Reconcile VoIP.ms ToS negative-balance language with the toll-fraud design
The user found ToS language stating the account "may run on a negative balance" and describing a 30-day-notice-then-suspend / 30-consecutive- days-then-close process - worth reading against the wiki's "balance must be over $0 to call" claim the whole toll-fraud design leans on. Reconciled: these describe two different things, not a contradiction. New call attempts should still be blocked in real time at $0 (the wiki's claim, and the core assumption this design needs). The ToS's negative- balance language most plausibly covers recurring fees (DID/E911) landing when balance is already near zero, and in-progress-call settlement edge cases - not a window where fraud keeps dialing while negative. Still not verified against a live account either way.
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@@ -59,10 +59,32 @@ file.
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- **Provider: VoIP.ms.** Chosen for its prepaid-balance model: turn off
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auto-recharge in the account's Finances settings and outbound calls simply
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fail once the balance hits $0 — that's the toll-fraud backstop if the
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droplet's Asterisk (`asterisk-digital-ocean`) is ever compromised. This
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behavior wasn't verified against a live account — confirm the
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auto-recharge toggle still works this way at sign-up time, since billing
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UX can change.
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droplet's Asterisk (`asterisk-digital-ocean`) is ever compromised.
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**Update — read VoIP.ms's actual ToS (not just the wiki) on this.** The
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wiki says plainly "only accounts with a balance over $0 are able to send
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and receive calls" — new call attempts should be blocked in real time at
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$0, and that's still the core assumption this design leans on. But the
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ToS separately says the account "may run on a negative balance," that any
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negative balance is "immediately due and payable," that VoIP.ms may
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suspend an account below a $5 minimum balance (30-day notice first), and
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may permanently close it after 30 *consecutive* days negative. Read
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together, not a contradiction — two different things:
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- **Can new calls start** — real-time balance check, blocked at $0. Core
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assumption holds.
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- **Can the balance ever read negative** — yes, most plausibly from
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recurring fees (DID monthly, E911) landing when the balance is already
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near zero, or edge-case settlement of an in-progress call ticking
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slightly negative before teardown. Neither is a runaway toll-fraud
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scenario; both mean liability isn't cleanly capped at the funded amount
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to the exact penny, and the account needs topping up within the 30-day
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windows or it gets suspended/closed (an account-status consequence, not
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"30 free days of unblocked calling while negative").
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- Still not verified against an actual live account — this is a read of
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their published wiki + ToS text, not a test. Watch the real balance for
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the first month or two after go-live, and don't panic at a small
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negative reading — check whether it's a recurring fee or an actual call
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spike before assuming the block failed.
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- **Scope: US calling only, for now.** No international, no premium-rate
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destinations. Enforce this twice — once via whatever dial-plan/prefix
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VoIP.ms requires for US routing, and again independently in Asterisk's own
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@@ -233,9 +255,15 @@ separately from that hourly check.
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cover it), default 10/10, global not per-extension, live-editable via
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`pstn-limits.conf`/web UI. ~~Spend/volume alert~~ Done — ntfy, hourly
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threshold + burst check, plus immediate alerts on denied/rejected calls.
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6. Verify against a live VoIP.ms account: auto-recharge-off behavior at
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sign-up, and that the chosen POP server's actual source IP for inbound
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calls matches what `services/pstn-trunk.sh` resolved via DNS at install
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time (VoIP.ms's docs mention some redundancy/failover between servers —
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if inbound calls ever stop matching the `identify` section, this is the
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6. Verify against a live VoIP.ms account (still not done — only their wiki
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+ ToS text has been read, see "Decision so far" above for what that
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turned up): confirm new outbound calls actually get blocked at $0
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balance as documented; watch whether/when the balance goes slightly
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negative in normal operation (expected from recurring fees, not
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necessarily a sign of a problem) and top up within the 30-day windows
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the ToS describes so the account/DID doesn't get suspended or closed.
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Also confirm the chosen POP server's actual source IP for inbound calls
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matches what `services/pstn-trunk.sh` resolved via DNS at install time
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(VoIP.ms's docs mention some redundancy/failover between servers — if
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inbound calls ever stop matching the `identify` section, this is the
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first thing to check).
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