BobRTC
 | |
| Type of business | VOIP |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founded | May 2019 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Key people | Kenzo |
| URL | https://bobrtc.tel |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Required for use, vetted by website admins |
| Current status | Shut down |
BobRTC was an online VoIP platform created by scambaiters to combat telephone scams, robocalls, and other forms of telecommunications fraud. The platform allowed users to call verified scam numbers to waste scammers' time and gather intelligence on their operations. Leveraging WebRTC technology, BobRTC ensured user anonymity and security during calls.
Earning Tokens and Calling Scammers
BobRTC had a unique token system:
- Earning Tokens: Users could earn tokens by calling toll-free numbers for extended periods. These tokens could then be used to call non-toll-free numbers.
- Using Tokens: Once users accumulated enough tokens, they could use them to call a broader range of scam numbers, including those not toll-free.
Using BobRTC
Once registered and equipped with tokens, users could access a phonebook of verified scam numbers sorted by categories such as tech support scams, refund scams, and IRS scams. BobRTC features included:
- Calling Scammers: Select a number from the phonebook and call directly through the web interface.
- Dial Codes: Utilise buddies and sound effects during calls to enhance interactions.
- Voice Modulation: Adjust your voice pitch using the built-in pitch shift tool to disguise your identity.
Community and Collaboration
BobRTC encouraged community collaboration. Users could share experiences, techniques, and strategies for engaging with scammers through forums and community features. This collaborative approach helped refine methods and improve the effectiveness of scam-baiting activities.
Shutdown of BobRTC
Despite its effectiveness and popularity, BobRTC was shut down on July 4th due to financial pressures on the service. Maintaining the platform became untenable without sufficient funding.
Quote from BobRTC admins:
It's time to say goodbye.
BobRTC will be closing its doors this July 4, 2022.
The recent inflation and recession has put severe pressure on datacenters to generate revenue. While we were working on software changes to support even more inbound calls, our inbound call partners had started demanding $7,000+ from our carriers to basically answer junk telephone calls that they have to absorb regardless if anyone rents their DIDs or not. As a result of their strange demand, we ended our relationship and returned the DID numbers that we were lent. Many scammers have added BobRTC DID numbers to their scrub lists to prevent their scam dialers from reaching us, proving the point that if you want less scam calls to hit your phone, the only way to get a scammer to delete your number is to waste their time.
That said, our home datacenter has also jacked up our rates to the point that no amount of donation drives would be sustainable
The founder of BobRTCs have donated over $30K of their own personal funds to try to keep the project going, but given how much effort we put into it only to see rates eat up what we raise and then some, from a financial perspective it doesn't make sense to continue to rent machines at a public datacenter for this project.
Then there is the final insult: certain members of the scambaiting community. Let's take one that went by the name of "BluePhoneBuster" as an example. This type of scambaiter loves to insert themselves into other people's projects, do no work, but then also cannot tolerate other scambaiting communities other than the one(s) that he alone runs. Ergo, he starts attacking the same communities he was a participant in. There's several scambaiters out there like this, who only take enjoyment from making other scambaiters experience a miserable one and driving them out of the community.
We launched BobRTC as a service in early 2019 in hopes to make scambaiting easier and more fun to do. We never had the desire to be mean, ugly, pimple-faced gatekeepers. We thought by doing this project we could have an impact. In many ways BobRTC did achieve many things in scambaiting, particularly against SSA scammers (which we had a direct hand in getting many of them arrested in India). We also, with the help of AT&T, took down Premium Techie Support and the Glendale, CA based man who was behind that scam (AKA Saburi Pvt Ltd, India) was forced into a consent decree by federal prosecutors.
As a team we have other projects we are working on, anti-scammerism still runs through our blood.
It was nice knowing all of you.
Please disable your SubscribeStar subscription to BobRTC.
Safety and Legal Considerations
BobRTC was designed to ensure user safety:
- Calls were made using random caller IDs, so scammers could not trace them back to users.
- It was advised to use a VPN for additional security.
Legally, BobRTC operated within the boundaries of the law by only allowing calls to known scam numbers, avoiding random or sequential dialing prohibited by telemarketing regulations.
