Spam calls and texts are driving me fing crazy anyone have suggestions?
Spam calls and texts are driving me fing crazy anyone have suggestions?
After repeated data breaches that no company really seems to give a s--- about my phone is blowing up with literally hundreds of spam calls and texts month. I get and make MAAAAYBE 2 or 3 important calls per month, 180-200 of the rest are literally all spam. Anyone have any suggestions, apps ect that they have found refuge with? I really don't use SMS that much either, mostly it's via signal, discord whats app, ect...
Just to put it out there I run CalyxOS on a Pixel 5a.
Nice to see the reddit attitude making it's way here. OP is downvoting all of the correct answers and the bad advice is getting upvoted.
To everyone reading this. If you don't want spam calls stop answering numbers you don't recognize. You should also go to your carrier and opt in to whatever spam blocking service they offer (should be free).
I would also advise as I did in another comment to keep your real number on GV or similar with decent spam protection/blocking and use a direct number you can burn if needed.
the bad advice is getting upvoted.
But... You are the most upvoted comment... And seems good advice... I'm so confused
At the time of that comment I and all of the other legit advice was getting shit in and downvoted by OP and others.
I use T-Mobile Spam protection and configured it to send every unknown number directly to voicemail.
For any telemarketing, spam, etc. calls they get directly ignored without being sent to voicemail.
I've been lucky to only have one false positive in 5 years now, cost of doing business.
I don't have that level of protection turned on and I get very few calls. Both my work and personal numbers are on GV so if somehow either of my direct lines start getting spam bombed I can burn them and get new ones. Thinking about it, I should maybe be prepared and grab one to park as I've advised so I have a fresh and clean one ready to go.
If you don't want spam calls stop answering numbers you don't recognize.
I never answer calls from the area code my phone number is from because they are all spam. I haven't even lived in that area for years. But I still get 3 a day. I can't even remember the last time I answered one. 2, maybe 3 years ago? I still get them, though.
Edit: I just checked, and I am enrolled in Verizon's call filter thing.
If you are still getting that many and sometimes more, I would suggest exactly what I did to OP in another comment. Get a new number. Grab one from GV, number barn, etc that hasn't been used in awhile. Alternatively move your current number (if you want to keep it long term) and get a new direct number.
I have my main number on GV, I've had it for over a decade. I ported it to GV from tmo about that long ago. I grew up in Florida so just because I got a 727 area code for my personal direct line, I moved that sim to my work phone when I moves to having 2 phones. That number gets like 5 calls a week if that and they are mostly from house flippers trying to lowball me on a property I don't own nor have ever seen. The other ones are political bs. My current personal direct line is a local number and that one gets literally zero spam calls, a few texts but nowhere near the insanity that some people deal with. I have no idea how many calls or texts are being blocked by tmo now.
I'll repeat. If you are getting a shit storm of spam and turning on the carrier level protection doesn't help, it's time for a new number. I responded up top level because OP was being obstinate and saying that a new number was pointless because it had been used by deadbeats (paraphrasing here) without seeing the irony in that statement.
I pretend to be another call center. Or an IVR.
"Thank you for calling Punkadye Laboratories and Archives. My name is Terry. May I have your GSN number please?"
I don't know what a GSN number is; just something that I made up. Once in a while, I get an actual person, but I insist that I have "their latest GSN or a recent invoice," before I continue. I have "a call center voice," and can reasonably fake gender neutral.
Sometimes I answer, "Thank you for calling Punkadye Laboratories and Archives. Please listen closely, as our menu options recently changed. If you know the number of your party's extension, you may dial it at any time. If this is a billing question, please press 1. If this is technical support, please press 2."
Rarely does the call get past the press one part. Often this cuts the latest wave of calls quickly.
so, your mileage may vary but here's what I do:
- people I want to talk to are in my contacts list
- I ignore all other incoming calls
- voicemail is a filter. use it.
If they don’t leave a voicemail, then it’s either spam or not urgent.
Fuck the people (like my boss) who say “You’re so hard to get hold of”. Send a message or leave a voicemail, you caveman.
Or a debt collector. Fuck those people.
I keep my voicemail full. Text me if you need to talk from a number I don’t have in my contacts
Permanently Deleted
I just don't answer unless the number is in my contacts list. If it's important, they will leave a voicemail and I will call back. Spammers almost never leave a voicemail.
Pixel phone user, the built in spam blocker seems very reliable. When something goes through I use the call screening feature.
This is the reason why I won't consider anything but a Pixel. I've tried other phones a couple of times but ended up replacing them with Pixels for the spam blocking.
This right here. Got a pixel a year ago.. Holy shit. Was wondering why I literally get zero spam calls after formerly only owning Samsung phones... Google Assistant screening everything is just fantastic for my ADHD brain.
