Submitted 2 weeks ago by Zathras@lemm.ee to mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world
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Got a second sim to trial coverage around my city. It’s not even been a full week and I am bombarded with spam calls and texts. Unsure if it is election related or just everyday spam.
This kind of spam is luckily pretty rare in europe, I get maybe one or two spam calls a year.
It only started this year for me (had this number for 15 years or so), and it’s mostly numbers from the UK and India for some reason (I’m in Germany).
They're more frequent with landline phones. I suppose because calling a mobile phone is comparatively more expensive here in Europe. (And probably also because the US puts less effort into protecting it's citizens and customers.)
Just answer every phone call with “Hello, this is ham.” And then onwards, every single sentence you say…is about ham. But also completely unhelpful to the conversation.
“Well, Hello Mr Ham. I’m just calling today to let you know about this great oppertunity from our next presidident, Donald Trump.”
“Ham is sometimes salty”
“Uhhhh…Well, Mr Trump is seeking donations from real american patriots like yourself”
“Give me ham.”
“Ham?”
“HAM!!!”
“I don’t understand, are you saying Ham, like the food?”
“ALL THE HAM IN MY MOUTH!!!”
“Ok…we can get you some ham. We just need a donation of $50.00 today.”
“Ham runs all my descisions.”
“I…don’t understand.”
“Yes, this is ham. Can I cheese you? Right in the ham?”
“Are you ok?”
“Ham.”
This should preferably go on for 10 hours.
I wasnt sure at first but now i have the ham brain paracite.
HAAAAM HAM HAAAAM
Answer every call (without any words!) just the sound of dial-up tones. This will probably get you marked as bot and they will stop, it worked for me. But I also only had a few
Check your cell service provider to see if they offer any spam blocking services. T-mobile has an app you can install that will block some of these calls for free.
You don’t even need to install the App (or keep it installed), it’s a service they offer on their end.
Just checked…it is apparently on…
Honestly. I’ve saved every number I call, like “Doctor Clinic” and all that, and I only respond to calls from unknown numbers if I’m expecting a call.
When I was getting a new line for some relatives, I found that when going through the web checkout process you could select your phone number out of 5 choices before completing the purchase. I thought that was pretty bad design as it shows which numbers are most likely going to be new. It would be pretty easy to scrape that page and create a spam list.
Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the new number to start receiving spam.
The carriers need more number combinations to make telephone numbers and every time a new plan is activate it generates a random number that was never used by anyone
Just get Truecaller bro & set protection level to MAX
Probably election relation. 🤞for you that it calms down
Election stuff, for me at least, has been more SMS than actual calls.
I’ve had a mix of both but that is a good point
There are carrier based services that do fuck all for spam calls, what you really need to get rid of them is Google Assistant call screening. Yes, Google is a giant evil corporation with anti-competitive monopolies and “AI” that will lead to the eventual destruction of the Internet we know and love, but their call screener is top notch. It answers the call and the spammers have to talk to a robot to get through to you. That’s cut down my spam call volume dramatically. And if it flags someone accidentally they just say who they are and I can decide to answer.
If it’s only been five days just call your carrier and ask for a new number.
It’s not a big deal, it happens. You don’t need any “magic phrases”. Just be honest and tell them what’s going on.
This happened to me when I received a cell for work. I ended up fully silencing the phone and giving important co-workers my personal number instead. The spam calls have only recently started to slow down… I’ve had the number for 10 years.
Yeah, I changed the ringtone and text to silent for all but known numbers.
Nah you really need to get a new number from your carrier…
I use a app called KnownCalls that simply sends any call from outside my address book to voicemail. Works wonders.
This happened with all of our work phones. It died down over time of not answering, but it still happens.
Honestly sticking with a known number is much better than trying to get something new. There’s a reason that number was available, and it’s probably because someone wanted the spam to stop.
Im not exactly sure the mechanics of it, but when a new number is activated (or a number changes carriers, etc) it pings some database that spammers have access to, and know that that number is live. Ive had it happen every time ive hanged carriers or set up a phone for someone. Dies down to normal levels in a couple months.
Sneptaur@pawb.social 2 weeks ago
Your cell phone carrier is legally obligated to give you another number if you are being harassed, which this is definitely beyond any doubt harassment. Call them and be sure to use the words “I am being called constantly and harassed at my new number at all hours of the day. I am requesting a new phone number for free.” They will absolutely give you a new number based on that, free of charge.
Zathras@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
Thank you. I will look into this.