Why do spam calls get through?

Here is my thinking. Each time a spam call comes to my line, it just got generated recently.
So why don't carriers offer option to block calls from going through if they are say for example created only a day ago. Like give me the option to block any numbers that just got created recently. What's up with these billion dollar phone companies that aren't doing anything.
I have Google voice for over 5 years and not a single spam.
I've changed 5 numbers with T-Mobile and some times I can be weeks without a spam call. But like yesterday I got 3 and today I got 3.
I feel like I shouldn't be charged monthly bill for such terrible abovese.
T-Mobile says maybe I have my number listed somewhere. I'm like my Google voice is all over everywhere. And my TMobile isn't given to anyone. Only very close friends.

Have you heard of robo dialers?

Cell services recycle numbers.

Robo dialers and recycled number doesn't mean phone company can't detect that their line just got created and block it from calling me.

These are spoofed numbers, made by robodialers. If the first 6 numbers are the same as yours, ignore it. If it's from an area code you don't recognise, ignore it.

T-mobile offers free spam and scam protection. Enable it for your lines.

Hashiriya415 said:

Robo dialers and recycled number doesn't mean phone company can't detect that their line just got created and block it from calling me.

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That’s assuming any phone company has a metric to measure when a phone number was created.

The phone system at its core is very basic. I doubt there is a universal system to determine the age of a phone number.

SHAKEN/STIR is an authentication system to work against spam by using a handshake verification. T-Mobile has it active on a few Samsung devices, not sure about when it's going to be released on iPhones.

T-mobile activated their spam thingy. It didn't do a thing for the past year.
I don't understand why can't they have simple way to verify every time a new number gets activated.

Robocallers randomly generate numbers for their "Caller ID." There is no regulation saying the caller's number has to match the string in Caller ID.

They just choose a random number in your area code and local 3-digit prefix (so it looks like a valid local number to you), but since it's random you can't block it. You could get a call from the same call center tomorrow with a different "local to you" number on it.

This Caller ID setup was negotiated by big companies that didn't want you calling service center workers back directly after you went through their main number phone switch. They only want you to be able to call the phone front-end, like everyone else. Thanks to computers, it's incredibly easy to abuse this system.

Your cell phone number is easy for Robocallers to find, even after you change it. But Google Voice may be better protected, since it's a private service? That would be my best guess.

The reason they don't have any incentive to stop Robocallers ids because it's big business for the phones companies. Like the postal service making it easier to send tons of spam mail, in the wake of the internet. It wouldn't happen if they didn't make money.

Hashiriya415 said:

I don't understand why can't they have simple way to verify every time a new number gets activated.

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As I said, these are SPOOFED numbers. There's no real way to filter them, outside of SHAKEN/STIR. So until they roll it out further, use a spam blocker app like Hiya or Should I Answer, and block the rest that look like obvious spam that slips through.

I use the Do Not Disturb options under Sound options to only prioritize calls/messages from people in my contacts list to ring/notify me. If you're not in my contact list my phone doesn't ring.

Hashiriya415 said:

T-mobile activated their spam thingy. It didn't do a thing for the past year.
I don't understand why can't they have simple way to verify every time a new number gets activated.

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The guy above just told you they are spoofed, no number just got created they spoofed a number which may or may not be an active number. This is as easy to them as it is for me to write your address on the sender portion of a piece of mail and you think that you actually sent it to yourself.

FSCDiablo said:

I use the Do Not Disturb options under Sound options to only prioritize calls/messages from people in my contacts list to ring/notify me. If you're not in my contact list my phone doesn't ring.

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Might work well if you don't have a job where people call you.

whateverer said:

The reason they don't have any incentive to stop Robocallers ids because it's big business for the phones companies. Like the postal service making it easier to send tons of spam mail, in the wake of the internet. It wouldn't happen if they didn't make money.

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This. Remember how phone service used to be sold by the minute? Now everybody has unlimited talk time...they just limit the data. That means people aren't using phone minutes as much as they used to - in a big way. The big phone companies could do a LOT to stop the spam, but they won't. Those spammers are paying them! Just like how USPS does not have a way to opt out of their constant garbage mail. I get so much in my mailbox I feel like just dumping the contents into the street every day. They would make everybody happy if they created a "do not mail" list, but they won't, because the spammers are paying them.

You make a good point about the google number. I too have had one for years, never get any calls on it, even though I use it as my "spam" number. (for people I don't want to have my real number) Google does not have an incentive to keep your phone ringing - in fact, the less it gets used the less money they have to spend. Obviously they have implemented anti spam measures that the big phone companies could easily copy, but they don't. My regular number rings 4-5 times a day with spam, it's so bad I'm about to set it to only accept calls from known numbers...and I'm really careful who I give my number to.

