Robocall Blocking Question

[marko]

So, after reading about robocall blockers here I signed up with Nomorobo. Free but only works on VOIP phones.

The way it works is that you 'teach' it on some calls by reporting them and it blocks them.

The catch is that you have to let the phone ring twice. The first ring Nomorobo assesses the call and blocks/doesn't block. You can pick it up on the second ring knowing it is a call you want to take.

After a month, our robo calls dropped from about 15 a day to maybe one or two. Some days none at all.

But here's the thing: We don't even get 'one ring' calls anymore. With few exceptions, we only get calls we want to take. If the one/two ring process worked, we'd still be getting 15 one ring calls...but we get very, very few of those anymore.

So my question is, I'm wondering if the robo caller can 'see' if we have a blocker and just doesn't bother or if there is something else going on. Just find it curious that the one ring assessment doesn't seem to be taking place anymore.

Any experts with an idea?

 

[misanman]

I can't answer specifically for nomorobo but I've noticed something similar since I started using call screening on my Pixel. The number of bogus calls have dropped way off.

 

[donheff]

I have Nomorobo and it has cut out a lot of calls but I never trained it. I understood they maintained their own list of bogus numbers. I get a handful of single rings but I still get some spam calls. How do you report a number to Nomorobo?

 

[scrabbler1]

I have Nomorobo for just over 2 years, on my land line. It used to block a lot of calls but it doesn't block as many any more. Two reasons: One is I don't get anywhere nearly as many as I did before, and the other is the increased use of call number spoofing - sometimes Nomorobo has kept up with the new, spoofed numbers, and sometimes it hasn't. The recent rash of calls from Health Care Hotline is a good example of spoofed numbers which are often not blocked because they are "new" to NMR and haven't been blocked yet.


As for reporting a number to NMR, you need to sign into your NMR account, the one you had to set up when you first enrolled with their service. There is an option in their main menu to report a number. Once there, you can report a bad number which wasn't blocked or report a good number which did get blocked. I have bookmarked this page because I access it fairly often when a bad call gets through.

 

[Spock]

Most apps have a community black list... once accumulated spam reports reach a threshold, the number is blocked. (Down side is idiots that report legit numbers as spam... apps need a "this is not spam" feature to be able to "down vote" spam ratings).


Robo-calls have their own ebb and flow so I wouldn't put a lot of weight into spam suddenly dropping off.


One thing to be aware of: I use TrueCaller. It recently required an update to continue, so I updated. I then started having major problems receiving and making calls. After about 3 days I remembered the update and experimented with un-installing the app and re-installing it. Viola... all calls worked since then.
The one complaint I have with TrueCaller is its own caller ID will show something like "health insurance scam", but it will still let the call through because the threshold hasn't been met yet. Spammers change spoof numbers so frequently that they don't accumulate scam votes fast enough to get blocked.



Some good news, we'll see how they work:

https://www.engadget.com/2019/01/18/verizon-free-anti-robocall-tools/

 

[eytonxav]

We have had NOMOROBO for over 2 years, but the volume of unsolicited calls does not seem to me to have anything to do with a blocking algorithm. Prior to the November elections call volumes were very high at our house, post election not so much. Now with DW turning 65 this year, we are noting the volume picking up again with all these companies that want to push a medicare advantage plan

 

[Jerry1]

I signed up and it did not get rid of every call, I am very happy with the results. I too have noticed that the phone rings a lot less, so it does seem some, maybe even most spam call don’t even come through. So nice to hear that one ring and then nothing. I usually look at DW, smile and say “nomorobo”

I’d get rid of the phone, but the cable bundle makes it better than free. I’d pay more overall if I drop the phone.

 

[easysurfer]

Not using Nomorobo but both my phones (landline... yeah.. I know) and smartphone are white list based.

For the landline, I use a Sentry call blocker that has a mean sounding man's voice telling telemarketers to take me off their list. This does seem to work as now I only get a few telemarketing calls a day. The blocker is set up to 1 ring, then blocker picks up for non white listed calls.

For android smartphone, I have an app that accepts all calls on my contacts directory, others go to voice mail without a ring. Most callers, since they are non-human robocalls don't leave a voice mail. Pretty straight forward.

 

[Jerry1]

I thought of the whitelist but in the instructions it pointed out that if the police or 911 needed to call you back in an emergency, the call would be blocked. I didn’t see anyway around that.

 

[marko]

I have Nomorobo and it has cut out a lot of calls but I never trained it. How do you report a number to Nomorobo?

They have a website and you just enter the most recent robo call. Same website where you signed up.

I only did that for a few weeks and maybe 20 numbers but it seemed to have put the squash on a lot of calls even if they weren't from the blocked numbers that I inputted.

Not sure but you might also be able to do a 'wild card' like 555-**** with the * blocking any number using the 555 prefix.

 

[sengsational]

Black lists will never be completely reliable because spammers use random numbers.


I'd never pay a monthly fee when you can buy the Sentry box, as easysurfer described. It's 100% effective against robo, and 99.9% effective against live telemarketers. It's about 2% effective on in-laws though

 

[HtownRose]

Thanks for the reminder! Have been meaning to try this out...excited to see how it works for us.