Apple to Join 'Robocall Strike Force' to Crack Down on Automated Phone Calls

[alphaod]

I just stop accepting calls from any number I don't know unless I'm expecting someone to call me... like if they're calling from California it will have a California number, or from say Florida they will have a Florida number. Worse case it goes to my voicemail and I have to call them back.

At least I know it's not just me with these issues. I thought somehow my number was leaked, but looks like it's more widespread than I thought.

 

[rGiskard]

I just stop accepting calls from any number I don't know unless I'm expecting someone to call me... like if they're calling from California it will have a California number, or from say Florida they will have a Florida number. Worse case it goes to my voicemail and I have to call them back.

At least I know it's not just me with these issues. I thought somehow my number was leaked, but looks like it's more widespread than I thought.

Nope, it's not just you. My mobile number now gets as many spam calls as my landline used to get.

I believe the only solution is to exert grassroots political pressure on congress to do something, which basically means that there is no solution. Any politician who agitates for the FCC to impose serious penalties for spam calling would instantly get swamped with lobbyists and receive threats from corporations to support his or her opponent in the next election. He may as well propose legalization of child pr0n - it would be just as damaging to a political career as an effort to control advertising.

 

[Rajani Isa]

Maybe we can have a ban on automated political phone calls too?

Sure, and we'll get congress to tie their paychecks to the budget like most civil servants are stuck with, so no budget means no pay.

 

[IJ Reilly]

The problem with that is, the FTC wants you to tell them not to call you. As for the company that was calling me, I went through all the BS from the robo call company just to get to the real company that was using the robo call service to contact me, then I got their name, number, url, address, etc so I could give that to the FTC. But still no change, I still get calls from them, even after asking the end company to stop calling/harassing me.

Are you filing an FTC complaint? Might be worth doing if the company is legitimate and you have asked them not to call you and they continue to do so. We joined a wine club recently and a few weeks later we got a call from them pitching something or other. I told them we prefer not to be called and to make our selections online. They haven't called again. Legitimate businesses don't want to tick off their customers. The scammers aren't interested in any of that, they are criminals, their product is fraud, and they operate offshore out of the reach of the FTC anyway.

 

[JamesPDX]

Are you filing an FTC complaint? Might be worth doing if the company is legitimate and you have asked them not to call you and they continue to do so. We joined a wine club recently and a few weeks later we got a call from them pitching something or other. I told them we prefer not to be called and to make our selections online. They haven't called again. Legitimate businesses don't want to tick off their customers. The scammers aren't interested in any of that, they are criminals, their product is fraud, and they operate offshore out of the reach of the FTC anyway.

And always do this in writing. Any "audio-based agreement" between you and the caller doesn't count, as it would be viewed as another "He said/she said" kind of argument. Use https://www.donotcall.gov/ -You'll thank me later.

 

[hungedu]

Apple and major telecom companies need to develop new features to block "unavailable" and "private" caller IDs. Until then, many calls are going to get through, even with blocking list software.

 

[Tech198]

When u schedule a call back from say Apple's website, it's an automated call when u answer,u don't speak to a human right away... so u must classify "what is an automated phone calls" technically any response back from someone is still an automated calls if not a human answering immediately.

So, this should be interesting..

Personally, i just disable caller ID..... anyway.... if someone wants to know the my number and its important info they'll have no choice. Kinda sounds like a cat and mouse game... You want caller ID on, so others know who's calling to pick up, yet u also want a system that works...

I have a system that works disable caller ID and solves all problems,.

 

[0248294]

Hey, WALL●E did run Apple Software!

 

[IJ Reilly]

And always do this in writing. Any "audio-based agreement" between you and the caller doesn't count, as it would be viewed as another "He said/she said" kind of argument. Use https://www.donotcall.gov/ -You'll thank me later.

Whether this is worth doing depends. If you have a business relationship with the company, they are exempt from the DNC list restrictions. You can ask them not to call, and most will comply because they don't want to tick off a customer. If they are a legitimate business with whom you have not done any business and they don't comply with your request then documentation will be important if you are bound and determined to stop them from pestering you.

