I told them I was LT Smith with the -------- County Police Dept. and I was at a crime scene and I needed to get some information from them as to why they were making calls to this number,... they started stuttering and hung up .... at least I got a good laugh....
810-378-3863 12:40 10/4/2014 - This is a complete copy of papers provided to the local chief of police about harassment/robo calls. Get yor call blocker up and running!!!!
DEFEATING HARASSMENT AND ROBO CALLS
I had been receiving harassing telephone calls for several months, but the number of calls per day finally exceeded my toleration level. The calls were from a person living in Highland, who will remain nameless, and from telephone solicitors/robo call operators from around the country. The telephone company was unable to block the calls because many of the harassment calls were being generated using a device called an ID spoofer which generates phony caller IDs on your phones caller ID display. The telephone solicitors are largely criminals and scammers who refuse to follow federal no-call laws.
One of the options to defeat the harassment calls was to change to a new unlisted telephone number, but this would be giving-in to the harassment. It would also make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for legitimate callers, friends, and family from around the country from contacting me. Paying the telephone company for providing a call blocking service would be costly and time consuming. Legal action and call tracing by the phone company using back tracking through the local telephone switching matrix is possible but difficult, especially when caller ID spoofers are used to impede normal call tracing. There had to be a better option, and there is.
I am a retired military officer. One of the many training courses I attended in my 27 year career included training in “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu. One of the maxims is to know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never need to fear a battle. The harassment calls, robo calls, telephone solicitors, political calls, Etc, are engaging in an “act of war” by essentially taking over my telephone. I proceeded to research the situation and develop a plan of action.
I had been program manager and program engineer for installation of many USAF class 5 digital telephone exchanges, but had been out of the business for many years. In talking to the police and the telephone company technicians, I found out about the new technology to generate digital spoofing calls with phony Caller IDs from computer APPs. This matches with the pattern of the Caller ID data I had recorded from the harassment calls. Analysis of the data confirmed that I had both robo scammers/solicitors and an individual in Highland responsible for the harassing calls.
Research also showed call spoofing can be generated from smart phones, I-pads, computers, robo call devices, or any device with phone access and a spoofing application. Some devices will allow spoofing and also generate robo voice traffic. Additional indication of spoofing is the fact that the Caller IDs sometimes had full 10 digit numbers and other times had only the 7 digit local origination numbers with known out of state robo call messages.
Caller IDs with only 7 digits originate from within the local area code. One of the local calls used my own phone number as the caller ID, and two of the phone numbers used phone numbers with only one digit different from my phone number. I confirmed that the owners of these local phone numbers had no one at home when the calls were made. Spelling errors and robo messages from these numbers clearly proved use of a spoofing application.
I have found an effective way to combat these harassment/robo callers that has been over 90% successful. I spread the word by posting the following to 800notes.com/phone and other selected web sites each time I receive a harassment call.
* HOW TO DEFEAT HARASSMENT/ROBO CALLS!! CALL BLOCKERS WORK!!
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I research a harassment/scam caller then post this msg every time a robo number calls. NEVER press X to opt out, and NEVER respond in any way because it just adds your name to multiple robo calling lists.
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The federal no-call list is a joke - the government does nothing. The phone company wants the money from robo companies and will do nothing to stop the harassment/robo calls. Local police do not have the manpower or technology to track/block these calls. Most robo callers are criminals/scammers. Here is a one-time relatively low cost way to beat those harassment/robo calls.
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I have now defeated >90% of harassment and robo calls. I went on-line to Amazon and purchased an in-line "CPR CALLBLOCKER"! It has an inventory of up to 1200 numbers in your call blocker list. Be careful in setting up the list or you get unexpected blockages of valid incoming calls. Start by blocking all calls using caller ID’s of UNAVAILABLE, PRIVATE, or WITHHELD. I have also blocked many robo area codes which have no friends or family - 212, 231, 304, 305, 307, 312, 321, 347, 360, 401, 516, 518, 608, 630, 650, 708, 740, 773, 810, and 970. To block robo calls from area codes with friends and family, DO NOT block the area code, use ONLY complete (area code with phone number) 10 digit number inputs to the blocking list. Add to the list when a new robo/harassment caller gets through! Never use 7 digit inputs to the blocking list or you will have problems! Keep a complete written list of area codes and individual blocking numbers. A small glitch when entering a number into the list can mess up your entire blocking list requiring a hardware reset and complete reprogramming of the list.
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Harassment/robo callers frequently use a spoofing APP to create phony incoming caller ID’s on your phone. Hidden characters in a spoofer Caller ID’s number can sneak the robo call past some blockers. I use a separate secondary SENTRY BLOCKER that ignores hidden characters and blocks the call when it’s on.
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There are many brands of call blockers other than the ones I have described. Choose yours and BLOCK THOSE HARASSMENT CALLS!!!!!
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It is really great fun watching my call blocker light-up and then hang-up when the harassment/robo Caller ID matches the blocking list!!! I especially enjoy it when the call blocker hangs up on a persistent harassment caller!!! Take back your telephone from harassment/robo callers!!!!
CALL HISTORY
May – 37 harassment calls
Jun– 31 harassment calls –purchased call blocker
Installed blocker!
Jul– 26 harassment calls with 7 auto blocked.
Aug– 35 harassment calls with 23 auto blocked and 12 new numbers added to blocker list
Sep– 38 harassment calls with 26 auto blocked and 10 new numbers added to blocker list. 2 calls got past blocker list. Secondary blocker was turned off.
Oct – 6 harassment calls with 5 auto blocked and 0 new numbers added to blocking list. 1 call got past blocker list because of illegal char in Caller ID. Secondary blocker was turned off pending completion of white list. (History current as of 4 Oct)
Telemaggoter Log: October 6, 2014 11:01 AM Eastern
Another call from these lonely people that obviously want to be my best friend. Well unfortunately they had to talk to the answering system. I took an extra step that I hope will block this caller soon.
Entertaining unwanted callers often increases the number of calls received. Especially when you consider that it is a bogus operation and all they care about is ripping people off.