
Ask HN: Why can’t I block all incoming calls that aren’t in my contact list? - tones411
It’s pointless to block every single spam number that can call in. If we can’t end spam calls,  why don’t phones let you at least  block all except numbers in your contact list?
======
WestCoastJustin
I just put my iphone on "do not disturb" full-time and use my favourites list
to only allow calls though (from a selected list). People who double call are
also allowed through. Then you are not constantly distracted by notifications,
emails, texts, spam calls [1]. My thinking is, my phone should serve me, not
the other way around, so I only check when I'm not focused on something else.
Personally, I find useless notifications way worse than calls.

[1] [https://www.iphonelife.com/blog/32671/tip-day-how-let-
favori...](https://www.iphonelife.com/blog/32671/tip-day-how-let-favorite-
contacts-call-you-when-do-not-disturb)

~~~
BillinghamJ
Not quite the same thing, but I have my mobile network set up to forward every
call to a Twilio number which just states that my number doesn't accept calls.
It sends me an SMS so I know someone tried to. It's great. People who do need
to call me then will just use FaceTime Audio or WhatsApp calls.

~~~
cblades
That seems really obnoxious for anyone that has your number. Do you just not
give your number out?

~~~
greedo
Because spam calls don't occur because you gave your number out, but because
the spammers either farm your number from a "partner" or iterate through
numbers.

~~~
Terretta
That’s one class. Another class is if the number was in a credit application
or marketing form, then got resold or data-breached.

I only put burner numbers on forms. They start to get called about 90 - 180
days later. Not all, but enough you don’t want to give your cell out.

------
fyfy18
A few years ago my parents were getting a lot of spam calls on their landline.
Basically all of them were automated calls, either a recorded message or you
were connected to a person shortly after the call was connected. I bought an
OBi100 [0], which is a small device designed to be a VOIP adapter, but you can
setup rules on how calls (incoming or outgoing) are handled.

I setup a rule that if the call was from a withheld or foreign number, it
would play an automated message asking the user to press the number 1 to be
connected. This alone stopped basically all the spam calls. I'm surprised how
well it actually works, I assume the caller detects it as a voicemail message
so just hang up.

I imagine most carriers could implement something like this relatively easy.
Sorry Google, no AI needed here.

[0]
[https://www.callcentric.com/support/device/obihai/obi100](https://www.callcentric.com/support/device/obihai/obi100)

~~~
StavrosK
This is the kind of solution that only works because basically nobody is doing
it. If a big provider deployed it, it would take five seconds for it to be
defeated.

~~~
mark-r
Exactly. With phone number spoofing, all the scammer needs is the phone number
of someone on your list. With social media how long do you think it would take
to generate such a list, and to get propagated to every scammer?

~~~
wittedhaddock
Can you explain phone number spoofing to me? Is there truly phone spoofing
that is more than faking the dialer on the client?

~~~
umvi
You should read the book "Ghost in the Wires" by Kevin Mitnick. It will really
open your eyes as to what is possible with phones.

~~~
wittedhaddock
can I borrow your copy? I will pay shipping to and fro' :)

~~~
umvi
Sure! But honestly, it will probably be cheaper for you to just buy it from
Amazon for $8. Or, read it for free using Overdrive (if you have a
Kindle/ereader).

~~~
wittedhaddock
But this way I get to bug you about my discoveries and compare interpretations
with yours... the knowledge comes with instruction hehe

------
wittedhaddock
My name is James, I work for Community Phone, a nationwide cell phone company.

Show of hands: if we opened up this feature for you to control this filter for
yourself or your loved ones, holding all else constant (price and coverage),
would that be sufficient to cause a switch to try out an alternate provider?

~~~
danShumway
Huh. I am currently on Google Fi.

I'm not thrilled putting Google in charge of my mobile data, but I still trust
Google to safeguard my privacy more than any of the major telcos, and for
someone who uses small amounts of data, they're very competitively priced and
have really good, simple billing.

But particularly with the Librem Phone coming up, I've been trying to find
other phone providers I won't hate that can give me more flexibility in
devices and that at least somewhat shares my values. Community Phone looks
really interesting. I'm frankly a little bit weirded out that the prices are
that low, I'm going over the site trying to figure out what the tradeoffs are.

Rolling out a feature like this would definitely make me more interested in
switching. Even if I didn't think it was valuable for me personally, it would
make me feel like the company was in close contact with its users and working
with them, rather than just blindly selling to them.

From a pure feature point of view, I would still want unknown people to be
able to leave me messages. I get legitimate calls from unknown numbers -- but
my policy is that if I don't know you and the call isn't important enough to
leave a message, you're either spam or I don't care. If it is important enough
to leave a message, I screen that and then add the number to my contact list
if it's legit.

~~~
wittedhaddock
Hey danShumway, thanks for your note here. I am going to share it with my
colleagues if that's okay with you. You express a very important culture and
way of working.

The real answer is that our prices are low because most of our users to date
use less than 1gb per line (nearly all senior citizens on our 15 or 25
plans)... they were overpaying the most while using the least (but even for
them we cannot be too low otherwise even the stingiest would think our pricing
is too low to be credible... and I am laughed out of /r/nocontract for having
prices that are way too high). And since building that volume, we've been able
to keep our prices as they are, due to better negotiations with carriers.

That said, most of our customers to date join us just because they like
getting a human from Boston or Milwaukee when they answer the phone who can
help them quickly, listens intently to what you say, and doesn't require a
"tech-ese"

For how long were you with your previous carrier before joining Google Fi and
when did you make the switch?

