NoMoRobo

The DNC list will soon be leveraged to help rid many of us of the deluge of unwanted robocalls.

More than one million robocallers have been identified as being in violation of the National Do Not Call Registry. Who made this determination? You, me, all of us who diligently filed a complaint here: https://complaints.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx?panel=2 and reported these scum to the DNC database.

So, don’t give up, keep reporting the bad guy phone numbers to the DNC. The more violations reported against a phone number, the more statistically significant those violations become. When the scores are significant enough (anybody know that magic number?) the phone number will be included in the soon to be released NoMoRobo database: nomorobo.com.

NoMoRobo is a new free cloud-based technology service being introduced at the end of September 2013 and will block 1,261,191 robocallers in its debut. It’s up to all of us to continue reporting the scammers to the DNC list to help keep NoMoRobo’s database up to date.

I know there are skeptics out there and no solution is 100% bullet proof, but this one is looking pretty darned good so far. It’s probably no fluke that NoMoRobo won “best overall solution” at the FTC Robocall Challenge http://robocall.challengepost.com The fact that the FTC ran the challenge in the first place is indication they were not totally asleep at the wheel while many of us are getting daily robocalls from the scam artists of the world.

Now the battle may shift to the Telco’s who have been making money from robocallers. Let’s not let the Telco’s gouge us with higher service fees to pay for their lost robocaller related revenues. Maybe we can pressure the FCC/PUC into challenging any Telco fee increases that coincidently or purposefully get proposed after the Telco’s find their robocaller related revenues are falling.

Looks like we have found a new way to get the DNC list to go to work for us ... now get ready to start fighting back in new ways!

NoMoRobo has already been discussed in a dozen or so threads here on 800notes and comments are scattered all over the place. I think NoMoRobo is significant enough to have its own forum topic and I will kick that off with this post.

I want very much for this to work, but I can't remember the last time a I got a robocall  from the same number, even if it was the  exact same message.  (And I get them virtually every day, despite being on state and federal DNCs.)    Constantly-changing spoofed numbers and caller ID at least appears to be a the Achilles heel of this system.

If NoMoRobo used only the blacklist approach, it would not be as effective against ever changing spoofed numbers, as you correctly point out.  

As its primary line of defense, NoMoRobo uses conditional call forwarding to cache the potential robocall in the cloud.  From there, it inspects the caller’s call frequency (along with other elements).  Let’s say the caller made 5,000 calls in an hour.  Odds are it’s a robocaller, and NoMoRobo hangs up on them.  It's also a red flag when the same phone number is sequentially calling large blocks of phone numbers.  Both scenarios indicate robocalling patterns.

NoMoRobo will be using advanced filtering technology.  This incorporates performing heuristic analyses on robocalls.  The analyses will detect underlying behavioral patterns that are unique to robocalls.  This can include call velocity, sequential dialing, dialing speeds, timegate, etc.  It may be as simple as identifying that the calls came from a known scammer call center or illegal telemarketing service provider.  

As its secondary line of defense, NoMoRobo also checks if the caller is on an FTC/DNC blacklist or a whitelist.  If the caller is blacklisted, NoMoRobo hangs up on the robocall.  If the caller is on an FTC whitelist as a legal telemarketer, NoMoRobo passes the call on to our phones.  If NoMoRobo isn’t sure, it’ll prompt the caller with an audio CAPTCHA to determine if the caller’s human.  If they pass the CAPTCHA test, their call goes through.  If they fail, NoMoRobo hangs up on them and adds that number to the FTC/DNC blacklists in real-time.

NoMoRobo is in beta-testing with dozens of testers using NoMoRobo on their phones.  So far, the basic system is identifying and disconnecting 80 percent of illegal robocalls!  

If NoMoRobo works as promised, we may all get a great deal of relief from ever increasing robocall scams.

"NoMoRobo is in beta-testing with dozens of testers using NoMoRobo on their phones.  So far, the basic system is identifying and disconnecting 80 percent of illegal robocalls!"


This is certainly welcome news!

Keep on reporting those numbers everyone!

Unfortunately, one problem is those companies who change phone numbers on a regular basis - They will actually incur reconnection charges as a cost of doing business As a result me and you may wind up installing a phone or activating a cell phone with a recycled blacklisted number, so we won't be able to call anyone who's on the NoMoRobo network.

Also, I suspect that NoMoRobo stands to be sued BIG-TIME if they block legitimate customer service calls - For example, a bank who calls a big list of depositors who are overdrawn, or who are victims of fraudulent charges which the bank flagged as suspect.

I can see a class action suit by all the customers who incurred charges because they were never notified of an overdraft or fraudulent charge in time to correct the situation by transferring money from another account, or stopping payment on a fraudulent charge that was red-flagged by the bank .

I can also see banks suing for the customers that they lost because NoMoRobo blocked the call, or the fraudulent charges that they had to eat on credit and debit cards with a "No Fraud" guarantee. Often, their computers red-flag such charges, but they need the customer to authorize a "Stop Payment" within minutes of being notified, before the transfer is confirmed.

