Call Blocking Apps?

[RV_]

My Lumia has caller blocking as a built in phone option. No App needed.

 

However, the political robocalls are not getting numbers by hitting the lottery, the voter lists for each state are publicly available to all politicians and campaigns.

 

in addition the data on all of us has experienced a security breach. Read here: http://krqe.com/2016/01/01/national-data-breach-compromises-voter-information/

 

I addition to breaches, the voter information is readily available to campaigns to download.

[Dutch_12078]

 

My version of Call Control doesn't seem to have any such ability. Where did you find this? Did you pay for an upgrade?

 

Settings, General Settings, check "Community Blocking" and select from the sub-menu.

[Dutch_12078]

My Lumia has caller blocking as a built in phone option. No App needed.

 

However, the political robocalls are not getting numbers by hitting the lottery, the voter lists for each state are publicly available to all politicians and campaigns.

 

in addition the data on all of us has experienced a security breach. Read here: http://krqe.com/2016/01/01/national-data-breach-compromises-voter-information/

 

I addition to breaches, the voter information is readily available to campaigns to download.

 

My Android phone also has built-in caller blocking, it's just not as extensive as the Call Control app, and does not populate the block list from a master database as well as user added numbers.

[docj]

 

Settings, General Settings, check "Community Blocking" and select from the sub-menu.

 

According to my app, that's a feature that is only available with the premium ($$) version.

[Dutch_12078]

 

According to my app, that's a feature that is only available with the premium ($$) version.

 

Hmmm, ok. I must have paid the $7.99 at some point and don't recall it now. My apologies if I misled you...

[Kirk W]

I don't know who got a hold of one of our numbers but we have been getting a couple of robo-calls a week this month.

The big problem with any sort of call blocking is that these sales calls and the SCAM calls are nearly all of them by a computer, random number generator which just dials thousands or even millions of phone numbers and does not use any listing of actual phone numbers. Since they are dialed and answered by computer, there is very little that you can do to prevent them from dialing your number and since the majority are now off shore it is almost impossible to do much about it when it happens.

 

There may be apps around that can run on your phone, but even then the call must get to your phone for the app to take effect. Call blocking at the phone company does work for each specific number, but good luck on blocking every possible number used by telemarketing and SCAM generators.

 

EDIT: In thinking about this, isn't selling someone an application for their phone that is supposed to block unwanted phone calls but that has to receive that call in order to do anything with the call a bit of a SCAM as well?

[Dutch_12078]

The only way I know the Call Control app has blocked a call is by checking the log. The phone never rings, nothing goes to voicemail, and no minutes or data are charged to my phone. I do get a status bar icon change though, that opens the log when I tap on it.

[Kirk W]

The only way I know the Call Control app has blocked a call is by checking the log.

But the fact that the call shows on your call log indicates that it did come into your phone and it probably did indicate action to the computer that generated it. It looks to me like a minor convenience to not need to respond to the call. How does it know what to block the first time that it calls you? Does it block specific area codes, or ................... ?

 

With no more of those calls than I get, I still would not pay much for such an application.

[HSVBamaBob]

OK, how about THESE calls:

 

Lately, I have been getting calls that, when I answer, are completely silent. No one on the line - human or robot. If I try to dial the number most (but not all) times I get a recording "please press 1 to be removed from our calling list."

 

Problem is I do not know who (or what!) the heck these folks are. Does anyone have a clue? (The "latest" number that dialed me was 813-331-2414).

 

Another issue I am seeing is I will get a incoming phone call from myself! So apparently, these spammers have some way of completely masking their phone numbers (I sure wish I could figure out how to block those bozos!)

[AFchap]

Dead air when you say "hello" is almost always a machine robo-dialer. Dint keep saying hello, just hang. Then (as indicated before) I highlight number that called me and several choices pop up. One choice is "add to reject list." That should even work if the call seemed to come from your number. After all, I doubt you will ever need to call yourself. That won't stop calls from new numbers, but once they have called you they can't do so from the same number again.

[Dutch_12078]

But the fact that the call shows on your call log indicates that it did come into your phone and it probably did indicate action to the computer that generated it. It looks to me like a minor convenience to not need to respond to the call. How does it know what to block the first time that it calls you? Does it block specific area codes, or ................... ?

 

With no more of those calls than I get, I still would not pay much for such an application.

 

Call Control uses a user community generated list that is constantly being added to as new numbers show up. If a rare call does get through, a couple of taps adds it the local block list, and also to the community list when I have a WiFi connection. I sometimes go days with no blocked calls, but then get a run of 4 or 5 blocked calls a day for several days, apparently as my number gets cycled around. The app always allows calls on my contacts list through though, even if they were mistakenly added to the list. If you rarely get spam/scam calls, then the one-time $8 cost of the lifetime subscription probably can't be justified. Even the free version may have more features than you need. I think part of the call volume problem I have is because my cell number was our residential number for many years, and is likely on quite a few lists. For us, the few dollar cost has been more than justified for the peace and quiet alone. I don't know if the "Ignore" or "Decline" function on many cell phones register anything with the calling computer or not, but that's basically what Call Control uses for blocked calls.

[HSVBamaBob]

Dead air when you say "hello" is almost always a machine robo-dialer. Dint keep saying hello, just hang. Then (as indicated before) I highlight number that called me and several choices pop up. One choice is "add to reject list." That should even work if the call seemed to come from your number. After all, I doubt you will ever need to call yourself. That won't stop calls from new numbers, but once they have called you they can't do so from the same number again.

Thanks Paul - I was under the suspicion that the "dead Air" was a Robo Caller. What I don't understand is *what* the owner of the Robo caller gets out of a situation like this? I mean they are not spamming you with a marketing message or cross connecting you to a "live" telemarketer. I just don't get the point?

 

For a while I thought this was some sort of insidious plot to validate working phone numbers for some sort of follow-up call or campaign. However, nothing has surfaced so far so even this paranoid thought has not panned out

 

__

 

“Paranoid? Probably. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face.” -- Jim Butcher

[Kirk W]

For a while I thought this was some sort of insidious plot to validate working phone numbers for some sort of follow-up call or campaign. However, nothing has surfaced so far so even this paranoid thought has not panned out

Often that is exactly what the no response calls are. The owners of the computer then sell lists of "verified" phone numbers that are known to be good. That eliminates a lot of lost time for the telemarketing companies.

[D&J]

Downloaded Call Blocker from the Play Store, went through our call list and added all the numbers that we wanted blocked and it works. We now just get notification that one was blocked but no call and it's free.

 

Denny

[Sunni]

Safest Call Blocker is free and available through the Google Play Store app on ATT go phones. Motorola Moto E is what i'm using it on. Satisfying.

[MeanderMan]

My technique is simple; I don't answer any calls that aren't in my contact list. Period. If it's important, they'll leave a voice mail. I checked every call that didn't leave a voice mail for a year using google, and every one was a spoof/spam/robot call. So if they want to talk to me, they have to leave a voice mail.

[jc2]

x2

[ray.service]

You can check those numbers and add to their comments on www.800notes.com.

[Velos]

I was trying to clean up my smartphone and maybe get rid of some of the apps I don't use. I saw one called Verizon Caller Name ID and looked it up online http://www.verizonwireless.com/solutions-and-services/caller-name-id/

Always know who's calling with Verizon Caller Name ID
With Caller Name ID, you'll never have to guess who is calling your smartphone. See the names and pictures of people who call you, even if they are not in your contacts. Start identifying unknown calls now with a 10-day free trial of Caller Name ID.

 

Don't know if this would be a solution to call blocking? It is $2.99 a month after the 10day free trial. Has anyone tried this service?