~~~
danShumway
I don't want to derail the overall conversation too much.

I was with Verizon from my first phone until I first got a smartphone. I
switched over to Fi specifically because I didn't want to deal with Verizon's
billing, and because I didn't like the company in general.

The low-data approach is really attractive to me -- atm I use less than 500mb
a month (sometimes as low as 200-300mb). At that level of usage your prices
are very competitive with Fi. My concerns are that I'm starting to migrate
away from native services where possible because of the security implications
-- more of my texting is happening over Signal rather than SMS, and with the
Libre phone theoretically some voice is going to start getting routed over
Matrix.

I have no idea what that's going to do to my data usage, I honestly just have
to experiment and find out.

Additionally, I'm starting to get more serious about using a VPN everywhere,
even on mobile data, since I assume that behind Google, whatever network I'm
on is absolutely selling any data that hits their towers. That may drive my
data usage up, or it might drive it down because I might feel more comfortable
connecting to random wifi networks if I know 100% all of my traffic is going
through that VPN.

I'm in an urban area, so this is unrelated to me, but the fact that you're
selling dumb phones on your plan is also pretty cool, and I can think of
people who would be interested in that if Sprint's rural coverage was better.

~~~
wittedhaddock
We'd love to experiment with you on Librem. If you go through crazy spikes of
data usage, we could comp them if you helped us characterize and understand
the behavior-- and especially the value you hope you procure by way of
privacy.

Do you operate your own VPN? Or if not, how do you truly evaluate whether you
are solving your problem? What questions would you ask post-Librem and post-
VPN adoption whose answers would tell you how close you are to solving your
problem?

~~~
danShumway
I consider my IP address to be sensitive information, so I wouldn't host a VPN
on my home network, and there are advantages in numbers to using a popular
service, since you can blend in at least a tiny bit.

I use a 3rd-party VPN (PIA). This is obviously not perfect privacy, since they
could be lying about what data they store. That being said, I'm not trying to
hide from a government, I'm trying to hide from advertisers, stalkers, and
criminals. So even if I can't personally validate that PIA isn't storing any
of my data, having my data accessible to a warrant is still better than having
it accessible to hundreds of different sites and companies that I 100% already
know I don't trust.

I validate actual implementation security by regularly checking what
information shows up in requests when I visit sites. There are a couple of
tools that help with that online.

Being strict about what data goes where is part of the reason why my data
usage is low. It turns out that if you block network access for most apps on a
phone by default, data usage just goes down a _lot_. Apps like Uber and Lyft
make a lot of requests, because they are constantly tracking you, so blocking
their network access if you have them installed is just a strict all-around
win. Even apps that should be good about this like Google Music will sometimes
just randomly decide to download things.

Obviously the librem phone is still kind of up in the air, but my game plan
assuming it's not a complete disaster is to migrate over to that and fill in
any gaps of functionality by just programming whatever features I need. I
dunno how voice calls will work. The idea of switching to something more
secure than the existing phone system is attractive, but I mentioned above,
I'm not sure what it would do to data usage -- I just don't have any basis to
make an educated guess.

In general I want my phone to be a very specialized device -- not a dumb
phone, but a phone that only ever does what I tell it to.

So a successful migration for me would look like a company:

\- with good coverage

\- without any horrible terms like arbitration agreements or stealth charges

\- that does not sell data, and that is supportive of low data-usage

\- that is at least not _actively_ unethical :)

on a device that:

\- gives me root access

\- makes calls, texts, and browses the web in a secure way

\- that is highly geared towards offline availability and low data-usage

\- and that doesn't run extra software or do things behind my back

Librem is my hope for the second part, I guess if it crashes and burns I'll
look into custom Android roms. I haven't made a list of carriers yet, but from
what you say, it sounds like Community Phone should be high up on that list?

------
Cactus2018
Tangentially; T-Mobile tags suspect numbers with "Scam Likely" caller ID. Opt-
in to block these calls by dialing #662# -
[https://www.t-mobile.com/resources/call-
protection](https://www.t-mobile.com/resources/call-protection)

edit; T-Mobile accepts forwarded text message SPAM at 7726 -
[https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibility/privacy/fraud-
spam/s...](https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibility/privacy/fraud-spam/sms-
spam)

~~~
wj
Half of my spam calls these days are from numbers that are supposedly in the
same area code as my phone (likely spoofed as I've called a couple back before
and the person didn't know what I was talking about when I said they called
me) but since I no longer live in that area code I am able to use that as an
identifier.

~~~
magduf
It's the same for me. Any time I see a call from my phone's area code, I know
it's 99% likely to be spam (the other 1% is a recruiter, who I also don't want
to talk to because they're trying to get me to take a job back in that same
area code).

Having a phone with a far-away area code is actually really useful just for
this reason, I've found.

------
joshka
I'm more inclined to say that the real solution to this is to make it
expensive for the callers by having a service that answers the call every time
and tries to keep the caller on the line wasting their time. There's obviously
an asymmetric principal at play here.

