Does anyone else get multitudes of spam phone calls from foreign countries? (for me, sometimes up to 20 in one day) I even got a few calls spoofed from my own phone number. (7 in one day) What can be done to stop this annoying problem? Anyone know?
Here is my call log from just the past 4 days.
Thursday: 18 - Niger, Niger, Niger, Bosnia Herzegovina, Niger, Bosnia Herzegovina, Niger, Niger, Slovenia, Niger, Niger, Burundi, United States, Unknown, United States, No caller ID, Lanai city, Honolulu. The last 4 might have been real calls, I didn’t choose to answer and they didn't leave a message.
Friday: 4 - Belarus, San Francisco, Unknown, Honolulu, could have been real, but I didn’t pick up.
Saturday: 11 - Mali, Russia, Mali, Unknown, Unknown, Slovenia, Niger, Slovenia, Switzerland, Slovenia, Slovenia.
Sunday: 8 so far. The day is not over. Lithuania, Lithuania, Lithuania, Cameroon, Lithuania, Russia, United States, Lithuania.
I used to always answer my phone whenever possible, but I simply don’t answer my phone anymore, unless I recognize the name. This means I could be losing business from prospective clients who call me and choose not to leave a message. I try to encourage my prospective clients to leave a message or send a text, so I know it’s a real phone call, but folks often are in a hurry and just want to speak to a real person now.
Curious how many others have this problem. My business/personal phone number is easily found online, since I have a website for my business. I also get hundreds of spam emails per day, but the phone calls are far more annoying, since it rings in my pocket each time.
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I don't know if your provider offers this but my phone service provider offered nomorobo for free and it really took care of this problem for me.
Kaitlyn04
Level 4
May 27, 2019
0
I wish. Thanks for that - I will look into the nomorobo service. I will go to my verizon store this week and see what they can offer me in the way of advice or a program to end it.
Another weird thing is that I notice that all these foreign calls are Facetime Calls, not just regular phone calls. Even creepier. I might try disabling facetime and see if that works - my daughter will just have to text me in advance if my grandkids want to facetime with me. Will give that a try, as well as some of the apps suggested.
Thanks for all the suggestions - my burning question was more about how pervasive this problem is - but it sounds like maybe not as common as I feared. That's good. I was just wondering what was going on that some foreign entity could impose on my life (and possibly others) to this degree - and for what reason. Glad it's not a widespread problem.
Julie808
Level 8
May 27, 2019
0
As a follow-up for anyone else having this problem. Since I noticed the calls ring not only on my new iPhone, but also on my ipad, old iPhone, and appear on my computer, showing as missed facetime calls, I did some research and see that there is a serious bug where a stranger can call via facetime and hear audio and possibly see video whether I pick up or not.
Creepy - so I have turned off facetime on all my devices. I won't be turning my Facetime back on until the bug is fixed. I try to follow this problem to see if it's remedied. At least now I have an answer as to what's going on.
There's an ap called MrNumber that really helps cut down on the spam calls.
sewchick57
Level 7
May 27, 2019
1
My service provider has an add-on service I tried for the free 10 day trial. It identified the multiple calls from foreign countries as "Possible Spam" and a few of the real calls with the owner's name of the phone line, which was often not the actual caller, but didn't block any calls from coming in, so the phone still rang. I can tell these foreign calls are spam, so I did not sign up for the $2.99 add-on service. Sounds similar to Mr Number, but thanks for the suggestion. I was hoping to solve the problem for free - I might just see if I can block certain countries from ringing me.
@Julie808 MrNumber is a free app
I get these daily but not on the same scale you do, I also have a regular cell line that is NOT associated with my name in any way. That doesn't stop them. My calls started coming in in 2015 and have increased ever since, some even going on into my Spectrum landline.
I get AI phone calls so clever that you would swear it is a real person. What messes them up totally is giving all the wrong answers. The AI gets confused and hangs up. One that I get more and more is similar to "this is Eric calling you on a recorded secure line to talk about" - fill in the blank here because there are so many. It's also at this point that the caller hangs up.Someone wants to know if your number is real and active. It also appears that the call is trying to direct you to say certain words like "yes." I can only assume this is for future patch work in which they can splice something together to prove you told them they could steal your money. Some of these callers ask you outright if you can hear them alright. You know they want to hear you say "yes." Confuse them and confuse the AI. Just say "no, there's a buzzing on the line. They hang up instantly.
These things happen because we have become the product and so many others want our money.
DenoPenno
Level 9
May 27, 2019
1
The few I've actually answered start talking in a foreign language. It's not clear why they are calling, but I hang up without saying a word.
Your service provider should be able to block some of these calls if you request (usually a fee for doing so). I would discuss it with them.
Marionville
Level 10
May 27, 2019
0
Yep there is a fee with the service that identifies the spam calls as "possible spam" but it still rings. I am hoping not to have to pay for a service that blocks these unwanted calls. I was basically just curious how common this problem is with folks who have publicized numbers.
You are not the only one. There are a lot of scammers around the world. Perhaps if it is a home or business phone you should get an answering machine.
Jolanta
Level 9
May 27, 2019
1
I finally canceled my landline, last year. These calls are ringing on my cell phone, which I use for business and personal, so I have it near me all the time, in case a new client calls or a friend wants to do something fun. It's just an annoying thing that I get these foreign calls.
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