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altermatt
Premium Member
join:2004-01-22
White Plains, NY

altermatt

Premium Member

[FiOS Phone] Blocking more than 10 numbers

Since switching to FIOS Digital Voice a while back, the number of 'spam' calls I'm getting (yes, I'm on the DNC lists) has increased, and others have reported the same. When it's a constant repeater (often they change the number they call from, but some don't) I add them to the call block list. But for some bizarre reason, Verizon restricts the entries on that list to 10! I can understand some limitation, but TEN? Does anyone know a way around this, or have any info on whether VZ is planning on raising this, or with whom I can speak who might have authority to do that? All my contacts are in the Internet part or billing, none of which know nada about phone. Thanks.
PJL
join:2008-07-24
Long Beach, CA

1 recommendation

PJL

Member

Just adding the numbers to the block list won't help in the long run. These "telemarketers" (I actually refer to them by a word that I can't use here) are spoofing caller ID, illegally of course, so adding them to a blocked list doesn't help much. They just use a different number the next time. You might look at nomorobo.com. Some people use this to block such calls with some success.

altermatt
Premium Member
join:2004-01-22
White Plains, NY

altermatt

Premium Member

Yeah, I've only added ones that have come in many repeated times over an extended period. And one annoying person .

birdfeedr
MVM
join:2001-08-11
Warwick, RI

3 recommendations

birdfeedr to altermatt

MVM

to altermatt
Even though nomorobo works effectively to block many nuisance calls, I'm not comfortable wih a telecommunications infrastructure that permits spoofing call sources and hides nefarious activity behind an opaque curtain. But such is the way of progress.

I find it ironic that folks may protest government hoovering of communications data yet request a private company to do the same in the interest of stopping nuisance calls. Nomorobo does have the ability to capture all your call metrics and will probably find some way to monetize it in order to pay for your free service.

I've said all along if NSA put that info to good use and handed it over to DOJ, they could put an end to what is essentially criminal activity and could actually make the DoNotCall system work. They'd certainly get more public buy-in.

A better solution with more blocked number capability that stays under your control exclusively is Digitone's Call Blocker. Older models had 80-number memory, newer ones go up to 120 or so.

Works for me, previously on Freedom Essentials, and also on Digital Voice. Only requires caller id, and permits wildcard blocking.
PJL
join:2008-07-24
Long Beach, CA

2 recommendations

PJL

Member

There are various ways to skin this cat, but the one that I would really like to see is that when a call comes in with spoofed Caller ID, VERIZON stops the call before it gets to us. If I call back the numbers that appear, I always get a number not working or disconnected recording anyway. If the phone system did that instantaneously when a comes in, when the calling number isn't valid the call is immediately dropped.
thetick
join:2009-06-22
White Plains, NY

3 edits

1 recommendation

thetick to altermatt

Member

to altermatt
said by altermatt:

Yeah, I've only added ones that have come in many repeated times over an extended period. And one annoying person .

There is one method that works great especially if it's the same caller and well it can be entertaining. Just make the other person on the line very uncomfortable. Remember they called you so you are legally and morally allowed to "make them uncomfortable".

I start out with asking about what they are wearing. I usually don't have to go much farther but few times I had to get pretty vulgar. And if they call back I start with "Oh wow I know you. I knew you would call back. You are the fee phone sex slut (or gigolo) , so did you ..... "

Well you can use your imagination. In college we had a competition who could get the quickest hangup or have the longest "fee phone sex" call.
PJL
join:2008-07-24
Long Beach, CA

1 edit

1 recommendation

PJL

Member

I use the "old person" method. First I ask them to repeat, and the more slowly, and then to wait while I turn the TV down, etc. Longest call lasted over six minutes. I thought I did well, although we were having cocktails at the time and that helped. But I digress...
KGB7
join:2003-12-17
Rockville, MD

KGB7 to altermatt

Member

to altermatt
I have a fax machine connected to our land line. So if any telemarketers do call, they get an ear full of screeching from fax.

