question

Alex Valkarie avatar image
Alex Valkarie asked mike answered

Annoying calls / fake calls / telemarketer calls / do not call list

Hello! We have been getting calls to our main line (no extension) but they do not leave a message, or leave a few seconds of blank message. They are not clients or leads of ours and appear from area codes across the US. Has anyone else had this issue? Are these likely automated telemarketing calls? Is there a do not call list I can enter? Thanks! Our number has been posted publicly on our site for a few years. This has been a problem for the past year. I realize five calls a day might not be a nuisance for some, but we receive a small call volume and our Director has stopped answering calls altogether because most of them are "fake".
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Randal Gast avatar image
Randal Gast answered
The level of "fake" or "spoofing" calls has been on a steady increase. We have 19 Ring Central lines and there are are junk calls everyday. We go through the call logs daily and block all known junk calls as a security precaution. Our phones had been hacked at least 3 times in the last 6 months, as part of a much broader, international phone hacking scam, and in each case there was a series of "spoofing" calls made before hand. The Ring Central system does have a call blocking feature but it needs improvement. As it is, you have to go the each phone line individually to block a specific number. In our case, this means we have to block the number in 19 lines, individually. At better solution would be a "global block feature" that would block one number in all 19 of our numbers, i.e. all number in our account, with just one entry. It would also be an improvement if Ring Central provided a central database of all "spam" robo call origination numbers so the Ring Central user community could block those calls in advance. You can also list your numbers on the federal Do Not Call list, but that is a bit of a joke. As far as we can tell, it does not work. The companies doing the "spam" calls change their origination numbers daily to get around the "rules". Since we have started reviewing call logs daily, and blocked all suspicious activity, the level of the junk calls has dropped. However, there will be new one jut about everyday. I strongly urge everyone to review their logs, everyday, and block all suspicious activity. Some of these calls are just junk robo call marketing companies, and they are just an annoyance. But some of it could be hackers, spoofing your numbers, looking for system vulnerabilities. And when they hijack your number, you could see over 1,000 calls made in less than 3 hours, to a foreign country, to a "pay per call line" @ $5 per minute. If this happens, it will "ruin your day". It is advisable to review your account set up and make sure you are comfortable with your international call set up. If you don't make international calls, make sure account is set up properly to block any outbound international call activity. Otherwise you could be in for an unpleasant surprise if your numbers get hijacked and you get a very large bill. Good luck.
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mike avatar image
mike answered
Here's a page with comments from one of our engineers that may help you:  https://community.ringcentral.com/ringcentral/topics/calls_from_nobody

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