Imagine for a sec a situation where: 1\. I receive a robocaller message. 2\. I
press a button on phone indicating spam 3\. Software Agent takes over, presses
the right DTMF to proceed (ML based analysis of what works and what doesn't)
4\. Agent waits for human to come on, starts playing random conversational
pieces that sound right (extension, the google thing that booked a hair
dresser appointment takes this even further
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D-6mxb_Mu8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D-6mxb_Mu8)).
5.

~~~
askmike
Are you sure this is a problem you want to (try to) solve technically?

\- You'll make it very hard for genuine people to contact you.

\- You don't solve the problem, you only make it more expensive. As long as
the benefit of calling you is bigger than the cost they will jump through
whatever hoop to call you.

For some context: this isn't a problem everywhere in the world. In my country
there are strict laws about unsolicited phone calls (especially to people who
have indicated they wan't to be called[1]). I never get a spam called
(automated or otherwise).

[1]: [https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/wetten-en-
regelingen/productbes...](https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/wetten-en-
regelingen/productbeschrijvingen/bel-me-niet-register)

~~~
joshka
Not really personally. The telcos have an interest in making this not a thing,
and I have strong hopes that any solution based on this concept would be put
out of business by fixing it at that level.

There are laws in the US about this too, with some pretty heavy penalties that
are possible to collect in Civil court. The problem is finding the
perpetrator, as the phone system makes it difficult to get accurate info on
who actually called. I suppose someone could start a class action against the
telcos, or an aggressive AG could start a RICO case.

BTW, AT&T, if you don't fix this soon I'm moving to T-Mobile.

------
Figs
You can? I thought that was pretty standard on Android phones? On my phone, at
least, there are do-not-disturb options for "priority only" (which can be set
to either specific contacts or the whole contact list), "alarms only", and
"total silence" (careful with that one).

~~~
ryan-allen
Yep I'm pretty sure this is standard on Android phones. Not sure if it can be
done on iPhones though!

~~~
russjr08
On iOS, you can do block everyone but favorites, or just all, with an option
of allowing repeat callers through (they call X amount of times in a 5 minute
duration).

Unfortunately this also disables all other app notifications which is less
than desirable.

------
proxygeek
But you can! Mostly in Android though. I can confirm MIUI - the stock rom on
Xiaomi phones - have this exact feature built in.

You can block all hidden numbers, all numbers not in your address book,
specific numbers, etc.

Or one can use Tasker - an Android automation app to achieve the same
functionality and more in any Android phone. I suppose these days, you can use
Iphone's scripting functionality as well for the same, can't you?

Privacy concerns regarding MIUI /Android can be handled by installing a
firewall like Netguard.

~~~
narag
I can confirm that. No need for me to block all except whitelisted numbers.
Blocking the dozen or so worst offenders was more than enough.

Also the feature of recording conversations is very nice.

------
sliken
Buy an android phone. Go to settings -> sound -> do not disturb ->
exceptions/calls.

Click on allow calls and select "from contacts only".

------
pmoriarty
On Android, you can do exactly this with an app called "Should I Answer?"

That app has a lot more features too, like blocking calls which are rated
negatively in the community-curated database. Of course, you can rate numbers
yourself as well, and block/whitelist those.

It can also block hidden numbers or foreign numbers, and a whole bunch of
other stuff as well.

It's a pretty cool app. Check it out.

~~~
zamalek
It's mostly built in for Pixel: it warns about spam calls under the caller ID
and allows you to report spam. In addition, there's the new call screening
functionality [1] (which also now works on the Pixel 2).

[1]: [https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-call-
screening-h...](https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/google-call-screening-
how-to-use/)

~~~
MarkSummer
> It's mostly built in for Pixel

I this this "Pixel" reply is misplaced. I've been using "Should I Answer" for
about a year on my Galaxy S6, and it does everything the OP was requesting and
then some. I just donated to them yesterday for the first time in fact.

Even if you don't choose to use your contacts as a white list (which I don't
because I often have client/prospect calls coming in that aren't in my
contacts yet), it still catches about 95% of calls thanks to thepower of the
masses fighting back.

If you don't have it, definitely worth a download

------
Afforess
I block all US calls now, using Hiya (I block +1 _) and warn new contacts to
either text me, or use signal, whatsapp, discord, etc. Originally, it was just
enough to block my own area code (+1 616_ ), since I had moved and didn't have
any contacts that would have been from the area. But in the last few months,
robocalls kept increasing, and I'm at about 100 robocalls a week.

I seem to have robocalls worse than most, most of my friends are still
sufficing with spam detection, but it's not enough. It's a crying shame the
FCC has allowed the telephone to become a tragedy of the commons, but none of
the carriers have any interest in blocking robocallers, it's a secondary
source of income.

I have a smartphone that literally can not operate as a phone and take calls.
It's dystopian.

------
deathanatos
Or why isn't the law enforced? Why is the FCC and do-not-call.gov asleep on
the job?

Why are scammers even allowed to spoof caller IDs from local area-code numbers
that don't even exist? (Thankfully, this makes them blissfully easy to spot.
But I fear someday the fraudsters will get up to speed on that heuristic.)

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a technical measure like the one you suggest —
it appears to be sorely needed. But I'm dismayed at how little the government
and the carriers _care_.

And for God's sake can we choose a more convincing scam than "the factory
warranty on your vehicle is about to expire"? My car is over 20 years old. The
warranty is _gone_.

