Possible Junk Calls

pmerrill · 05-07-2006, 11:37 PM

An interesting situation on Saturday. I got an automated call that had a recorded message for a "free" vacation in Florida, press 9 now to take advantage of this free offer. Needless to say, I hang up.

I suspect the call came from the US through someone collecting information from e164.org and the fact that I requested my number be listed on the white pages.

Is this likely?

martin · 05-08-2006, 12:13 AM

Do you know what VoIP account they reached you at?

pmerrill · 05-08-2006, 01:22 AM

Martin,

I'll have to check the ATA log at home, it might have enough information to determine whether they came through the PSTN number (I doubt) or the SIP number (more than likely). If it was the SIP number, then it would have been my voxalot number (xxxxxx@voxalot.com).

Edit:Masked the number

martin · 05-08-2006, 01:29 AM

Ok if you can PM me the time of the call I will go through the logs and see if I can see anything out of the ordinary.

If your number is listed in any whitepages it might have been picked up there. Anyway, I will check the logs once you PM me the details.

Thanks.

andy · 05-08-2006, 02:49 AM

It may not necessarily been grabbed from any database. A lot of these firms randomly generate numbers to dial, so it is likely to be via pstn. If you get an actual person there and ask how they got an ex-directory number, that's what they'll say.

pmerrill · 05-08-2006, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andy

It may not necessarily been grabbed from any database. A lot of these firms randomly generate numbers to dial, so it is likely to be via pstn. If you get an actual person there and ask how they got an ex-directory number, that's what they'll say.

I'm guessing it was from overseas because it's the first time I've heard automated calls in Oz, the accent was distinctly American and the holiday was in Florida.

andy · 05-08-2006, 02:39 PM

Yes - we've had quite a few here - sometimes there is a US caller ID

After you put the phone down, you may pick it up a bit later to make an outgoing call, and be annoyed to find that some of the tapes run for several minutes.

There are occasionally naive forum myths that people will be charged loads of money if they press the 9 ........... but surely this only happens if they succumb to the inevitable timeshare salesman when they actually go on the holiday

evilbunny · 05-09-2006, 06:19 AM

I have a DID with ipkall.com and I haven't been spammed yet, although a friend of mine has a DID with them as well and gets spammed... go figure...

If/when it becomes an issue I throw up a small IVR prompt asking people to press 1 or 5 or whatever and hang up after 10 seconds if there was nothing pressed, which will always catch the automated calls...

05-07-2006, 11:37 PM	#1
pmerrill Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 109 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Possible Junk Calls An interesting situation on Saturday. I got an automated call that had a recorded message for a "free" vacation in Florida, press 9 now to take advantage of this free offer. Needless to say, I hang up. I suspect the call came from the US through someone collecting information from e164.org and the fact that I requested my number be listed on the white pages. Is this likely?

05-08-2006, 12:13 AM	#2
martin Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 2,930 Thanks: 528 Thanked 646 Times in 340 Posts	Do you know what VoIP account they reached you at? __________________ Martin Please post support questions on the forum. Do not send PMs unless requested.

05-08-2006, 01:22 AM	#3
pmerrill Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 109 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Martin, I'll have to check the ATA log at home, it might have enough information to determine whether they came through the PSTN number (I doubt) or the SIP number (more than likely). If it was the SIP number, then it would have been my voxalot number (xxxxxx@voxalot.com). Edit:Masked the number Last edited by martin; 05-08-2006 at 01:25 AM.

05-08-2006, 01:29 AM	#4
martin Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 2,930 Thanks: 528 Thanked 646 Times in 340 Posts	Ok if you can PM me the time of the call I will go through the logs and see if I can see anything out of the ordinary. If your number is listed in any whitepages it might have been picked up there. Anyway, I will check the logs once you PM me the details. Thanks. __________________ Martin Please post support questions on the forum. Do not send PMs unless requested.

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05-08-2006, 02:49 AM	#5
andy Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: UK Posts: 218 Thanks: 34 Thanked 22 Times in 19 Posts	It may not necessarily been grabbed from any database. A lot of these firms randomly generate numbers to dial, so it is likely to be via pstn. If you get an actual person there and ask how they got an ex-directory number, that's what they'll say.

05-08-2006, 02:39 PM	#7
andy Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: UK Posts: 218 Thanks: 34 Thanked 22 Times in 19 Posts	Yes - we've had quite a few here - sometimes there is a US caller ID After you put the phone down, you may pick it up a bit later to make an outgoing call, and be annoyed to find that some of the tapes run for several minutes. There are occasionally naive forum myths that people will be charged loads of money if they press the 9 ........... but surely this only happens if they succumb to the inevitable timeshare salesman when they actually go on the holiday

05-09-2006, 06:19 AM	#8
evilbunny Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 176 Thanks: 0 Thanked 14 Times in 10 Posts	I have a DID with ipkall.com and I haven't been spammed yet, although a friend of mine has a DID with them as well and gets spammed... go figure... If/when it becomes an issue I throw up a small IVR prompt asking people to press 1 or 5 or whatever and hang up after 10 seconds if there was nothing pressed, which will always catch the automated calls...