Archive through December 12, 2024
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Non-Game Discussions: Internet Scam Stories:
Archive through December 12, 2024
I refuse to believe that the phone companies can't find a way to end number spoofing if it is worth their while.
We all know how well the "Do not call list" worked..
The phone companies make millions if not billions from processing spam calls. Why kill the goose that's laying silver eggs?
Mike, that was my idea from years ago that I never got any traction with when I'd propose it with my congress-critters.
The way I'd run the scheme is like this. I get a scam call, I hang up and dial a star code. I get an instant and unreviewable $1 credit on my bill. The phone company can not interrupt or interfere in this process at all. After they run their trace, they can then charge the injecting network $2, again paid instantly and without interference, but with review possible. If the second network can prove that a third network injected the call, they can pass on a $4 bill to the third network. At each step, the amount the company can bill is doubled from what they had to pay. When the chain ends, the company providing injection services to the spam call centers will find themselves locked out of the network just like subscribers were locked out of long-distance services until the massive fraudulent 900 scam frauds of the 90's were paid.
That way the phone company isn't completely going to fight you as they can offload the cost of compensating the subscriber, and make a buck at the same time.
Incidentally, if it were a subscriber that made the tagged call, they get a $2 charge which they can appeal (i.e. prove I made that call and its wasn't spoofed). Though I expect that prank calls are no where near the problem they were when I was mak... er, growing up.
The local US phone company won't be able to back charge an Indian call center. If you block their number they will have a new one in minutes.
1) "We all know how well the "Do not call list" worked.." because the phone companies didn't have a financial stake in it.
2) Hence why we need the phone companies to fix the problem. They fixed the "blue box" problem when it started to cost them enough money. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_box
3) And I don't believe for one instant that spoofing can't be addressed.
To make passing back charges work, you need to be willing to block the entire phone company that allows the spam call center to opperate and/or to spoof its caller ID.
Which would be the effect of Jeff Guthridge's suggestion if India (for instance) refused to pay. The US phone companies, being stuck with a bill for each spam call which they could not pass on would simply stop taking calls from that company/country rather than losing all that money.
Are you willing to have the USA effectively block entire nations to stop spam?
Douglas; How quickly do think it would be before all of the companies who rely on India ect. for their call centers bought enough of Congress (both Parties) and block, or repeal, this Law?
It's really that easy. Already every phone carrier charges other companies to use their "lines." As soon as Indian phone companies have unpaid bills, they would cease to be able to connect to other networks.
Also, if you have an Indian call center for "Megacorp Industrial" then MI could just get a super fast internet line from their call center and have their own traffic trunked in the US with VOIP.
https://www.psc.state.md.us/telecommunications/understanding-telephone-bill-charges/
The political pressure against would come from people with family in India whose friends and relatives don't all have access to Zoom or an equivalent, not from call centers or corporations (who can easily bypass using the banned phone carrier and go to an alternative).
I suspect a charge of a few pennies a spam call would be more than enough. Spam calls (and emails) exist because they are near zero cost to send out. Even a fairly trivial cost would stop them.
Spammers send a million emails a day, so even a penny would start to hurt quickly.
I have said before: someone told me that when the internet was set up, someone suggested charging a penny. You'd pay $10 for a block of 1,000 emails and set your credit card for auto-renew. Easy peasey, and it would have paid for the infrastructure. But someone said "the internet must be free" and that ended the conversation. There would have been no spam if it had been set up with that charge from the get-go.
I wrote a Tasker script for my android to send every call not in my contacts to voice mail. Works like a charm for a personal line. Not so much for a business line...
So someone just called my wife's cell phone. He had a very thick Indian / Pakistani accent, but claimed to have an English / American name. He said his name is "Garth". Wow.
Garth L. Getgen
She should have told him to call her "Wayne."
Party time, excellent!
Would anyone else like to be named “Next of Kin”??
I am Fauwaz Alhussainan, credit officer. Group Head, Wealth Management, Insurance and RBC Investor & Treasury Services, Citibank, Kuwait. I am contacting you for a Secured and Concealed Business Transaction, concerning a deceased customer and an investor. I want you to act as the closest surviving relative, (Next of Kin).
With your acceptance to proceed with me on this transaction, I will simply nominate you as the Next of Kin and have them release the Deposit to you. Your percentage can be negotiated BETWEEN 35% TO 40%.
I would respectfully request that you keep the contents of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail.
If you are interested, I will furnish you with details. I earnestly await your response.
Sincerely,
mr. Fauwaz Alhussainan
Citigroup. Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Spammer: "I was browsing Star Fleet Universe website, and noticed that you guys are doing some phenomenal work in the garment industry space."
Me: I honestly had no clue we were doing diddly squat in that field!
(Can you tell I have been watching Clarkson's Farm?)
In the past five or six day, I've had a massive increase in the amount of spam emails into my inbox. Anyone else seeing this??
Garth L. Getgen
Wouldn't call it massive, but started getting some in an inbox that hadn't been getting spam...
Mostly health stuff....
Gareth and Mark
My work account gets 3 or 4 emails a day offering Life Assurance - I don't think I clicked 'unsubrcribe' (as that tell the Spammer it's a real account) - but they are all very similar.
Probably ramped up about 10 days ago - along with Spam using my own companies Web Site Contact Form.
Jean - Got to vist Clarksons Farm (and new Pub) on Saturday - even got to go in the Shop (it's horribly busy!!!!!!!!!*).
We had visited it earlier in the year and my youngest wasn't well - so after 90 mins or so of quering (yes, it's that busy to go into a shop) - we had to go home 
.
* - We got there at 9.40 am - shop opened at 9.30 am and it took about 45 mins to get into it. It's been open about 3 years and is famous.... for being famous/busy!!
Oh my! That sounds wonderful. Someday, perhaps!
I have been getting an uptick in robo calls and in spam texts.
Be careful not to click those or respond.
They have been increasing attacks in those over 50 with the soc sec # breach as they are easier marks, tend to share too much information about themselves on line, like birthday, age, names of pets and family members. They take far too many surveys and have not correctly set their security parameters. They also tend to be those who have saved something worth taking or if still employed are making their highest annual income amount.
Be careful and if you answer an unknown call always answer as a business such as “Dominoes Pizza, how can I help you?”
Got a weird one myself yesterday. There was a robovoice on the other end and the conversation went like this...
THEM: Hello! May I ask your name?
ME: No.
(pause)
THEM: Are you a Bot?
ME: Beep beep beep. Beep. Beep beep.
THEM: (Disconnect...)
Skynet? Is that you?
It became sentient, then it called me and asked if I knew how to save up to 15% on car insurance.
--Mike
For writing, the newest scam is: Give us 1-5K and we'll have our super AI author program create THE BOOK YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE and gurentee you sales! It's popping up in groups all over the place, as well as emails to anyone in the biz.
rule of thumb, anyone wanting money to help you make a book, unless they're a professional editing service (which will NEVER promise any kind of market sales, just that they'll do a good editing job), is scamming you. It's strange how common this is, because the first thing you'll see on any reddit group, writing group, etc, is "publishers/agents wanting you to pay them are scamming you" but they never run out of customers...
The "grandchild in trouble" scam has been taken to a creepy new level now, given Microsoft reportedly have an AI that can imitate your voice based on a less than fifteen second sample. Families are now encouraged to have verbal passwords to confirm identities to each other on the phone.