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

[Robert Heller]

The only solution is get Caller ID and a Caller ID box (if you don't have 
"modern" phones with Caller ID).  (I got a cheap little unit off Amazon.)

When the phone rings, check the caller id.  If it is not someone you know or 
has other anomulious featured (name unavailable or something), DON'T ANSWER 
IT.

There are also "special" answering machines available that force a caller to 
press a key before they will ring through.

Ultimately / eventually, fiber optic telecom with completely replace the 
copper system and the copper system will be gone.  This will be true, even in 
the "big towns" that are now served by the likes of Comcast.  It will just 
take awhile...


At Mon, 8 Jun 2020 13:05:20 -0400 Deborah Chandler <debchandler411 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> 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
> MIME-Version: 1.0
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