Automatic phone number lookup?

jnmeade

jnmeade

Cleared for Takeoff
Joined
Sep 25, 2005
Messages
1,221
Location
Eastern Iowa
Display Name
Display name:
Jim Meade
I'm getting more and more calls to both my land line and cell phone from weird sites, in spite of being on do-not-call lists. Many of the numbers are from area codes I do no business with and are not familiar to me.

When I'm watching TV, the incoming number displays, so if it's convenient, I do a Google search on the number. Often the results indicate a nuisance caller.

Is there any way to program something so that every incoming call automatically gets googled?

The weirdos have about trained me to never pick up the land line unless it's a known number or there is at last a name displayed that seems legit. Unknown calls get sent to voice mail even when I'm listening to the phone ring.
 
That's why my main number changed. As a lot of airmen still call me on my old line, the line is divided betweena fax and an answering machine.

They will eventually win on my new front line #, too. It's a sham.
 
It's a political season... we are getting a lot of politcal calls just because we are registered voters. If we don't recognize the number, it goes to voice mail.
 
jnmeade said:
I'm getting more and more calls to both my land line and cell phone from weird sites, in spite of being on do-not-call lists. Many of the numbers are from area codes I do no business with and are not familiar to me.

When I'm watching TV, the incoming number displays, so if it's convenient, I do a Google search on the number. Often the results indicate a nuisance caller.

Is there any way to program something so that every incoming call automatically gets googled?

The weirdos have about trained me to never pick up the land line unless it's a known number or there is at last a name displayed that seems legit. Unknown calls get sent to voice mail even when I'm listening to the phone ring.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a good idea that one of the nerds on this forum ought to be able to do. Not me, though.
 
Sadly I just don't answer my landline. If I know you and you need to reache, you have my cell #. Only keep landline for natural disasters. Do not call used to work but not anymore.
 
Calls from people we know get answered. Calls from blocked numbers, calls with just a city/state showing in the caller ID, calls from toll-free numbers, calls with blocked caller ID -- all go straight to the answering machine (thank you, call screening button on our phones). If it's a telemarketing call, the number gets added to my blacklist (thank you, Asterisk) and we'll never see it again.

I also take the two minutes to file an FTC Do Not Call complaint (complaints.donotcall.gov) for each and every one of them, without exception. Yes, the CID numbers are bogus close to 100% of the time, but after doing that for a couple of months our volume of telemarketing calls is down to maybe 1-2 per week (from 3-4 per day).
 
There are sites like "whocallsme.com" that have database of various numbers and what people have sleuthed out about miscreants.

As pointed out, the politicians self-centeredly opted themselves out of the do not call legislation, so I'm getting dozens of human and robotic calls a day from scum sucking political organizations.
 
I am a troglodyte, I am a dinosaur, I am the walrus, goob, goob, a choob...

If my phone does not display your name I don't answer...
If I don't know you - I don't want to know you...

Most importantly: I have the voice mail on my cellphone turned off (gasp)...
When it quits ringing you are gone, history, a dust bunny...

And ya know whut, pilgrim? (doing my John Wayne walk)
I get almost zero junk calls...
Now, why is that? - you might ask...

These organizations have lists - such as the don't call gov't list...
But they also have marketing tested lists, such as lists of "The Doofus NEVER answers"... Time is money for marketers and dialing a number that never answers is lost money...

Now, since you are starting from scratch - and I have a long track record of being, ummm 'grumpy' - you will need to be patient in correcting the problem... But it is only two simple steps..

1. Turn off your voicemail because that is an ANSWER... And the computers share/sell lists of any phone that is answered...
2. Do not answer ANY call that is not in your phone directory...
Gradually your phone will get quieter and quieter...

Then, with family/friends who might need to contact you from an unknown phone here is what we do
( 'First we hang all the lawyers' - oops, sometimes my mind drifts)
What they do is call and immediately hang up on the second ring... Wait a few seconds then call again... When I get a two ringer with a hangup, followed by the same phone number right after (I'm probably quizzically looking at the missed call list right then) when the same number rings the second time - I will answer...
 
Do not call (DNC) is worthless. There is simply no enforcement. The only folks that use the DNC properly are the law-abiding companies. The others ignore it knowing that they won't be caught or punished. It's become much, much worse in the last 2 years....

Over the last 24 months it's gotten to the point where I get an average of 2 calls a day EACH on my home line and my personal cellphone. Even my work cell gets hit. And that's not even counting the text-spam on the cells (I''ve turned off all texting on one cellphone). At least one cell carrier lets you block individual numbers, up to 10 (I think) for free, but the blocks expire every 90 days. You can create a longer list of blocked numbers that last longer than 90 days by paying the cell company money. Another cell operator charges you for any blocking.

Because this is a revenue stream, the cell companies have no incentive whatsoever in blocking spam calls.

Some of the VoIP phone companies offer much more in the way of blocking options, and "call intercept" if the caller does not send CallerID info. I'm close to moving the cell line to VoIP, but willl lose texting entirely. If you trust Google with your call data (and I don't), Google Voice is an option.

Finally, note that many of these callers either 1) spoof the number they're calling from, 2) block the calling number, 3) use an off-shore number (Mexico, usually) or 4) imbed the pitch into a "survey" or claim to be a "non-profit" (surveys & non-profits are not roped into the DNC criteria) that would make it even harder for someone to try and enforce the DNC. Changing numbers won't fix it as the companies use robo-dialers. The only attempt to enforce is when the robodialer hits a law-enforcement agency phone number repeatedly.

And then there are the political callers of both parties....
 
