Daily SPAM calls ... what can I do beside blocking each number one by one

[jppotvin]

Hello all, switched to Rogers 2 months ago and I am loving it so far but ever since I've been having daily SPAM calls from different region of the USA. Never the same number because I always block it but they still continue to come in. I sometime answer out of frustration but there is never anyone speaking. Is it possible to block calls from the USA altogether?

And I also get a text message everytime telling me that I have a voicemail... this is also annoying and redundant as we already have an icon that let's us know that there is a voicemail.

Thank you very much for the help!

***Edited Labels***

[57]

@jppotvin :

Are you talking about a cell phone or Rogers Home Phone?  If the latter, there are several posts in the following thread regarding the futility of call blocking with the telemarketers always changing their numbers.  They could be anywhere in the world and spoofing any number in the world.  In my experience, they often spoof local numbers, but it's different for everyone.

http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Home-Phone/blocking-calls/m-p/409718#M2184

What I recommend is creating a white list (with distinctive ring?) and ignore the rest of the calls.  There should be an option somewhere to stop the texts...

If you're talking about a cell phone, then you may wish to advise which make/model you have and others who are more familiar with cell phones will have to reply.

[jppotvin]

Yes, I am talking about a cell phone. A Note 8.

Not answering is a poor solution... I can see they come from the USA because there is always a city shown.

There should be an option to block all international calls... I wish...

Thanks!

[AemiDaniels]

Getting a ton of spam calls?

I am used to the odd telemarketer call. It's sort of a thing we just have to cope with these days. 

However, in the last few months, I am getting mass amounts of calls, sometimes up to 5 a day, all from area codes scattered across the middle east and Asia. A little research told me it is likely spoof numbers designed to get around call blocks and it is working, as I block one number and several more slightly different ones almost immediately take its place. There is no logic or pattern to the calls. They happen at any hour of the day, never leave a message, and will sometimes call back multiple times in the same hour but always from a slightly different phone number with a different area code. 

I'm seriously starting to feel harassed at this point. I can't block them, I refuse to answer them and validate my existence for them to try and scam me... is there anything I can do about this? I have put my number on the DNC so many times but I am pretty sure the DNC is just a list of numbers for them to call MORE rather than avoid because it has done nothing.  Maybe there is a setting or a plan upgrade or something? 
For someone with phone anxiety, being called 5 times a day from random middle east numbers is quite frankly terrifying and really intimidating. I don't even have money for them to scam off me! 

[RogersTony]

Hello @AemiDaniels,

Thank you for your post and welcome to the Rogers Community Forums!

This sounds like a very frustrating situation, especially since these calls have become a daily occurrence. Spammers and Telemarketers can be difficult to trace especially when spoofing Apps are involved.  Once your Phone Number has been exposed to these type of individuals "Do Not Call" lists will not be much help and the best option to have the calls stop immediately would be to change your Phone Number.

It's important to be extremely diligent about protecting your information like a phone number especially on the Internet.

I hope this has been helpful.

RogersTony

[57]

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@RogersTony wrote:

...the best option to have the calls stop immediately would be to change your Phone Number.

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This option used to be effective if you were actually on a "calling list".  However, most telemarketers today utilize auto-dialers, so it doesn't matter if your number is unlisted or changed.  What can matter is that once a telemarking call is answered, that number is then recognized as "valid" by the telemarketers, and will very likely receive more telemarketing calls.

As I mentioned in post 2 of this thread, one way to deal with this issue is to only answer calls in a "white list" and ignore all other incoming calls. If the call is important (and not on your white list), they will likely leave a message and you can then add that number to your white list. You can ignore all other calls since they will likely be telemarketers or other bothersome calls.

I'm not familiar with all the features of cell phones (and associated apps), but you may even be able to have a "distinctive ring" for all the people in your "white list (phone directory?)" and another ring or perhaps even no ring for those calls not in your directory.

The one time this doesn't work is if the telemarketer spoofs a number that's in your white list.  I actually received such a call the other day from a telemarketer spoofing the Rogers general phone number, but I quickly recognized the "boiler room" nature of the call.

[BS]

The other reality of the idea of "changing your phone number" is that if the number is your home phone line, unless it is unlisted, it is available to anyone who has access to the "white pages listings".  This has been an issue long before the improved telemarketing came.  I can remember that my parents, and then us have never put our whole first name in the phone listing, just an initial, because telemarketers would manually work the pages that were available in any library, and identify males versus females, general age of population based upon statistics.  It is now the reality that they can target more directly using database mining of all the available data.

Lists from honest companies that go bankrupt also sometimes get sold (we ended up on a telemarketer list that has changed hands and we have been getting these product calls for about 7 years now). We know what company they got the information from, but they went bankrupt, were sold, then the new one went bankrupt, and now we get calls, talking about our past experience with the past company and they have special deal for us.  The number is usually spoofed using local numbers.

