New Anti-Spam Technique: Answer the Call!
Sep. 19th, 2022 08:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerI've been getting more spam calls lately. Well, potential spam. It's easier than ever to avoid it because the phone companies have added spam detection to their smartphone software. Now I see stuff like this when a potential spammer calls:
The thing is, while it's easier than ever to avoid spam, it's also easier than ever for spammers to... well, spam. Auto-dialer software is really cheap now, phone lists are cheap, bandwidth is cheap... basically a few scammers in a garage can stage a nationwide spam operation placing a billion calls. That's what's behind the notorious extended-car-warranty spam, authorities believe.
I get 2-3 spam calls every weekday now. The government seems powerless to stop them. What to do?
The old conventional wisdom is "Just ignore them, maybe they'll go away." Also, "Don't answer! That just proves your number is real and they'll call you more!"
The thing is, spammers are not going to just go away. It's too cheap for them to keep trying. And they're not dialing random strings of 10 digits; they're buying lists of phone numbers. "Proving" your number is real is not really a thing. (OTOH, actually falling for a scam supposedly does get you onto a hot list of known suckers the scammers sell to each other.)
So I came up with a new conventional wisdom: Answer the call. Answer it, let them start the pitch, then hang up. Maybe then their system will mark your number as already contacted and stop trying.
I did that today with two spam calls. Both were actually a live person trying to sell me something! Well, one was a charity asking for money; the other was trying to pitch me business software. I know they've been trying repeatedly because I recognize their location. I told both of them politely I would not donate/buy and asked them not to call again. Maybe now I'll get fewer spam calls per week, at least for a little while.
Update: It worked! Once I finally answered these organizations' calls they stopped trying. I went from several spam calls a week to one or none.
The thing is, while it's easier than ever to avoid spam, it's also easier than ever for spammers to... well, spam. Auto-dialer software is really cheap now, phone lists are cheap, bandwidth is cheap... basically a few scammers in a garage can stage a nationwide spam operation placing a billion calls. That's what's behind the notorious extended-car-warranty spam, authorities believe.
I get 2-3 spam calls every weekday now. The government seems powerless to stop them. What to do?
The old conventional wisdom is "Just ignore them, maybe they'll go away." Also, "Don't answer! That just proves your number is real and they'll call you more!"
The thing is, spammers are not going to just go away. It's too cheap for them to keep trying. And they're not dialing random strings of 10 digits; they're buying lists of phone numbers. "Proving" your number is real is not really a thing. (OTOH, actually falling for a scam supposedly does get you onto a hot list of known suckers the scammers sell to each other.)
So I came up with a new conventional wisdom: Answer the call. Answer it, let them start the pitch, then hang up. Maybe then their system will mark your number as already contacted and stop trying.
I did that today with two spam calls. Both were actually a live person trying to sell me something! Well, one was a charity asking for money; the other was trying to pitch me business software. I know they've been trying repeatedly because I recognize their location. I told both of them politely I would not donate/buy and asked them not to call again. Maybe now I'll get fewer spam calls per week, at least for a little while.
Update: It worked! Once I finally answered these organizations' calls they stopped trying. I went from several spam calls a week to one or none.
