Cellular Phone Robocalls, telemarketing and annoying calls and scams

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Scope

This article refers mainly to cellular phones in the United States. Some of this information may pertain to traditional landlines and Voice over IP services in the United States but my main focus is on unwanted calls to cellular telephone.

The problem

Spammers and scammers can purchased VoIP lines very inexpensively ...

http://consumersunion.org/end-robocalls/problems/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/robocalls-are-ruining-more-dinners-every-day/

"... complicated mix of greed, technological advancement and laws that don't always discourage salespeople or scammers from calling. While the Do Not Call registry certainly keeps some consumers from getting pestered, the fact is that many telemarketers decide violating the law is worth the risk. Others are located overseas, where it's harder for the U.S. government to track them down and prosecute them."

See also

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_spam

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID_spoofing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robocall

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Do_Not_Call_Registry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_phishing

How to report it

FTC - https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0076-phone-scams

FCC - https://www.fcc.gov/stop-unwanted-calls

FBI - https://www.ic3.gov

Ways to combat robo and spam calls or text

  • Although I personally think this is useless since robocalls usually loop through phone numbers anyway ignoring such lists you are encouraged to visit http://donotcall.gov
  • Block the (displayed) number on the cell phone itself if the caller-id or number reported is not spoofed. Many times it is.
  • Call screening software on your smartphone (know any?) https://www.truecaller.com, http://www.privacystar.com/ or https://www.nomorobo.com/?
  • Your telecom provider (AT&T, Sprint and Verizon) block the number on their end. Even though this is now legal historically telecom's are very unlikely to do this without a court order. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed a rule giving telecommunication companies more leeway to block robocalls. Before this ruling, the FCC has always required phone companies to complete all calls, much in the same way the postal service is required to deliver all your mail, even the junk.
  • Forward your incoming to a VoIP service that will block the call or forward your cell phone or a smartphone voice application. Google Voice has already said they will not perform blocking although the rest can be done through this service. Or launch your own VoiP service to do this perhaps with Asterisk.

Articles

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/tech/Consumer-Reports-Devices-to-Stop-Robocalls-321292271.html

Legislation and calls to action

https://consumersunion.org/end-robocalls/

http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/2/4174282/google-engineers-filter-robocalls-like-gmail-filters-spam-ftc

The Rogues

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2015/06/ftc-florida-attorney-general-sue-stop-illegal-robocalls-pitching

Prognosis