So why not just change - well after having the same home phone number for decades, it is tied to all our honest companies we do business with, financial institutions, etc. and changing it first off will not stop us from getting calls, as @57 just said, they will find us sooner or later, and once found, that information gets sold back and forth all over the place, plus I don't want to go through the effort of changing the number with all my legitimate contacts - I do use the white list on my cell phone, but I don't have the feature on my home phone.

The white listing is the recognized industry standard, you may miss some important calls, you don't have in your list yet, but if you recognize it, or they leave a message (by the way, voice messaging also tells them you exist - actually most often their precalling computerized system  which identifies when you are not home, and if your number exists). 

It is a lot of work, but once done, it is easy to manage.

My cell phone, I almost never get any calls, because only my contacts can call me, if I give my phone number to someone to call me, I add them to my contacts and warn them that is the only number they can get me at, so give me multiple numbers if they use multiple numbers. Plus the reality is I only phone three people on my cell phone and only 5 people know my cell phone number.

But that still doesn't stop the random computer calling - it just can't get past my whitelist - I know the call came, but it doesn't ring on my phone or go to voice mail.

Absolute pain, but they are pretty much impossible to avoid.  Should see what it is like when you are confined to home due to health, you get to see just how many in a week are coming at you.  Because I often nap and sleep long, I unplug my home phone until I get up.

No easy one around this one, but definitely, best way is the white lists, and do your best not to pick up any numbers or names that you don't recognize.  Now if I had a way to stop the call from hitting voice mail, when I do want voicemail because I pick the times of day that I want to talk to people and my message does say, leave a message and I will get back to you.

Good discussion, no good answers.   The CRTC and other countries have managed to shut down with the cooperation of other countries some of these callers, but you shut one down and another comes up.

Bruce

[57]

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@BS wrote:

1. I do use the white list on my cell phone, but I don't have the feature on my home phone.

2. Because I often nap and sleep long, I unplug my home phone until I get up.

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1. Many cordless phones have this feature and they are pretty inexpensive these days.  I use a Panasonic which has the distinctive ring feature for any number in the directory you wish, as well as call blocking, which, as I stated earlier, is pretty useless these days, unfortunately.  My phone even has a 3rd distinctive ring which I have on one of the numbers in my directory which "should be answered right away if possible"...

2. My Panasonic cordless also has a feature called "night mode". I have programmed my phone so that it doesn't ring between 11:15PM and 9:15AM.  If I deviate from that schedule, it's easy enough to change the times, or even turn the ringer off - no need to unplug (and perhaps forget to re-plug).

[OLDYELLR]

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@RogersTony wrote:
Spammers and Telemarketers can be difficult to trace especially when spoofing Apps are involved.  Once your Phone Number has been exposed to these type of individuals "Do Not Call" lists will not be much help and the best option to have the calls stop immediately would be to change your Phone Number.

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It is my suspicion that "Do Not Call" lists are actually a fertile source of numbers for spammers, since they operate off-shore and are beyond the reach of our laws.

[RogersCorey]

I don't believe the DNC list is being used as a source for spammers at all.

There's a finite amount of phone numbers tied to each area code and a simple Google search can get you all the area codes in each province. From there, it's a relatively simple matter to have a script automatically dial each number in the 10-digit sequence.

Stealing that list would require an insider or a hack, which leaves them open to being discovered. A script is way safer and easier.

Regards,

RogersCorey

[OLDYELLR]

I thought the DNC list was available to anyone, therefore it could be abused by anonymous off-shore telemarketers. I seems to me that when the list was originally established and I registered my number, the calls increased. I get telemarketers on my landline regularly, but very seldom on my cell, which I never registered.

[BS]

Thanks for the recommendation - my 3 set cordless V-tech are at the end of their life anyway, so I will look at sets with features like you just described.

There are days I would like to just throw the phone out the window, but too dependent upon it.

And it does provide entertainment when in the mood messing around with them, although when you do that, you sometimes risk that they start phoning more often and become aggressive - then I just hang up and stop answering again.

Bruce

[RogersCorey]

I suppose it's possible they registered as a valid business in Canada and subscribed to obtain the list... but the vetting process seems like it should weed out potential abusers of the system.

https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/ind/faqs-eng#rs_link02

Regards,

RogersCorey

[blah2016]

Actually, wouldn't it make way more sense for Rogers, who sees every single call come in, to simply look for numbers that are sequentially calling rogers accounts in order to identify robo-callers and give your subscribers the option to block them? 

It's easy: when a given phone number has made more than 1000 calls in an hour, and the average call length is less than 10 seconds (people hang up), or they never leave voicemail, or one of a dozen signals, mark them as spam.

Then simply create a whitelist for things like government, emergency, schools etc who can call, and block the rest from pestering your customers.

Please don't make this OUR problem. It's a Rogers issue that's easily solvable. If you don't do it a competitor will and we'll all run to them for safety. We have number portability and we should never be made to give that up.

[57]

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@blah2016wrote:

It's easy: when a given phone number has made more than 1000 calls in an hour, and the average call length is less than 10 seconds (people hang up), or they never leave voicemail, or one of a dozen signals, mark them as spam.

