scary. Change number now?

How does this even work?

When you call into your carrier's voice mail system you usually have the option of leaving a message for anyone else on the system. This probably calls into pre-selected voice mail holders of all networks (ATT, Verizon, Sprint, Tmob. etc), and then does the little magic to get to the internal mailbox, and then delivers your message to the box.

I used to do this a lot when I wnted to call someone back and say "oh man... sorry I missed you, but hey call me when you get this." It allows infinite phone tag, too bad I switched carriers...

Follow up for Glenn - did anyone you ever SlyDialed get spammed, too?

I use SlyDial, and I've not received any VM spam - but I think I called from a landline or my Grand Central account.

Yea, I've used this feature from my Verizon phone calling other Verizon phones before, making it seem like I tried talking to someone ...
it's fairly easy to do this if you're on the same service as the person you're doing it to.

Great. Verizon charges you minutes to check your voicemail. So now I get to pay Verizon for all the voicemail spam I could get. I'm sure Verizon's happy about this. I haven't used slydial thankfully but if this gets out of hand, I guess I'll have to start listening to voicemails after 9 or something.

I used the Slydial iPhone app with a friend back & forth several dozen times and neither of us got any ads that way. Sometimes it doesn't work, though. It randomly rings their phone once in a while.

@chris_d: Just do what I do. Never check your voicemail. Each message deletes itself after like two months. It's been over a year since I last checked my VM. I would change my voicemail message, but that would require me to call in, and ruin my streak. If it's important enough, they'll call me back. They'll tell me what message they left for me when I hit redial and call them back anyway.

@Xerloq: (I am Glenn) I only slydialed myself, just to see if it actually worked. I have access to two cell phones, and slydialed one from the other.

@Echomatrix: (I am the Glenn in the original post) Under no circumstances. I've had this number since 1997 and it is the number people know to call me by. I also use this number for my side-line business, and it appears on my business cards.

No, more likely I will be considering my options on dealing with SlyDial. This sort of behaviour needs bo be nipped in the bud now because the last thing we need is a new spam propagation vector.

@i.GitEmSteveDave: My best friend actually has an announcement on his voicemail that sayse he's very bad at responding to voicemails, so if you need to get ahold of him, try email or IM.

I don't know how many people listen, though. I used to have a message on my home answering machine that plainly stated that all calls were screened, and that you had to leave a message if you wanted to talk to someone, only to have a co-worker tell me he tried to call me seven times over the weekend but kept getting my machine.

@kc2idf: I have a colleague who says on his outgoing voicemail that he doesn't know how to check voicemail and he doesn't know how to use email, so if you really need to talk to him either come to his office or write a letter. He doesn't have many friends.

I hate checking voicemail too, but I got a new phone - Sprint Instinct - that puts your voicemail in a touchscreen menu so you can see who called and pick which ones to listen to, or delete without listening. I really like not having to listen to all of them just to find out who called.

@kc2idf:
I hate VM but without it people call repeatedly "Is there something wrong with your phone!! I couldn't leave a message!!"

In the past I've had 20 or so messages every couple of days, all with people saying "call me back!" No real messages... just "call me back!" And my VM sucks because I can't quickly delete a message without listening to almost the whole thing. What a waste of time. I have caller ID. I see you called. I'll call you back. No need to clutter my VM.

My VM now says that "This is an unattended voice mail box. Your message will most likely *not* be received..."

If my phone company ever gets visual VM I'd pay for it, but since I have a *gasp* land line and no interest in a cell phone I doubt it will happen any time soon.

@chris_d: @JamieSueAustin:

I was super excited about Visual Voicemail when I got an iPhone for exactly this reason. I haaaate having to listen to all of my messages all the way through before I can find out who they were from, what time they called, and delete them. Visual Voicemail lines them up as if they were emails. So much nicer. And in case of voicemail spam, easy to identify and delete. (I'm definitely never signing up with these people.)

@JamieSueAustin: Agreed. The only thing worse than the person who calls back are the people who don't understand voicemail, and leave a message saying "If you're there, pick up the phone, this is _____", like I can hear it.

@kc2idf: If I didn't have to call in to change the message, I would change my message.

@burnedout: That would make me laugh if I heard that message. It's like when the people at work Text me asking me where I am, and I text back, "I'm asleep" "the battery on my phone is dead" "Can't find my cellphone", etc...

@kc2idf: Legal action appears to be out of the question. The Schenectady Small Claims Court won't even give me the paperwork because the defendant is in Boston. Is there anyone here who has successfully sued a telemarketer in small claims court?

How does the OP know that it was in fact slydial who spammed him? Many companies are telemarketing illegally. I have never used slydial and have gotten many voicemails from diane about carpet cleaning.

@Jason Holmes:
I agree. I think it could very well be a coincidence. I keep getting a bunch of calls telling me that my factory warranty on my 10 year old truck is about to expire, and I should get a warranty through them. Every time I try to say "Don't call me anymore", they hang up on me before I get two words out! And I never give out my phone number.

@Jason Holmes: (I am the OP) Easy. The advert was for SlyDial.

@CES.GitEmSteveDave: If you wanted to you could call yourself from a different phone to log in and change your message... but if you don't want to log in at all that wouldn't fix it either..

Or simply dial the voicemail "backdoor" number and then type in their phone number (usually followed by #):

[www.bridog.net]

Confirmed working on verizon wireless.