Robocaller block contest

The newest multiple cordless phone systems have a caller ID based call blocking feature. Check them out.

JeffD

 

We kept our landline number, changed it to an extra phone on our AT&T plan and put it in a home base station. So for $10 a month instead of $80 a month for the landline, this connects cellularly to a network then passes that into a standard RJ11 phone jack. I connected our standard land line base station to that jack, and immediately all 6 phones in the house ring as normal, but the signal comes from the cell network at 1/8th the cost.

The only downside is that it requires power to use. Not much, so a little battery backup would be easy. But I haven't done it. With the landline, I can use our old rotary phone and call out without power. The cell-based landline is automatically registered in the e911 records just like a landline.

 

I signed up at the very start, and initially it was very effective. But that has mostly worn off as the crooks have figured out how to avoid getting traced.

 

It has come to the point, if I do not know the caller ID, I just pick up, hang up!
Simple!

 

I have a Panasonic cordless phone with blocking of up to 30 numbers. Very easy to use, just save the number to the list. In addition, AT&T has blocking of I believe 12 numbers, and I use that as well. It is a bit more complicated to enter numbers with the exception of the last call received. Over several months I have filled both, so have started at the top of the list removing older numbers. Next time I buy a phone, blocking will be one of the first things I look for, with even a larger capacity, I hope. I've been on the do not call registry since it started, so you can judge its effectiveness by the fact that I have to have 42 numbers blocked at any time.
The thing I find annoying about the do not call registry is that companies and organizations are allowed to identify themselves by phrases or phone numbers rather than their names. I get calls that say "toll free calling" or "cellular caller" or simply the number. This tells me nothing. I think that the law should force them to identify themselves.

 

Part of that must include making Call-ID spoofing illegal, if there are any hooks to allow them to be traced and prosecuted. Right now it is very easy, and probably free.

One of my past mental Call-ID filters was to answer calls from local area codes, but not far away or unknown area codes. Then the crooks started spoofing from this and nearby area codes. One that I looked up was a valid local residential number, probably another victim on the crook's calling list.