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CRTC steps up fight against nuisance calls in Canada

8K views 57 replies 16 participants last post by  NeilN 
#1 ·
#2 ·
This is Amazing news. It's absolutely well overdue. A lot of people are very misunderstood about how blocking numbers works and think that solves everything and they do not know that the spammers can turn around and change 1 digit and call you and circumvent your block list and make your phone ring, they also use known numbers of legitimate canadian businesses or government agencies so people are more likely to answer. But yes this is a big step in the right direction. the article is also very limited and does not explain if this applies to landline, or mobile phone lines or so. I would like to find out more about this in the future.
 
#5 ·
This is Amazing news. It's absolutely well overdue. A lot of people are very misunderstood about how blocking numbers works and think that solves everything and they do not know that the spammers can turn around and change 1 digit and call you and circumvent your block list and make your phone ring,
Happy New Year Everyone!

If you are concerned about spammers changing 1 digit, simply create a call filtering rule that uses a wildcard for the last digit or two.

What I find most effective is to create a call rule that call forwards a telemarketer call to the company's corporate office main number. This immediately ceases the nuisance calls. However, you have to be absolutely certain of the source of the telemarketer call before doing this. If there is any doubt, then the call rule doesn't get created.

I've found this to be effective as well for annoying calls from charitable organization remote offices and political parties looking for donations as well as research company polling.
 
#4 ·
Providers that offer their subscribers call-filtering services, which provide more advanced call-management features, will not have this obligation.
That's vague and open to interpretation. Call blocking options from some telcos are almost useless as implemented. Some are also overpriced and simply serve to boost profit margins while allowing nuisance calls though. Telcos might argue they are "more advanced call-management features" but they do not work effectively.
 
#7 ·
Anonymous Call Block or Call Privacy is one of the sometimes overpriced features that is usually ineffective and can have unwanted side effects. Hospitals and other legitimate organizations sometimes block caller ID for privacy reasons. Those calls may get blocked. Most spammers use a fake number and caller ID to bypass this type of blocking.

simply create a call filtering rule
This type of filtering is not available with most phone services. I would consider this to be one of the "advanced call-management features" referred to in the article.
 
#13 ·
Hospitals and other legitimate organizations sometimes block caller ID for privacy reasons. Those calls may get blocked.
Correct. I've had calls from the MRI booking clerk and their number is hid as they don't want people calling for appointments. With my anonymous call rule, the caller knows no different other than they may think I'm on the line on another call.

A voip phone service also affords advanced features like "time rules" where I can forward all calls during dinner time to voice mail thus making for a peaceful dinner hour. :smile
 
#14 ·
Correct. This is not meant to completely get rid of the disturbing calls, but its relatively quick to implement and will get the most noticeable results in a short period of time. yes they will eventually learn how to circumvent it, but the more we keep trying to block them the more they will get tired and move on to scam a different country perhaps.
 
#12 ·
What I dont understand is how the spammers are even able to circumvent the info sent by the calling number from the phone company itself, and replace it with the spammers info.
The information often does not come from the phone company. For example, if a company has a PBX, it can be configured to provide whatever number the company wants, for example a main number, instead of the actual line number. I have configured equipment in just that manner.
 
#15 ·
They will keep trying in any case. They scam North America because individuals are more affluent. Harsh income tax laws in the US only help them. The cost for these automated calls is very low and they only need a very small percentage to succeed in order to make a lot of money. I know someone who was scammed into paying $300 by a computer support scammer. Income tax scammers can make thousands from a single person.
 
#17 ·
CRTC steps up efforts to combat spoofed calls

December 9, 2019 – The CRTC today took further steps to combat caller ID spoofing and determine the origins of nuisance calls. The CRTC expects telecommunications service providers will implement a new framework called STIR/SHAKEN* by September 30, 2020.

STIR/SHAKEN will enable service providers to certify whether a caller’s identity can be trusted by authenticating and verifying the caller ID information for Internet Protocol-based voice calls. This new framework will empower Canadians to determine which calls are authenticated, reducing the frequency and impact of caller ID spoofing.

This is the latest step in the CRTC’s broader efforts to combat nuisance and unsolicited calls. In the past year, the CRTC has encouraged service providers to offer their customers call-filtering services that provide advanced call-management features. Providers that do not offer these services must implement a system to block certain types of calls within their networks before the end of the year. The CRTC is also working with the industry to develop a process to trace nuisance calls back to their points of origin.

