ovelez25

Q: how can i block unknown callers

how can i block unknown callers

iPhone 5, iOS 6.1.4

Posted on Sep 21, 2013 3:56 PM

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Q: how can i block unknown callers

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  • by Meg St._Clair,

    Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair Sep 21, 2015 6:24 PM in response to PegasoneInc
    Level 9 (58,959 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 21, 2015 6:24 PM in response to PegasoneInc

    PegasoneInc wrote:

     

    Well, they say when everything else fails the simplest explanation is the most likely. I am no fan of conspiracy theories either, that's why I provided a link to an official and public document that basically says, law enforcement agencies are the only entities allowed to spoof caller IDs. We can of course laugh it off and keep wondering, after reading through 10 pages of "How come is this feature still missing?" type of questions, why Apple chooses to (a) ignore user's requests re blocking spammers and (b) deny devs access to the API calls that would enable this functionality. Cheers!

    No, this conspiracy theory of yours is not a good example of Occam's Razor. Especially since the FBI has repeatedly complained about how difficult Apple makes it for them to access iPhones. Unless, of course, you also believe that's a smoke screen.....

  • by Qubic,

    Qubic Qubic Sep 22, 2015 12:10 PM in response to Meg St._Clair
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Sep 22, 2015 12:10 PM in response to Meg St._Clair

    I gave up and scrapped my 8 year old number I had from first iPhone June 2007, and got a new number, (and registered on 'do not call' lists, FWIW).  Spammers had taken over with spoofed numbers that are not used twice so does no good to block them, or the favorite, 'Unknown'.  I am on all the 'do not call' lists i can be on, for years, and apparently it only helps if they are actually honored.  If not honored, then there is no practical enforcement or remedy.  I have tried 'do not disturb' but then I still get a notice of the spam call and white noise or sales pitches in my voice mail.  I thought about having all calls forwarded to an online service, eg google voice or others, and use those to sanitize the calls, and have the good calls go through to a prepaid burner phone for actual incoming calls.  Another spoof call today from 'the warranty department' and I gave up.  I still can not bring myself to accept that there is not a possible technical solution either with Apple or with the carrier (ATT), but no way normal consumer plebe implement.  I mean I am sure if spammers got hold of ATT CEO personal family cell, that something would be done about it. 

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Sep 22, 2015 2:35 PM in response to PegasoneInc
    Level 7 (24,472 points)
    Sep 22, 2015 2:35 PM in response to PegasoneInc

    PegasoneInc wrote:

     

    Well, they say when everything else fails the simplest explanation is the most likely. I am no fan of conspiracy theories either, that's why I provided a link to an official and public document that basically says, law enforcement agencies are the only entities allowed to spoof caller IDs. We can of course laugh it off and keep wondering, after reading through 10 pages of "How come is this feature still missing?" type of questions, why Apple chooses to (a) ignore user's requests re blocking spammers and (b) deny devs access to the API calls that would enable this functionality. Cheers!

    Again, no, this is nonsense. The simplest explanation is that the blacklisting approach cannot function at all unless there is data in the caller ID string to capture for future lookups against the blacklist. No caller id means there is nothing specific for the software to compare an incoming call to in the blacklist database. Blacklist is a simple mechanism and while I and many find it highly useful, it has distinct limitations in its approach. It is NOT true call blocking.

     

    Of course it's illegal to strip your caller ID, but it is also largely unenforceable and unenforced, hence it's prevalence by illegal spammers and crooks looking to rip people off with false offers and scams.   Again, the carriers could bring it all to a screeching halt simply be programming their switches to refuse to propagate calls with stripped caller ID (which their systems can readily detect as distinct from legitimate caller ID blocking).

     

    The national do not call list has had no impact on this because it basically has no enforcement behind it.  Almost none of the complaints logged by the do not call list are ever investigated or acted on at all, as their is no budget provided nor staff for enforcement. It was a political feel-good law and nothing more.

     

    Why you need to invent corporate conspiracies of handset makers and mobile OS developers to explain this is beyond me. There is someone to blame and that is the carriers. They have and could implement the technology to stop these calls. They simply refuse to do so (presumably because it would actually cost them some money, and thus profit margin, to do so).

