Got a second sim to trial coverage around my city. It’s not even been a full week and I am bombarded with spam calls and texts. Unsure if it is election related or just everyday spam.

  • cron@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    27
    ·
    1 month ago

    This kind of spam is luckily pretty rare in europe, I get maybe one or two spam calls a year.

    • leisesprecher@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      1 month ago

      It only started this year for me (had this number for 15 years or so), and it’s mostly numbers from the UK and India for some reason (I’m in Germany).

  • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    20
    ·
    1 month ago

    Just answer every phone call with “Hello, this is ham.” And then onwards, every single sentence you say…is about ham. But also completely unhelpful to the conversation.

    “Well, Hello Mr Ham. I’m just calling today to let you know about this great oppertunity from our next presidident, Donald Trump.”

    “Ham is sometimes salty”

    “Uhhhh…Well, Mr Trump is seeking donations from real american patriots like yourself”

    “Give me ham.”

    “Ham?”

    “HAM!!!”

    “I don’t understand, are you saying Ham, like the food?”

    “ALL THE HAM IN MY MOUTH!!!”

    “Ok…we can get you some ham. We just need a donation of $50.00 today.”

    “Ham runs all my descisions.”

    “I…don’t understand.”

    “Yes, this is ham. Can I cheese you? Right in the ham?”

    “Are you ok?”

    “Ham.”

    This should preferably go on for 10 hours.

  • JelleWho@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    1 month ago

    Answer every call (without any words!) just the sound of dial-up tones. This will probably get you marked as bot and they will stop, it worked for me. But I also only had a few

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    ·
    1 month ago

    Check your cell service provider to see if they offer any spam blocking services. T-mobile has an app you can install that will block some of these calls for free.

  • Albbi@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    1 month ago

    When I was getting a new line for some relatives, I found that when going through the web checkout process you could select your phone number out of 5 choices before completing the purchase. I thought that was pretty bad design as it shows which numbers are most likely going to be new. It would be pretty easy to scrape that page and create a spam list.

    Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the new number to start receiving spam.

  • Pantsofmagic@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    1 month ago

    This happened to me when I received a cell for work. I ended up fully silencing the phone and giving important co-workers my personal number instead. The spam calls have only recently started to slow down… I’ve had the number for 10 years.

  • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    If it’s only been five days just call your carrier and ask for a new number.

    It’s not a big deal, it happens. You don’t need any “magic phrases”. Just be honest and tell them what’s going on.

    All you’ll need to do after is power your phone off and back on for the number change to register.

  • Stern@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    1 month ago

    I use a app called KnownCalls that simply sends any call from outside my address book to voicemail. Works wonders.

  • Chemical Wonka@discuss.tchncs.de
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    Carriers need more number combinations to create phone numbers and every time a new plan is activate it generates a random number that was never used by anyone

  • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    1 month ago

    This happened with all of our work phones. It died down over time of not answering, but it still happens.

    Honestly sticking with a known number is much better than trying to get something new. There’s a reason that number was available, and it’s probably because someone wanted the spam to stop.

  • DaCrazyJamez@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 month ago

    Im not exactly sure the mechanics of it, but when a new number is activated (or a number changes carriers, etc) it pings some database that spammers have access to, and know that that number is live. Ive had it happen every time ive hanged carriers or set up a phone for someone. Dies down to normal levels in a couple months.