Imagine being unemployed and looking for work.
I have to answer every call.
Every call is spam. The number of calls I get has increased tenfold.
I'm certain that some of these jobs and recruitment sites aren't actually hiring for anything. They are just collecting and selling my data.
Shit man, I'm in the exact same boat (well, employed, but not even remotely close to being in a financially viable way). I'm so tired of answering the phone, being asked my name, and not knowing if it's going to be one of the hundreds of jobs I've applied for, a debt collector, or a run of the mill spam/scam.
Pixel's all screening from Google has pretty much completely solved my spam call issue.
Set it up to screen every single call from anyone who is not in my contacts, And I haven't had to miss any important unexpected calls, or answer any spam calls, in months
I love this feature so much. While I feel like the Pixel misses a lot of cool features from OnePlus and Samsung, this is IMO a killer feature.
Too bad you aren't running stock Android to get that spam blocking.
Mine will show "Spam" or "Telemarketer", but there's no way to stop it from ringing trough, outside of blocking each number afterward. I'd like to know who thought that just announcing spam was better than not letting it through.
Check your settings, mine doesn't even show me a missed call.
blocking numbers is a waste of time.
I added the phone number disconnected sound effect to the beginning of my voicemail outgoing message, set my ringer to silent, and set a personalized ringtone to anyone I actually wanted to speak with. That worked okay to get me off most of the lists. When that wasn't enough to drive all of them away I started answering unknown numbers and fucking with the people on the other end, saying anything to string them along and waste their time with bullshit and lies. That actually worked better than anything else.
My wife and I used to take care of her grandmother. After a while, this old lady got excited to get a scam call or telemarketer, because she would hand the phone to me and I'd just pick a persona:
- Confused old man
- Helplessly stoned young man
- Lecherous and blustery impolite person
There were others, but those were her favorites.
I started answering unknown numbers and fucking with the people on the other end, saying anything to string them along and waste their time with bullshit and lies
I had a stoner friend who would drop everything in any given evening to do exactly this, specifically for his own entertainment and derision.
Ah, to be young and with plenty of spare time on hand, those were the days and we didn't even realize it.
I find if you answer their calls and fuck with them for a bit they tend to stop calling
I like answering them and asking if their parents are proud of them.
I have Call Screen on my Pixel 6a doing a lot of heavy lifting for me.
I really wish there was a non-Google version of it that everyone could download and use.
That reminds me, STT, TTS and a tiny LLM are feasible to run on phone hardware these days. You could conceivably build something like Google's data gobbling solution but fully local and offline.
I never answer unless I recognize the caller. If it is important they can leave a voice mail.
On the plus side I no longer get the weekly call from the Chinese lady.
I do the same. And then I quickly block the number I didn't know. Seems to help, but I still get lots of spam calls.
I use the app "should I answer" on Google play store. It worked pretty well for my partner who isn't really that smart with that kinda stuff and used to get lots of calls. But it helped her a bit mitigating it.
I like it too but I wish they would stop harrasing you with their database update, it's so annoying!
Oh forgot I turned that notification off. So I only update it once in a while.
This is not advice.
I hated spam calls. Got them constantly.
I decided to just fuck with them mercilessly. I'd answer almost every time. Even if I had to drop whatever I was doing. My single overriding goal was to keep them on the line as long as possible and then, once discovered, piss them off as much as possible.
I've been doing this for years. No YouTube channel or anything. I didn't record the calls. Just a personal hobby of mine.
If I was at work, I'd try to keep them talking while I ignored them and kept working. If I wasn't busy, I'd interact more.
Initially, it seemed to cause a massive increase in spam calls. Like, it seemed fairly obvious to me that I was getting more calls because I was responding. Since I enjoyed fucking with them, I didn't mind getting them any more.
I always figured I was at least tying up one scammer for as long as possible.
After awhile all my calls were hangups. I'd answer, and then they would immediately disconnect. I know that happens sometimes because the robo caller calls multiple lines at once and drops all but the first one that answers, but it started happening every time for me.
A few months ago I read about some scam call networks getting busted. I wondered if it would have any effect.
Seems like it has. I don't even get one call or week anymore.
yea i answer and string them along for ages. since i am not well, my voice and tiredness always shows through, but im quite lonely so i quite enjoy these long rambling chats. i always try to be helpful and ask them lots of questions, and always say yes to whatever they want. but i never give out bank account numbers etc. but i always say "yes i will contact my lawyer and they will cut you a cheque,. how much do you need? pls, let me help?" etc etc.
Yet Another Call Blocker is in F-Droid.
I have a Pixel 5a too and the call screening option is a godsend.