~~~
jonathanlb
> Why is the FCC and do-not-call.gov asleep on the job?

I can't speak to the FCC's leadership under Ajit Pai, but donotcall.gov was
shuttered during the latest government shutdown.

~~~
Evidlo
Here's a success story of the FCC busting someone last year:
[https://mashable.com/2018/05/13/fcc-fines-spam-robocalls-
flo...](https://mashable.com/2018/05/13/fcc-fines-spam-robocalls-florida-
man/#5Z2GbHJLqPqQ)

------
nik1aa5
I use "Should I answer?" which serves this purpose very well:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mistergrou...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mistergroup.muzutozvednout)

The main service the app offers is a community rating of phone numbers.
Depending on the rating, calls can be muted automatically. You can also,
however, tell the app to generally block all calls except those from contacts
in your address book.

------
yoz-y
It is not exactly the solution you look for but on iOS you can use call
blocking apps which work in a similar fashion to the safari blocking
extensions. They provide a list of blacklisted numbers to the phone app and
they can either tag them (say, as a telemarketer) or block them outright. I
currently use Callblock and it works fine.

One advantage of this system is that the blocking provider does not need (and
can't have) access to your phone call history at all. The disadvantage is that
it is a blacklist only, you can't invert the rules.

As a side note, although I would _love_ to just ignore all calls from numbers
I do not know, at least in France most companies such as banks, taxman and so
on will call you from a withheld number and they don't always leave a message.

------
egypturnash
Default ring: three seconds of silence, no vibration.

People you actually want to talk to: custom ring/vibration. As a bonus you can
assign different rings to people so you know “oh hey that’s Mom” or whatever.

------
pxeboot
Just a guess, but I would expect carriers to be strongly against any feature
that made it easy to block most calls.

~~~
jonwachob91
Carriers no longer get paid per call, so you'd think they'd be incentivized to
lower the load on their network by reducing the number of spam calls.

~~~
pxeboot
At least in the US, the carrier initiating the call still pays the receiving
carrier. This is less then 1¢/minute in most cases, but still represents real
money when multipled by millions of calls a day.

Users just pay for 'Unlimited Calling' now, but all the legacy payment
structures still exist on the back end.

------
emayljames
Xiaomi phones have a "Block Calls From Strangers" option in the security
settings. Xiaomi phone's are awesome.

------
sys_64738
I use callcentric for voip and it allows all non-whitelist numbers to fall
through to ‘press random digit to connect’. That gets rid of spam calls for
me.

~~~
tuananh
nice !

------
russelldavis
Amen. The existing spam call blockers are all based on blacklists, and it's a
losing battle against spammers who can simply keep spoofing new numbers.

I'm working on an app (iphone & android) that solves this the way you suggest,
via a whitelist of contacts, with an optional way for non-whitelisted, non-
robocallers to still get through.

If you're interested in early access, email me at russell.davis [at] gmail
[dot] [com].

------
adim86
Although at first glance this sounds like a no brainer and a little confusing
why we are not given the power to have a whitelist system on our phones I
think this feature is a terrible idea. This is the same as saying, why can we
not bounce all emails that have not been stored in our email address book.
This one feature has the ability to destroy modern communication as we know
it.

Hear me out. If you all have noticed, with every privacy feature released a
significant amount of people migrate to it full-time. I currently cannot
recognize my phone ring, because from the day I bought my last phone I
switched off the ringing and never bothered to turn it back on, not because I
hate ringtones, I just forgot and also there have been no dire consequences to
do so. Someone on this thread also said he/she set her phone permanently on
"do not disturb" and just deals with notifications when they want to. This is
all well and good cause anyone who has tried to reach us has successfully done
so and even if they did not reach us, we have evidence that they attempted to.

Having a whitelist system is VERY different and has many unforeseen
consequences. From as little as, your mother got a new phone and soon she
cannot reach you, you got a beautiful girls number and want to ask her on a
date but cannot reach her. To bigger issues like your teenage child is mad at
you and deletes your contact from their phone. Job offers will be missed, you
will become unreachable in emergencies etc. The short of this is, the best
case of such a feature is that you don't need to install a third party app to
block spam calls, the worst case of such a feature is people can literally die
cause they cannot contact you or vice versa. If I was a phone manufacturer. I
just won't even allow this. There are easier ways to solve the underlying
problem without opening the door for worse outcomes

~~~
ragazzina
Why would a beautiful girl give me her number and not whitelist mine? My
teenage child could very well block my number. This argument doesn't make any
sense.

~~~
TeMPOraL
> _Why would a beautiful girl give me her number and not whitelist mine?_

Ever watched any American movie? The girl usually writes the number on a back
of a receipt or napkin, gives it to you and immediately leaves.

:).