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Sep 22, 2015 2:41 PM in response to Qubic
    Level 7 (24,472 points)
    Sep 22, 2015 2:41 PM in response to Qubic

    Some years ago when I moved I had to get a new number. I had registered several google voice accounts though, so I use that linked to my new number. The number of people with my "real" number is a mere handful. Google voice has spam filtering (blacklisting) but also does actually provide anonymous call blocking (although even its not 100% as sometimes a call comes through, although they seem to be more corrupts caller ids and not true stripped caller ids).

  • by litzybaby,

    litzybaby litzybaby Oct 6, 2015 8:08 AM in response to Tom423
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 6, 2015 8:08 AM in response to Tom423

    thanks did this for "unknown caller" and "unknown", did this before and it worked. deleted my contacts by accident and couldn't remember what I did to stop this in the past.

    thanks for the refresher course

  • by AmishCake,

    AmishCake AmishCake Oct 6, 2015 8:27 AM in response to Michael Black
    Level 6 (9,388 points)
    Oct 6, 2015 8:27 AM in response to Michael Black

    .

  • by logicmidiman,

    logicmidiman logicmidiman Dec 26, 2015 8:33 AM in response to AmishCake
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 26, 2015 8:33 AM in response to AmishCake

    Just download an app called YouMail, sign up and set up the phone to work with you mail. Then add restricted numbers under block calls in the app and you can assign a disconnect voicemail to the number. When a unknown caller call your phone it will be sent directly to voicemail and will hear a disconnected operator message. Works great.

  • by cbeldorado,

    cbeldorado cbeldorado Feb 1, 2016 8:57 AM in response to ovelez25
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 1, 2016 8:57 AM in response to ovelez25

    Ok , I tried a combination of advice and am waiting to see if this works.   Go to your recents following an unwanted Unknown number or variation of it.

     

    Tap on it and use the copy feature on the label.  Go to contacts and use the plus sign for add new contact.  Paste the label to the first, last, company name AND as I realized, the phone number.  I could not utilize and keep the blocking feature active with out pasting it to the phone number insert. Only by doing this did it save the block.  Theses unknown, unknown caller ids are now part of my blocked list in the settings area.  This is the first sign I have had that this is possibly done.  I will let you know if they ring through in the future.

  • by CityBoyBlue,

    CityBoyBlue CityBoyBlue Mar 17, 2016 3:22 PM in response to Dirty Vegas
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 17, 2016 3:22 PM in response to Dirty Vegas

    I Have to agree that you did not provide a relevant solution. There isn't longer an option to block unknown, or no number, callers. This was available previously.

  • by Lotharyx,

    Lotharyx Lotharyx Mar 29, 2016 11:23 AM in response to Michael Black
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 29, 2016 11:23 AM in response to Michael Black

    Michael Black wrote:

    Again, no, this is nonsense. The simplest explanation is that the blacklisting approach cannot function at all unless there is data in the caller ID string to capture for future lookups against the blacklist.

    Michael, you seem to be missing an important point.  The common thread here is that we don't want our phones to ring if we don't know who the caller is.  In other words, we want our contact list to act as a whitelist.  Blacklisting is already impractical due to the burner numbers the illegal robocallers use when they do send ID.

     

    iOS is already capable of determining whether the caller is in my contact list or not, because it uses that information on the lock screen when my phone rings (a call with no Caller ID info is treated as "not in the list"), and already gives me a button to tap to decline the call.  What we want is an option to make that happen automatically.  In simpler terms:

     

    IF the phone is capable of displaying "Unknown Caller" in the absence of valid Caller ID or a match in the contact list,

    AND IF the phone is capable of giving me a "Decline" button on the lock screen,

    WHY can't I set the phone to decline Unknown Caller automatically?

     

    You also seem to forget that Android phones already have this capability.  It can't be nonsense or impossible if they're doing it.

