---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20190423155049.GA23474@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2019 15:50:49 +0000 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: West Virginia: Commission urges residents to join complaint ELKINS - The Randolph County Commission is urging affected residents to contribute to a formal complaint regarding Frontier Communications' phone and internet service. "Back a few months ago, we had voted as a commission to lodge an informal complaint with the (state) Public Service Commission regarding Frontier and their service in Randolph County," Randolph County Commission President Mark Scott said at the most recent commission meeting. http://www.theintermountain.com/news/local-news/2019/04/commission-urges-residents-to-join-complaint/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <7908d5f6-1787-40e6-8e5d-f89cacd79f1e@googlegroups.com> Date: 23 Apr 2019 12:17:41 -0700 From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: Flood of scam "computer maintenance" calls On Sunday, April 21, 2019 at 1:32:14 PM UTC-4, Doug McIntyre wrote: > >Here's a question: What carriers are supporting the > >toll-free lines? Seems like they could do a better job > >of controlling who they deal with. > > You are assuming the Caller ID isn't spoofed. My work phone > gets a ton of the tech-support 800 calls, while my cell > phone usually gets all the neighbor spoofed CID calls. The calls I've received are only a recording. They direct the recipient to call an 800 number they offer. So, I assume the 800 number given does connect back to the scammer. > At this point, I'd think the potential victims would be saturated and > it wouldn't be worth attempting any longer, but apparently there > is still money to be found there. Indeed, the whole thing was strange to me--a very low quality recording and the need for the recipient to hang up and place a call, which is more of an effort than just pressing a key to get an operator. My guess is that it is apparently so cheap nowadays to flood the world with such calls that even a tiny percentage of suckers makes it worthwhile for them. Or, maybe the scammers are stupid--having been scammed themselves by a maker of robocall units and a sleazy carrier--and are losing money. > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > My attitude on spam calls is unchanged: those who get them will be > most effective at stopping them if they take one for the team, and pay > it forward by wasting as much of the salesman's time as possible. The > time of the call-takers is payed for with *REAL MONEY*, and wasting it > is the most reliable way of getting your phone number on the "Hostile > Lead" lists that the marketeers sell each other. > > I know this for a fact: it's what I've been doing for years, and I get > less than one spoofed call per week. If everyone who gets a spoofed > call did it, that entire industry would be out of business within a > year. I have to respectfully disagree. I tried that a few times and all it got me was a flood of more calls, not less. They know they have a 'live one' by a response. ***** Moderator's Note ***** Yes, you will get more calls for a little while after you start fighting back. Such calls are made while training new pitchmen (the industry has a very high burnout rate), using you as an example of how to spot a ringer. You can either practice flying under their radar, or ignore them: the end result is the same. Sooner or later, your phone number will be on their "Hostile Lead" list, and the calls will slow to a trickle. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <D046A55C-0E81-4F88-AAA3-C39B3C72A0D0@roscom.com> Date: 23 Apr 2019 22:49:15 -0400 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: You're About to Get Fewer Robocalls. But Maybe Not for Long. You're About to Get Fewer Robocalls. But Maybe Not for Long. Telecommunications companies are adopting new technology to kill phone spam - but the spammers may stay a step ahead. If you think robocall scams have gotten worse lately, you're right. By one reckoning, Americans received 48 billion robocalls last year, up from 30 billion in 2017. But there's good news: Major telecom companies, including AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile and Verizon, have announced that they will voluntarily adopt the dual technologies known as Secure Telephone Identity Revisited and Signature-Based Handling of Asserted Information Using Tokens, known collectively as STIR/Shaken. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/23/opinion/robocalls-phone-scams.html ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Thu, 25 Apr 2019