Spam calls

[Kay4881]

Since April 2021 this number 1-855-231-8736 has been spam calling me as of the last month it is non-stop sometimes 3x a day.  Everytime I answer it immediately disconnects, I was answering the call so that whoever it was I could tell them to take my name off of their call lists.  

Finally today they answer and they identified themselves from Fido, I told them how horrible of a neisance they have become and asked for them to remove my number and never call me again, the lady said "fine" and hung up on me.  Two hours later I miss yet another call from this same number, they are driving me mental!!!

[Robo27]

I just received a flurry of spam calls. 8 calls spaced about 8 minutes apart all shoing different callerID number (all with the same area code and first 3 digits as my phone).  I answered one to see if there was a message and it immediately disconnected.  Very annoying and disruptive for just over an hour.

[Cawtau · Accepted solution]

Hello Kay4881,

  Welcome to the community!

  I think everyone is rather fed up about getting SPAM and SCAM calls. I understand the caller might have identified themselves as from Fido, however, as far as I am aware, they are nefarious actors pretending to be from Fido.

  I understand it might be concerning if the calls appear to target Fido customers. However, it's actually not that difficult for spammers/scammers to direct those calls to a particular provider. All phone numbers -- whether landline or mobile -- are in databases which are readily available online. Certain area code and prefix combinations are designated as landlines, others as Rogers, Fido, Bell, etc (see here). All a spammer/scammer needs to do is have a computer sequentially dial the numbers of a desired area code/prefix combination from 0000 to 9999 and all of those customers would be with their desired target (see here). They'll likely change the message or script depending on the area code/prefix combination. There have been instances where people who have ported their phone numbers to other providers still receive SPAM directed at their original providers.

  Unfortunately, if they are spammers/scammers rather than actual telemarketers, they are unlikely to uphold any do not call lists.

  The mobile providers have implemented Universal Call Blocking which is meant to block calls from malformed phone numbers. That said, I'm doubtful whether it will have much of an effect on the amount of SPAM or SCAM calls since many of them appear to have properly formed phone numbers. In addition, a new technology, STIR/SHAKEN (Secure Telephone Identity Revisited/Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using Tokens) is being adopted to further reduce the amount of nuisance calls (see here). However, I have my doubts as to whether those measures will reduce the amount of SPAM calls. My understanding is the STIR/SHAKEN will only identify possible SPAM calls and mark the calls as suspected SPAM. In addition, there are circumstances in which the protocol might not work (see here). In addition, there are circumstances in which the protocol might not work (see here). As far as I am aware, only certain devices currently benefit from the protocol.

Hope this helps! 😀

Cheers

[Banker]

Why doesn't Fido include an option to only allow calls from calls in my address book?  This may not be suitable for all, but I'm sure many could benefit from it.  I receive 2-4 spam calls/day on my cell phone and very few on my home phone.