  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Mar 29, 2016 11:50 AM in response to Lotharyx
    Level 7 (24,472 points)
    Mar 29, 2016 11:50 AM in response to Lotharyx

    No I'd say you are the one missing something.  If the caller ID displays "unknown caller" that means the caller ID string has been legitimately blocked by the caller, as by prefixing their call with *67.  What people in this thread want is when there is NO caller ID string at all - when it has been illegally stripped from the call by the caller or their bot.  In that case, there is a blank field.

     

    Such calls are already easily and routinely blocked at the service providers switches for almost all land line service and have been so for many years now.  Nobody has to ask for anonymous call blocking when signing up for land line service, it's just a standard service feature.  It could be easily implemented for cell phone calls as well, but the service providers have steadfastly and stubbornly refused to implement it.  If you want to place blame, blame the ones who could end the problem overnight if they wished to - the service providers who own and operate the call switches that route the calls in the first place.

     

    And I honestly could not care any less what Android devices can or cannot do.  I don't use them, and these are not Android forums.

     

    If you want whitelisting, that is a different matter, and I'd suggest you submit feedback to Apple if you wish it to be built into iOS - http://www.apple.com/feedback/

  • by DrELD,

    DrELD DrELD May 23, 2016 5:00 AM in response to aftonandpaul
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 23, 2016 5:00 AM in response to aftonandpaul

    What I did on my phone is set the Default ringtone to silent.  Then I gave everyone in my contact list a different ringtone.

     

    If someone not in my contacts list calls, the phone never rings and goes to voice mail.

     

    Not a perfect fix, but it does work.

  • by ctgowans,

    ctgowans ctgowans Jun 2, 2016 12:52 PM in response to DrELD
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 2, 2016 12:52 PM in response to DrELD

    Hoping this may work for those (like me) who have way too many contacts to change all their ringtones, or don't want to (potentially) miss a call - by not hearing it - from someone not in the contacts list.

     

    Tried (as suggested in prior posts) all the cutting/pasting of both "Unknown" and "Unknown Caller" into first/last/company and phone number.  Here's what gave me a DIFFERENT outcome (not sure about the results yet) from all the other tries;  I did this for both contacts "Unknown" and "Unknown Caller":

    1. Pasted the text into EVERY phone number that the iPhone would let me add under Edit (via + add phone) - that's 12 phone types on my iPhone 6c - iOS 9.2.1

    2. Went into Settings>Phone>Blocked - under Add New... at the bottom added both of the "Unknown" & "Unknown Caller" contacts.

    3. Went back to the phone app and selected Contacts (from within the phone App - this is importnat) and pulled up both "Unknown" & "Unknown Caller" entries and scrolled to the bottom of the contact entry they both had - FOR THE FIRST TIME - the option to "Unblock this Caller".

     

    Why I say this time is DIFFERENT is because everything else I tried before this never actually appeared to block the number like it is now.  The truth will be how long I go without an Unknown call; i don't get them very often, but getting one last night at 4:20am made me try these steps today....  I'll update if I do or don't get a call after some period of time.

    If someone who gets Unknown calls more often than I do tries this and can shre results sooner - by all means do.

  • by DTM82,

    DTM82 DTM82 Jun 2, 2016 1:59 PM in response to ctgowans
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 2, 2016 1:59 PM in response to ctgowans

    YYou might be able to test it by borrowing a friends (mobile/cell) phone and hiding their number then calling your phone. See if it gets through.

     

    IF it works please can you clarify what the text was that you pasted into the phone numbers, was it 'Unknown' and 'Unknown Caller'?

  • by Okbart,

    Okbart Okbart Jun 2, 2016 4:19 PM in response to DTM82
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Jun 2, 2016 4:19 PM in response to DTM82

    Unfortunately, I just set this up exactly as written, and it did not work for me.  I get anywhere from 3-6 Unknown calls daily.  It is beyond frustrating.  I even signed up for Trapcall, and though they can divert the call to a "This number is no longer in service" message, the call still rings through.  And, yes, the ringtone assigned to "Unknown" and "Unknown Caller" is Silent.

     

    Can someone tell me--is this a carrier problem or an Apple problem, or both?  I've sent any number of complaints to Apple about this but haven't been nagging my carrier.  I'm certain the technology is out there to fix this.  Also, if it's an Apple problem, can anyone give me any reason why they don't address it?

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