spam/scam calls

[swampcritter]

Since I switched to Fido a week ago, I’ve had 5 calls from unknown numbers. One call was from somebody called “Likely Spam” in area code 613. Another was from area code 219. One was from 905, and two were from the UK. Since I have no contacts in any of these places, I did not answer the calls. I spent years with a different provider and never had anything like this. I’m wondering why all this spam is coming through on Fido.

[Harpreetkdhillo]

I moved to fido 2 weeks ago, was with virgin before for 5 years, never even once had this problem where my number was spoofed. Suddenly after moving to fido i received a call from my own number, after that all hell broke loose I am receving at least 50 calls per day from people claiming they missed a call from me. It is such a nuisance, happened to my husband when he was with fido. When calls become this bothering they only suggest you to change you number, as if that is very easy option. I strongly suspect fido has something to do with it. Why only their numbers are being used by scammers, asked several friends who are witj different providers they havent faced this but check reddit people have similar complaints for fido. I so badly regret porting my number

[Cawtau]

Hello Harpreetkdhillo,

  Welcome to the community!

  I think everyone is rather fed up about getting SPAM and SCAM calls from spoofed numbers. I understand the issue might seem to only afflict Fido and their customers. However, the issue is Worldwide (see here).

   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. 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 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.

  If friends or co-workers haven't been receiving the same calls on different providers, it's likely because those particular spammers/scammers haven't targeted their area code/prefix combinations recently. It doesn't mean that all of those providers' customers haven't received any SPAM calls or messages.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers

[FidoAnthonyZ]

Hello @swamocritter,

We know how annoying these messages and calls can be, and we’re very sorry for the inconvenience! You can rest assured that we have nothing to do with these kinds of messages/calls, and don’t support them in anyway. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to stop these companies from contacting you because there are no laws stopping them from doing so, but we do everything we can to lower their chances of getting in touch with you.

[swampcritter]

Hi @FidoAnthonyZ,

There was lots of spam when I was with my previous provider. It seemed to come and go in waves. For a while there was the "one-ring" scam. Then it was robocalls in Mandarin. Then it was pretty quiet for a while. When I switched to Fido a couple of weeks ago, all of a sudden there were two calls from unknown numbers on the first day. It has been averaging one spam call per day ever since. This makes me think that different carriers are being targeted with different spam, or else different carriers use different spam filters.

[FidoNajat · Accepted solution]

Hey @swamocritter! 
Fido has implemented Universal Call Blocking (UCB) to reduce spam calls. UCB will block any incoming call that does not comply with North American or international numbering plans. UCB will not block incoming calls with compliant caller IDs.

As we know how annoying those random calls can be, Spam Call Detect, also known as Nuisance Call Filtering, is the latest advancement in our fight against frustrating spam and fraud callers! You can find more information about this here: https://www.fido.ca/support/account/spam-call-detect-faqs. 

We hope this helps.