Is there any open source code that will do this? Asking for a friend.
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Hahaha It just hit me that I got the name wrong. It’s Stanley Milgram, not Al Milgrom. Al is a comic book artist. I wouldn’t damn him.
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I always respond to telemarketers either with a “thanks but no thanks”, if I can be bothered, or just hang up. I’m aware that the person on the other end of the phone is probably some minimum wage office drone probably trying to make ends meet and they don’t need me making their life any more unpleasant than it already is. However, this didn’t stop me looking in to getting a White List Phone for my father.
Ah, that makes you a scammer.
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Soooo… The poor “hacker” needs to add exactly 2 lines of code to his script to circumvent this? (Make random number 0-9 ; send tone for random number) Damn those cunning scammers. They made him spend 20 seconds on programming yet again!
You cold-call people? Please post your home phone number here.
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It would not surprise me that the people calling for the scams don’t get the money either.
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As long as he respects the DNC list I have no problem with cold-calling, which existed for decades without it being an irritation. Most of our annoyance calls are from the three users who get to ignore the list: political robocalls, pollsters, and charities. (W/r to the latter, we get around 3-5 calls/day soliciting donations. We’re reasonably generous with our charitable giving, but a couple of years ago I dropped several of my regulars in favor of civil liberties and homeless organizations, and the ones I dropped turned around and sold my name to myriad others, all of whom call repeatedly.) And of course, scammers, into which I group any caller who ignores the DNC list and is not a not-for-profit…so, I include political calls. And some relatives.
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I’m not sure what you think is irresponsible here. Blocking their ability to scam vulnerable people out of their money is a valuable public service.
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Pure energetic virtuosity, though. A true master would have not been such a DRY violator…
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With Canada’s CRTC DNC list, there has to be a prior business connection or it’s a violation. (They’ve only prosecuted a couple worst cases.)
Huh. The dark sub-conscience of the internet.
I think this device is pretty cool. I’m all about individuals making things harder for scammers to do what they do. But my points are:
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1 million of the total 2.3 million people locked up in the USA are African American, incarcerated at the rate of six times that of white people in the country. Some of the behaviors/crimes of these individual ‘criminals’ are undeniably deplorable. So then is it acceptable to refer to this group of people as scum? I did not seek to absolve anyone of taking personal accountability for their actions. I only wished to point out that there are larger structural components to these problems. Given the content I have read on this site over the years, I would not have thought such an argument would have needed such literal articulation. As an aside, I did initially understate the level of damage caused by scammers, for this mistake I took responsibility and apologized.
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In fact, rather than argue against personal accountability as folks seem to think, I came here to make an argument for personal accountability. The global far right has mobilized to raid the economy, militarize borders, and strip away the rights of free peoples. They have used hateful rhetoric as a primary tool in this endeavor. When others adopt this tactic of dismissing entire groups of people with words like “scum”, it legitimizes what the right is doing. I do believe that referring to any group of humans as scum, dehumanizes in a way that left unchecked can have barbarous consequences. I am arguing for us, to take responsibility for our language and our characterizations.
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I have always admired the boingboing community for its unique flavor, rational arguments, and compassionate political stances. I really did not expect to see the language in the original post, I really did not expect the response I have received here.
To: LeopardSeal I am unsure what I have done to arouse your snark and sarcasm. I have attempted to post with respect. I have learned my lesson and will not return to disturb your space again.
To: Lolipop_jones No I am not okay with any group of humans being characterized as scum.
To: RickyMycroft: when I say it is up to us to maintain civil discourse, I mean that it is up to people with values to stand by those values even when it may not be the societal norm. I was referring to the political climate of left/right and not first world/third with this statement. I suppose it might be patronizing to the right.
To mcv: It is the rhetoric, not the tool that I object to.
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Oh, they’ll knock on your door, too.
I get the humanist angle here, but I think it is incredibly difficult to rationalize this behavior just because of point of origin.
I get things are tough in 3rd world countries - but we can not legitimize illegal or immoral behavior just because people have ‘mouths to feed’. I would argue these countries need stronger countermeasures to dissuade people from starting/joining such practices, as it is self-perpetuating.
So - if that means using scripts like those described, phone services like Jolly Roger to clog up and render the scammers useless - great! At some point the business model will die (or be replaced) setting up the opportunity for something that actually helps vs harms others co-habiting the planet.
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Saturating the USA’s phone lines with scam call after scam call after scam call voiced in foreign accents probably does a lot to exacerbate racism. I could easily defend this sort of counterattack as an anti-racism measure.
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True for the US list too. That’s why I’m OK with cold-callers who respect the list, one can opt out.
If there’s no prior business relationship, they can’t cold-call. (Exceptions for charities, surveys and politicians, of course.)
Have a SIT tone as your voicemail greeting? 
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