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posted by janrinok on Thursday December 19 2019, @06:41PM   Printer-friendly
from the only-with-the-right-phone dept.

Submitted via IRC for chromas

AT&T ramps up its fight against robocalls with Call Validation feature

The Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission have been trying, at least in theory, to stop the robocalling scourge from spreading for many years now, but even though a recent survey estimated a mind-blowing 200 million unwanted calls go through every single day in the US, the nation's major carriers are finally taking action against the thing that threatens to kill the enjoyment of using a mobile phone in this day and age.

Well, at least two of the "big four" American wireless service providers are making a concerted effort to clean their networks of spammers, scammers, and number spoofers, as AT&T follows T-Mobile's suit in implementing the SHAKEN/STIR standard to offer its customers a little more peace of mind when receiving a call from someone they don't know.

[...] Unfortunately, both Call Protect and Call Validation are currently only available on three high-end Android devices. Namely, Samsung's Galaxy S10 and S10+, as well as the LG V40 ThinQ. If it makes you feel any better, you don't have to do anything special to get the newly released feature enabled on the aforementioned smartphones. You will simply start seeing a green checkmark and the words "Valid number" on your handset's display when an incoming call is authenticated. That's a small step forward for one carrier and... an even as a whole.


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  • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by DeathMonkey on Thursday December 19 2019, @07:51PM (17 children)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday December 19 2019, @07:51PM (#934331) Journal

    The President of the United States was impeached today.

    Is SN really not going to run a story about it?

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   -1  
       Offtopic=1, Flamebait=2, Underrated=2, Total=5
    Extra 'Flamebait' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   0  
  • (Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 19 2019, @07:58PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 19 2019, @07:58PM (#934332)

    No. Don't care.

  • (Score: 3, Troll) by EJ on Thursday December 19 2019, @08:05PM (4 children)

    by EJ (2452) on Thursday December 19 2019, @08:05PM (#934337)

    Go back to Slashdot with your bullshit.

    • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by DeathMonkey on Thursday December 19 2019, @08:13PM (1 child)

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday December 19 2019, @08:13PM (#934341) Journal

      925 comments over there and counting. Maybe I should, they seem to post things for people to discuss.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 20 2019, @01:53PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 20 2019, @01:53PM (#934630)

        925 comments over there and counting. Maybe I should, they seem to post things for people to discuss.

        kthxbye

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 19 2019, @09:46PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 19 2019, @09:46PM (#934382)

      Just a little lite treason. God you assholes are irredeemable.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 20 2019, @03:25PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 20 2019, @03:25PM (#934659)

        We're deplorable, even.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 19 2019, @08:13PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 19 2019, @08:13PM (#934342)

    However, on topic, the Senate unanimously passed the anti-robocall bill that the House sent over, so that will most likely end up going into law (it is that last step in the bill making process that has not been very reliable these last few years).

    • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday December 19 2019, @08:20PM (2 children)

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday December 19 2019, @08:20PM (#934348) Journal

      (Ok I'll stop!)

      Well it's not public yet but it sounds like it might be a good bill. [thehill.com]

      I thought robocalls were already illegal, though (except for political ones, because, of course!) So I'm not really sure what another law will do. Or, am I just mistaken?

      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday December 19 2019, @09:15PM

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 19 2019, @09:15PM (#934370) Journal

        Robocall fines rise to $10,000 per call under newly passed law

        https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/19/21030114/robocalls-bill-congress-president-trump-sign-law-illegal-fcc-ajit-pai [theverge.com]

        After months of negotiations, Congress approved a landmark bill on Thursday to stop the flood of illegal robocalls. The president is expected to sign it into law within the next few days.

        He better hurry and sign. The Senate trial is expected to be lightning fast. Fair and balanced.

        --
        To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
      • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday December 19 2019, @09:42PM

        by Freeman (732) on Thursday December 19 2019, @09:42PM (#934378) Journal

        Political robocalls are extremely helpful for weeding out the candidate you don't want to be sending you robocalls.

        --
        Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
    • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 19 2019, @08:27PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 19 2019, @08:27PM (#934350)

      It seems that this should be an easy fix.

      After a call is received, just dial *86 (or something), this will change the sender of the last call $0.10. Nothing to anyone that is not doing anything wrong, but for those call centers, it would drain them.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Thursday December 19 2019, @09:11PM (1 child)

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 19 2019, @09:11PM (#934367) Journal

        Are you sure it would call back the robocaller, or some innocent who's number was spoofed?

        A lot of robo calls seem to be from local numbers. Thus raising the incentive to answer.

        --
        To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by toddestan on Friday December 20 2019, @03:10AM

          by toddestan (4982) on Friday December 20 2019, @03:10AM (#934504)

          Don't be silly. The phone company knows who to bill. How do you think they make their money?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 19 2019, @10:52PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 19 2019, @10:52PM (#934420)

      Sorry, I meant to say "predictable", not "reliable". The Senate has gotten burned a couple of times and they are once bitten, twice shy on everything.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday December 19 2019, @09:10PM

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 19 2019, @09:10PM (#934366) Journal

    I think it is fake news around these parts.

    --
    To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 19 2019, @11:21PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 19 2019, @11:21PM (#934433)

    Well that's going to go on his Permanent Record.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday December 20 2019, @04:34PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday December 20 2019, @04:34PM (#934686) Journal

      Someone who can graduate a business school, yet lacking the ability to read, write or speak in complete, let alone coherent sentences; probably isn't worried about their permanent record. Daddy, or someone, will fix the permanent record.

      --
      To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.