An Odd Caller ID

[19and41]

I missed a call this last weekend and the ID it left was "POTS line GA"  I thought I had gotten most of the ID messages, but none like this before.  Is this an ID known to anyone?

[andre_janew]

All that means is that you got a phone call from someone in the state of Georgia who has plain old telephone service.  I get those every now and then.  No name, no number, just a general location of where the call came from.

[19and41]

Thanks.  It seems like the more ID's I block the more they come up with new variations. 

[G-Man]

Thanks.  It seems like the more ID's I block the more they come up with new variations. 

It's not an i.d. Instead it is a telco telling you, in lieu of sending the actual name and number of the calling party, that the call came from a landline located in the state of Georgia. While someone could spoof such information, it is most likely legit.

[Greg G.]

There are apps for cellphones that will display anything the caller wants, it's called "Caller ID Spoofing".  For example, a couple of times we got a call that said it was a local utility, but it gave the number of the police non-emergency line.  It was a scam.  I called the SPD non-emergency number and they said they were aware of the scam.  I also called Centurylink about it, they were the ones who told me about the spoofing app and that unfortunately, there's no way to find out who the real caller is.  Those kind of apps should be outlawed, IMO.

[baldopeacock]

it's called "Caller ID Spoofing"

A few years ago, I worked as a dialer admin for a credit card collections call center (part of what later became the Largest Bank Failure in US History... Brinybay, you'd know who I'm talking about).    We spoofed Caller ID on a regular basis.   Calls would originate from our shop in Arlington, TX and from a couple of offshore call centers.  The numbers appearing on Caller ID were entirely different area codes and numbers.

We changed the numbers on Caller ID frequently.   Delinquent customers would recognize our number and not answer.   When we started faking the numbers on caller ID, the contact rate went way up.

No, it's not a pretty business and I am glad not to be a part of it.   Makes you feel like you need a shower all the time.

[Greg G.]

it's called "Caller ID Spoofing"

A few years ago, I worked as a dialer admin for a credit card collections call center (part of what later became the Largest Bank Failure in US History... Brinybay, you'd know who I'm talking about).    We spoofed Caller ID on a regular basis.   Calls would originate from our shop in Arlington, TX and from a couple of offshore call centers.  The numbers appearing on Caller ID were entirely different area codes and numbers.

We changed the numbers on Caller ID frequently.   Delinquent customers would recognize our number and not answer.   When we started faking the numbers on caller ID, the contact rate went way up.

No, it's not a pretty business and I am glad not to be a part of it.   Makes you feel like you need a shower all the time.

So it's not just cell phone apps.  That would explain why when I block certain numbers, the same shysters call back using a totally different number.  We pay our bills, so these are all either political or cold-call telemarketers.

[andre_janew]

If you don't recognized the number, you can always ignore the call.  With Caller ID you have that option.

[Greg G.]

If you don't recognized the number, you can always ignore the call.  With Caller ID you have that option.

That's exactly what we do, screen our calls.  If the same "junk" caller calls more than 3 times, I block them.  In the case of the scam call pretending to be a local utility, I had recently been in contact with that utility regarding some business, but it was via email, I wasn't expecting a call. 

[GusHerb]

We get so many junk calls here that the phone could ring up to 20 times a day. Most of them are robocalls so I have all calls going through an IVR recording that says "if you're a live human please press 1, if you're a robocaller please stay on the line and your call will be disconnected shortly"

And during the morning I have a time period where everything just forwards to voicemail in case a live human were to make it past the IVR and wake the dead with either my 500 or 302 set that lives on the phone bench.

I also block anonymous calls and greet people with a message to unblock their caller ID OR they may press 1 to leave a message.

Everybody we know I have on a "whitelist" so they can ring straight through at any hour.

This has eliminated all but actual legit calls from people we actually wanna talk to.

[baldopeacock]

If you don't recognized the number, you can always ignore the call.  With Caller ID you have that option.

Yeah, but look at it this way:   if you have phone service, it's because you pay for that service.

Exactly what gives someone else the right to exploit the service that YOU pay for -- not them, you -- to the extent that you're forced to filter calls?    Exactly why must I drop what I'm doing and go to a caller ID-equipped phone to decide whether or not I'm interested in taking the call?

What is the value of your time and convenience, or mine, or anyone's -- and who has the right to jam their metaphorical foot in the door and force you to do what they want?

Should they be paying you for the privilege of annoying and interrupting you with trash calls of no interest to you, all day and evening long?    I have a proposal for them.    Let them provide lifeline, landline service at no cost to customers willing to accept the burden of nuisance calls.   Then they've paid for the infrastructure that they're using to annoy people...

/off soapbox

[andre_janew]

In the days before Caller ID, I would let the phone ring at least four times before answering.  Telemarketers and robocallers typically gave up after three or three and a half rings.  A half ring is just simply a short ring.

[Greg G.]

The plus side to the junk calls is I notice most of them hang up before the answering machine kicks in.  Not all of them, but most of them.  If they don't, it leaves a dial tone message which I find annoying.

[twocvbloke]

If they don't, it leaves a dial tone message which I find annoying.

Auto-diallers like that are an irritation, that's a given, what they do is call a number on the list, wait for an answer, and on pickup the systems checks for free operators to transfer the call to, none are available so it drops the call, therefore we get the silent or dialtone treatment, and they act like everything's all ticetyboo when we complain about it when they do have someone available...

Now if it were me, I'd have designed the systems to check for free operators before dialling, but that's too logical apparently, it's almost as if they want to intimidate the person they're calling by ringing and hanging up like some deranged person trying to psychologically interfere with another person, and is part of the reason I hate using phones these days, you never know if you wasted your time picking up the handset until you do (granted there's Caller ID, but not everyone has it and it can be spoofed)...

[unbeldi]

Now if it were me, I'd have designed the systems to check for free operators before dialling, but that's too logical apparently,

That wastes a lot of paid time, it can take 30 s to 60 s before a call is answered. Most marketing calls only last 30s or so even when someone actually answers.  So, keeping an agent waiting can waste 50% of their paid time !  You wouldn't be in business very long with that strategy, as the actual success rate (to a sale) of such methods is very small.