800notes loosing it's relevancy?

800notes has been a great way for me to "confirm" a number is spam but, it seems over the past year I rarely have repeat calls from the same number.  I know this because I mark them as spam in GV so they don't ring my phone but I can go into GV and see if they've attempted to call me again, and most, not all but most, never try again.  I've actually ran into quite a few that weren't reported online anywhere as spam.  Sometimes I call these back and several times I'd get a person who claims they never called me.  I missed a call just this AM from a nearby city--using the phone I called the last inbound number back.  When the person answered I apologized for missing their call and asked how I could help them.  She was baffled and said she hadn't even used her phone that AM.  I'm pretty sure the cal I received spoofed her number as when I looked at it her number was only 2 digits off mine and in a different but adorning area code.  My guess is they spoof a number 2 digits off from everyone they call to make the person they're calling think it's local?

Anyway it's hard to block numbers if I think they are spoofed especially since I do a fair amount of selling online and get a lot of calls from all over.  It's also pointless if they rarely use the same number twice.

I'm beginning to think the only fix is for telecom companies to somehow prevent caller id spoofing completely.  I know it has many great uses.  My VOIP line spoofs my GV number so  I always present only 1 number to folks I deal with.  At least they took the step that when I set that up I had to take a call at the number I wanted to spoof and enter a code to verify I had some control over that number.

Never ever ever call these numbers back. There is a scam going on where you call the number back and it is a pay line. You are then charged up to $50 a minute while the scammer you called tries to keep you on the line for as long as possible. When you get your phone bill and you call your phone provider to complain they tell you that since you admitted that you called that  person you must pay for the call.

Notes and Whocallsme have value even with the scammers using spoofed numbers.   The patterns and type of scams are already being tracked and posted on notes, and I think the boards will evolve.  More regs might be good, but enforcement of current regs would be nicer.

btw, this is an interesting topic, but your post was sort of click-bait.  A better title might be "The Increase in Spoofed Numbers is Driving me Crazy!" or "How can spoofed numbers be beaten to a pulp?"  Maybe the word "Relevancy" has a different associations for me.  Still the issue of spoofed numbers is worth serious thinking.  Peace

A good scam always has elements of an old scam. A successful one. What makes 800 notes useful is when people post details about their calls. Many times you read a post and think, ah! it's the Nigerian money-box scam, or some other variation of an oldie. Most new scams seem to repeat the same theme over & over. Since they are working, why wouldn't the crooks do it? It seems to be the most common one's are (a) Extortion: Pay up or else, and (b) I'll buy what you're selling: Here's my over amount check, Paypal, money order. To a smaller degree we read about fake loans, romance scams, and 3rd world witch doctors. Is 800 notes relevant? Yes. You will notice that people still (1) call back an unknown number without checking it first. (2) Are not aware of Caribbean area codes. (3) Don't really know what a cash wire transfer service is, does and how it is really suppose to be used. (4) Any request for an advance fee to get money is a scam. 800 notes can be an educational tool. If you know what a scam is, how it works, what they're going to say and try to get you to do. You can help yourself and others. Remember that a 3rd world criminal can do nothing to you, unless you do it to yourself. Due Diligence.

It's still a useful tool in developing the database of "alleged scammers", since no scam has actually been perpetrated against you until you are out of pocket (though there may have been "intent" that you can't actually prove). [No I'm not a lawyer, those are just the facts]. I just keep adding them to my own database. These callers only get two chances to make my phone ring. Once to register the number and the 2nd and subsequent times they will get dead air/disconnected. Just a shame the technology must ring your phone at least once for the caller ID (legit or not) signal to register in order to get blocked. To me the big answer seems obvious – don't answer the phone unless you know the calling number. By not answering your phone the scammers will realize it's a dead line that does not get answered and take you off their sucker list, since there is nothing to be gained from calling you.

I fail to see the correlation between the title "800notes loosing it's relevancy?"  and your post.  There is nothing in your post that would indicate that this web site is no longer relevant.  Actually I would think that your post indicates the opposite that it is extremely useful and relevant.

I use 800notes.com almost every day, and I tell all my friends about it.

800notes.com RULES!!!

800Notes cannot "loose" its relevancy, but those who do not know the difference between "loose" and "lose" have already lost their relevancy.

Relevance is a relative term. Resting on the premise of mystery phone calls, this site covers a broad range of topics, including calls which are legal and harmless. It also serves a broad constituency. What you want from or contribute to the site is not precisely or entirely what any other user wants or adds. I happen to think that regarding the whole project as an elaborate block list feeder is a gross shortchange. That's just my stance.

