Blocking specific caller, any number

[braumeister]

I'm generally good with blocking spam phone calls, and have a couple of apps on my phone to help with that. But lately I've been getting dozens of calls from "Quantum 3 Media" and every one shows a different number and location, so it's no use just blocking each one as it occurs.

What I wonder is if anyone knows of an app that will block a specific caller ID name like this, no matter what number they are using. My searching hasn't come up with one so I'm looking for help (if such a thing is even possible).

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

They do have an unsubscribe button on their website. Unsure how much good it will do but I'd start noting the time, date and phone number if they keep it up. Some people have successfully sued telemarketers.

https://quantum3media.com/contactus/

https://quantum-3-media.pissedconsumer.com/review.html

 

[Ncc1701]

Try this. Create a contact in your phone using the name that shows on the display. You can even just hit create contact using one of the recent calls.

Erase any phone number (yes you can create a contact without a phone number).

Then after you've created the contact, select "Block this caller".

Hopefully that will work

 

[mn54]

as a last resort you could always change your phone number.

 

[CaptTom]

Seems like a pretty shady organization, if it's even a real company and not just a scam.

Forged calling numbers is the first clue they're not legit. Their domain name is registered on GoDaddy (abuse@godaddy.com) via a third-party (DomainsByProxy.com.) You can file a complaint with those companies.

At the bottom of the Quantum3Media web site is a list of "partner" companies. You can file a complaint with them, as well. It could be their partner list is as fake as the numbers they're calling from, but perhaps if those companies knew their names and logos were being used this way, they might take action.

I wasn't aware of that pissedconsumer.com site, but maybe you could include links to sites like that (check things like BBB, too) when filing complaints with the above.

My guess is this is an offshore operation, masquerading as a legitimate US insurance broker. I suppose it's just an extension of the "extended auto warranty" scam.

 

[kannon]

"your car's auto warranty is expiring ...."
Get repeated spam calls all the time, frustrated can't stop it.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I know it's not the be-all, end-all. But for those that may not know it, there is a setting on iPhones to send any call that comes in from a number that does not belong to one of your saved Contacts to voicemail. You will still get a notice that the call came in, but it doesn't ring your phone. If they leave a message, you get the message.

The primary down side for me, is when I'm expecting a call from the plumber to let me know he's on the way. I have to remember to turn the phone feature off so that his call doesn't go to voicemail. But 99% of my calls are from my friends and family who are all Contacts on my phone.

In addition to my Verizon spam call filtering, this ends most annoying calls to me.

Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers

 

[NW-Bound]

There have been several laws passed prohibiting spam phone calls and threatening heavy fines up to $10K per call. Sadly, it did not deter the spammers.

Apparently, the laws cannot be enforced, and are just toothless. Has anyone ever heard of a spammer being taken to court?

 

[ERD50]

There have been several laws passed prohibiting spam phone calls and threatening heavy fines up to $10K per call. Sadly, it did not deter the spammers.

Apparently, the laws cannot be enforced, and are just toothless. Has anyone ever heard of a spammer being taken to court?

Yes, I'd have to dig it up, but there were some cases the FTC made a big deal about.

But.... these sham companies arrange their finances such that all the money flows out the company quickly. So the FTC (or FCC?) fines them for $1M, the company has $10,000, and that's it. Next day, they set up another company and start doing the same thing. Just a business expense to them.


Here you go:

https://www.engadget.com/fcc-225-million-fine-194419208.html

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued the largest fine in its history. Two Texas-based telemarketers are on the hook for $225 million after making approximately 1 billion robocalls to people across the US. They ran at least two businesses that illegally spoofed other companies to try and sell people on short-term insurance plans, claiming they were from well-known providers like Cigna.

One of the people involved in the scheme admitted to making "millions" of robocalls per day, even going so far as to go out of his way to call numbers on the Do Not Call list because he believed it would be more profitable to do so. According to the FCC, "a large portion" of the more than 23.6 million health insurance robocalls that crossed US wireless networks in 2018 came from Rising Eagle, one of the companies the two telemarketers ran.

A fine, even the biggest in the agency's history, is unlikely to rein in robocalls. In fact, there's evidence to suggest they haven't been effective at all. Two years ago, a report from The Wall Street Journal found that between 2015 and 2019, the FCC had ordered violators of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to pay $208.4 million in penalties. By the end of that period, the agency had only collected $6,790. That number may have changed in the years since the WSJ's report came out. All the same, it's not encouraging.

Govt would have spent more than they collected, and didn't stop the calls.

-ERD50

 

[Sunset]

There have been several laws passed prohibiting spam phone calls and threatening heavy fines up to $10K per call. Sadly, it did not deter the spammers.

Apparently, the laws cannot be enforced, and are just toothless. Has anyone ever heard of a spammer being taken to court?

Fines are worthless.

We should just have a law with a minimum prison sentence of 3 yrs. A minimum so no judge can be bought off. Three years so they go to the big house.

 

[kannon]

I know it's not the be-all, end-all. But for those that may not know it, there is a setting on iPhones to send any call that comes in from a number that does not belong to one of your saved Contacts to voicemail. You will still get a notice that the call came in, but it doesn't ring your phone. If they leave a message, you get the message.

The primary down side for me, is when I'm expecting a call from the plumber to let me know he's on the way. I have to remember to turn the phone feature off so that his call doesn't go to voicemail. But 99% of my calls are from my friends and family who are all Contacts on my phone.

In addition to my Verizon spam call filtering, this ends most annoying calls to me.

Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers

Thanks for info. Just updated my iPhone settings.

 

[Qs Laptop]

There have been several laws passed prohibiting spam phone calls and threatening heavy fines up to $10K per call. Sadly, it did not deter the spammers.

Apparently, the laws cannot be enforced, and are just toothless. Has anyone ever heard of a spammer being taken to court?

Here's a case where it might happen. I graduated with the owner of the telemarketing company, who had a judgment against him for almost $10 million by the FCC.

https://apnews.com/article/pete-wilson-california-san-diego-a07ed022634a247235c7d18fc3a00419

He ran a telephone ad campaign where the advertisement attacked Republican Phillip Graham, the stepson of former California governor Pete Wilson. Graham lost the primary election and the district was eventually won by a Democrat. Apparently Graham and the California Republican party didn't take kindly to Mr. Moser's actions. If the Justice Department decides to pursue enforcement of the FCC fine it could end up in court.