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Excessive Phone Spam

andiwm2003

andiwm2003

macrumors 601
Original poster
Mar 29, 2004
4,477
620
Boston, MA
I'm on ATT and for about two month now I get excessive text and voice spam on my phone.
the numbers are:
Voice
918 442 0642
801 520 1980
617 4499 616
800 367 2834
866 293 7222
646 888 8000
Text
571 232 0892
917 679 5259
712 574 3312
650 305 1131
415 601 9416
469 563 4512
323 519 1113

most of the calls are to offer "free cash" or loans. since that are always different numbers I can't simply block them.

I have signed up to the national do not call list.

How can I block these calls and texts? It's annoying!
 
I used to get txt spam too. I contacted ATT customer service and they said they would investigate the numbers. the next day the spam stopped completely.
 
I emailed att's customer service the numbers. not sure what happens now but it is very annoying. also I guess I pay for receiving those texts.

what I don't get is who gives these companies an account and lets them spam other customers. the spammers must use hundreds of different numbers to call from or to text from and that should be quite expensive.

i tried to report those numbers to the FCC (https://esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form1088.action) but you have to fill a huge form for every number and that is simply way to tedious.

what is the best way to financially harm those spammers the most? picking up the call and make them discuss for several minutes before telling them to go to hell? If a lot of people would do that then their business gets very inefficient. Asking them to call my landline and then connecting my phone line to a 12000 Volt power line to electrocute them didn't work........
 
Idk about ATT but VZW allows me to opt out of all promotional messages, not calls. My family member received random 'sex' messages for a week straight (they also charged for it) but VZ was nice enough to stop them forever and refund the money.
 
Another good option is to add your number to the FCC Do not Call list.


If your number is listed and a company calls unsolicited they will be in violation of the law and risking a lawsuit.

www.donotcall.gov


Even if you have not listed your number yet, when the spammer calls answer and tell them your number is in the Federal Do Not Call List. They will immediately hang up and won't call ever again.
 
RebeccaL said:
Another good option is to add your number to the FCC Do not Call list.


If your number is listed and a company calls unsolicited they will be in violation of the law and risking a lawsuit.

www.donotcall.gov


Even if you have not listed your number yet, when the spammer calls answer and tell them your number is in the Federal Do Not Call List. They will immediately hang up and won't call ever again.
Click to expand...
It's there. Unfortunately, because I run a very small business, it's considered a business phone and therefore it's fair game.
 
andiwm2003 said:
i tried to report those numbers to the FCC (https://esupport.fcc.gov/ccmsforms/form1088.action) but you have to fill a huge form for every number and that is simply way to tedious.

what is the best way to financially harm those spammers the most? picking up the call and make them discuss for several minutes before telling them to go to hell? If a lot of people would do that then their business gets very inefficient. Asking them to call my landline and then connecting my phone line to a 12000 Volt power line to electrocute them didn't work........
Click to expand...

Thanks for the Link, I was just spammed by the same telemarketer several times in a row even though I told them to not call back. The form takes about 5 minutes to fill out, no big deal, it's all online. So I filled it out.

BTW your land line is only analog between your phone and the telco, from there it gets digitized and is digital almost all the way to the destination. Thus voltage down the line will do nothing to them; but could damage the telco equipment.
 
Doesn't work for texts, but I find the best way to deal with these phone calls is to politely listen to them, then try to talk them into joining my cult and moving with me to the desert. Except for those idiots like Heather at "account services," that almost always works to get a company or charity to stop calling.
 
I've had the same problem, simply call up ATT and they have an option on their end that stops all unwanted solicitation to ones phone.
 
Givmeabrek said:
It was a joke. :D
Click to expand...

how do you know? now think about it again before you touch your keyboard... you might want to consider a bluetooth keyboard:cool:

phearx said:
I've had the same problem, simply call up ATT and they have an option on their end that stops all unwanted solicitation to ones phone.
Click to expand...

they charge $4.99 per month to block up to fifteen numbers. I get spammed by ever changing numbers and I don't see why I have to pay $60/year to block a few of them. at least texts can be blocked for free in some way: http://mymessages.wireless.att.com/

RebeccaL said:
Another good option is to add your number to the FCC Do not Call list.


If your number is listed and a company calls unsolicited they will be in violation of the law and risking a lawsuit.

www.donotcall.gov


Even if you have not listed your number yet, when the spammer calls answer and tell them your number is in the Federal Do Not Call List. They will immediately hang up and won't call ever again.
Click to expand...

Read my OP. I did that already. Didn't help.


I reported all numbers per ATT's advice to:
ATT said:
"If your number is already on the federal Do Not Call list, you should file complaints against violators through the FCC directly. You can send an email to: dncconsumerinquiry2@ftc.gov ".
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
LapsangSouchong said:
Which only serves to verify a "live" number.

I am also getting spam texts. I've had this number for 15 years. I ported it to ATT last year and BAM I'm getting spam texts.
543.jpg
Click to expand...

who doesnt love some spam??? hah
 
Givmeabrek said:
It was a joke. :D
Click to expand...

Actually it was possible up through the 80's, for the most part. The phone system used to be mechanical relays that would actively switch when making the collection and thus you actually had a conductive path all the way from your phone to theirs. It was possible, at some times, and with the right telco to actually do things like shock people at the other end. During the 70's and much more common in the 80's was a move to put voltage protection equipment on the lines to prevent not only these types of things but also spikes due to electrical storms striking the wires. By late 80's, early 90's the move was on to bring about digital communications; but didn't get into full swing until the mid 90's.

Thus, was it a joke? I guess it depends on the age of the person saying it; someone who grew up during the time when it was possible may not be joking at all.
 
Interesting. I never imagined that even with old analog phones that a voltage spike could make its way through multiple amplifiers and filters to a phone on the other end of a call. I suppose if you go back far enough before amplifiers and filters it might have been possible. Maybe someone with old time telephone experience can chime in.

Anyway if you send a high voltage into a current digital phone line today all you will do is blow up your own equipment. :eek:
 
Givmeabrek said:
Interesting. I never imagined that even with old analog phones that a voltage spike could make its way through multiple amplifiers and filters to a phone on the other end of a call. I suppose if you go back far enough before amplifiers and filters it might have been possible. Maybe someone with old time telephone experience can chime in.

Anyway if you send a high voltage into a current digital phone line today all you will do is blow up your own equipment. :eek:
Click to expand...

Well of course you don't send it through your equipment; you sent it after the phone. From your phone line (not the phone itself) to the telco is really just a wire. There is actually quite a bit of power on those lines as well; you can do some serious damage to equipment if things are connected wrong.

Until the 70's/80's there was very little in terms of filters on the telco side, much of the amps and such were in the phone. That's what you got when purchased the phone. As for shocking someone, it would have to be someone who was physically close to the bare wire connections, but it was, oddly enough, possible under the right conditions.

When modems started to become popular, is when the telcos started putting filters and such on their lines because the way the modems worked, they used unnatural frequencies and often those frequencies could bleed over onto other wires. Thus why modems took so long to get to high speed, they started shaping data on the lines. Then as digital lines became more used by the telcos, they didn't want the modems to use too much bandwidth. The modem manufacturing had to play tons of games to get the speeds that they did. That's why the 56k modems really did suck, they were sending so many symbols per bit that the error rates would go up significantly.

Anyway, off topic, but those were the "fun" days of the telecommunications industry, there was so much you could do to mess with them. :D
 
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