re: #221 Quoth the raven, Covfefe.

The no-call list isn’t properly penalized if you break it. It’s basically a slap on the wrist for a robo-call shop. As far as number-spoofing, I basically started call screening when I was at my previous job, since the only people who had need to call me were people who were contacts in my phone; new contacts would give me their numbers ahead of time.

This.

I work in telecom, these are the most common scams/phishing going on lately:

1) Call spoofing / Local numbers - You’ll get a call from a local number that’s not in your contacts and answer it thinking it might be a friend or local business reaching out to you for some reason but no, it’s “Rachel from card services” again. Spammers have realized that no one bothers answering 800 numbers anymore so they try to fool people like this instead. The local numbers they spoof ARE legit local numbers. If you ever get a random call from someone saying “I just got a call from this number” and you didn’t call anyone, this is why.

2) Call spoofing / YOUR number - Basically the same scheme as above but instead of choosing a random number, they spoof YOUR number, the idea being you’ll be all like “WTF? Who is using my number” and answer the call. Fun fact: You can actually use call blocking apps and features to block your own number.

3) Call spoofing / Customer care - This one also happens via email but the phone call version is more insidious. They’ll leave you a voicemail claiming to be from your wireless company and stating your account will be suspended immediately unless you call a certain number and verify some information. They also spoof the customer care number of whatever carrier you have to make it seem more legit. It isn’t.

E-mail scams

1) Autopay payment - You’ll get an email from some company stating they processed an automatic payment on your behalf in the amount of a few hundred dollars and, if this is a mistake, hey no problem, just reply to this email and we’ll help you get it straightened out.

2) Personal type messages - These will take the form of things like “Why are you sending pictures of yourself to me?? PLEASE STOP!” Or. “I said it was over between us, what the hell is your problem??? STOP contacting me!”

You can probably guess that both messages are designed to make you instinctively want to respond. That’s the idea. A scammer has a list of emails and he wants to know which ones are actively used so he can spam the shit out of them. As always, use common sense. The autopay thing? Check your accounts. There won’t be any payment. The personal ones are a little trickier but most of us know who we’ve got drama with and probably wouldn’t normally respond to an email from those people anyway.

I HIGHLY recommend anyone with a smartphone to use a call blocking/call screening app. They will make your life a lot easier. Also, in most cases your carrier can NOT block cell phone numbers from their end like in the old landline days. You’ll have to use the apps and the native call blocking feature included in many smartphones today.