I have had several such calls from banks and credit card companies in the last few years, one of which turned out to actually be a fraudulent charge. The bank saved me $500 by notifying me and offering to stop payment before the charge was approved and posted. The bank and credit card companies certainly also call for purposes of trying to get me to upgrade my card, etc.

So, Identifying robocallers is too wide a swath - Many legitimate customer service calls are contracted to the same companies who also make cold sales calls.

I suspect that the solution will be "buyer beware" to any company who sub-contracts their customer service calls, plus they will have to examine NoMoRobo's blocked call list to verify that their Customer Service lines aren't being blocked.

All that's certainly do-able, and I think it will be great if they can guarantee that legitimate calls aren't blocked. But I see some wrinkles to iron out..

The FTC regulates robocalls and telemarketing calls under the Telemarketing Sales Rule: http://business.ftc.gov/advertising-and-marketing/telemarketing  The FCC is also involved in complimentary regulation here: http://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/policy/telemarketing.html   The landmark Telephone Consumer Protection Act law can be viewed here: www.fcc.gov/cgb/policy/TCPA-Rules.pdf 

One of the provisions covered in detail within the existing body of law includes:  A service provider may call a consumer with whom it has an established business relationship for up to 18 months after the consumer's last purchase, delivery, or payment - even if the consumer's number is on the National Do Not Call Registry.  In addition, a company may call a consumer for up to three months after the consumer makes an inquiry or submits an application to the company.  And if a consumer has given a company written permission, the company may call even if the consumer's number is on the National Do Not Call Registry.  This provision would seem to cover one of your major concerns.

NoMoRobo is subject to TCPA, FTC and FCC rules and must remain in compliance.  Assuming that they will, they would be protected from the legal actions against them that you have suggested.  It seems to me that such legal actions would have to be filed against the FTC, FCC instead.  Good luck with that.  

I too have some concerns about consumers being sold a phone number that is on the NoMoRobo blacklist because it was used by a scammer at some point (either spoofed or leased).  I have read; don’t recall where, that Telco’s are responsible for validating newly assigned numbers to make sure they work normally for the consumer.  This would require that they check with the DNC registry to make sure the number is NOT on the registry in any way.  However, there are many fly-by-night phone services out there and your guess is as good as mine if they take the time to validate the numbers they assign to new customers.  Perhaps this is a situation where the consumer can seek legal action against their phone carrier?

In the end, the consumer makes the decision to use or not to use NoMoRobo.  If the consumer holds NoMoRobo harmless for its actions and all related potential damages, consequential or otherwise, then the individual consumer would be the accountable party (defendant), would they not?  And, as we all know, consumers always take the time to read all the details, including all the fine print, before they sign-up for stuff.  

In the future, NoMoRobo will be offering optional paid services to block calls now allowed by the DNC.  These would include political ads, charitable pleadings, surveys, etc.  I think it might be more difficult to duck legal actions here, depending on what is blocked and how the blocking determination is made.

Within a month of NoMoRobo going live we'll see the scammers using software that automatically changes the Caller ID they're spoofing at regular intervals. Perhaps every call.

Wait, you mean that $50,000 we taxpayers shelled out was a WASTE?

Shoulda just got more drones. Geez.

That will be a great test to see how well NoMoRobo's so called "advanced filtering technology" can keep pace with the scammers.  It will also be interesting to see how the robocallers try to circumvent the audio Captcha puzzles and behavioral analytics.  

I love it that consumers will soon have a new weapon to fight back against the bots.  The war on the bot army is about to begin in earnest!

Anyone else getting the feeling that "Jim-LA" is starting to cross the line from cheerleader to shill?

I think for many people a white list would work better. I supply them a list of the 10 (example) numbers that call me, and that is that. NoMoRobo is a good idea, but it'll need work. Me? I'll stick with my call blocking equipment.

NoMoRobo should be helpful to even those of who have call blockers. It should reduce the necessity for checking numbers here at 800 notes. I check caller ids for callers that typically hang up after four rings and leave no message. If they're identified here they are blocked.

NoMoRobo hopefully should make life easier. One question....? It will cost money to operate NoMoRobo. Who will pay the physical and administrative costs needed to run it? How can it be free?

Does anybody know the specific details on how this NoMoRobo thing is actually going to work?  I have a land line, do the calls have to be filtered through something before they reach my phone? Where are the details on how this works?

OK, before anyone gets too excited about NoMoRobo, their website says that only three carriers (FiOS, optimum and Vonage) have signed on to this.  At present, it does not help me (or most people).

Being an Old Guy [TM] I can actually remember the days before there was email spam. I am therefore pretty cynical when it comes to these things. My bet is that NoMoRobo will work fine for the first month or so, then less well and then will be almost entirely ineffective within a year. Seen it before.

I'd love to be wrong. Let's watch and see.