I am getting numerous phone calls from someone/something that has almost my exact phone number. Here is an example

My phone number is 703.591.xxxx and get calls from 703.591.1xxx or 703.591.xx2x

These calls come 2 or 3 a day. What is up?

I don't answer calls from strange numbers.

I get them too. Never answer and they either leave a blank voicemail or no message at all.

That is a telemarketing tactic that is widely used now. They want you to think the call is coming from a neighbor. Of course your neighbor's name would appear on the ID if the call was legit. I don't answer any calls unless I can identify the caller.

Telemarketing would be wiped out if everyone stopped answering calls from strange numbers. Of course many Americans are too stupid to do this.

Mine started last spring, sometimes 4-5 a day. My carrier recommended putting my number on the Don Not Call list, and surprisingly that actually helped, the calls slowly abated down to maybe once a week. But i did notice lately they’ve picked up again, maybe once a day now, so i think that DNC list might expire at some point.

Not to get political, but with all the shit going on in Washington, here’s literally one issue almost every consumer could agree on: toughen up the laws to stop these unwanted phone calls.

callspammed Wrote:
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> Mine started last spring, sometimes 4-5 a day. My
> carrier recommended putting my number on the Don
> Not Call list, and surprisingly that actually
> helped, the calls slowly abated down to maybe once
> a week. But i did notice lately they’ve picked
> up again, maybe once a day now, so i think that
> DNC list might expire at some point.
>
> Not to get political, but with all the shit going
> on in Washington, here’s literally one issue
> almost every consumer could agree on: toughen up
> the laws to stop these unwanted phone calls.


The FCC is useless. Unless a tit pops out or internet non-neutrality.

Democrats would only do something about it if all US citizens were made illegal and all current illegals made citizens

Jim Rockford Wrote:
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> That is a telemarketing tactic that is widely used
> now. They want you to think the call is coming
> from a neighbor. Of course your neighbor's name
> would appear on the ID if the call was legit. I
> don't answer any calls unless I can identify the
> caller.
>
> Telemarketing would be wiped out if everyone
> stopped answering calls from strange numbers. Of
> course many Americans are too stupid to do this.

Your neighbor's name *may* even appear. Here's my understanding from long-ago alt.dcom.telecom: The CLID transmitted from the originating switch is just the number: at some point in the process, some other switch does a lookup. That's why sometimes a known number may just show "VIRGINIA" or whatever state: if that lookup fails (times out, for example), the local switch may just substitute what it knows--the state. Or the town.

Anyway, this all means that a forged number may wind up doing a database dip and showing the real owner's name for that number.

But yes, these are (almost?) all spam/scam calls, for the reason Rockfish stated. And sometimes people see those calls on callerid, or as a missed call on their cellphone, and call them back--I've had that happen: a very confused person saying "You called my cell?" and me going "Um, no..."

The real problem is the design of callerid. Both SS7 and DMS-100 allow the originating switch to fake it, so your company switch shows your outgoing call as the main number, not some random line that your phone used for the call. Which made sense at the time, and also enabled VoIP features like Skype-to-landline, which can be taught to show your cellphone number.

ANI is the callerid-like thing that toll-free (800, 888, 877 etc.) numbers use. That cannot be spoofed (supposedly). Certainly Skype doesn't manage it: when I call a friend using Skype-to-landline, it shows as my cell; when I call a toll-free number, the ones that say "Your show as calling from..." do NOT have my cell.

List your phone number in the "National Do Not Call Registry".

calls from soliciters will mostly stop, and the those who persists can be sued because it's illegal for them to do

I got one of these recently. I didn't answer

just search youtube for "Jolly Roger Telephone Company." That'll solve all your issues and you won't get any more calls.

dpmnj Wrote:
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> List your phone number in the "National Do Not
> Call Registry".
>
> calls from soliciters will mostly stop, and the
> those who persists can be sued because it's
> illegal for them to do

Yeah, that was the theory. Alas, it doesn't work. Yes, the truly legit ones stop, but the majority are not legit. And there are lots of small businesses too stupid to bother with the DNCR; when they call, they say "Sorry" and hope you don't report them.

Suing is theoretically possible but pretty difficult, and damages aren't likely to be very high for a single call, unfortunately.

Telemarketers help identify themselves by using phone number prefixes that match the number they're calling. Since no one I know has the same 3-digit prefix as our cellphones or landlines, any call from these prefixes is guaranteed to be a scumbag telemarketer.

Fucking telemarketers need to die!

Never answer a call from an unrecognized number, period. If it's a legit call, they'll leave a message.

Telemarketing has changed the protocol for phoning. Rather than answering an incoming call, you just note that a call was received. Periodically, you check for messages and maybe return one.

Download the app HIYA and after you get it setup you will never receive a phishing or telemarketing call again.

dpmnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> List your phone number in the "National Do Not
> Call Registry".
>
> calls from soliciters will mostly stop, and the
> those who persists can be sued because it's
> illegal for them to do

I did, so how come I keep getting unsolicited calls from carpet cleaning companies, credit repair companies, etc.?

And don't forget the political calls! Oh wait, the bastards exempted themselves from the law.

I actually answered one of the numbers that look liked mine. It was some robot female voice asking me if I would like to save money on my heath insurance, I said no and said, ok, goodbye. Haven’t received a call since and was getting about eight a day. Not recommending that you answer it, because I hear then they track it’s a working number and calls increase, but maybe there’s a chance they actually take you off their list.

kg4un

Number Please Wrote:
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> I am getting numerous phone calls from
> someone/something that has almost my exact phone
> number. Here is an example
>
> My phone number is 703.591.xxxx and get calls from
> 703.591.1xxx or 703.591.xx2x
>
> These calls come 2 or 3 a day. What is up?
>
> I don't answer calls from strange numbers.

#1 if you recently got the phone you can GET THE NUMBER CHANGED FOR FREE. it's against telco rules to sell you then assign to you "a bad number"

#2 if this is a recent change it could be "PHONE SLAMMING", this is when corrupt company uses deceptive practices to increase your bill

if they ask you for money to change your number: they may have been the ones harassing you specifically for that reason

#3 are you a KNOWN REPUBLICAN they might track? racial attacks. many telco workers in fx co area are illegals. many servicing customers for (xxx telco) are outsourced to ASIA (customer service calls, total control of your phone). they would absolutely create a need for you to waste allot of time (re-doing all your phone contacts with a new number) simply to give you a crisis and waste your time.

^^^ More evidence of how truly dumb paranoid people can be. Use your phone to contact a mental health professional.

* it could be a frienemy flaming / harassing you or family (or saudi arabia for that matter)

* it could be phone slamming (forcing you to do things that waste time and money by the company offering the service)

* it could be POLICE ARE TRACKING YOU, your cell agreement comes with a MANDATORY waiver that area politicians can use your phone to track you. they do so by placing non-sensical calls to pin-point your phone

571-453-1973 SPAMMERS USING THESE CALLER ID NUMBERS NOW.
571-478-2625