Sonic.net

Chris wrote:All it is doing is looking at the call Id phone number provided, and rejecting the ones that don't provide it.

Uh, not exactly. When the caller has blocked caller ID (either for the line, or by prefixing *67 to the number dialed, the caller ID information is sent to the terminating switch, along with a bit in the metadata that indicates "privacy." Per the spec for processing phone calls, the terminating switch is supposed to suppress the phone number and send the letter "P" in the data sent to the caller ID box/phone that is receiving the call.

If "Anonymous Call Rejection" is set up on one's Sonic Fusion line, Sonic will reject any calls that have the privacy bit set in the metadata. If, instead, the caller ID information that is sent to Sonic is bogus or contains the word "privacy" or "unknown," ACR will not be invoked and the call will ring through.

Note that phones and caller ID boxes vary on how they present the fact the call is private. Some say "Private number," while others may say "Unknown number" or "Blocked ID." Check your phone or CID Box manual for advice, or try calling your number for your cell by prefixing the number with *67 and observe what is displayed.

Thanks for the information. I see more is involved, but my only real point is that if you turn on that option it might block a friend or family member. I never turned it on for this very reason.
But that was back when my brother and I were both blocking our numbers. These days we have both taken the blocks off so that we can quickly tell it answer the phone when they call instead of waiting for a message.

Sonic folks -- are you also looking for reports of junk faxes to the Sonic faxline?

A vanity-press sent a "Who's Who" solicitation, to the fax number associated with my Sonic account

It's a bit old (Aug. 30) and binned, just noticed it; image file available if it'd be of any use.

Mail message was:
"You have received a new fax.
Received 1 page. from:
Remote Station Unknown Remote Fax
Caller ID Restricted
Caller Name Unavailable"

Neil wrote:
That being said, a legitimate caller who "owns" an 8xx number might intentionally set up their phone system to send their own 8xx number in the caller ID info rather than their true outgoing number, so somebody calling back has their toll-free number right at their fingertips. (And because they don't want to disclose their real phone number(s).)

I suspect that most of these calls are spam calls with spoofed caller IDs, but there is the possibility it could be legitimate.

This is not true. My company has A VOIP (voice over IP) phone system and we can call out and receive calls on the 800 and 888 numbers for us they are just another number. Also we can have several people use the same number. However you are correct if you are using a POTS (plane old phone system) phone system.

Please block 303-261-8688.

We have been receiving IRS lawsuit spam calls from this number.

Please block 1-415 483-0032 is spam purporting to come from Carly Fiorina

Please block 608-501-3034. I've had several unidentified calls from that number, and the caller won't give up, though they're ringing my fax machine. Checking online reveals it to be a SPAMmer.

Got a robocall from Peoples Assista... (240-204-8754) which started spewing before my recorder started up, but the gist was {something} "interest rate as low as 1%, but act fast ...".

Steve

Please block:
415-638-5273
415-638-5299
They're magazine telemarketers who have been calling EVERY HOUR this afternoon.

One of the "Microsoft Support" scammer companies has found our number. Their voice quality is so bad it's impossible to make out much of what the guy is trying to say. And he calls back over and over and over and over. Probably an automated dialer as there's an audible "boiler room" in the background once the human comes to the phone.

000-000-0000 "UNAVAILABLE" on caller-ID

Is there any way to intercept these calls?