We get calls similar to these constantly. Cell phone, house phone, doesn't matter ...and it doesn't stop.

It got so bad on the house phone that I turned the ringers off on all phones connected to the house line. Except one. I left the line connected to a printer, which is also a fax machine. I set the fax to have no audible ring and to pick up on "zero rings." In other words, it picks up the line the instant a call comes through on the house line.

As it's a fax machine, it does what fax machines do when they capture a line -- the most gawd-awful screeching and electronic racket starts immediately. It runs that way about ten seconds or so, then waits for the fax on the other end (or so it presumes) to return the favor with its own electronic racket. Of course, none emanates, so it repeats. Eventually it will give up and release the line. This takes around a minute or so. No message allowed and no human to try to scam.

You are probably wondering, "Why does he even keep the house line if no one can even leave a message?" Answer: we now just consider it a dedicated fax line. Not that we use it that way very often. Also, my dear wife has negotiated with the phone company (which company also handles our Internet) to get the lowest prices possible. The phone company insists that the house line be included in whatever "bundle" they agree to. Okay, fine. It costs practically nothing, so it stays.

It's been over 50 years since we landed on the moon, but somehow the phone companies are unable to stop some guy in Pakistan from robo-calling all over the USA. Nor do the phone companies seem to mind taking the checks from the call-scammers within the USA - their "boiler rooms" now often staffed by prisoners (paid pennies per day) in American prisons. I just found out about that one.

This can be stopped, and quickly. Pass legislation (I know...) fining the phone companies (not the callers, although that wouldn't bother me) $100 per call for every spam/scam phone call made using their system. I guarantee these calls would end within 24 hours if not sooner.

you might want to consider also that that connectivity to your car also tracks all your car's movements and likely monitors all its operations.

Also, you have no means of knowing whether the microphone is activated or not, so you cannnot be assured even of having a private conversation in your own car.

This is from 2013 when the 'feature' was limited to high-end car models:

until a recent court decision barring the practice, the FBI has been able to obtain warrants to listen in on in-car conversations through the roadside assistance devices installed in luxury cars. The problem, the court found, was not the intrusive nature of the eavesdropping but rather that the FBI’s listening disabled the emergency function of the system. In other words, when the FBI had the “wiretap” in place, emergency calls could not be made from the car. And, since the FBI sometimes records, rather than listens live to the conversations in the car, there was no assurance that the FBI would alert emergency services of the need for roadside assistance.

The lawsuit was brought by an undisclosed provider of the on-board service after it had complied with several wiretap warrants. Under the warrants, the on-board service relinquished control of the system to the FBI. Although the wiretap orders had expired, the court entertained the lawsuit noting that it was an issue that could continue to occur but otherwise would be incapable of being decided because the wiretaps were for limited duration.

The on-board system provided not only navigation but also allowed the persons in the vehicle to contact the provider in an emergency by touching a single button. When the button was pressed, it initiated a cell phone call between the car and the provider. When activated, the provider could hear all of the conversation in the vehicle. The conversations that the FBI sought to intercept were not the telephone calls to the provider but rather the conversations that took place in the car itself

Source

91% of all new car sales in the US in 2020 were 'connected' and emergency call systems have
been mandated for all new vehicles in the EU since 2018.

What is a connected car?

A connected car is a vehicle shipped with a built-in 3G, 4G, or 5G cellular modem right from the factory. With internet connectivity, the car can communicate with apps and services, similar to how a smartphone would. Connected cars can also communicate with external networks and infrastructure, like other vehicles, electrical grids, roads, and buildings.

Each car manufacturer develops its own connected services account. This lets drivers access vehicle information from a mobile app that communicates with the car’s embedded cellular modem. For example, Chevrolet’s connected services account is called OnStar and their mobile app is called MyChevrolet.

Vehicle telemetry data include a car’s location, odometer reading, fuel tank level or EV battery level, tire pressure, and engine oil life. Using the app, vehicle owners can check the location of their car, lock and unlock it, preheat the car, and get notified when they run low on gas—all directly from their phones.

The first mass deployment of vehicles with 4G LTE happened in 2014. By 2015, mobile apps like Chevrolet’s now-discontinued RemoteLink were already seeing millions of interactions a month from connected services subscribers. Today, 66% of drivers in the U.S. use connected services.

How is connected car data used?

Connected car data was introduced to power capabilities across use cases like infotainment, safety, navigation, diagnostics and efficiency, and payments. But today, connected cars — which includes 97% of electric vehicles — produce data that directly impact new and emerging use cases for sustainable energy, research and development, auto insurance, and transportation infrastructure.

Source

So, for their safety and convenience, consumers get to pay for a hackable system to surveil their and their car's activities and provide free data for major corporations, enhanced AI, alphabet agencies...

Now that there is what you call a real SCAM.

Competition breeds innovation, so it is not all bad. The problem is the built in advantage to those already at the top. I too have noticed the shit slide we are on (and have been for a long time), but I can't see a happy ending. Depressing.