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more blank voice mails

pm56
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

Hello,

From January 31 to February 2 (today), I have received 8 calls from 8 different phone numbers (while I am at work so I have not been able to answer). 8 messages were left, with no sound, no nothing

Numbers as follows:

289-829-6755 (the rest all start with the first six digits common)

-3735

-4390

-3735

-4931

-4390

-6243

-5204

-5522

 

Recommendations? This is obviously some kind of bot.

3 REPLIES 3

Cawtau
Senior MVP Senior MVP
Senior MVP

Hello Pm56,

 

  I think everyone is rather fed up about getting SPAM and SCAM calls from spoofed numbers. Unfortunately, there currently isn't much that any of the mobile providers can do to prevent them. Since the spammers/scammers use spoofed numbers, it is not possible to identify the true spammers' number. As you are aware, the numbers shown on caller ID do not belong to the spammers. They often belong to innocent, unsuspecting people like yourself. Unfortunately, there isn't much that can be done to prevent numbers from being spoofed. In some instances, the spammers/scammers will use the recipients' own phone numbers to make the calls. Even the RCMP are not immune to being spoofed (see here). 

 

  The spammers/scammers will tend to spoof phone numbers within their target range to make potential victims think the calls are coming from people they might know. 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. Since the calls appear to come from similar numbers,  it's called Neighbour spoofing (see here). In some instances, the spammers/scammers will use the recipients' own phone numbers to make the calls, called mirroring.

 

  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.

 

 Unfortunately, until the technology to unmask the true number of spammers/scammers is readily available (not simply the number shown on the caller ID), the only solution currently is to block the numbers on your phone. You should note that blocking the calls only prevents the calls from ringing your phone. It does not prevent the callers from leaving voicemail. There are (at least were) some apps which claimed to also prevent callers from leaving voicemail. They worked by answering and almost simultaneously ending the calls. While those apps do prevent calls from going to voicemail, the calls are also considered 'answered' and therefore count as airtime.

 

Hope this helps 😀

 

Cheers

 

 


pm56
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

Thanks to both of you who replied. Each was helpful.

Although there appears to be no solution, and I figured it was something like spoofing, it's still helpful to have it explained.

Much appreciated.

FidoKenny
Moderator
Moderator

Hey @pm56

 

It seems like those are spam calls.

 

To avoid those, you can add your number to the Do Not call List here.