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If only it were that simple.  Many Telemarketers now spoof their numbers, sometimes changing them with each call.  Also, many use "Private Number" or similar and a corporation cannot block these calls as some/many of them are legit. For example, a well-known Toronto hospital shows up as "Private Number" when booking appointments for MRIs, etc. (for privacy purposes).  I've contacted that hospital about this since some people do block "Private Number" calls and the hospital will look into their options.

Call Blocking, white lists, etc are discussed in more detail in the following thread, post 57, 60 onwards.

http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Home-Phone/blocking-calls/m-p/383007#M2018

[cafekief]

Local 604... don't know the number.

so i got two phone calls from my LG V30 from a local Metro Vancouver number though rogers, one was on my 3rd share everthing plan line then they called my main number! 604-734-3366.

Chinese AI speaking!! would i get charged for the randoms call? tho it local? should i just block there number on Norton android App? 

Please help!

Sincerely Kiefer

[RogersMaude]

Good day @cafekief,

Thanks for your post!

I understand your concern with potential SPAM calls you receive and the inconveniences they may cause you. Bringing this up to our attention is best to ensure you're provided with the correct information and in this case be reassured.

Whenever you answer a phone call, while in your local calling area, there are no long distance charge for the call picked up. SPAM callers will often hang up, before the call is answered, in order to have you call back.

I am unsure where the call originated from at this point, since you did not recognize the caller, but feel free to block the number to prevent this from happening in the future.

Let us know if you have any other questions!

RogersMaude

[Datalink]

Ok, I hate to bring say this, but, blocking the number is most likely completely useless. 

There are two phone numbers in play here, the displayed number and the billing number.  The displayed number can be spoofed to look like a local number, so that you really don't know who is calling.  Best thing to do is not answer a call that you don't recognize.  Let it go to voice mail.  If the caller really wants to speak with you, he or she will leave a message.  No message left?  Most likely a spam call.  In the U.S., I believe its illegal to spoof the phone number, but that probably does very little when it comes to dealing with overseas spam callers.  As far as I am aware, there is no similar Canadian legislation that prohibits call number spoofing.  There should be.

The second number in question is the billing number, which you don't see.  That's unfortunate as that is the number that you really want see, and to block.  Callers are allowed to block the billing number.  Examples of this would include Hospitals, or emergency services.  It would appear that anyone else can also block the billing number, including spam callers, which is where the current laws fall apart.  What is really required is a legislation change to tighten the rules regarding billing number blocking and to tightly control who can or can't block the billing number.  The unfortunate part in all of this is that the carriers all get their slice of the pie, so, its not in the financial interests of the carriers to actually block those calls.  That needs to change, so that the carriers are responsive and responsible to their actual customers, and not to the spam centers which are located around the globe whose aim is to harass and defraud the carriers customers.  Complaints regarding spam callers should be directed to the CRTC and to your MP. 

A recent twist in spam calling is to use a 900 call number, which is a paid service.  The caller will call and hang up.  Most likely the displayed call number is spoofed.  So, you call back to see who it was, which routes the call to a 900 number.   This will cost several dollars or possibly tens of dollars per minute for you to call.  That cost is then posted to your account, some of which goes to the caller and some of which will go to the carrier.  So once again, there is no real reason for the carrier to stop this practice as it makes money for the company.  The customer is defrauded, told to pay the bill and block the call so that it doesn't happen again.  Next time the caller will simply use another randomly generated display call number, so, once again, call blocking will be ineffective  There is no answer for this other than not answering call numbers that you don't recognize.  Any action required to solve this lies with legislation which forces the carriers to deal with this.  

Fwiw ........

[mbarbini]

Rogers should come up with a way to block incoming calls by country code. For example, I always get spam calls from from Seychelles (country code 248). I've never been to Seychelles and I don't know anybody from there, so just let us block the entire country from calling us. Problem solved Rogers, don't make me change my phone number.

[57]

@mbarbiniThe calls may not be coming from there. The telemarketer may simply be spoofing that area code. Please see post 15 of this thread and the link there.

[scottdrysdale]

In lieu of current Canadian cellular limitations here is one way to get back at pseudo-CRA calls attempting to extort your hard earned after tax dollars from you. JollyRoger and Robokiller apps for cell phones won't work in Canada.

Immediately ask the caller for a call back number if it does not already appear on your phone screen. Immediately create an ad in Kijiji or CraigsList for free puppies or kittens to give away listing the pseudo-CRA or equivalent phone number asking interested parties to call but not text before dropping by to pick up your free pet. Make sure you do not list your own residential address and email address......

Your bogus ads will tie up their main call-in number with a flood of enquiries....

Keep in mind that the phone spammers will not be using the number they called you from for very long so act quickly.

CANADIAN CELLULAR SERVICE LIMITATIONS:

The inability of a cellular service to filter out spam and robocalls represents a failure to provide basic cell phone service to customers. Such companies might consider their corporate motto as "WE COULD HAVE DONE A LOT WORSE"! well that is just not good enough IMHO considering that most USA cellular and POTS phone companies have already resolved these issues allowing services such as JollyRoger and Robokiller apps to fix the problem closer to the source.