 

[Moorepheus]

Are you filing an FTC complaint? Might be worth doing if the company is legitimate and you have asked them not to call you and they continue to do so. We joined a wine club recently and a few weeks later we got a call from them pitching something or other. I told them we prefer not to be called and to make our selections online. They haven't called again. Legitimate businesses don't want to tick off their customers. The scammers aren't interested in any of that, they are criminals, their product is fraud, and they operate offshore out of the reach of the FTC anyway.

The company I keep getting calls from is a company in Florida. They are using a 3rd party to do the robo calls. This company is in the USA.

And always do this in writing. Any "audio-based agreement" between you and the caller doesn't count, as it would be viewed as another "He said/she said" kind of argument. Use https://www.donotcall.gov/ -You'll thank me later.

Most these robo calls don't/won't give you their address or it's impossible to get their address because they just hang up on you. And if you they do, it's still an issue of you sent them a letter requesting to be removed and them saying they never received it. Yes, I can have them sign for it, but why do I need to go through all that. I am already on the do not call list, have been since the list was initiated by www.donotcall.gov.

 

[IJ Reilly]

The company I keep getting calls from is a company in Florida. They are using a 3rd party to do the robo calls. This company is in the USA.

Most these robo calls don't/won't give you their address or it's impossible to get their address because they just hang up on you. And if you they do, it's still an issue of you sent them a letter requesting to be removed and them saying they never received it. Yes, I can have them sign for it, but why do I need to go through all that. I am already on the do not call list, have been since the list was initiated by www.donotcall.gov.

Have you done business with the company? One shifty technique used by less than scrupulous companies is to hand your number off to a "partner" company. Ask for a callback number and see what happens.

The robo calls are 99.99% fraud. They won't observe the DNC list or give you their address because they are criminals, and their address is probably in Bangalore or New Delhi anyway.

 

[Marzzz]

Start by giving me a way to filter 'no caller ID' calls, just a simple option that diverts the caller to a "This person has chosen not to receive cals from withheld numbers" message, or something along those lines. Or allow me to block no caller ID.

I just don't want to bother with people who don't want me to know who they are.

I agree with this; HOWEVER, I am a physician, and use an answering service for after hours calls. There is both a legal and HIPPA reason for this, but when I return calls to patients, the last thing I want is for them to know my personal cell phone number. Hopefully there is a way to work this, but right now I use *67 to block my ID.

 

[Wowereit]

Is that really such a big problem in the US?

I've never got an automated call in my entire life and maybe a hand full of sales agents calling.

 

[jonnysods]

I need Google to stop calling me about my business listing!

 

[Col4bin]

On the bright side.... At least someone is calling me.... I will be pretty upset if Apple stops that.

By "someone" you mean a random automated call? Er, got it.
[doublepost=1471667807][/doublepost]

Is that really such a big problem in the US?
I've never got an automated call in my entire life and maybe a hand full of sales agents calling.

You're lucky. I'm located in the U.S. and receive at least three of these spam calls each day. These calls come from random phone numbers from random states all within the U.S. If I answer, they're always automated messages about lowering my credit card interest rates or to tell me that I've won a cruise. When I ignore the call they even leave voicemails which is equally as annoying. The National Do Not Call registry is complete and useless BS and doesn't come close to preventing these unsolicited spam calls.

 

[jw2002]

but when I return calls to patients, the last thing I want is for them to know my personal cell phone number..

Don't your patients deserve to know who is calling them? Don't you want to not look like a phone spammer when you call a patient? If you are so concerned about them knowing your cell phone number, then don't call them from it or get another phone and call them from that one.