Friends and family only call us on cell phones.

Signed up few days ago for nomorobo, and I no longer have to listen to the phone ring till fax picks up. And if a call bypasses nomorobo, they can talk to our fax machine.

ugly cat
@192.91.171.x

ugly cat to PJL

Anon

to PJL
I sometimes use the "rope-a-dope" method. I do my best to see how long I can keep the caller on the line. Playing old and coughing into the phone are one of my many tactics. Asking the caller to hold on while I look for my check-book is really fun. Asking for a special break in the price, like I am really interested.... I could go on and on.

altermatt
Premium Member
join:2004-01-22
White Plains, NY

altermatt

Premium Member

Many of these calls are robo calls---not a human. Picking up only encourages them. But since I have an answering machine, the robot thinks I answered the call and so they have me as a 'live one' .
marc3565
join:2009-10-08

marc3565 to altermatt

Member

to altermatt
The only number i share is my google voice number. When calls to that number ring through it rings on my cell and my land line at same time. If only my land line rings I know it's someone random dialing or a wrong number. I usually ignore it. i don't have voice mail on that line. if they keep calling i use the telephones block feature.

If i get spammer/scammer on the google voice number i can add them to it's block list which plays a "This number is not in service" message every time that number calls.
billhere
join:2011-10-21
Santa Monica, CA

billhere to PJL

Member

to PJL
I usually give short shrift to telemarketers but the calls I used to get about my Windows computer being infected were ones I just had to answer and spar with the caller. I'd ask him which Windows machine he was talking about since I have three different versions of Wiindows running. I'd ask him where he was calling from. I'd listen to his spiel about my checking for .inf files, which he says means "infected." I'd tell him I would have to put the phone down to use my keyboard. All in all I could tie him up for ten minutes or so before he would get discouraged and hang up. I haven't had a call like that for several months now.
billhere

billhere to KGB7

Member

to KGB7
said by KGB7:

I have a fax machine connected to our land line. So if any telemarketers do call, they get an ear full of screeching from fax.

Friends and family only call us on cell phones.

Some of your friends may never call you again.

aaronwt
Premium Member
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA
Asus RT-AX89

aaronwt to birdfeedr

Premium Member

to birdfeedr
said by birdfeedr:

Even though nomorobo works effectively to block many nuisance calls, I'm not comfortable wih a telecommunications infrastructure that permits spoofing call sources and hides nefarious activity behind an opaque curtain. But such is the way of progress.

I find it ironic that folks may protest government hoovering of communications data yet request a private company to do the same in the interest of stopping nuisance calls. Nomorobo does have the ability to capture all your call metrics and will probably find some way to monetize it in order to pay for your free service.

I've said all along if NSA put that info to good use and handed it over to DOJ, they could put an end to what is essentially criminal activity and could actually make the DoNotCall system work. They'd certainly get more public buy-in.

A better solution with more blocked number capability that stays under your control exclusively is Digitone's Call Blocker. Older models had 80-number memory, newer ones go up to 120 or so.

Works for me, previously on Freedom Essentials, and also on Digital Voice. Only requires caller id, and permits wildcard blocking.

The problem with the DNC system, even if they stopped all those tele-marketer calls, it would be only a small percentage of the nuisance calls I get. The vast majority of nuisance calls I get are for political donations or from non-profit organizations for donations. Which don't apply to the DNC list. Now if all those calls could be bocked, that would really be something. In fact I would rather block those calls than the telemarketer calls. Since I get so few telemarketer calls.

RARPSL
join:1999-12-08
Suffern, NY

RARPSL to PJL

Member

to PJL
said by PJL:

There are various ways to skin this cat, but the one that I would really like to see is that when a call comes in with spoofed Caller ID, VERIZON stops the call before it gets to us. If I call back the numbers that appear, I always get a number not working or disconnected recording anyway. If the phone system did that instantaneously when a comes in, when the calling number isn't valid the call is immediately dropped.

