Being a computer nerd, I like to think that I have an edge on the general population, but I suspect that someone is trying to take advantage of my hubris...

Often when a call comes in while I'm in front of my computer, I quickly google the number and can often get info fast enough to let me know if I should answer or not. A few years ago I could count on one or two good sites to pop up at the top of the result (like 1800notes.com or something like that) that would warn me that it was a bogus call.

But lots of copycat sites popped up over the years and I can no longer glean much of anything with a google search. The few good sites get buried under sites that want me to pay for information retrieval of specific names.

But in the year or so, something new is showing up in these searches - gibberish...

Check out these results:



Look at the 3rd and 4th hit - they are gibberish. Real word strung together in a way that makes no sense. (.ar is Argentina btw)

both of those links take me to this chinese site (all links go to chinese site):



not sure what to make of this, but it seems dangerous

Nota bene; Safari seems to no longer display images residing in Dropbox.

Just don't answer the call. If you don't recognize the number, let it go to voicemail. If it's important, they'll leave a message.

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rz
Just don't answer the call. If you don't recognize the number, let it go to voicemail. If it's important, they'll leave a message.

That has been my SOP for quite awhile. I rarely get a message and if I do, it's often a scam/sales call.

I just don't answer if I don't recognize the name or number.

And it's got to the point I don't turn my answering on, most of the time.

Most people I need to talk to have my 'Phone number or they use their company name and not just a phone number.

I had att block my number and the unblock code is in each contact that I want to know it's me.

Blocking one's number on calls to many if not most businesses is ineffective because they can pay (if I recall correctly) to see your CID even if it's blocked.

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DeusxMac
Nota bene; Safari seems to no longer display images residing in Dropbox.

Image shows up fine in Safari if I open it in another tab. I suspect an issue with displaying it through the forum using the provided Dropbox links.

Replace the x's in this link with your number to see if it's listed as a NoMoRobo blocked call (remove underscores):

h_t_t_p_s://www.nomorobo.com/lookup/xxx-xxx-xxxx

Quote
MikeF
Replace the x's in this link with your number to see if it's listed as a NoMoRobo blocked call (remove underscores):

h_t_t_p_s://www.nomorobo.com/lookup/xxx-xxx-xxxx

maybe I can do that before the phone stops ringing - nomorobo provides good info

fwiw, I noticed that BS on google before I switched to DDG.
DuckDuckGo results in a 'cleaner' search. Any questions, I go to nomorobo also.

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Taxman by Joe & Nancy's Rich Ice Cream Band
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Burning Down The House by Merrick & The Goons
Back In the USSR by Bernie's Red Square Trio

It gets harder and harder, and it's ridiculous. I've missed important calls from various medical stuff, and it's infuriating. Plus, you can't call anyone that is medical back, which makes it even more difficult.

I have this farmer dude who has called and left me a message probably 15 times asking why I keep calling him. I'm not calling him, and I'm sure my number is being spoofed since most of my robo-calls are "local". It's like a Borg-call. He is Borg.

DDG is an improvement but lately even it's getting bogus results.

For any who may still be having trouble.
(Changing “dropbox” to “dropboxusercontent” in the link did the trick.)

Quote

Check out these results:



Look at the 3rd and 4th hit - they are gibberish. Real word strung together in a way that makes no sense. (.ar is Argentina btw)

both of those links take me to this chinese site (all links go to chinese site):



not sure what to make of this, but it seems dangerous

it seems that all my threads end up being about posting pictures

Yeah, don't google numbers. I have a few legacy sites in my bookmarks for this. Warning though, a couple of those have been bought up by the paid sites and I need to update them every six months or so.

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all the scam calls I get are spoofed caller ID. I just answer in Chinese or French or German. They usually hang up.

For all the money I pay ATT, they should provide reverse lookup as part of the service. They used to supply a phone book.