone company buildings to make thousands of scam calls.

 

[Arc]

The numbers seem to be spoofed.
Two years ago I started getting tons of calls out of the blue and I thought they were spam calls......until I started playing along and started answering them.

They turned out to be people ticked off at me for calling THEM (which I was not).
Apparently a spammer was spoofing MY phone number and people were mad at my phone number. I finally had to create a recording explaining that it was not me calling them and my phone number was being spoofed. Some understood, other not.

It eventually stopped after about 2-3 weeks.

It's dangerous when they spoof numbers that are local to the people they are calling. Over the years I've had people in my area call and threaten me because they believed the calls were from my business.

 

[Panda87]

It's dangerous when they spoof numbers that are local to the people they are calling. Over the years I've had people in my area call and threaten me because they believed the calls were from my business.

They’ve been spoofing Clearview Cancer Institute and the VA Medical Center here.