Thanks Daley! Yea, definitely not something we'd want to do long-term... just like how currently, after buying them a caller ID device (which I may just return since it turns out they have a caller ID phone in another area of the restaurant that we had no clue about until we looked into it when we got there), they have been resorting to leaving the primary and secondary lines off the hook so that the calls get routed to the third line so they can start logging calls. They are only doing this when they have some downtime and it's not as busy though. This is how we are also able to see that all these crank calls are coming in from random area codes, which is what is leading me to believe that it could be a group of kids (and adults) using Burner or some other spoofer. On that note, I read that with spoofing oftentimes the goal is to try to trick someone into thinking it's a local call so you end up using a number with a local area code. I'm assuming with spoofing you're not constrained to a particular area code and can pretty much fill in anything you want, right? Pretty much the same idea s Burner... so given that, is Burner actually just a call spoofer? Or is it completely different?
Okay, a couple points of clarity.
A "burner" phone traditionally in telecom slang is more of a pejorative for prepaid mobile phone service where a cheap cellphone is additionally provided. Your Tracfones and whatnot. It's slang that mostly came about from a combination of these sorts of devices being popular with drug dealers before IMEI registration become mandatory during checkout, and a cultural callousness in this country to anything that's even remotely targeted at financially insolvent segments of the population, and a disposable everything social culture. Cheap to start service, no huge loss to lose is. You buy it, you "burn" off the minutes, you pitch it. Burner phone. I doubt these kids are doing that.
There is a more recent cellphone app called ""Burner" (that you're referencing) that basically took the concept of a temporary number a bit more mainstream, and frankly though it has its uses, their model is far too easy to exploit by pre-pubescent knuckleheads and can be a raging carbuncle on the caboose of society in the wrong hands. Technically, though, it's a VoIP phone service, and you actually keep the number you get for as long or as little as you want, so it's just a temporary phone number. Given the random "national" scope of the numbers, I suspect they're probably using up the free trial services of a service like Burner. That could work to your advantage. Start looking up the numbers and see which telecoms the blocks of numbers belong to.
Similar things could be said of SpoofCard and its ilk being a potential raging carbuncle, but that service is a legitimate CID spoofing service that can be used for actually faking any number you want, and you usually need to know what number you want to fake in advance. If the random calls were coming in from say numbers like 714-867-5309, 202-456-1111, 202-456-1414, 714-853-1212, 900-649-2568, 718-387-6962, 951-262-3062, 777-9311, 606-0842, 842-3089, NPA-NXX numbers to look like they're from local exchanges, non-existent area codes/exchanges, or even 555-XXXX numbers, I'd say they were using a spoofer (and at least had an actual
minuscule bit of wit if some of those non-generic numbers were used - but they don't seem that smart from all that you've detailed thus far). Now don't get me wrong, CID spoofing can be useful. I outlined a valid usage scenario in the guide for using a cheaper per-minute VoIP service to do outbound calls at home from your "cellphone", but the companies I referenced for doing so require you to verify ownership of the phone number in question before you can use alternate CID info when making calls from their accounts. Actual spoofing can be relatively cheap and easy to do, but is unlikely to be used under the circumstances.
The thing is, both AT&T and local law enforcement should be doing more... but it may be an uphill battle, and a hard thing to get results on anymore given the progress of technology. AT&T needs to set a trap on the lines for a week and you'll have to record the times and dates yourself of when the events happen, but that's going to take a lot of persuasion of the
Annoyance Call Bureau (no, seriously, that's what it's called). Using Call Trace will be pretty worthless. The best you can really hope for is that the numbers being used are legit temporaries, and you can trace it back to the specific provider who sells access to these numbers. Otherwise, it's not going to be an easily won battle and may just take time and patience for the storm to pass as the only other extreme option is to ditch the phone number, which will hurt business.
If you can't get this problem nailed down, and it's possible you won't, (assuming you already have stable internet access) it might be worth the time and money to update the phone system and go managed VOIP through an outfit such as VOIP.ms which gives you access to most all the useful Asterisk features for your service on their end without setting up a physical VoIP PBX on your end. Usually, adding technology and complexity is antithetical to a simpler and easier life, but sometimes the complexity can be used to your advantage, such as with dealing with these sorts of things.
Leave one non-PBX'd analog line as the fallback, and push the main numbers through a IVR pre-screen system and call treatments. Then you can filter out anonymous, fake and spammy numbers, have callers placing a delivery order to enter in their five-digit ZIP code(s) to confirm they're "local" before connecting with a live person, dumping the harassers into some pre-recorded loop of non-verbal utterances or IVR menu hell.... sky's the limit, within technical limitations of course, and if the internet goes down, you still have a way to receive and make calls (which would be legally required given you're a public business and you'll need ways to provide 911 access at all times). Might even cost less longer term than staying with AT&T as is. Cisco IP phone handsets are usually the gold standard that nobody gets fired for recommending, but Grandstream makes some decent IP phone handsets at far more reasonable prices than the Cisco handsets or trying to bridge the old Merlin equipment with a new VoIP PBX, especially if it was the newer digital. You'd probably need to bring in someone who knows what they're doing for the transition and setup, however, as some rewiring and a good router/firewall/switch setup would be prudent to add if it isn't present already - unless you're
really comfortable using WiFi for the network connection, which Grandstream does make some WiFi capable IP desktop handsets for around $100 a pop. It's doable as a DIY weekend/afterhours project, but you need to be technically inclined to do so and know what you're getting into first. That may be beyond the scope of the forums here, though.