It’s political season and I am being spammed due to others using my cell number as theirs. How do I stop this?
TL;DR: How can I stop this never ending spam?
Background: I've have had the same cell phone number for over 30 years. However, when I google my phone number I see four people who live 40 miles away have for the last ten years been using my number as one of their (multiple) phone numbers. One of those four individuals apparently is active politically. I am getting massively spammed by text and by voice mail as a result; they address me in the text messages and voice mails by that person's first name rather than mine.
I have tried contacting my provider. Not much help there as giving a fake phone number is not a crime. (And, to be honest, it's not as if I haven't given a fake phone number myself to get a discount at a gas station, whether its just miles from home or a thousand miles from home. I understand the need to give a fake phone number.) I have tried responding END or STOP. That apparently was a mistake as it tells the sender they've contacted a live person, so I don't do that anymore. I have tried blocking said numbers. That also doesn't work as Apple's messaging system tells when a message was delivered. It appears that blocked senders send my number to someone else who is not yet blocked.
Fortunately, there's less than two weeks to go to election day and this non-stop spam will end, at least for a while. Until then, it appears I am stuck with lots of spam.
