• Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    One thing that severely degrades the usefulness of the phone network is all the spam calls. It’s all I get these days. I can’t just call someone and have them pick up because nobody answers calls from unknown numbers.

    It’s especially frustrating when I’m waiting for a call, like for a delivery, and have to pick up every unknown number.

    ETA: Also, the immediacy of phone calls make them mainly used for emergencies. If I get a call from someone I know the first thought is “oh god what’s wrong?”

    So I don’t call people because I don’t want to freak them out.

    • sep@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      How is spam calls such a problem? Have probably had 2 cold calls the last 10 years. In norway you register on a goverment do-not-cold-call list and basically I have not gotten sales calls since.

      • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Sadly, I live in the USA and do not have a functioning government. We can’t get health care, let alone reliable span call blocking.

      • sqibkw@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Unfortunately I’ve heard the list is not well-enforced, so the do-not-call list functions more as a list of confirmed working numbers with humans on the other end. That’s why I’ve never tried using it…

        I get probably 5 spam calls a week so if that keeps growing, I might have to give it a try…

      • knexcar@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        I wouldn’t be surprised if the scammers used my country’s do-not-call list as a list of known live numbers to call. Because no one’s enforcing it and you don’t really know who’s calling with the number is spoofed.

      • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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        12 hours ago

        It’s more of a problem in different countries. Also I find there’s a blitz every now and then and I’ll get 3+ spam calls a day, and then months without any.

      • doingthestuff@lemy.lol
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        20 hours ago

        I get about 10-15 spam calls a day, but I do have two business lines forwarded to my personal phone too. If I do answer a call from a number I don’t know because I’m expecting a call, and it turns out to be spam I just hang up immediately.