AT&T Community Forums

How do I stop Spam Companies from calling me????

I have put several telephone numbers on my AT&T Call Block List for my home telephone number and I'm still getting multiple calls a day from one such telephone number. When I call the phone number back it says that this telephone number has been disconnected & no longer in service. Obviously by the recorded message, it's a Spam company that has somehow gotten a hold of a list of Disconnected/No Longer In Service Telephone Numbers.

I've also been getting Spam calls from telephone numbers that belong to either private individuals, school districts, and businesses.

I also have turned on the Block feature for callers whose name and telephone number both come up as "Unavailable" and those calls are still coming thru to my home telephone.

The AT&T Call Protect Option has the potential of blocking callers that I definitely want to talk to.

The AT&T Call Screening Option only allows 20 different telephone numbers to be able to get through.

Does anyone have any other way of blocking these Spam callers who have spoofed telephone numbers??

I spent almost 1 1/2 hours on the telephone today talking to 5 different females at AT&T and they were of no help at all.

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spoom2

Expert

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19.3K Messages

5 years ago

If you think using another carrier will solve you're problem than go for it. You'll find out as so many others have that this is not just an AT&T problem. If the options AT&T gives you for blocking and white list don't meet your need with either the paid or the free variety of call protect there are many third party devices on the market that come preloaded with a thousand or more black listed number and some have large white list, these devices go between your phone line and your phone and some have pretty big claim as to how well they work. There's solutions out there that work around the issue, but until the government and ALL the phone carriers agree to a plan to resolve this the spammers and spoofers will keep finding ways around them.

It floors me how many of these topics are on here. All it takes is a forum search or a search with your favorite search engine to find them and what the FCC and carriers are doing about it.

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spoom2

Expert

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19.3K Messages

5 years ago

For one unavailable or unknown calls can't be blocked with the services provided by the phone companies at this time, that means no information was sent so therefore there's nothing to block. Anonymous call rejection will block people who choose to block their out going caller ID, totally different. One way the information is there but the caller choices to block it the other there's no information there period.

I really don't know exactly what call protect offers since I don't use an AT&T service it can be used on, but I doubt it will do all that much and you said it had a limited white list.

There's several blocking devices on the market that claim to come preloaded with a large black list and also claim to be more flexible than the Telco's provided blocking services. These devices go ahead of your phone equipment and have nothing to do with the phone companies.

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ATTHelp

Community Support

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231.3K Messages

5 years ago

We hear you. In addition to AT&T Call Protect, you can report unwanted calls and texts here: https://soc.att.com/2Zxt0mB. - Julie R.

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RGT1962

Contributor

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2 Messages

5 years ago

Call Protect, according to AT&T's website, has the potential to block callers that I actually want to talk to without my even being able to see who's calling.

And the Call Screening, only allows for us to have 20 numbers call through to us. I personally need around 100 numbers.
If AT&T can give us 100 numbers to put on our block list, you can give us at least that many on the call screening list.
AT&T generates way more than enough income (to the tune of a MINIMUM AVERAGE of $100 per month from each & every customer), to hire professional experts to write software programs or something to keep these Spam Companies from being able to have a different company or person's name and phone # on our caller ID (aka SPOOFING) instead of their own company name and their own company phone # and still be able to make a huge profit. If these Spammers can figure out how to put a fraudulent name and/or telephone # on a caller ID, AT&T should have a team of experts that are able to figure out how they are doing so, and be able to come up with a software program or some sort of plan of action to keep these Scammers from harassing all of us AT& T customers.
Sometimes when I get these Spam calls, they call me as early as 6 or 7 a.m. and as late as 10 or 11 p.m.

Sometimes when I call the number back that's on my caller ID, most of the time I get a recording saying this number has been disconnected and is no longer in service. Apparently these Scammers, have hacked into AT&T computer data base to get these disconnected/no longer in service phone #s. So, apparently AT&T's firewalls and Encryption is not all that sophisticate nor secure.
Sometimes there will be a company name or a school district or an individual's name & phone # on my caller ID. I've called each of these numbers back & have told them their name and phone # has been Spoofed.
I have even gotten a call, in which my caller ID said that I was calling myself on my home landline telephone.
I'm still getting calls from phone numbers that I have already put on my Call Blocking List.
I have my phone # on the do not call registry.
I should not have to keep changing my telephone # over and over again, to keep these scam companies from calling me several times a day at any given time of day or night.
I am ready to switch my landline telephone, internet, and cable TV accounts to another provider and recommend that all of my other family members and numerous friends do so as well and then spread the word to all of their friends and family to follow suit. Social Media sources would make this so very easy to do.
PLEASE ADVISE!!!!!
Dawn

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B