 

[Black Belt]

How about severe penalties payable, at least in part, immediately via phone charge to the victim simply by pressing a code. This would then be verified by the phone company and billed immediately and directly to the initiator as if they had called a 900 number. If foreign phone companies don't enforce they get cut out of the international phone system. I'm so tired of stupid pointless bureaucracies that accomplish nothing and certainly do nothing for the victims. Letting the victims be bounty hunters puts the shoe on the other foot.

 

[Tech198]

Hey, WALL●E did run Apple Software!

Poor Wall-e would have a meltdown.

 

[rizzo41999]

Wall-E! My dude!

 

[plokoonpma]

LOL, knowing how ATT operates, they are probably the ones planting the robocalls. Now they will try and sell you a $5 a month app to "block" these calls.

Also, why use a picture of lovable Wally!? He's a Disney icon and one of my favorite Disney characters.

Once upon a time that i used to work for AT&T and T-Mobile and when you signed your contract (customer) you where approving "automatic calls" Those where not only to advertise new services, features or plans but also to collect or warn you that your monthly plan was depleted or stuff like that.
They had optimise their network so they could be a platform for other businesses like Banks.
So that quote is quite funny. Still remember customers calling to complain about the excessive amount of automatic calls and we had an script to de escalate the situation.

 

[peterh988]

Once upon a time that i used to work for AT&T and T-Mobile and when you signed your contract (customer) you where approving "automatic calls" Those where not only to advertise new services, features or plans but also to collect or warn you that your monthly plan was depleted or stuff like that.
They had optimise their network so they could be a platform for other businesses like Banks.
So that quote is quite funny. Still remember customers calling to complain about the excessive amount of automatic calls and we had an script to de escalate the situation.

Another thing governments could do was to enact laws that meant you could only be called if the company had a signed, written document giving explicit permission to be called. You can't sign up via a third party, forgetting to tick or untick a box on a form, or by any other indirect means.

The caller would need to produce a written signed letter stating "I hereby give Scam Call Pest Inc. permission to bombard me with sales calls" in order to have a defence against unwanted call complaints. Al backed up by serious punishments for everyone involved in the chain that allowed the call to happen.

I know it wouldn't solve everything, but it would be a step in the right direction.

 

[xlii]

nomorobo works great for voip calls. It rings once and goes away. Living in a swing state, we used to get a lot of these calls.

I've used nomorobo for about two years now. It is free and really does the job.

 

[unplugme71]

Start by giving me a way to filter 'no caller ID' calls, just a simple option that diverts the caller to a "This person has chosen not to receive cals from withheld numbers" message, or something along those lines. Or allow me to block no caller ID.

I just don't want to bother with people who don't want me to know who they are.

The problem with this is, a lot of legitimate calls I get come from 'UNKNOWN' or some variation. Fraud alert calls on my credit card, some health insurance companies, etc. I don't get why they arrive like this - isn't there a way for phone carriers to hide the number but still show some text of the company calling?

I know when danger is inevitable, the 3 calls is a bit much - but it would be nice if numbers put in a spam list would require 3 calls to go through just like the DND feature. It would also be nice agencies can crack down on these companies for spamming.

 

[Gordian Caesar]

On the bright side.... At least someone is calling me.... I will be pretty upset if Apple stops that.

I am looking for something that works on a dumb phone-which is what my wife and I use. Usually we are always near Wi-Fi so why go to the expense of an iPhone?

 

[IJ Reilly]

You're lucky. I'm located in the U.S. and receive at least three of these spam calls each day. These calls come from random phone numbers from random states all within the U.S. If I answer, they're always automated messages about lowering my credit card interest rates or to tell me that I've won a cruise. When I ignore the call they even leave voicemails which is equally as annoying. The National Do Not Call registry is complete and useless BS and doesn't come close to preventing these unsolicited spam calls.

The DNC list is useful, but it only regulates legitimate businesses from calling you if you don't want to be called by them. The calls you and everyone else are getting come from criminals, who oddly enough, don't care about legality. The DNC list is doing what it was intended to do. Now we need a system to prevent the fraudulent use of CID spoofing and robocalling that is our main affliction.