If you ran standard OS, your phone would handle it for you. It's my favourite thing about my pixel.
So I guess my suggestion is to revert back to the standard pixel OS.
I kept my phone number from a different state so everyone that calls from that area code can be ignored. I also have AT&T's ActiveArmor app (free) and it blocks most of them. I used to get 2-4 a day but I'm down to 1ish a week now.
Answering vs not answering didn't really ever make a difference for me, but I've heard lots of things like don't answer and they'll think the line isn't real or answer but play the do Do DO sound effect or answer but leave it silent. Not sure if any will help.
Note: this depends a lot on which governments you pay taxes to (country, state/province, city). With that in mind:
- Check if there's a "do not call" list where you live - i.e. a gov-enforced list of numbers that you are forbidden to call for advertisement. If there is one, put your number there.
- Do not answer spam calls at all. Usually it's easy to identify them, but there are some applications for this, like this (it's in F-Droid so likely available for CalyxOS). By simply not answering those calls, your number gets marked as "inactive" by the advertisers/spammers/telemarketers, so the frequency of the calls gets lower over time.
- Get a new phone number, redirect all legitimate contacts to your new number, and trash away the old one.
gov-enforced list of numbers that you are forbidden to call for advertisement. If there is one, put your number there.
As a scam caller from some country the US has no influence over, that would be a great resource!
I believe that it should still reduce the likelihood of spam calls - because you don't advertise where you aren't selling stuff, and if you're selling stuff you don't want to piss off the local government.
For reference: where I live the "do not call" list is from the state. Most of those spam calls come from people in other states controlled by the same republic, thus not subjected to the rules of my state - and yet the "do not call" list still does its job.
If you're in the US isn't there that law that allows you to request to be put on the black list? And if anybody ignores this list you can receive damages.
Most of the people calling you are scammers pretending to be political or charity campaigns using sketchy urls each time asking for money so I doubt they care about breaking the law more than they already are
The federal Do Not Call list is effective at weeding out legitimate companies trying to sell products that should be illegal, but scammers obviously have no need to respect the Do Not Call list. Unfortunately this is a problem with many sides, including captive regulators, insane wealth disparities between nations, cultural conflict, and problematic network protocols, so it will require action from multiple angles to fully stamp out
Wait, damages? I could have been rich last election cycle.
Pick up the phone, say nothing and mute it. Unless you have a good reason to answer it, leave it be. Hang up after 30 seconds of they dont. The more sophisticated spammers will write you off as an automated system.
If it's a human who should reach you, they'll assume it was a bad connection and say hello after 10 seconds or so.
This is bad advice. All this does is is flag the number as in service and it will get even more calls.
Aside from the advice I gave in another set of comments, you could and should check with your cell provider and turn on spam blocking if they offer it.
I have a total of 5 numbers across 2 phones, 2 at GV and 1 at textnow. I get very very few spam calls and texts. I very rarely answer the phone for a number I don't recognize, I let it go to vm and then if it's legit and important I'll consider calling them back. I keep my phone on silent and all calls and notifications go through my watch so I am not listening to the phone ring especially when I am working.
They usually hang up as soon as you pick up most of the time, just bots checking if it's a real number for some reason
Probably more likely they dial more calls than they can scam on the basis that a silent hang up call costs them only the cost of connecting the call, but their scammer's wages cost them more if not enough people answer and there is no one for the scammer to speak to.
It's essentially putting the cost of uncertain numbers of people answering onto the victims rather than the scammer - selfish, but so is scamming people!
Telemarketers do the same thing, although at least they often have to fear their local regulators in many countries if they do it too much, while scammers are criminals who are going to break the law anyway, so I suspect most silent calls are probably scammers.
Tried this a couple of times, but they kept calling my junk phone. I got like 7 or 8 calls the day after Thanksgiving. I block the numbers, but the next number will just be one or two digits different
I keep the junk phone for things like shopping clubs, pharmacy reminders, etc. I have a seperate number for people and trusted sources (though I realize that anyone can be compromised. I'll get a fresh number once that happens again)
Anyway, point is- I dont think they're human scammers. At least not the ones calling me
It's bad advice. Just stop answering the ones you don't recognize. If you have android, Googles phone app is pretty good at giving you the name of the company that is calling you (assuming it's not spoofed). It's also pretty good at flagging calls and texts that might be spam. If you are waiting for a call from your mechanic for example, it will usually show you that its Firestone or NTB or whatever calling.
Stop answering spam calls and they will eventually go away. If they don't go away or seem like they are waning, you might have someone fucking with you and it's time for a new number that you don't give out to anyone. I do the same with email. I have ProtonMail and I have a few aliases that I use for specific purposes, if/when one them is leaked/sold/traded/whatever, I will temporarily pause that address and eventually it will get flagged as a bad one and they will stop coming.
