How to Stop Spam Calls

I get a lot of unwanted calls so my answer is to let voice message pick up the calls unless I recognise the phone number.

How do you handle telemarketers?

This guy came up with a trick:

Hello, thank you for calling the CIA,” Baker says. “You’ve reached our scam and fraud division. All of our agents are currently assisting other callers.”

Trick

I looked on Pinterest just for fun and here are some of the idea that I found:


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If it is a robot I just say random words like apple, asparagus or are you a robot? It does not work most of the time but it is fun.

T Blankinship wrote:If it is a robot I just say random words like apple, asparagus or are you a robot? It does not work most of the time but it is fun.

I've tried that when I have to call DirecTV and I know I'm talking to a robot.

I've asked it if it is a real person and it told me "Yes" so I guess robots can be a real person even if it is a robot.

Anne Miller wrote:

T Blankinship wrote:If it is a robot I just say random words like apple, asparagus or are you a robot? It does not work most of the time but it is fun.

I've tried that when I have to call DirecTV and I know I'm talking to a robot.

I've asked it if it is a real person and it told me "Yes" so I guess robots can be a real person even if it is a robot.

While working in a call center, I was accused of being a robot at least 4 times per shift, and I was only taking incoming calls.

I was helping a friend 2 days after her husband died, I answered the phone, some salesweasel REALLY needed to talk to William. I tried to brush him off, finally said "he died Tuesday, the funeral is Saturday, at St Andrews, feel free to come to talk to him.  Go away, we are busy."

Best money I have ever spent, hands down, has been my AT&T phone with Smart Call Blocker

https://telephones.att.com/pd/3733/CL84207-2-handset-corded-cordless-phone-system-with-smart-call-blocker

You have to have Caller ID in order for it to work. But in a nutshell, unrecognized callers have to press # and say their name, if they don't go through that trouble (99% don't), the phone never even rings.
It has an allow/block feature as well, so family/friends/work can ring right through if they are on your allow list. The phone will ring twice, then it will say "Call from (insert friendly name here)".

In short, the phone never rings unless it's someone I want (or need) to talk to.
It's like living in the 70s again ....Priceless.

I just don't answer numbers I don't know. If they want me, they'll leave a message.

Cell phone spam calls are limited now that Verizon has there we don't recognize that number feature.  Which actually backfired when my son in law tried to reach me when I was in their town for a visit...  

Land line AGH  We are both disabled vets and both get calls from the VA about appointments, lab results, etc  only about half actually come over as VAMC calls the other are totally unknown out of area numbers.   So that means we now grab all incoming calls in case it is one of those.  

I always tell people they have the wrong number. It seems to work. I told my phone provider they had the wrong number one time. The guy was super confused. They never phoned again, though.

Howdy!
Not a vet, but know quite a few. I do have All The Medical Carp, though.
I'm getting spam calls like I used to when we had a land line. I have to pick up, just in case it's some lab that isn't in my list, yet. Or maybe a doctor's office that has once again moved to a different location (More than a few of my doctors ended up moving into larger groups/buildings/got moved around last year.. It means that all my old medical professional numbers are suspect.

I hope y'all are able to find a way to get off their lists! (I already hang up on bots, only use 'yes' and 'no' answers, and don't mind silence when they try to wait me out (it means I can get a couple of stitches of some handwork project done.
Good luck!!

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Years ago, I put my number on the national do not call registry. It's pretty easy and I rarely get spam calls. There are two ways to add your number:

-Online at donotcall.gov, as long as you have a working email address.  Shortly after you sign up, you will receive an email confirmation from donotcall.gov that contains a link you must click to complete the process.  If you do not click on this link within 72 hours, your phone number will not be registered.
-Over the telephone by calling toll-free 1-888-382-1222 from the number you wish to register.
More info here: [url=https://www.sec.gov/reportspubs/investor-publications/investorpubscoldcallhtm.html]https://www.sec.gov/reportspubs/investor-
publications/investorpubscoldcallhtm.html[/url]
This only works if you're in the U.S.

The one thing it hasn't worked for is house flippers. My partner and I both get crazy numbers of calls and texts from these people, despite asking them to take us off their lists. They've even called my partner's mom about our home! Grrrr.... If anyone knows how to stop those people, I would love to know. We've started texting them back various rants about how they're destroying communities, disrespecting land, etc. My partner even tried to talk to one of them about those things, but it didn't make sense to them at all.

My phone has a feature labeled OFF. It's magic!

Mike Barkley wrote:My phone has a feature labeled OFF. It's magic!

Mine has an app on it which does a reverse look up on phone numbers and if other people report a number as spammy, then it tells me that too. Pretty effective.

Before the FCC cracked down on those car warranty robo-callers, I would get so many calls that I made a contact called Spam, and each time I got a called I would add it to that contact. Then in the contact settings I set it to block all calls and texts from that contact. That helped quite a bit. Now the robo-callers have to include an opt-out option (usually by pressing 2) to avoid additional heavy fines.