I do generally agree with the OP though. I need to have a way for unknown but
legitimate calls to reach me. To use actual examples that happened to me -
sometimes there's a problem with my on-line order, or with some form I
submitted to the government, and some clerk from a company/govt office calls
me to set things straight. I don't have, and _couldn 't possibly_ have, an
idea from what number they'll call, but getting that call is a difference
between fixing a matter on the spot, vs. wasting me (and them) half a day +
incurring some extra wait time the next week.

~~~
DoctorOetker
who cares about shallow movies? this hypothetical girl would never get called,
so obviously she will ask him to call her on the spot, so she can view the
last blocked call in some menu, and whitelist it...

sure the girl might like to be surprised, but is that worth all the spam?
perhaps someone should come up with an artificial spam service "so that you
will extra enjoy your real acquaintances when they call you" if that really
were true...

------
crispytx
Hey Tones411, I actually created an app that does this for Android called
RoboStop. Check it out! Unfortunately Google will be removing the app from the
Play Store on March 9th due to increased restrictions regarding access to
user's data (call logs), but I plan on moving the app over to RoboStop.org in
about a month from now.

------
wyred
What if it was a legitimate emergency?

Like if someone used your number as an emergency contact. Or some hospital in
the world trying to contact you because someone you know got hospitalized
(touch wood).

~~~
JauntyHatAngle
What happened 40 years ago when home phones were the only way to contact
somebody?

I'm not trying to say it's not an issue, but the mentality that you need to be
connected and accessible at all times is a relatively new phenomenon. If you
are in a caretaker role than sure, but if my best friend is sick in hospital
and I miss it because I'm out hiking or have turned my phone off, that's just
life. People are not supposed to be 24/7 contactable in my view.

~~~
blihp
To make matters worse, 40 years ago most people didn't even have answering
machines... most of the time the phone just rang and rang. Somehow we muddled
through. Your point is spot on re: not being reachable 24/7 by the entire
world.

~~~
pishpash
People wrote letters. For urgent matters you paid a visit. Imagine that.

------
stevenicr
Assuming op is using an iPhone?

I was looking into this for a friend and found something a couple of tutorials
for making it happen with iphone, but they all said you had to use the
interface from a computer (desktop/laptop) - that the call filtering and time
block feature was not accessible via the phone's interface. (this was about a
year ago?) \- you could make your phone go silent, but let a selected set of
contact be able to ring, or perhaps give another set of contacts the option to
turn off your silent mode if they coded twice within 5 minutes or something?

I think there is built in methods for this with do not disturb and assorted
options with that feature on newish android without third party apps right?

(I currently frequently use a "timed silent profile" app that I paid the
premium for years ago, but I think I ran into these settings on base android
in the past year.

------
lsllc
This. It's a complete nightmare, I get 5-10 junk calls a day, all from "local"
numbers. I gave up blocking them as they are seemingly random. Some of the
calls are in Chinese!

At this point I just don't answer a call that's not in my contacts, but I
should be able to enable this as the default. If it's someone that really
wants to talk to me, then they'll leave voicemail.

I shouldn't have to use Do-Not-Disturb; that's for something else (don't ring
my phone at all when I am sleeping), also I don't want to lose my other
notifications.

The telcos charge for a "blocking" service so they have no incentive to do
anything about it ... but I don't understand why Apple hasn't addressed this
(maybe today's 15% decline in iPhone sales is people saying f-it and switching
to Android where you can get apps to block calls).

------
altmind
Just checked, I got this feature on stock samsung s8(phone-settings-block
numbers-block unknown callers)? Are you talking about iphone(as if it is a
default phone vendor) ?

~~~
jonwachob91
There is a difference between unknown callers and calls from numbers not in
your contact list.

~~~
squirrelicus
Can you explain?

~~~
bcyn
Unknown = caller who has chosen to hide their number, or their number is just
unavailable for any other reason.

~~~
mamon
Fortunately, my carrier allows blocking such calls on NETWORK level, so they
don't ever reach my phone.

------
IanCal
This feels a bit tech-supporty. Are you sure you can't? There seem to apps for
doing call blocking on both Android and iOS. I'd be absolutely shocked if none
of them allow checking against your contacts.

------
aiyodev
This is still possible with Google Voice but through the legacy menu. I hope
they aren't planning to drop these features any time soon.

You can screen calls or automatically send them to voicemail. You can create
rules for groups of contacts that override the default. You can setup
different voicemail messages for different groups.

I have it setup to send everyone but friends and family to voicemail. The
transcript of this message is emailed to me. If I get multiple spam voicemails
from the same number, I add the number to a contact called "Block" which sends
them to a custom voicemail message I recorded telling them the number has been
disconnected.

My number is posted on websites, I use it when signing up for shady things,
but I hardly ever get spam. I remember having to add a lot of numbers the
first month and then suddenly the torrent of spam calls abruptly stopped. I
assume they blacklisted my number on their lists. I've been pretty much spam
free for years.

------
YeahSureWhyNot
I wish there was no unlimited calling and texting. 1 cent per minute/text is
ideal. cheap enough for everyone to afford and expensive enough to make
massive scale spam calling business unprofitable. same for emails. make emails
cost 1 cent per email that gets donated to whatever good cause and watch spam
drop by 90%

~~~
djohnston
i feel like it would be effective but i worry about requiring payment
information for sending emails. it seems like a privacy nightmare

~~~
dest
Also, this gives a way to entities who control the payments control who can
send emails.

Might be a concern in authoritarian regimes.