Why don't I get these calls at work? only at home. How is it that they know I have no interest in cleaning the chimney in the high-rise?
 
wsuffa said:
Do not call (DNC) is worthless. There is simply no enforcement. The only folks that use the DNC properly are the law-abiding companies. The others ignore it knowing that they won't be caught or punished. It's become much, much worse in the last 2 years....
Click to expand...
Yes and no. The volume has indeed risen dramatically over the past couple of years. There is enforcement, though; it's just very slow and not publicized.

I got really, really tired of the credit card services scam calls. I started submitting complaints on line for every single call. I also tracked down the people originating them... that took a little detective work. I pretended to be interested, but told them I didn't have my credit cards with me, and was there a web site I could visit to sign up? Bingo. Web site, domain records, address, peoples' names and addresses. I wrote letters to the AG in Florida (where the scumbags running it live) and GA (where the call center was) as well as my own state. And I kept submitting complaints for every single call.

Eventually the calls tapered off. About a year later I got a notice from the Federal district court, notifying me that there was a very slight chance I might be called as a witness. They had busted about a dozen people, and several of them went to prison. The others paid a few million dollars in fines. Talk about gratifying. Apparently I was not the only one complaining. These asshats were making billions of calls.

SO, if you do nothing, the calls will continue forever. If you actually take the two minutes or less to fill out the very simple form on the FTC web site, there is a substantial chance of the calls stopping or at least slowing down. If you take a little longer to try to track down the scum sucking vermin behind the calls, you may get even farther.
 
> I'm close to moving the cell line to VoIP, but willl lose texting entirely.

Not necessarily. Some VoIP providers support SMS ... but because it does cost
them, you'll not find SMS support from the low-cost VoIP providers.

I use voipo.com for calling ...

~$6.25/month for 5,000 minutes. While they do not explicitly support softphones,
they allow them. Ergo, I ditched my cellphone and use an iPod Touch as a "WiFi
phone." They do offer a telemarketer-block feature. Very few creep thru.

For SMS service, I use pinger.com. It's a free service.

> If you trust Google with your call data (and I don't), Google Voice is an option.

Nor me. Google has demonstrated time & again that they are untrustworthy in this
regard. Always fast with a mea culpa, but they seem to find our personal information
irresistible.
 
just don't answer it - if they leave a VM it might be for you - if they don't its a sales call guaranteed -

contractors are truly annoying now - so I get their name and license number and file a complaint with the state contractor licensing board claiming lack of moral fitness to hold a license because they are breaking the law [the DNC list]. I've had several contractors call me back and claim that they have to come to hearing and explain themselves - they get very angry that I am preventing them from feeding their families and working etc - I reply if they simply followed the law they'd have no trouble renewing their license . . . then file a witness tampering follow up. I strangely never from them again. A couple of times I've heard from their lawyers who want me to withdraw my complaints because these guys have had so many this puts them over the top of some double secret limit. When the lawyers discover I'm a lawyer they just go away . . .

You could cure the illegal marketing calls tomorrow with a simple amendment to the Do Not Call list rule:

1. Sign up for the list.

2. No calls to the list without prior written consent

3. Private Enforcement is allowed - and - LOSER pays attorneys fees. $500 per proven unsolicited call fine. Both the person who calls and the person on whose behalf they call are liable.

This will SOLVE the problem in 6 months of less - the legion of unemployed lawyers out there going after attorneys fees and per call fees - you kidding me ? That would spell the end of the telemarketing business
 
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When I lived in Louisiana a decade ago, they had a do not all lists that worked. Within a month my calls dropped to one per month or so and I'd submit a report on each one. I even received letters from the state with the penalties imposed on violators. Since only a few states had the policy I think most companies avoided those states. With the national list, they found the work around of "surveys"
 
comanchepilot said:
This will SOLVE the problem in 6 months of less - the legion of unemployed lawyers out there going after attorneys fees and per call fees - you kidding me ? That would spell the end of the telemarketing business
Click to expand...

Politicians aren't about solving problems, they're about creating large agencies to investigate, study, and make lists of problems. Do Not Call is just more "Good Gub'mint Jobs" for the jobless numbers to look better. Putting the telemarketers out of business by giving real teeth to enforcement would make unemployment higher.
 
I rarely get any calls through:

Do Not Call List.
Call Intercept (which blocks callers with blocked caller ID unless they identify themselves first).

As pointed out, all the calls I've gotten in the past month are:

Political candidates (exempt from the law)
Charities (also exempt and with the exception of two fire department groups that I have an on going relationship with I don't answer those).
A few junk calls from credit cards that I already have which I tell them they can stop those type of calls or I have the scissors in my hand ...
/
 
Is call intercept available for any landline or carrier specific? Most of ours are blocked or unknown except for the calls from groups I'm affiliated with and like you I just don't answer. Frustrating that the reward for being charitable is incessant calls.
 
Sportsman said:
Is call intercept available for any landline or carrier specific? Most of ours are blocked or unknown except for the calls from groups I'm affiliated with and like you I just don't answer. Frustrating that the reward for being charitable is incessant calls.
Click to expand...

Anonymous call blocking is available from lots of providers.

Call Intercept is a local Verizon landline thing. It plays them a message asking for their name, it then plays what they said to you and gives you the option of
1 -- Accepting the call
2 -- Rejecting the call
4 -- Playing the "Put me on your do not call list" message

I have no idea why there's no 3.
 
I've used the ECPA to extract money from telemarketers. All will insist that
the settlement (check) include a NDA. It was well worth the time to file in
Small Claims Court.

All but one settled before the hearing. That one, a high profile vinyl
replacement window company didn't show. The default judgement was
difficult to collect ... but I did collect.

Each settlement would buy at least a tank full of 100LL (at today's prices).
 
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