The conversation
Does ignoring robocalls stop them? This is what we learned from receiving 1.5 million on 66,000 phone lines
New research aims to give phone companies tools to curb robo calls. Peter Dazeley / The Image Bank via Getty Images The research letter is a brief overview of interesting academic work. The big idea More than 80% of robo calls come from fake numbers – and answering these calls or not does not affect how much more you will get. These are two key findings from an 11-month study of unsolicited calls we conducted from February 2019 to January 2020. To better understand how these unwanted callers work, we monitored every call received after more than 66,000 phone lines in our phone security lab. , the Robocall Observatory at North Carolina State University. We received 1.48 million unsolicited phone calls during the course of the study. Some of these calls answered us, while others made us ring. Contrary to what is commonly known, we found that answering calls made no difference in the number of callbacks received by a telephone number. The weekly volume of robocalls remained constant during the study. As part of our study, we also developed the first method to identify robo-call campaigns that are responsible for a large number of these annoying, illegal and fraudulent robo-calls. The main types of campaigns were around student loans, health insurance, Google businesses, general financial fraud and a long-running scam on social security. Using these techniques, we learned that over 80% of the average caller’s callers use fake or short-lived phone numbers to place their unwanted calls. Using these phone numbers, offenders deceive their victims and it becomes much more difficult to identify and prosecute illegal robo callers. We have also seen some fraudulent operating activities presented for many months as government agencies without detecting them. They used messages in English and Mandarin and threatened the victims with serious consequences. These messages are aimed at vulnerable populations, including immigrants and the elderly. Why does it matter? Providers can identify the true source of a call using a time-consuming, manual process called traceback. There are too many robo calls to trace back today to be a practical solution for every call. Our technique for identifying campaigns for robokalling is not just a powerful research tool. It can also be used by service providers to identify large-scale robo-call operations. Using our methods, providers only need to examine a small number of calls for each call campaign. By targeting the source of abusive robo calls, service providers can block or stop these operations and protect their subscribers from fraud and illegal telemarketing. What is not yet known Providers use a new technology called STIR / SHAKEN, which can prevent robo-callers from cheating their phone numbers. When deployed, it will simplify callback tracking, but it will not work for providers using older technology. Robocallers also adapt quickly to new situations, giving them a way to find STIR / SHAKEN. No one knows how broadcasters deal with their victims and how often they change strategies. An increasing number of robocalls and scammers now use COVID-19 as a premise to deceive people. What’s next? In the coming years, we will continue our research on robo calls. We will study whether STIR / SHAKEN robocalls are reduced. We are also developing techniques to better identify, understand and help providers and law enforcement fight robo calls. It was written by: Sathvik Prasad, North Carolina State University and Bradley Reaves, North Carolina State University. Read more: Robocalls is unstoppable – 3 questions answered as to why your phone will not stop ringing. Up and down the landline: 143 years of phones becoming more accessible – and smart Why are there so many pistons? According to a neuropsychologist, Sathvik Prasad is a member of the USENIX Association. Bradley Reaves receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research. This research was supported by in-kind donations from Bandwidth and NomoRobo. Reaves is a member of the Communications Fraud Control Association, ACM, IEEE and the USENIX Association.