Weren't there a project with proof of work?

~~~
djohnston
blockchain-based emails would definitely be a zesty solution

------
jpeeler
Android (not familiar with iPhone at all) has solved the problem of blocking
unwanted calls, but has it intertwined with "do not disturb", which also
affects notifications. I think we'd all enjoy having the feature separated out
so that phone calls can be filtered as desired without assuming a
silent/lesser mode needs enabling.

On an unrelated note, I've many times wished the phone protocol was upgraded
to send metadata of your choosing along with the caller ID. Not even asking
for a standard, because it'd probably suck. Just provide the means to send
some optional data along with the call (which could ultimately put the nail in
the coffin of land lines). The primary use case I had in mind would be to
authenticate identity (since caller ID can be spoofed), but I'm sure a bunch
of new uses would be utilized.

------
TYPE_FASTER
Get a Google Voice number. Give your cell number to people, the Google Voice
number everywhere else. You can configure Google Voice to send all calls to
voicemail if you want. And I think you can still configure it to send you a
transcription via text. Spam calls won't leave a message.

~~~
quarkral
Doesn't work. Spammers still manage to blind call my actual cell phone number
even though I've given it to absolutely not a single person, dead or alive.

~~~
GalacticDomin8r
Your provider/mvno should allow you change that one easily. I just did with
mine that some spammers had. Works great except new one is on the school
districts notification list with no easy way to opt-out. But that one is easy
to block.

------
chrisBob
I still get regular spam calls, but I can always look and identify them. My
cell phone has a 315 area code, and the only other person I know with a
similar number is on my contact list. Absolutely anything else from a 315
number is spam. If I get something from the same number twice then I add it to
my "SPAM" contact which is blocked.

The Hiya app also helps somewhat. I didn't realize how good a job carriers
like T-Mobile do at filtering out the Spam calls until I switched to XFinity
Mobile and went from 1-2 calls per week to 5 in the first day. Hiya brings the
number back down inline with T-Mobile, and might be the same database T-Mobile
uses on the backend.

------
cs_advice
At least in Spain you can ask to be in the Robinson list and then, no company
can call you for advertisements or offers unless you're a client of them. AND,
in Spain is against the data protection law to do marketing calls from mobile
phones if you're not their client. So they can get into trouble if they do.

You can always set you're phone to ignore calls, but this doesn't avoid the
call to reach your phone. However, the robinson list does.

"Is an opt-out list of people who do not wish to receive marketing
transmissions"

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_list)

------
mgerdts
I've been pretty happy with blacklist blocker.

[https://github.com/kaliturin/BlackList](https://github.com/kaliturin/BlackList)

I had to work some magic (which I have since forgotten) to convince my S9+ to
ignore this background process, else it would stop working after a few hours.

The key thing that I wish it had was a quick way to allow unknown calls for a
specified time. This would have been helpful when given the option of staying
on hold for an extended period of time or receiving a callback - or when you
get that "my connection is crap, let me call you back on another line."

~~~
timbit42
Have you looked at the Should I Answer? app?

------
trixie_
I don't answer calls from unknown numbers as well, but still having my phone
ring only to ignore it multiple times per day is annoying. Apple should really
make this a first class feature for iPhone users at least.

------
aws_ls
I have felt it since long, that phone calls should be like emails. For
example, the ring should include an (optional) recorded subject of the caller
(of course, may be heard on demand, by the receiver of the call for privacy
reasons). In fact anyone not in contact list, should be required to send a
brief voice subject/purpose of calling, which may be limited to 10 seconds.
Also we should be able to respond by pressing a 'Not interested' button.

This will take the problem of spam away.

------
RileyJames
I got a “new” number when I moved to Canada. The ONLY calls I receive (about 2
per week) are robo call spam / scams. The messages repeat once in English and
then in mandarin. (It’s a Vancouver number.. only logic I can see).

Most of the time they go straight to voicemail and leave the same message.

All my real friends FaceTime, signal, iMessage, etc.

It bewilders me that telcos haven’t done anything about this. It’s 100% of my
incoming calls... and they only about 2 unique actual messages, pre
recorded...

~~~
avtar
The Mandarin spam is not specific to Vancouver numbers. I live in Toronto and
receive daily calls.

------
pdx6
It is pretty annoying -- you'd think there would be an out of the box solution
for this. We can block IPs, why not phone numbers?

With the Galaxy 9, there are some Name ID features built in if you use
T-Mobile. For iOS on T-Mobile, I do:

1\. Pay for T-Mobile Plus to get Name ID.

2\. Install the Name ID app and enable all the blocking features.

3\. Manage Blocks, Go to VM, and whitelist contacts

Another thread mentions Exchange Blocker, this also helps with exchange alias
scams and is a light weight app that takes a minute to install.

------
crankylinuxuser
My solution for Android is to do the following

1\. Set system ringtone to "nothing" 2\. Set ringtones for people I want to
not miss 3\. Suppress annoying notifications

Takes care of most problems.

------
ssharp
A few years ago, prior to the recent rush of non-stop robo calls that many
people experience today, I was fraudulently put on some diabetes sales list (I
don't even have it) and would get calls daily on it, often from the same
number.

At the time, AT&T, if you gave them a few dollars a month, would let you block
5 numbers. It was the most unbelievably stupid policy I had ever seen and
almost caused me to churn, which I probably should have done.

------
tonyquart
Well, I personally choose to just ignore them. Blocking each of them are a
waste of time. By ignoring them, I think along with time, they will consider
my phone number as an inactive number. Sometimes I also look up the numbers on
Google or some sites like [http://whycall.me](http://whycall.me) and just post
some reports about those numbers if I find people have reported them as scams.

------
jotux
I use this android app (paid $1 for the ad-free version):
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vladlee.ca...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vladlee.callblocker)

It specifically has a setting to force all non-contact list calls to
voicemail. I had to do this when I started getting 8-10 spam calls a day.

------
jenkstom
So when you call 911 or emergency services the first or second thing you are
asked for is your phone number so you can be called back if needed. Trust
me... you are NOT going to remember to turn off blocking when things go pear
shaped. Obviously it's your own choice, but it could become a life and death
issue in rare circumstances.

------
nikanj
Because your phone company is a much bigger customer than you are, and they
make termination fees on every call you receive.

------
giantzoc
I have been using shouldianswer which has this feature.
[https://www.shouldianswer.com/](https://www.shouldianswer.com/) I was getting
constant spam phone calls before I started using this app. The app was also
clear about why it needed certain permissions.

------
baroffoos
This doesn't sound like an ideal solution to me. Most of the legitimate calls
I get are from numbers I have never seen before like delivery people asking
where they should leave a package and such. I added my self to the Australian
do not call list and have received virtually no spam calls in years.

