Original idea by @HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml
Receiving a spam call puts you in a bit of a dilemma, or at least it does for me: How do I deal with this call that doesn’t alert the spammers that this is an active number that they can call again? Answering the call is obviously the wrong choice, but I always assume that rejecting the call outright will also be detected as a deliberate action and therefore a person is on the other side. Some people have suggested answering the phone but not talking, so they think it’s a dead number, but I want something more definitive.
My idea is to have a “spam” button on the incoming call screen, that answers the call but doesn’t connect the microphone. Instead it plays either the standard “the number you’re dialing is not assigned, please check your number and try your call again” recording, or a fax/modem sound to make them think the phone number belongs to a machine and not a human.
Would they work? Or would they still be able to determine that the recording is spoofed by the phone itself? Does anything like this already exist?
That’s not the issue. Spammers sell each other lists of numbers that answer calls. By answering and blocking, you block one spammer and gain 5.
I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. You can set your phone to block all phone calls from anyone not from your contact list. I’ve never received any spam calls for years.
I still get an occasional call coming through… Well to voicemail anyway. My phone only rings for specific contacts.
I get about 1 or 2 spam calls that make it to voicemail every month (ZERO ring through to me). But that’s because I can’t be bothered to make Spam Blocker be more restrictive, which would require some testing to ensure I don’t block important calls.
When I first setup Spam Blocker, I was aggressive and it worked excellently. Not a single spam call even made it to voice mail. But I accidentally blocked my doctor’s office, so I eased up on the restrictions.