How do Robocalls Leave Voicemails Without Actually Calling?

[DavidB3]

I get about two voicemails per day from (I assume) telemarketers/robocallers.

The curious thing is, my phone doesn't ring first.

AFAIK, if I want to send a call to voicemail, two options are available:

1) let the phone ring until the caller is sent to leave a voicemal, or

2) swipe the call to send the caller to leave a voicemail.

However, I frequently get voicemails for which my phone did not ring.

It is sitting beside me. All is quiet. Then I get a 'ding', and a text message telling me I have a voicemail. I check voicemails and it turns out to be a waste of my time: just some message in Chinese.

So, two questions:

1) How are these robocallers able to get a message into my VoiceMail without having my phone ring?

2) These robocall messages are all in Chinese. I am not Chinese. I do not speak Chinese. (They've gotten pretty arrogant if they think they are safe assuming they don't have to bother speaking English in Canada!) How did I get on their call list?

In any case, how can these robocalls be stopped?

[Cawtau]

Hello DavidB3,

  Welcome to the community!

  I think everyone is rather fed up about getting SPAM and SCAM calls and voicemails. Unfortunately, I don't think there is much that can be done to prevent them. 

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@DavidB3 wrote:

...1) How are these robocallers able to get a message into my VoiceMail without having my phone ring?...

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  Ringless voicemail (RVM) (aka voicemail broadcast or voicemail drop) is supposedly a non-intrusive form of marketing communication (see here). Alas, the CRTC allows voicemail messages that do not interrupt the person's activities in real-time (see here).

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@DavidB3 wrote:

 ...2) These robocall messages are all in Chinese. I am not Chinese. I do not speak Chinese. (They've gotten pretty arrogant if they think they are safe assuming they don't have to bother speaking English in Canada!) How did I get on their call list?....

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  While developed as a telemarketing tool, it seems inevitable that spammers and scammers would also have adopted that technology. I don't think those voicemails are from actual telemarketers. I believe they are from spammers/scammers trying to target Fido's Chinese immigrant customer base. I understand many people who do not speak or understand the language are also receiving the calls. It's easier for the spammers/scammers to simply call all of Fido's phone numbers rather than to determine which phone numbers belong to Chinese customers.

  I also understand you believe your number is on their call list.  However, they don't need to obtain your actual phone number. The spammers/scammers often make computer-assisted calls. As explained in another post, it's actually rather simple to target customers from a particular provider. All they need is to choose an area code and prefix for their chosen target and sequentially dial those numbers from 0000 to 9999.

  There are measures put in place to combat these types of calls (ie Universal Call Block, STIR/SHAKEN etc). I understand people expected STIR/SHAKEN to have brought those types of calls to an end. Unfortunately, there are limitations to its effectiveness (see here). In addition, the spammers/scammers often adopt different technologies (ie RVM) to accomplish their goals.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers

[Original_Lucy]

Hi @DavidB3 , it sounds like your device settings are set to not allow calls from private or blocked numbers to ring through. I recently discovered that my settings were set that way and missed an important call. Thankfully I was able to figure it out once I went through the call settings. That is my suggestion.