~~~
keyle
I am too on the "do not call list", and I have received numerous, almost
fortnightly scam calls from 03 numbers.

No point reporting them, they're just known as scam redirects from other
countries.

I'd love an iOS feature to prevent or snooze all unknown callers.

------
otterpro
Does anyone know if we can get 900 number on our cell phone, which would
charge the caller for each call? On landline, we were able to call a psychic
on a 1-900 numbers (and 0900 in Europe) for a fee. If I charged $1.99 for each
call, I wouldn't mind answering even those spam calls.

------
james_niro
One IPhone you can turn Do Not Disturb option and only allow calls from your
contact list. All other calls will be muted. Also, I do not answers numbers
which I do not recognize and send it to voicemail, If they don’t leave
voicemail I will add that number to my block list.

~~~
jdeibele
I tried this on my iPhone but the problem is, it seems to block all text
notifications. I get way more texts from friends and family than I do phone
calls. If it worked for texts the same way, that would be perfect.

I'm probably going to look into the silent ring tone for unknown numbers
because that will get me closest to what I want.

------
huxflux
I use a Chinese Android phone called OPPO R17 Pro, and I have exactly this
feature built into the stock-rom (ColorOS) and a bunch of other really cool
once, such as block foreign numbers, numbers not in my contact list, numbers
not on my VIP-list, service numbers etc.

------
DonHopkins
I'm in the Netherlands and I hardly ever get any spam calls on my T-Mobile
phone. Is there some reason like Dutch regulations, or are spam calls pandemic
in the US because of American deregulation, or am I just unpopular with the
spammers?

~~~
dx034
UK also has them, Germany doesn't. I don't think it's the language barrier (UK
calls are targeted for UK customers), so there's likely a difference in
regulation or treatment by providers.

~~~
detaro
The fake "Microsoft Support" calls happen in Germany too, but appears to be
mostly on land-line numbers.

~~~
dx034
But they're more targeted and low volume. Not robot calls that are easy to
identify as fake after a second.

------
Haitischmock
I'm using a Moto X Play with Android 7.1.1. In the "do not disturb"-mode you
can select "only important interruptions" which only lets through phone calls
or notifications from your contacts.

------
astrostl
How many spam calls are folks averaging per day?

I probably get one (1) every 3-6 months, and I answer calls from unknown
numbers without hesitation. I've also been using the same mobile number for
more than two decades.

~~~
citizens
About two per day.

------
jarfil
You can on a Huawei:

\- Block unknown/hidden numbers

\- Block all strangers (non-contact numbers)

\- Block all incoming calls

------
stonogo
They used to, before the Android/iOS takeover of the industry.

Competition was nice.

~~~
kregasaurusrex
Still sad that BB10 will have support ending at year's end... But does a
market exist for users of a non-Android/IOS phone in 2019 and beyond?

~~~
kkarakk
KaiOS is the new up and comer

------
roland35
From reading this thread (and from my own experience) it seems the best way to
mitigate spam calls is to buy your phone in an area code away from your home!
Spam always finds a way...

~~~
phyllostachys
This mostly works. After military service, I never changed back my cell number
and I never answer if it is from the old area code. Though, I did once and it
was a volunteer fire station asking for donations.

------
anigbrowl
Because nobody wants to download a third party phone call app?

~~~
kazinator
The carriers should pick up the ball a little bit and deal with the spam call
problem at the network level, rather than leaving it to apps.

How can the tech be broken that call display can be spoofed; like someone
obviously from outside of your area spoofs a number in your area. I can't
believe that can't be intercepted.

They just don't care beyond collecting a monthly bill from you.

~~~
max76
T-Mobile is the front runner carrier for dealing with spam and fraud phone
calls in the US. I'll link some official marketing about one of their
features, but they are doing a lot in this space. I suspect they find that
these features increase brand loyalty per dollar more than the coverage arms
race, which they can never win against their deep pocketed opponents.

