Phone harassment

Look- I've gotten more calls from this number and every avenue I've tried seems to prevent actually helping me via endless options for contact based on any contingency but what I'm trying to address and who in law enforcement do I contact for this?  Surely being in the business you could point me in a direction that will minimize my chances of being bounced around as a stalling tactic against doing something useful.

My call history is on your database... the number is 321-729-0254 and located in Melbourne FL... Bell South.  Trying to contact them presents with an endless array of options- none of which usefully covers my concerns.  This is criminal harassment and I do not have the time needed to absorb being given th  Ie run around by agencies whose apparent purpose is to deny actually doing anything by keeping victims busy on a wild goose chase trying to get some sort of remediation that doesn't require they spend more money. 

I'm tired of this and just want control of my phone back.  I want this particular criminal brought to justice and Cox, my "friend in the digital age" is in a position to give a little help but chooses not to lift a finger that doesn't involve my bill increasing.

This has been going on for a long time. Its not just one person calling you, but 1000's calling everyone. Cox has no pull stopping that, its falls under FCC. FCC actually tried to crack down on it, but the scam just moved to another name by other people. See the story here.

"The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC's online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)"

Nobody will help you.  Robocalls are ghosts.  You think it's a brick-and-mortar company calling you from a dedicated hardline, but it's not.  It's a laptop loaded with war-dialing software located anywhere in the world.  It's easy to set up, tear down and relocate.  The numbers are fake, the names are fake, the "busy" background noise is fake and your illusion of any prosecution is fake.  Neither Cox, the gov't or police will spend resources pursuing ghosts.  If you just accept this, your attitude will change.

Ultimately, you need a call blocking device.  Ultimately, you need to configure the call blocking device with an Allow List.  Ultimately, you allow only certain numbers to call you.  Is that extreme?  Yes.  But if the telemoochers are using MY number to call ME, I will take control of my phone.

I'm using an old laptop loaded with a free version of PhoneTray to control my phone.  However, when Digitone finally release their Call Blocker Pro, I'll get that.  I like its remote access feature.  That is, I can use my laptop to configure it via my home network.

I could get a call-blocking phone with capacity to block 250 numbers, but that's too much maintenance.  Right now, I could easily fill that block list.  If I need to block another number, I'd have to scroll through the entire list for the most viable number to remove.  250 numbers?  No thanks.

Call blockers with wildcards are becoming obsolete because you'll have to constantly update them.  Sure, I could block all area codes beginning with 4, 6 and 9...but the moochers are now using MY area code.  If I allow a new, local number, I'd have to update the wildcards.

Allow Lists require a new behavior.  For example, I have to remember to allow potential callers.  Also, if a contractor is coming to my house, I will turn the Allow Only list off in case they call.  However, that's nothing compared to being able to freely give out my number and not caring if they'll abuse it.

Why can't Cox assist us in giving us a way to deal with these harrassing phone calls? What kind of phone number is +710181172? I was having nothing but scams, telemarketers, collection agencies calling repeatedly for someone who doesn't exist here and the last straw was 2 attempts at collect calls from prison!!!! I turned off my voice mail and stopped taking ANY calls and had my number changed. Well, guess what! The new number is worse than the old one!!! I think Cox has some responsibility in giving us tools to avoid these intrusions. My line is useless except I keep it to call locally and/or return calls from local retailers that I may want to deal with but only as I have business with them such as pharmacies etc. and also 911 locators in case of emergencies. I'm a senior citizen on a very low fixed income and can't add a lot of charges for extra 'tools' but feel that tools for harrassment should be freely available. Cox where is customer service here for people who have been with you for 30 years or more?????????????????/

You can find very few if any cases on searching Google where anyone received any satisfaction from dancing through all the hoops required to report, complain, etc, including some who sue (what a pain that would be and a massive waste of time I'm sure). But there are multiple hundreds of complaints similar to ours that are allowed to continue. This is the "Phone Tools" area of Cox and it's obvious we need some kind of 'phone tool' to stop these calls and at Cox prices it should cost extra as I think a large majority of senior citizens are at the top of the harrassing call lists and on fixed incomes which doesn't allow for a lot of tacked on charges. My phone has become almost worthless. I have turned off my voice mail and don't answer my phone at all. I had my number changed as it got so bad and the new number is worse than the old because whoever had the new one also added multiple collectors who call multiple times a day. I only use the phone to call locally and/or receive calls from pharmacies etc where I can call back if I choose but it won't matter if local retailers sell my number to the world! I'm very angry about this.

Bruce, I just saw this posting after complaining all over the place about not having any control over my phone to the extent that I NEVER pick it up and even turned off voice messages so it just rings but that doesn't stop the same people from calling multiple times a day. But it saves the stress of having messages on my phone that are worthless or hang ups usually so now I Google to confirm they are nuisance calls (just to make sure I don't overlook one I might have wanted to answer - rarely) and use 800notes.com to confirm. We should not have to have our phones rendered useless by outsiders and I have trouble believing that in this digital age Cox would not have a way to filter robo calls at least. However I was very interested in your post and will check into PhoneTray and see if it's something that I could use for at least some. I would like to request that you let us know here when Call Blocker Pro is released as I would like to investigate that also. Thanks, it sounds like a common sense way to go as I agree the others have to be maintained all the time and many if not most of these people call from multiple numbers and multiple cities all over the country. If they can do that surely someone can come up with an app on our side to take back control of our phones! 

Bruce, I just saw this posting after complaining all over the place about not having any control over my phone to the extent that I NEVER pick it up and even turned off voice messages so it just rings but that doesn't stop the same people from calling multiple times a day. But it saves the stress of having messages on my phone that are worthless or hang ups usually so now I Google to confirm they are nuisance calls (just to make sure I don't overlook one I might have wanted to answer - rarely) and use 800notes.com to confirm. We should not have to have our phones rendered useless by outsiders and I have trouble believing that in this digital age Cox would not have a way to filter robo calls at least. However I was very interested in your post and will check into PhoneTray and see if it's something that I could use for at least some. I would like to request that you let us know here when Call Blocker Pro is released as I would like to investigate that also. Thanks, it sounds like a common sense way to go as I agree the others have to be maintained all the time and many if not most of these people call from multiple numbers and multiple cities all over the country. If they can do that surely someone can come up with an app on our side to take back control of our phones! 

An Allow List is my preferred protection, and you can use any call-blocking device for that.  My old laptop was an option because it had a dial-up modem. 

You can check, and bookmark, the status of Digitone's progress at http://www.digitone.com/Digitone%20Call%20Blocker%2010%20Advice%20Wanted.htm#Q50