Quick facts
  • Today, the Chair of the CRTC will conduct a test of the STIR/SHAKEN framework with the Chair of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
  • Caller ID spoofing occurs when callers hide or misrepresent their identity by displaying fictitious or altered phone numbers when making calls.
  • Canadians should never provide personal information (such as banking information or Social Insurance Numbers) over the phone without first verifying whether the request is legitimate.
  • There may be legitimate reasons to modify caller ID information. For instance, police services or domestic abuse shelters can use spoofing to hide the origin of the call.
See the press release for related links.

*STIR [Secure Telephony Information Revisited]/SHAKEN [Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs]
Sounds like someone watched too many James Bond movies. ;)
 
#20 ·
If the phone companies are claiming it cannot be done on landline phones they are lying. They probably just don't want to be bothered due to costs or the fact that land lines are a dying industry. I have doubts as to whether it cannot be done in all countries as well. Many of the spam calls we get are easily recognizable from the call display information. That can be changed easily, of course, so it would turn into a game of whack-a-mole. Being able to define rules with call blocking software and keeping databases of spam callers would go a long way to reduce the problem. It seems to work with things like email spam and bad web sites.
 
#22 ·
^^^^
According to an article in the Toronto Star, there is another system in the works that includes landlines.

The framework does not work on landline phones, although the CRTC says telecoms are also expected to meet a Dec. 19 deadline to implement universal call-blocking. That system prevents internet, mobile and landline calls, but only those that don’t comply with the North American Numbering Plan and may not stop spam calls that come from numbers that appear legitimate.
 
#26 ·
Once in a while we do just to see what the latest scam or sales pitch is.
You can also have a bit of fun with them. There have been a few times when I get a call from "Microsoft Support" claiming they have detected a problem with my computer. I run Linux. So, I'll string them along, such as when they tell me to click on the start button. I tell them I can't find the start button. They then try to tell me other ways and I keep playing dumb. Real fun! :) Also, there have been time when I just let whoever get started on their spiel and then put my phone on hold. I then watch to see how long they stay on the line. Lots of fun! :)
 
#27 ·
I went through the whole spiel with the "Microsoft support" scammers once to see what they were up to. They basically had me go into the system logs and bring up a bunch of routine warnings. I then told the person I didn't believe him and hung up. I know someone who got taken for hundreds of dollars by these scammers.
@57, I took it to mean landline customers receiving the calls, not landline callers. I doubt any phone spammers use landline phones. I subscribed to VoIP(.)ms for about a year and was surprised at how easy it was to fake caller ID. I would guess that these spammers operate at the same level as VoIP(.)ms itself and can do a lot more.
 
#28 ·
^^^^
I used to set up multiplexers that supported ISDN and it was routine to create whatever caller ID was needed. This is a useful function for many organizations. Many want all outgoing calls to display the same caller ID and number, no matter what line was used to place the call. The problem is there was no check on whether it was being done by a valid user. Perhaps something like a DNS to compare the assigned phone number to the caller ID might help.
 
#29 ·
I should be fairly straightforward to assign certificates to equipment or callers and use public key encryption to perform validation. Something similar to the way web sites are validated should work. The problem seems to be that phone companies just don't care to set up similar protocols on their phone systems because they have no motivation. There doesn't appear to be a great deal of political motivation to enforce it either. The only reason phone companies would do this is if it affects them directly in negative ways. As it stands, the only people affected are their customers so nothing is done.
 
#30 ·
I just had a strange number call me that was not conforming to NANP standards, I ignored it and let it go to my voice mail just like the other 4 calls I received this morning from strange and or invalid numbers, sure enough they left a voice mail, so i called and checked it, it was legit, i was at a doctor recently and the referring specialist called me, so weird their number shows up like that, thats going to be a big problem for them down the road. anyways this is why i have voice mail.
 
#32 ·
... so i called and checked it, it was legit, i was at a doctor recently and the referring specialist called me, so weird their number shows up like that
That's the issue with some call blockers that can block calls from "private number" or "unknown", etc. Many medical institutions do this to maintain the privacy of their patients, who may not want others in the household to know about procedures, tests, etc. Although if they leave a VM, then another person with the PIN could access the VM...

Privacy is less of an issue with almost everyone having a cell phone these days.
 
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