[Hidden-tech] * * * * RANT warning: Blocking robocalls and spam on a copperwire landline phone account? * * * *

[Deborah Chandler]

Hi folks,

Has anyone had success in blocking spam and robocalls on a traditional
landline with an UNLISTED phone number with Verizon? I have been getting
way more unwanted calls than wanted ones, and this is even though the
Verizon rep assured me my number hadn't been used for around 6 years.

When the problem started, I called Verizon, and they said that their
landlines cannot be signed up for the Nomorobo program, nor can they block
numbers. (Again, to be clear, this is a copper line, NOT Fios or fiber
optic or any other internet-based service; it is an old fashioned landline
with the modular jacks in the wall, in case it matters) Verizon also said
they have "no way to look up the numbers from where these calls are
coming"; I can only dial *69 and write them down in my own chicken
scratching, which is not exactly any way to provide evidence to any body.
Such a load of malarkey, SMDH.) I do not have the option of having Fios or
fiber optic here where I live, and I have no interest in having a phone
with Comcast, who gets nearly $100/mo from me for just internet service. I
also want a landline that will work if the power goes out, and copper is
the only one that will, unless I get into 2-way radios and walkie-talkies,
which is on my list, to be honest.

Examples of calls I keep getting:
• someone with a thick accent saying they are going to autorenew my Amazon
Prime account at $39.99/month (I boycott Amazon altogether)
• someone offering me solutions to pay off my credit card (I don't have any
credit cards, and never have)
• someone offering me an extended warranty on my car (I don't have a
warranty, and never have. I bought my car used and only had the Lemon Law
coverage, and that was around 8 years ago)
• political candidate campaigners (I am not registered to vote, let alone
align with any political party) Some calls are for Chicopee candidates, and
I don't even live in Chicopee.
• many, many hang-up calls

This is a hassle that I would like to resolve soon. (Anyone else getting
sick and tired of spending your days researching solutions to problems that
require advanced knowledge of technology, and that are perpetrated by
unethical scum that get away with eluding law enforcement? I am. Yelling
obscenities into the phone does absolutely no good; these people have no
heart or soul and furthermore, they are mostly robots anyway.)

The reason I got a landline is because my (fairly new, Samsung Galaxy S8+)
smartphone with Verizon service is getting worse and worse reception even
in my home where I have used it all along, and I will be damned if I will
succumb to buying a 5G-enabled phone with any song and dance promise about
it providing a faster, better, smarter signal. Ain't gonna happen. I prefer
to hold onto the healthy cells I still have in my body, thanks. (And no
other provider's cell signal works where I live; I have investigated that,
too. Westover is only 2 miles away and I think are somehow adversely
affecting cellphone reception here, but good luck finding a straight answer
to that query)

Thanks in advance for any and all help on this,
Deb
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