Robocall & Spoofing Relief
Robocalls are automated phone calls with prerecorded or artificial voice messages. Many are legal and just simply unwanted calls while others can be illegal as the sole intent is to defraud a party of money.
Hayneville Telephone Company is very concerned about the number of illegal and unwanted robocalls calls our customers receive and the potential harmful impact they can cause. Everyday, scammers use the telephone to try and trick people out of money or get access to personal information. Hayneville Telephone understands consumers expect their service providers to offer protective measures to curb the receipt of illegal and unwanted calls and that’s why we’ve dedicated this webpage to educate our customers on tools to combat robocalls, prevalent robocall/spoofing scams and tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of illegal robocalls.
Anonymous Call Rejection
Use Anonymous Call Rejection to stop calls from ANONYMOUS and PRIVATE numbers. For instance, if a sales guy calls you from a blocked number, he hears:
The party you are calling does not accept blocked calls. If you are calling from a blocked number, please hang up, pick up the receiver, press *87 and redial the phone number. When you do this, your name and number will appear for this call only.
In many areas Anonymous Call Rejection comes with Caller ID. In some areas, you need to order it separately. After the service is installed, you will need to activate the service on your phone.
This calling feature only stops ANONYMOUS and PRIVATE calls. Because they lack the necessary data, OUT OF AREA, UNAVAILABLE, UNKNOWN or NOT PROVIDED calls cannot be blocked.
Call Rejection
Use Call Rejection when you want to block specific phone numbers. To do this, you create a list of the phone numbers that you want to reject. Then, anyone calling from a number on your list can’t get through.
In these cases, you add the offending phone numbers to your “rejection list.” Then, when someone calls from a number on that list, he/she hears a message saying you’re not accepting calls.
Calls from numbers not on your list ring through to your home as usual.
You must order Call Rejection and have it added to your account. When it’s initially installed, it’s turned OFF, so you need to turn it ON. With Call Rejection, you can block more than 10 numbers.
Caller ID with Privacy
Caller ID with Privacy+ intercepts calls that don’t contain Caller ID information. Callers can record their names, then you decide which calls to accept or reject. You should notice a reduction in the number of calls you receive, since most telemarketing callers will hang up without recording a name.
Telemarketer Do Not Disturb (TDND)
With TDND activated, any call that is not on the subscriber’s list of approved callers — an approved caller might be a family member — will be intercepted, and the caller will be asked to dial 1 to continue. Very few if any auto dialers can get through this step.
Disadvantages of Call Blocking
There are disadvantages to adding call block to your service. In some instances, it could block calls that you want to receive, such as:
- Hospitals
- Alarm Company Numbers
- Schools
- Tornado Warnings
- Active Shooter Emergencies
- Hurricane Evacuations
- HAZMAT Emergencies
Getting unwanted calls?
We’re here to help. Camellia Communications and Hayneville Telephone takes unwanted calls seriously. If you are receiving unwanted calls, please fill out the form to the right and we will investigate the issue and follow-up with resolution.
Once your complaint is received, Camellia Communications and Hayneville Telephone will perform and internal investigation, and if the number is found to be spoofed or unassigned, we will block the number and help you report it to the FCC and FTC.
Additional information and tools:
Report Illegal and/or Unwanted Calls:
The Federal Trade Commission is encouraging consumers to follow these three key steps to help reduce unwanted calls:
Hang Up: If you pick up the phone and get a recorded sales pitch, hang up. The call is illegal. Don’t speak to them. Don’t press a button to supposedly remove your name from a list. (That could result in even more calls.)
Block: You can reduce the number of unwanted calls you get by using call-blocking technologies. Visit ftc.gov/calls for advice, depending on the type of phone service you have. Ask your service provider about blocking services
Report: After you hang up, report the unwanted or illegal call to the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint. The more information we have about the call, the better the FTC can target their law enforcement efforts. Report the number on your caller ID and any number you’re told to call back, which helps us track down the scammers behind the call. Even if you think the number on your caller ID is fake, report it. The FTC analyzes complaint data and trends to identify illegal callers based on calling patterns. The FTC takes the phone numbers you report and releases them to the public each business day. This helps phone carriers and other partners that are working on call-blocking solutions. Your reports also help law enforcement identify the people behind illegal calls.
FCC Consumer Education Video: Don’t Hang On, Hang Up!
Additional FCC Consumer Tips:
https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/stop-unwanted-robocalls-and-texts
Recognize the “red flags” before answering the telephone:
Neighborhooding: Calls from numbers that resemble your own – the area code and Prefix (next three digits) match your number . If you don’t recognize the number, and you’re not expecting any calls, let it go to voicemail.
Mirroring: Spoofing of your telephone number to trick you into answering the phone One Ring – Scammers ring your phone once and hangup. The hope is you will call the number back. The call back often results in per minute toll charges – similar to a 900 number- on your phone bill. ‘Yes’ call – once you answer the call, someone asks a seemingly harmless question (such as can you hear me?, Are you there?) in an effort to record a yes response and use it as evidence that a product or offer was authorized.
Legal Robocalls
A few types of robocalls are allowed without your permission, those calls include but are not limited to:
- Political calls about candidates running for office
- Surveys
- Robocalls that are purely informational
- Flight cancellations
- Appointment reminders
- Delayed school openings
- Debt collection calls. A business contacting you to collect a debt can use robocalls to reach you. But robocalls that try to sell you services to reduce your debt are illegal and are almost certainly scams.
- Calls from some health care providers. This includes a robocall from a pharmacy reminding you to refill /pick up a prescription.
- Charities asking for donations. Charities can make these calls themselves. But if a charity hires someone to make robocalls on its behalf, the robocalls can only go to members of the charity or prior donors. They also must include an automated option to let you stop future calls.