If you get a call and once you hang up (before a new call comes in) hit *57 the REAL phone number (obtained via ANI) is logged even if the Caller*ID number being displayed on your display is spoofed. This *-Code is supposed to be used to log the call so you can report it to the police as a harassment call. Since the real number is captured the ability is there to do as you requested - All that is needed is a way to add the number to the spoof list so it can be blocked. Note that *60 is already supposed to block calls although I do not know how you add a number to your *60 block list.
rChaz
join:2014-07-28
Hoboken, NJ

rChaz to altermatt

Member

to altermatt
I had Verizon "land line" phone service for many, many years. First as the standard copper networks (ancient rats-nests in this area, prone to many issues & outrageous fees for basics like caller-ID), then as FiOS Digital Voice, which was crisp and reliable. I still had to install extra hardware gadgets to block incoming telemarketing from ringing my lines, fairly successfully. Whenever Verizon jacked my rates up, I routinely dropped services to keep my overall rate stable, until I finally dropped their phone service altogether and ported my number to the VOIPo VoIP service.

While there have been a few glitches (very infrequent & quickly resolved), all service remaining as it is now, I would never go back to Verizon phone service even if bundling deals made it "free" - because of the highly configurable web-control-panel features of VOIPo, including their incoming call routing. You can use "wildcards", allowing screening of entire area codes or subsets to go straight to VoiceMail, or specific repeat-nuisances to receive "this number has been disconnected" (including screech-tones.) I've added to this screening configuration over the years (I have ~180 entries! I don't know if there's a limit, but it's not small.) I'm rarely bothered by the phone ringing of telemarketers.

I'm sure the screening can be made much more efficiently using "whitelists" to receive just friends, and maybe wildcard whitelists for local area codes to avoid missing important calls from "local officials", etc., all else to VoiceMail unless specifically blacklisted altogether. Peace and quiet restored to the home!

Although you'd miss out on the "fun" that apparently some have "toying" with the nuisance callers, ha, ha!
fanofmets21
join:2005-12-30
Seaford, NY

fanofmets21 to altermatt

Member

to altermatt
I also wish blocking allowed more than 10 numbers.

Do you all think having Verizon put our phone number unlisted for the extra $3 bucks a month would help cut down on phone calls. We got this phone line last year and regret it and barely use it. It seems the previous number owner was a business.

Does anyone recommend a home phone that has more advance features to block phone numbers also? mine doesn't have that ability.
propcgamer
join:2001-10-10
011010101

1 recommendation

propcgamer

Member

said by fanofmets21:

Do you all think having Verizon put our phone number unlisted for the extra $3 bucks a month would help cut down on phone calls. We got this phone line last year and regret it and barely use it. It seems the previous number owner was a business.

It won't make much, if any difference. Most of the telemarketers/scams are simply dialing every number in a prefix, or are using marketing lists sold by various 3rd parties.

Try something like nomorobo to see if it helps.
fanofmets21
join:2005-12-30
Seaford, NY

fanofmets21

Member

said by propcgamer:

said by fanofmets21:

Do you all think having Verizon put our phone number unlisted for the extra $3 bucks a month would help cut down on phone calls. We got this phone line last year and regret it and barely use it. It seems the previous number owner was a business.

It won't make much, if any difference. Most of the telemarketers/scams are simply dialing every number in a prefix, or are using marketing lists sold by various 3rd parties.

Try something like nomorobo to see if it helps.

i signed up for nomorobo yesterday. hope it helps.
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72

Member

Verizon must sell your information. I was on all the lists and when I switched to DV (from Callvantage) with no calls, I started (within a few weeks) getting barraged by telemarking calls. I methodically asked to be removed from the list, but it was like playing whack a mole. I ported out into Anveo, and within a few days the calls stopped. It has been quiet ever since.