This is entirely the responsibility of your phone provider. They should be blocking those numbers.
Call them, tell them you have a csv with the list of spam numbers for them to block. (CSVs are very easily imported) Tell them if they don't add them to their blocklist you will change phone provider because it is unbearable and you are not receiving a good service.
Phone companies are (often legally) obliged to block illegitimate usage and always have it in their terms and conditions.
Ever hear of spoofed caller ID?
Ever hear about a system in place to certify the number is actually coming from the correct party? Not all carriers have signed on but as the top comment here said, it's their responsibility and tmo at the least has some pretty decent spam protection/blocking in place, they also have a number you can forward texts to and they will analyze them and use them to improve their spam filters.
Try being witty elsewhere, here you just look like a fool.
This is the answer. The big 3 have spam protection that you can opt in to.
Airplane mode or MySudo
I had a similar attack of spam calls for a while. It started the moment I answered one call and continued for months. Simply not answering was not enough. Blocking specific numbers does not help either because they change every time. I then blocked all calls not in my address book for a few weeks and that helped. I could then disable the block again and for a year only got an occasional call here and there but could ignore it based on the area code. Now it finally seems quiet.
I’m on an iPhone. Could not find any other way that would help me block spam calls that is not expensive and/or privacy invasive. So blocking everything is the only option.
I just started blocking each number that called/texted one by one. Most call centers have 5 or 6 numbers they use at most so eventually you just stop getting the calls/messages
It took almost a year but now if I get a call I know it's something I should pick up 95% of the time
Is there any pattern to the numbers they are coming from? For example, many of the calls i get spoof my area code and first 3 digits so I block those numbers automatically.
I've also used an app called Mr. Number in the past to screen potential spam calls for me.
My phone app does a good job of labeling suspected spam calls and texts so I just set it to auto ignore all those and that's been pretty good so far, but I'm just using the default phone app on samsung,
when I had pixel the Google phone app was nice because it would auto answer if it was maybe a real number and only ring once they said why they were calling so if it wasnt important they would just hangup without you being bugged
I know they don’t have the best reputation, but Truecaller’s ‘Voice Assistant’ feature has been a godsend for me. The basic bot answers calls from unknown numbers and transcribes their response before ringing, and only if they don’t hang up. I’ll look at my phone to see I have a few missed calls from unknown numbers, only to find that Truecaller intercepted them all and they hung up once they heard the message that the call was being screened. It’s great.
Folks that call for legitimate reasons that aren’t in my contacts generally leave a message and I get the call once they’ve left it. Folks that are in my contacts ring as normal.
Have you tried not receiving them?
Try "Should I Answer?" works flawlessly for me. If you don't subscribe, you have to manually update the database every week or so, for which you can get a notification.
Port Phone number to twilio
Set up call rules for incoming messages. Drop off calls from the same area code three digits as your number.
Then forward to your phone
You can do the same for SMS.
I want one step further, and got a new number in Montana, the least dense state. And I know if any messages or calls come in from a Montana number it's purely spam, so I drop those calls.
You can go a couple steps further, get a bunch of twilio numbers, and give them out to different businesses when they require a phone number. Then if you ever drop the relationship with that business, you can drop the number and if the number leaks you know where it came from.
Maybe it's time to change your number. If you want to keep your current one maybe port it into something like google voice where it can sit and eventually the spam will stop.
I have my main number that I've had for over a decade on GV and then I have my direct number that I give out sparingly, mechanics, plumbers, etc that need to contact me and I need to receive the call, my GV number is set to not ring at all aside from messagea.
Lol, like that would stop the spam.
I've found whenever you get a new number, it was probably abandoned by someone with credit issues and/or stalkers.
I think the only thing you can do is put your phone on silent for everything except whitelisted numbers and have it go directly to voicemail for everyone else.
You can sometimes get a fresh number. I got lucky with mine (keep my junk phone for club-cards and the like)
It actually will stop it eventually. I have a work number on GV as well and it receives zero non work calls. Similar with the direct number on both work and personal phone. Work phone gets calls every so often about real-estate I definitely don't have anything to do with and my personal line gets zero spam.
Yes, porting a number into GV and letting it sit along with leaving it on don't ring at all anywhere will eventually clear that number up. It may never be zero calls but if you keep answering it the calls will keep coming.
If you want a better chance of a clean number, look for area codes that are more recently allocated, this will make it more likely that others haven't used it before you. You'll probably have a decent chance by grabbing a number from GV directly or through number barn or the like. Find a number that has been sitting around for awhile and you'll probably be fine.