Spam number block requests post here

[sonicsf]

Please block 945 792-1297. This number is from the Ukraine. I don't know anyone from that part of the world. Thank you.

[kaykay4]

Spam number to block 8511397631.

[sonicsf]

Please block 800 275-2273. There are numerous complaints about this number online. An India-based business claims to be Apple Care, and or Edge Recovery Solutions; which is a credit union in Chicago. Obviously, these are SCAMMERS who have spoofed Apple's toll-free number. If you call Apple directly, they will tell you their tech support is in the US and Canada only. Thank you.

[greglewis]

Hello,
I have received 3 or 4 calls from 1-800-275-2273 over the past 24 hours with an automated message regarding how my icloud account has been hacked and not to do anything online without calling back. I returned a call and was answered by someone who did not announce they worked for Apple and had a thick accent that was difficult to understand. When I informed them of the messages I had received they then asked me for all my Apple product numbers, ID etc. I chucked and hung up. Google confirmed this is definitely a scam. Perhaps only your Mac using customers will be getting this call but I figured I would give you guys a heads-up.
Thank you,
Greg

[ankh]

Hmmm, here's one possibly useful tool --- if you can tell where a phone is located geographically and then compare that to the area code/exchange, you should be able to identify some of the spoofed caller-IDs.

And the police and phone company marketers know where people are calling from, why can't we use that info? The police do, accoring to comp.risks:
===========================
"Senator wants to know how police can locate any phone in seconds without a warrant" (Zach Whittaker)
Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net>
Fri, 18 May 2018 09:27:33 -0700

Zack Whittaker for Zero Day | May 11, 2018
http://www.zdnet.com/article/securus-po ... -tracking/

Senator wants to know how police can locate any phone in seconds without a
warrant. Real-time location data was accessible by police under "the legal
equivalent of a pinky promise," said a senator who is demanding that the FCC
investigate why a company, contracted to monitor calls of prison inmates,
also allows police to track phones of anyone in the US without a warrant.

The bombshell story in *The New York Times& revealed Securus, a Texas-based
prison technology company, could track any phone "within seconds" by
obtaining data from cellular giants—including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and
Verizon—typically reserved for marketers.

"US cell carriers are selling access to your real-time phone location data" (Zach Whittaker)
Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net>
Fri, 18 May 2018 09:29:13 -0700

Zack Whittaker, Zero Day, 14 May 2018
http://www.zdnet.com/article/us-cell-ca ... tion-data/

US cell carriers are selling access to your real-time phone location data
The company embroiled in a privacy row has "direct connections" to all major
US wireless carriers, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint—and
Canadian cell networks, too.

Four of the largest cell giants in the US are selling your real-time
location data to a company that you've probably never heard about before.

In case you missed it, a senator last week sent a letter demanding the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) investigate why Securus, a prison
technology company, can track any phone "within seconds" by using data
obtained from the country's largest cell giants, including AT&T, Verizon,
T-Mobile, and Sprint, through an intermediary, LocationSmart.

[sonicsf]

Please block 415 766-2909. The caller claimed to the the mayor, but when I looked up the number online, it belonged to Aileen Vancleve. I don't know Aileen Vancleve, and I don't appreciate her/him claiming to be the mayor. Thank you.

[ankh]

Well, it does appear to me that the cell phone companies, at the very least, do know who's calling and their location with fair accuracy (GPS as well as closest cell tower)
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... ray-218588

So -- why not compare the caller-ID-claimed area code to the calling phone's actual location, and deep-six any calls where they aren't consistent (ie where the caller-ID is lying)?

Grumble. We live in a surveillance state that outdoes everything imagined in Orwell's "1984" (can you believe Orwell thought faking news would require physically tracking down printed newspapers and editing them? hahaha, it's so much easier now).

And yet with all the surveillance, the gummint claims there's no way to identify spam/robocallers.

You'd almost think there was some benefit to the gummint of knowing where everybody is all the time.

[wa2ibm]

So -- why not compare the caller-ID-claimed area code to the calling phone's actual location, and deep-six any calls where they aren't consistent (ie where the caller-ID is lying)?

You would think that would be easy, and I agree. However, what about mobile (cell) phones? The country/area code for a mobile phone stays the same (where issued), but its location may be almost anywhere in the world while traveling. How would that be handled?

Bill

[ankh]

Well, someone earlier pointed out cell phone caller-ID can also be spoofed.

Somehow.

The government and cellular carrier and their advertisers know where the phones are being used (so they can target ads relevant to where the person is located, and we'd like that location info to check when the phone owner is targeting robospam at us with a spoofed caller-ID.

[virtualmike]

Unfortunately, the protocol that's used to transmit caller ID doesn't have a provision for transmitting the caller's location.