Much of what goes on here is identification and matching of patterns. You can be frustrated because frauds and cheats evolve their schemes, thus changing their patterns. Right now VOIP and cellular phone numbers are disposable commodities and the rest are easy to spoof. The crooks can guess who is screening and blocking and forwarding, and they react in kind to maintain access to their targets. That's what they do rather than find real jobs.

It's hard to fault 800Notes if you can't track the same phone number patterns anymore. The problem is not its design but a user's focus. The numbers and names change often; the schemes behind them much less often. As Badge noted, the most reliable patterns are behavioral. Rather than obsess over numbers, I ask something fundamental: What does the caller want and how much grief will I get if I fail to cooperate? Over time this focus has trained me to spot the patterns which matter most. I don't lean on others to think for me ... which is a parallel peeve I have with pleadings of "Is this number spam? Is this company a scam?"

This site can lose (and not "loose") ground for me as one ugly trend continues, the post which says only "blocked them, ignored them" with no attempt at identification. This is counter to the site's founding mission, and quite annoying when days and weeks of such noncommittal comments pile up in newer threads. As I said, I've my agenda and you have yours. Little is served by repeated declaration of ignorance. How I process a phone call is my personal business. How a caller might disturb or threaten others is everyone's business.

Drives me crazy too.  It's 'lose' not 'loose'.  You lose your relevance when you can't spell correctly. Lol.  Just saying...

I have found 800Notes to be an educational service as Badge714 has described.  I now know the common scams.  I now know why these people are calling me.  I also know never to pick up the phone for an unidentifiable caller either on my home or cell phone.  In this sense, I believe that 800Notes will continue to be relevant insofar as many people could use this education.  As long as people continue to be duped, scammed, harassed and ripped off, there's a need.   It's important to make people feel empowered too to take action so they are no longer a victim.   People have a right to peace and some degree of privacy in their lives.  This is becoming more of a challenge as the evolution of technology is outstripping human ability to manage it and comprehend it.

Many and maybe even MOST come here for the first time scared out of their wits or filled with anxiety because they've received a threatening scare tactic scam call. Once reading posts and regular's posts and info it's calming followed by, a sense of security and then strength once they are informed and educated on what they are experiencing. The only irrelevance is folks who come here, start a thread with a title to get attention and fill the first post with nothing pertaining to the title which they created.

I am also dismayed by the lack of civic responsibility that people feel.  One person's 'pain' in the butt caller, becomes someone else's pain in the butt caller.  It would be nice to feel that there were more of us that understood we're all in this together.  Sometimes I check numbers on MrNumber too.  That site is notorious for empty commenting.  People will check for how many others reported a particular number, however, they will not leave any meaningful comments or information that could help others.  They are only checking for their own benefit.  Knowing that you were 1 of 500 other people that were called from a particular phone number is not of much value in and of itself.  It could be Bank of America customer service calling 500 of their customers for example.  Maybe the call is unwelcome, but if no one is identifying the source of the call, how does simply reporting a phone number help?  I suppose only in terms of the law of large numbers.

It only takes a minute or so to produce a meaningful comment.  If more people would take a minute or two out of a day or week, to make a comment or report it to the government, it might have some positive impact.

As far as spoofed numbers go, I looked up my own phone number on the internet, and I saw that someone reported our number.  They complained they we were calling them over and over again.  The person complaining said she blocked our number (thinking that accomplished something).  Then she complained the calls were still coming through.  She obviously doesn't understand the concept of spoofing.  I feel upset that someone actually spoofed our number.  But what the heck can I do about it?   I think spoofed numbers are really the greatest problem now.  I would think that some kind of verification technology could be developed (the analogy of a signature or fingerprint) that would enable callers to be verified.  Maybe that's the future - fingerprint technology.  You'd be sure to know who was calling then...

EXACTLY, TheHolyHandGrenade.  Thank you for your comment.  I had a couple of scary calls.  I checked out the numbers on 800Notes and was quickly reassured that the caller was a scammer.  You know, some of these scam callers are experts in psychological warfare.  There are probably quite a few sociopathic scammers that probably get a thrill out of terrorizing those they call.  We all can be vulnerable sometimes.  Knowing that there is a community out there (even in cyberspace) can be grounding, healing and a great source of comfort.

What you say about courtesy is true, however, getting the information that you request more than often requires answering the call which we don't necessarily want to do.  As many people who have answered have reported, they are sometimes met with dead air/hangup even after they say hello (problem with the robodialer switching to a live attendant).

When they call my work number, I simply ask if this call is related to a business matter with my company.  When they give the "it's fresh/frozen" answer or stammer through "no", I tell them that "O'Dawg" is not allowed to receive personal calls at work and if this isn't a business matter with the company, they must not call this number.  It usually puts them off for about 2 months.