I also do not answer unknown numbers anymore. However, when my mom was alive for several years she was having a lot of falls and other accidents at home where she would get assistance from first responders or attendants at her assisted living facility. More than once I got calls from well intentioned people who were helping her from unknown numbers, trying to notify me or get my help reasoning with her (she could be a very difficult patient). Since I still had the same area code as Mom despite having moved a few states away years before, all the spam calls came from #s with the same area code as those who’d be calling about my Mom regarding an emergency or worse. It gave me that “oh my moms dead or dying or grievously injured” feeling a dozen times a day when I got those spam calls. It was a relief when I got a new number, as I knew it was just spam. Spammers and scammers help me understand why so many people are comforted by their belief in a hell for those human paraquat to go to.

Often HOW you answer the phone deals with this issue very simply.

Normally I answer the phone in "business mode" such as "Lorinne speaking, how may I help you?". You would be shocked how many times the response is 'CLICK' as they hang up - their target is a home or personal line, NOT a business. This also gets your number wiped from the specific list, as the List Provider (in Canada) generally refunds the list purchaser for providing an invalid number.

IF that doesn't work, and a human starts blabbing I rudely interrupt with " I'm sorry, is this regarding an animal in distress?" and if THAT doesn't work they are STERNLY informed "YOU HAVE DIALLED THE EQUIVALENT OF 911 (our universal emergency number) FOR WILDLIFE AND ARE TYING UP THE LINE FOR REAL EMERGENCIES!". Then I kept repeating versions of this until they hang up.

My spouse refused, did the I don't answer calls from numbers I don't recognize, reverse look up and block by creating 'contacts' for the spammers for years, to no avail, the calls kept coming. He adopted my methods this year and is down to maybe 1-2 per month.


HOW DOES IT HAPPEN? WHERE DO THEY GET MY INFO?
You are willingly providing it.  1) NEVER give out your real information (phone number) for contests, MALL RAFFLES, points cards etc. THIS is how your number is collected. Same goes for your address and email (create an email specifically for times when you MUST provide an email such as subscriptions, warranties and the like, and only use it there) and 2) convince the caller you are NOT their demographic.  

Companies compile lists from your voluntary contributions of information - whether you realized it was or not - as there really is no longer local "phone books'. Every time a store asks for a phone number, address, or email ask "why"; almost always this is a ruse to collect contact info; same goes for contests, draws etc. Even MORE telling, devise an alias such as a variation of your first name, use your first initial or middle name - intentionally misspell something - this is VERY useful for mail/paper spam; anything addressed to the 'alias' gets "DEASEASED, RETURN TO SENDER" that pretty much solves THAT issue permanently!

These legally volunteered snippets soon are combined into FULL contacts which are then SOLD to companies who compile them into lists based on purchase preference, demographic, age and economic 'class' (most commonly based on location of your residence). Then ABC Company requests 100,000 contacts with X amount annual income (derived from your post/zip code in North America), age, etc. Bingo, a list is born!  

The trick is getting removed from the thousands if not millions of lists you are already on, only consistent convincing you are NOT their demographic will do this.  If friends are always borrowing your tools, answer "Joe's Tool Barn" what tool are you seeking seeking? You will be AMAZED at how swiftly you get dead silence followed by a click.

Heather Sharpe wrote:Years ago, I put my number on the national do not call registry. It's pretty easy and I rarely get spam calls.

I put my cell phone # on the registry years ago. I still get the car warranty people calling me. It's always a robot, and trying to say any of the things suggested in this very entertaining thread is useless. I once stayed on the line long enough for them to say to press (2, I think) if I wanted to stop receiving calls. I did so, and the calls came more frequently. I have never, ever heard a real person on the line. I block the number and they call again from a different one. It makes me wonder if they're stealing bona fide numbers from somewhere. Because I'm on the dnc registry, I know they are scammers.

Ben Zumeta wrote:I also do not answer unknown numbers anymore.

Same here. I only answer it if I'm expecting a call from a repair service, etc. My voice mail is not set up, so they don't get any answer at all. Also, my number is from a state I lived in 7 years ago, and the odds of an unknown number from that state being someone I know is really close to zero.

Lorinne Anderson wrote:Often HOW you answer the phone deals with this issue very simply.

Normally I answer the phone in "business mode" such as "Lorinne speaking, how may I help you?".
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The problem I have is that these are robocalls and no human ever shows up. I have even picked up the phone and said nothing, and they start in with their spiel about how they have mailed me about my car warranty and I really need to respond, . . . etc.

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Years ago, there was a rash of phone calls from portrait studios offering great deals on family photos and such. My favorite response was to say that I already had a portrait that I kept in the attic and that my image in the portrait grew old, ugly and scabbly while I remained perpetually youthful.

I was amazed that they never got the reference -- "You work in the portrait business and you've never read or heard of The Picture Of Dorian Gray?"