So not sure what the deal is here, but it is definitely a Verizon issue. The trick they use to get around DNC is that if you have a business relationship, you can be marketed to by "affiliates", so there must be some way to opt out, Verizon must bury it somewhere. I would post in the direct forum if there is such an opt out method.

In any case, Anveo (for us) is vastly cheaper than DV with all those taxes and limited features, so I don't really think about it anymore.
fanofmets21
join:2005-12-30
Seaford, NY

fanofmets21

Member

yes someone sold us out. bought house got triple play. Within weeks calls from home security services, newspaper delivery, home maintenance stuff. Those calls eventually died down, now its more of these telemarketers i guess.

Every call it rings and answering machine picks up the telemarketers just say "hello, hello, hello" and hang up.

altermatt
Premium Member
join:2004-01-22
White Plains, NY

altermatt

Premium Member

I definitely agree that this is related to Verizon selling our information. I almost NEVER got telemarketing calls (been on DNC since the beginning) until I was switched to DV by VZ. Since I am sure the source of many calls is Verizon selling our info, it's particularly galling that they limit the blocking to 10 numbers (protecting their "spam our customers" business?). Thanks for the suggestions; I am for now stuck with VZ DV because my triple play is actually cheaper than I was able to negotiate for a double play with just Internet and TV.
AndrewNewton
join:2003-09-12
Chestnut Hill, MA

AndrewNewton to altermatt

Member

to altermatt
We were getting 3-4 computer generated spam calls per day, then I signed up for nomorobo. It was easy (it makes use of the simultaneous ring option in Fios set up). Sometimes the phone rings once then stops, but many times we see the caller id flash up on the tv screen, then disappear without the phone ringing at all. They are also responsive if you get a computer spam call that they don't already block: we got a marketing call Monday, I reported the number online Monday afternoon, and I saw the call blocked Wednesday afternoon. This is a great service that works!
Mind you, this does NOT block your local police benevolent association from calling or the local museum looking for donations: it DOES handle the blanket compu-dialling very well though.

BSAIII
join:2007-06-16
Las Vegas, NV

BSAIII to fanofmets21

Member

to fanofmets21
Buying a house is public record. There are companies that scan the county tax rolls.
thepawn
join:2002-10-22
Clifton, NJ

thepawn to altermatt

Member

to altermatt
I wish I could block more then 10. I'm using a digitone call blocker and probably have 30 something numbers in it.

just lou
join:2008-05-16
Staten Island, NY

1 recommendation

just lou to fanofmets21

Member

to fanofmets21
nomorerobo does help. It's not perfect, but does block a good portion of the annoyance calls.
fanofmets21
join:2005-12-30
Seaford, NY

fanofmets21

Member

said by just lou:

nomorerobo does help. It's not perfect, but does block a good portion of the annoyance calls.

Since setting up nomorobo on Wednesday we haven't had a single phone call.

Rattler
join:2001-04-13
Havertown, PA

Rattler to altermatt

Member

to altermatt
The weirdest one I got - yesterday - was one that caller ID showed my own home telephone number, calling my home telephone number. It ID'd itself the same as it would show if I called someone else with CID.

Maybe my phone has been tapped???
bt06437
join:2001-12-03
Carrollton, TX

bt06437 to altermatt

Member

to altermatt
I use a Panasonic system, that hold 20 numbers.
Also set up nomorobo today. Thanks for mentioning it.

dev_null
Pithy tag line goes here.
join:2002-08-14
New England
ARRIS S33
Asus RT-AC66U B1

dev_null to altermatt

Member

to altermatt
said by AndrewNewton:

it makes use of the simultaneous ring option in Fios set up

Want to echo the thanks for the FIOS simul-ring tip. Been working with my parents on an Obi-110 to block pestering calls, a very manual process. Set up nomorobo for them on their FIOS line and they have already had more than 12 calls blocked in a day and a half. They are thrilled.