[QUOTE=xilman;562117]You don't have adequate spam filters?

I had always thought our colonial cousins were rather behind the times, but I never realized that they were [I] that[/I] backward.

:wink:[/QUOTE]
We revel in our retrogradedness.:razz:

[QUOTE=xilman;562117]You don't have adequate spam filters?

I had always thought our colonial cousins were rather behind the times, but I never realized that they were [I] that[/I] backward.[/QUOTE]They spam us with snail mail, text messages and phone calls. We didn't have to list our email address fortunately.

:mike:

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;562137]They spam us with snail mail, text messages and phone calls. We didn't have to list our email address fortunately.[/QUOTE][i]Well, they'll spam you when you are on the phone
They'll spam you when you get your mail at home
They'll spam you and then say you are brave
They'll spam you when you are set down in your grave
But I would not feel in such a jam
Everybody must get spammed.[/i]

-- With apologies to Bob Dylan

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;562137]They spam us with snail mail, text messages and phone calls.[/QUOTE]That kind of nonsense is illegal in many countries. Unsolicited spamming of any kind can get people and companies fined or imprisoned/delisted/sanctioned. Why do people accept such :poop: where you are?

[QUOTE=retina;562142]That kind of nonsense is illegal in many countries. Unsolicited spamming of any kind can get people and companies fined or imprisoned/delisted/sanctioned. Why do people accept such :poop: where you are?[/QUOTE]Assuming you've bothered to put your number(s) on the "Do Not Call" list, most "spam" calls to your number(s) are illegal here, too. Offenders can face stiff fines. Alas, political campaign calls are excepted. Charities too IIRC.

Of course, illegal spam calls come in anyway. Mainly robocalls, usually with spoofed caller ID. Often con artists. Sometimes legitimate outfits with outdated information. I've learned more that I need to know about the guy who had my number before I did...

I have an old answering machine for my house phone. Most robocallers don't leave messages, so I just delete the call log. If they do leave a message, I have a recording. If it's something like an offer of an "extended protection plan" or warning me that my Micro$oft license has expired, I delete the message too. Some of them are fun listening, so I re-record them on a portable device before deleting them, and play them for others.

Ones like "This call is to inform you that IRS is filing lawsuit against you..." draw howls of laughter. Sadly, enough people fall for things like that to keep 'em coming.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;562169]Assuming you've bothered to put your number(s) on the "Do Not Call" list, most "spam" calls to your number(s) are illegal here, too. Offenders can face stiff fines. Alas, political campaign calls are excepted. Charities too IIRC.

Of course, illegal spam calls come in anyway. Mainly robocalls, usually with spoofed caller ID.[/QUOTE]Wow, three things wrong just there.

1) Opt-out instead of giving explicit permission to each place separately allowing them to call you.
2) Arbitrary exceptions exist.
3) The ID can be set by the caller.

:loco:

IMO you guys need to fix your :poop:. Stop allowing yourselves to be bombarded with such unwanted things. No wonder you are all out on the streets protesting and shooting each other. You're all going crazy with the annoying interruptions. :razz:

[QUOTE=retina;562171]Wow, three things wrong just there.

1) Opt-out instead of giving explicit permission to each place separately allowing them to call you.
2) Arbitrary exceptions exist.
3) The ID can be set by the caller.

:loco:

IMO you guys need to fix your :poop:. Stop allowing yourselves to be bombarded with such unwanted things. No wonder you are all out on the streets protesting and shooting each other. You're all going crazy with the annoying interruptions. :razz:[/QUOTE]

Our information is for sale by Google, Facebook, and many other bad actors. It's all about the money. The FCC won't pursue because once they get a complaint the people doing this are long gone.

IMO the problem is easily solved by all telecom companies adding tracing into the system to verify that the source number is coming from the actual device it is registered to. It cannot be that hard to do, but so many things stand in the way of a reasonable solution. There are very few cases where the caller should be allowed to spoof or hide their number.

[QUOTE=retina;562171]Wow, three things wrong just there.

1) Opt-out instead of giving explicit permission to each place separately allowing them to call you.[/quote]And how would I do that? Call them? Oh, wait, [i]they[/i] would have to grant [i]me[/i] permission to call [i]them[/i] first. What am I supposed to do, mail them a letter? Oh, wait, addresses are private, too. Hmm, guess I need to publish a legal notice so people can call me. If you couldn't call anybody without first obtaining their permission, there wouldn't be much point in having a phone system.

Before wireless phones were common, they used to publish and distribute these things called "phone books." Most residential numbers, and many business numbers, were listed. Most included addresses. My God, what were they thinking?
[quote]2) Arbitrary exceptions exist.
3) The ID can be set by the caller.

:loco:[/quote]

Political calls are a form of political speech, protected by our "arbitrary" Bill of Rights, specifically the First Amendment. Soliciting charitable contributions, I'm not certain why that's excepted from the Do Not Call List. At any rate, I can't remember the last time I've gotten a call soliciting charitable contributions.

As to ID spoofing, I don't run the phone system. I'm not qualified to say how to fix it. However, in May 2020 the FCC sent letters to 6 companies directing them to stop sending robocalls, and in July 2020 they ruled that telecom services could block all calls from "bad actors" providing gateways for robocalls, so consumers wouldn't be bothered with them. The DOJ also sued two companies sending robocalls from India. So, the government is actually starting to get serious about the problem.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;562176]And how would I do that? Call them? Oh, wait, [i]they[/i] would have to grant [i]me[/i] permission to call [i]them[/i] first. What am I supposed to do, mail them a letter? Oh, wait, addresses are private, too. Hmm, guess I need to publish a legal notice so people can call me. If you couldn't call anybody without first obtaining their permission, there wouldn't be much point in having a phone system.[/QUOTE]Generally companies want your business so contacting them is not an issue. Then once you are in contact they can pass you a piece of paper asking you to sign saying you are okay with them contacting you to sell you new stuff or raise funds or whatever. That is exactly how it works in my area. Which, BTW, I would never sign those things. And for the most part companies don't ask anyway because they know no one wants that :poop:.

The same if you want people to call you, then you publish your number and say please call me. Then it is on you, you asked for it.

[QUOTE=retina;562178]Generally companies want your business so contacting them is not an issue. Then once you are in contact they can pass you a piece of paper asking you to sign saying you are okay with them contacting you to sell you new stuff or raise funds or whatever. That is exactly how it works in my area. [/QUOTE]Not here. I think that, if you call them, you have, [i]ipso facto[/i], established a "business relationship" with them, so they have license to call you. (That's one reason I generally don't pick up when I don't know who the caller is, and don't call back.) As to conveying "important information" (ads, sales announcements, etc), companies you're actually doing business with generally ask (I think they have to), and I say "no."

A legitimate business caller will start by saying who (or what business) they are, who they're trying to call, and why they're calling. If it's a human being on the line, and the call is based on their having a wrong or outdated number, I pick up. I explain that I'm not the person they're trying to reach. They remove the erroneous number, and I don't hear from them any more.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;562169]I have an old answering machine for my house phone. [/QUOTE]
It's worth making sure that the PIN code for calling in remotely and listening to messages that have been left for you without being at home is not the manufacturer's default one.