It's funny, I have a number/area code from the west coast, but I live on the east coast. Always know it is spam when the number is similar to my own, because everybody else that usually calls me comes from a different area code. The spammers don't know my actual location. They think they are tricking me but it has the opposite effect...

It's going to take an act of law to make this nonsense stop. Complain to your congress person, PLEASE.

whateverer said:

Robocallers randomly generate numbers for their "Caller ID." There is no regulation saying the caller's number has to match the string in Caller ID.

They just choose a random number in your area code and local 3-digit prefix (so it looks like a valid local number to you), but since it's random you can't block it. You could get a call from the same call center tomorrow with a different "local to you" number on it.

This Caller ID setup was negotiated by big companies that didn't want you calling service center workers back directly after you went through their main number phone switch. They only want you to be able to call the phone front-end, like everyone else. Thanks to computers, it's incredibly easy to abuse this system.

Your cell phone number is easy for Robocallers to find, even after you change it. But Google Voice may be better protected, since it's a private service? That would be my best guess.

The reason they don't have any incentive to stop Robocallers ids because it's big business for the phones companies. Like the postal service making it easier to send tons of spam mail, in the wake of the internet. It wouldn't happen if they didn't make money.

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Most phone companies have unlimited calls in just about any plan you pick. This means they dont make any money off of people calling it would be better for them to charge for unlimited and not have people use it. Second robocalling is so bad now that a lot of people are simply not using their phones and once that happens the phone companies have no point to exist so they do care about it. The problem is there is litterally no way to verify spoofed numbers so they are screwed.

rudy said:

Most phone companies have unlimited calls in just about any plan you pick. This means they dont make any money off of people calling it would be better for them to charge for unlimited and not have people use it.

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The phone companies are making money from the spammers. Spammers have to buy special phone/voip accounts to be able to do what they do. They don't just have a cell phone with unlimited minutes, they are charged business rates. Just like a giant company, they actually do pay by the minute or by the call. Like an ebay call center for example, those customers do not get unlimited minutes and calls. That is why it is in your phone company's best interest to keep your phone ringing, and pretty much totally ignore the do not call list. They know what the call centers are doing, they just turn their head as long as the money comes.

I dont think you know what is going on these guys are litterally dialing from computers through spoofed connections the phone companies dont even know where the call is originating from thats why they cant block it. If what you were saying was true the phone companies could end it all instantly by offering consumers a $5 plan to block the calls, since they know where the calls are coming from then they can block them all. But they cant, even people who try to stop it cant.

rudy said:

I dont think you know what is going on these guys are litterally dialing from computers through spoofed connections the phone companies dont even know where the call is originating from thats why they cant block it. If what you were saying was true the phone companies could end it all instantly by offering consumers a $5 plan to block the calls, since they know where the calls are coming from then they can block them all. But they cant, even people who try to stop it cant.

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Then why doesn't my Google number ring constantly like my AT&T number? I've had the google number for many years, never any spam calls. My regular number gets several per day. Clearly google is doing something the phone company is not.

I dont know why does my daughters phone number ring off the hook and mine doesnt we are both on the same carrier? Some numbers just get shit on more than others. Maybe they know that google numbers are hardly used or are typically spam filtering numbers anyway and its not worth calling, maybe that number just isnt in the right database. I am not claiming I know exactly how things work but I am pretty sure its no where near as simple as what you are saying, if the phone carriers had any control over it they wouldnt be allowed to spoof numbers of real people.

I don't think you know how things work at all. Consumers get free unlimited minutes and calls. Businesses don't. The spammers are a business, some of them even legit businesses following the rules. Just because they are annoying doesn't make them illegal. Others use illegal call lists, but they still are using legitimate phone/VOIP service with which to call you. They are paying for this service and it's how the big guys pay for all those old copper wires they installed that are still in service. They happily look the other way. To say the phone company does not know where the call is originating from is totally wrong.

Google never invested in those copper wires, they have no incentive to see them get used.

See this video for a good explanation of how some of the spammers use the phone. They are buying legitimate phone services.


Again, this fits quite well with the USPS business model. Why don't they start offering a $5 plan to stop junk mail? Because that sounds like extortion! Is there anybody out there that is happy to find their mailbox lined with garbage every day? They do it because without the spam they are losing money big time. USPS knows exactly who is sending the mail, they sell them bulk mailing lists and give them bulk mailing prices! They could stop it, but they would not, because it would cost them. Asking for money monthly to stop harassing somebody is likely illegal.

I only get one or two spam calls a week on airvoice. (att mvno)

but there are periods of time where I get one every day for a few days in a row. I never answer my phone unless its from a number I know.