HOWTO: Extract Spam Calls From Your Cellphone

Say someone’s leaving unsolicited marketing messages on your cellphone and you want to save them to your computer so you can share them on the internet. How do you do it?

Well, it’s pretty simple, as Ian writes:

    “Mobile phones generally use a 2.5mm phono jack for connecting external headsets, and you can pull audio directly out of there. You’ll need a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter and a 3.5mm to 3.5mm patch cable to connect to the audio inputs on most computers.”

A 2.55mm to 3.55mm converter is $1.90, and a 3.5mm patch cable is $1.30, both at Amazon.com. The fastest way, however, is to take a stroll down to the friendly local Radio Shack.

After you’ve got your cellphone patched into your computer, just use your favorite audio recording device. The default Sound Recorder (Start, Accessories, Entertainment) program on most PCs will do the trick. For Macs, download the demo version of AudioHijackPro, which gives a way to modulate volume in real time. Or just fire up a your QuickTimePro. We have Adobe Audition and it rules.

Finally, email the file to The Consumerist so our crack team of volunteer P.I.’s can begin dissecting its contents.

UPDATE: Forget the hardware, go to GotVoice.com. This free service retrieves calls from your cellphone and converts them to .mp3 for you. Read the review at Lifehacker. (Thanks to Andrew!)

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