[https://www.t-mobile.com/resources/call-
protection](https://www.t-mobile.com/resources/call-protection)

~~~
bscphil
I've been on Google Fi for a few years, and I don't believe I have received a
single spam call, ever. I don't know if that's because Google is just good at
filtering, because they operate over T-Mobile's networks, or just a
coincidence.

------
moonbug
Phones should be like Victorian children. Seen but not heard.

------
davidjnelson
Are you on the do not call list?
[https://www.donotcall.gov](https://www.donotcall.gov)

~~~
ddebernardy
Bot operators apparently ignore that.

[https://art19.com/shows/today-
explained/episodes/deb6329e-ad...](https://art19.com/shows/today-
explained/episodes/deb6329e-ad97-419f-b1a8-36c9abb312d7)

------
ubermonkey
I'm using an app on my iPhone called RoboKiller, and HOLY CRAP has it cut my
spam calls to virtually nil.

It's worth looking into for sure.

~~~
tones411
I tried that. But redirecting my phone number to a different service made me
concerned.

~~~
ubermonkey
How so? I mean, if you want to quit using it, you just delete the app.

------
piyush_soni
There are many apps that do the same, at least on Android I've personally
tried, but i guess should be the case on iPhone too.

------
twodayslate
I recently installed RoboKiller on my phone and the number of spam calls on my
phone has dropped to zero

------
slater
Or even maybe just a wildcard option, e.g. "block all calls from 555-*" would
be nice

~~~
koolba
The vast majority of junk calls I receive on my cell have my local area code
so that wouldn’t work.

~~~
joe_the_user
Just get a number with an area code outside of your current location. I wound-
up in this situation and it's a good junk filter. To their credit, T-Mobile
also does decent spam filtering.

~~~
joshka
Same boat. Milking this until it's not :|

------
simonCGN
Seems to be a US problem. I als never get unsolicited calls in my country.

~~~
avh02
Had plenty of robocalls during my year in the UK - mainly the same message
that tries to get you to speak first then goes on a spiel about being involved
in a car accident that wasn't my fault (given I don't have a car that was
pretty moot)

~~~
0db532a0
One of them got quite excited when I told her that I’d just wrecked my Lambo.
Sadly I didn’t have a Lambo to wreck. They keep calling me, though.

The callers, by their accent, seem to have moved to the vicinity of the Indian
subcontinent since [1]. Bless their hearts, they still do check in on my once
in a while. It just doesn’t make sense that they don’t organise and make a
database of nuisance callees or callees with no vehicle.

[1][https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/03/09/road_accident_nuisa...](https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/03/09/road_accident_nuisance_callers_fined_270000_for_being_absolute_bags/)

------
undoware
Oh, easy. Collection agencies.

Collection agencies are a vital part of the capitalist financial apparatus.
Banks rely on them to enforce loan term agreements, and in turn defend them
when in negotiation with e.g. Apple, when e.g. negotiating agreements
regarding e.g. Apple Pay. I suspect (but cannot prove) an elaborate leaning on
mobile companies to keep nonconsensual cold calls possible.

Look for this state-of-affairs to change abruptly when being in arrears can
directly affect the state of your device.

I expect, by 2025 at the latest, that mobile service and handset providers
will begin kneecapping devices whose owners have displeased Equifax. When this
occurs, it will no longer be necessary to allow nonconsensual calls, and there
will be much touting of the new-and-improved DND.

Probably court summons and legal stuff works similarly, so my second
prediction is that, around the same time, it will be possible to serve you
notice of a subpoena by unblockable alert.

~~~
undoware
Downvoters, why do you disagree? I'm sincere and I believe myself to be
correct.

~~~
GalacticDomin8r
They are vital in the same way mosquitoes are vital to the ecosystem. You try
to assume they must serve some higher purpose greater than blood-sucking(eg
food for fish), but nope that's it.

~~~
undoware
I fail to understand how I assume they serve a greater purpose -- they simply
provide consequences for debtors, something increasingly difficult. I hate
them, but it fascinates me that some folks can't even bear to discuss how the
meat grinder actually works.

Because grind it does.

~~~
GalacticDomin8r
You stated they are vital. This is an assumption. They are not vital. The real
consequences are already part of the system and the collection agencies serve
no purpose but to harass and annoy.

------
anticensor
You can, but only bidirectionally (called fixed dialling restriction).

------
s17tnet
Uh, I can do in my cheap old Moto G5 plus with almost-stock Android.

------
muraliSKDV
It is better to make separate ringtone for your ringtone for both.

------
mattmaroon
There are plenty of Android apps that let you do that.

------
exabrial
And send every unknown to Jolly Roger phone company

------
Kiro
I just want to block all calls, period.

~~~
vincengomes
Try Flight Mode with Wifi On

~~~
Kiro
I want to use 4G though and get texts.

------
randomacct3847
Data only SIM + google voice?

~~~
itake
I still get spam calls on Google Voice

------
mathewspolin
iOS "do not disturb" does this.

~~~
cimmanom
By only if you’re also willing to forgo every single other possible
notification.

------
fxfan
I sincerely hope bb open sources their bb10 os.

It was absolutely the best thing ever for notification control. (outside of
old blackberries)

------
420codebro
The STIR/SHAKEN framework once implemented will give you a very good indicator
of the callers identity.

