How does Zooms spam filter actually work

[pcat54]

We had a user that started getting bombarded with spam calls recently. Every one is from a different number. Most are verified. She was getting like one every 30 minutes for two days straight. I had to have her turn on DND and some other client settings just so they didn't disrupt her. 

I bumped the spam detection up to high and set the action from nothing to route them to VM. When calls come in I notice they don't get labeled with a new type of "spam" in the users call history until the user manually blocks the number from their client. We noticed the calls slow to 1-3 a day after doing this, but I was thinking perhaps the the bot just moved on to a new target. 

• Does Zoom show all calls in the users history including ones picked up by the spam filter?
• Do calls dynamically get detected and marked as spam before they make it to the users client, or do calls only get marked as spam after at least one user reports the number?

I opened a ticket with Zoom and they basically just said change the users DID number or start blocking entire area codes. That would mean blocking legit numbers too or running out of ported numbers once one becomes a target. Not to mention the user would need to circulate their new number.

Right now I have the user forwarding all calls to voicemail. From there they can manually block bot calls with minimal disruption during the day at some point. 

Is there a better way to manage this here or am I pretty much SOL at this point?

[Eliot · Accepted solution]

hi pcat54,

Zoom Phone.  as to how zoom phone handles spam, please see

Admin guide for Zoom Phone Spam

https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0057965

User guide for Zoom Phone Spam

https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0057964

Call Screening.  are the spam calls from autodialer such as a predictive dialer?  to optimize the spammer's productivity, predictive dialers place their calls BEFORE the spammer finishes his/her last call.  when you answer, you may not hear anything for 5-15 seconds.  you may want to consider turning on call screening.  callers will get a message to dial a digit to connect to your user.  as of august 2024, most of the autodialers are not smart enough to respond and the call gets screened.

"Call Screening: To the right of the setting, click the toggle to enable it to allow your phone user to screen their incoming calls.
External callers will be prompted to press a button to connect with your user. Callers who do not respond will be disconnected. Additionally, devices will be unable to receive any third-party faxes.
Select Exclude user and company contacts from call screening, calls will reach users as normal, to allow calls from those contacts to not be screened.

Changing phone user settings

https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0069338

STIR/SHAKEN.  IETF standard to identify calls from parties authorized to use the caller id number.  another idea is to reject calls that are not caller id number verified.  based on stir/shaken protocol, caller id number verification can be seen on zoom phone with a check mark on incomming calls.  due to intense lobbying by some legacy telecom providers, u.s. congress has permitted these legacy telecom providers not to conform with stir/shaken.

Caller checkmark icon for Zoom Phone

https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0068360

To see what telecom providers are or are not doing, please see the Robocall Mitigation Database

https://fccprod.servicenowservices.com/rmd?id=rmd_welcome

Internet Engineering Task Force (ietf) current actions on out of band solution for legacy telecom carriers.

https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-stir-servprovider-oob/

Calls without caller id number.  you can also block calls without a caller id number.  this is located in account settings, zoom phone.  Unfortunately, the federal communications commission permits scammers to rent legitimate phone numbes for campaigns and the u.s. congress has not addressed the problem.

Block Calls without Caller ID

Calls without caller ID will be blocked

 

State and Federal Officials.  you might consider complaining to your state and federal officials.  some states attorneys general are actively working on the scamming problem.

https://www.ncja.org/crimeandjusticenews/state-attorneys-general-form-task-force-to-fight-robocalls

 

Did my response answer your question? If so, please don't forget to mark the reply as an accepted solution.

thanks,  eliot

[pcat54]

Hey there, Thanks for the thorough suggestion here! I'll give this call screening setting a try and will take a look at the caller ID stuff too. The call screening may work for most of the calls. I'm pretty sure every one i've answered is just silence. 

[Eliot]

to see what the fcc will be considering at their open meeting on September 26, 2024, please see

FCC FACT SHEET* Combatting Illegal Voice Calls and Text Messages September 5, 2024

https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-405219A1.pdf

the fcc states:

"The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports a median loss of $1480 for fraud by phone call
and $1000 for fraud by text.  All told, consumers lose over a billion dollars to fraud via call and text
every year."

thanks,  eliot