Stop phone spam with PhoneSpamFilter [Tips]

Loss of privacy is the price one has to pay for the increased connectivity. The more connected we are, the more vulnerable we are to abuse. Thanks to the improvements in the spam filters, our emails are still usable. Unfortunately we do not have such sophisticated filters for our phones. So if you are being troubled by the pesky sales person who is trying to sell you your 15th credit card, relax, PhoneSpamFilter is here!!

PhoneSpamFilter is based on the same philosophy as your email filters. If you get an unwanted call, you can check in their database to find the likelihood of that call being from a telemarketer or phone solicitor. They already have a database of over 50,000 numbers and they are growing fast. You also have the option of adding a number to their database so that others can find out about a potential telemarketer. Thus, the system harnesses the power of the community to identify phone spammers. Depending on the number of users who check for a number or submit a number, PhoneSpamFilter generates a score to indicate the likelihood of a number belonging to a spammer. If you are using Asterisk PBX, they have a script to automatically block such callers. They are also working with other SIP/VoIP providers to automate the process of checking every incoming number against their database.

If you have been victim of telemarketers, you would definitely appreciate such a service. Although many countries now have a Do-Not-Call registry, you may not want to add your number to the registry to miss out on some good offers. If you want to selectively block certain callers, PhoneSpamFilter looks like a good solution. Checking the number manually everytime may not be the best solution, but this is a first step in the right direction and hopefully things will be a better in the future.

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