[DFW1LE]

Originally Posted by hammdo

Sign up for no more robo...

https://www.nomorobo.com/

-Don

+1, still get a single ring before it disconnects, but this is a good option.

[ZED SLED]

These responses worked better before the days of bot calls, but:

#11 is my personal favorite.

1. If they want to loan you money, tell them you just filed for bankruptcy and
you could sure use some money. Ask, "How long can I keep it? Do I have to ever
pay it back, or is it like the other money I borrowed before my bankruptcy?"

2. If they start out with, "How are you today?" say, "Why do you want to
know?" Or you can say, "I'm so glad you asked, because no one seems to care
these days and I have all these problems, my sciatica is acting up, my
eyelashes are sore, my dog just died...." When they try to get back to the
sales process, just continue on with telling about your problems.

3. If the person says he's Joe Doe from the XYZ Company, ask him to spell his
name, then ask him to spell the company name, then ask where it is located.
Continue asking personal questions or questions about the company for as long
as necessary.

4. This one works better if you are male: Telemarketer: "Hi, my name is Judy
and I'm with Canter and Siegel services.... You: "Hang on a second." (few
seconds pause) "Okay, (in a really husky voice) what are you wearing?" (*I
dont think Sprint will ever call me back!*)

5. Crying out, in well-simulated tones of pleasure and surprise, "Judy!! Is
this really you? I can't believe it! Judy, how have you BEEN?" Hopefully, this
will give Judy a few brief moments of terror as she tries to figure out where
the heck she could know you from.

6. Say, "No," over and over. Be sure to vary the sound of each no, and keep an
even tempo even as they're trying to speak. This is the most fun if you can
keep going until they hang up.

7. If MCI calls trying to get you to sign up with their Family and Friends
plan, reply, in as sinister a voice as you can muster, "I don't have any
friends...would you be my friend?" *MY FAVORITE*

8. If they clean rugs: "Can you get blood out, you can? Well, how about goat
blood or HUMAN blood - chicken blood too?"

9. Let the person go through their spiel, providing minimal but necessary
feedback in the form of an occasional "Uh-huh, really, or, "That's
fascinating." Finally, when they ask you to buy, ask them to marry you. They
get all flustered, but just tell them you couldn't give your credit card
number to someone who's a complete stranger.

10. Tell them you work for the same company they work for.
Example: Telemarketer: "This is Bill from Watertronics."
You: "Watertronics!! Hey I work for them too. Where are you calling from?"
Telemarketer: "Uh, Dallas, Texas." You: "Great, they have a group there too?
How's business/the weather? Too bad the company has a policy against selling
to employees! Oh well, see ya."

11. Tell the Telemarketer you are busy and if they will give you their phone
number you will call them back. If they say they are not allowed to give out
their number, then ask them for their home number and tell them you will call
them at home (this is usually the most effective method of getting rid of
Telemarketers). If the person says, "Well, I don't really want to get a call
at home," say, "Ya! Now you know how I feel." (smiling, of course...)

[DWR]

Thanks for the tip on Hiya... downloaded now.

My favorite video of someone dealing with these B-holes is below; he makes a script to spam call the living crap out of them to the point that they are unable to call out!
(actually shows the script he used as well.... though I'm not endorsing it's usage...)

[Klayman]

Originally Posted by travislambert

It doesn't seem like that difficult of a problem to solve. Surely the telecommunications folks have logs of which call centers are calling with seemingly random caller IDs.

T-Mobile ID's about half these calls as "Scam Likely" on my phone.

[Allez]

[caller] Hi, I've got an amazing offer just for you!!

[me] Really? Let me get a piece of paper - I'll put you on hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[GearheadSS]

It really is a beating. I get 5-8 calls per day that are all some sort of spam.

[dohvb1]

Originally Posted by YARBIE 1

Who likes pizza ? Just thought i'd ask a non car related question also..

Great question.

I do and since Becky started this thread, it's fitting to say my favorite pizza is a Meat Eater's Deluxe from Pizza Papalis in Greektown.

[Move_Over]

I get scam calls from MY OWN NUMBER, my name pops up - which is nuts to me. I stopped answering my phone, if it's a real call i'll call them back after VM. Sucks that i's come to that.

[hotlap]

If you get the "this is Microsoft, we've identified a problem with your computer, help us remote log onto your computer so we can help".

Put them on speaker phone, ask them to wait while you log onto the internet and then start playing dial up internet sounds until they hang up

[Need4Camaro]

I get those annoying extended warranty calls. They call up like they're some government agency and its illegal to drive your car without an extended warranty.. ..everytime they call it goes like this.

Them: Our records indicate that you have a 2017 Chevrol ---
Me: I sold it.
Them: Oh? and what are you driving now?
Me: My business - *click*

Originally Posted by hotlap

If you get the "this is Microsoft, we've identified a problem with your computer, help us remote log onto your computer so we can help".

Put them on speaker phone, ask them to wait while you log onto the internet and then start playing dial up internet sounds until they hang up

!!!

Reminds me of a time someone was trying to sell me a vacation in Vegas and I was misfortunate enough to answer the phone. He kept calling me back everytime I hung up and was annoying the f*ck out of me -- so on the last attempt he called back, I answered it and let him listen to the sweet sound of dead air for about 2 minutes before he finally gave up.

[kropscamaro16]

i dont have a home phone but i get them on my cell phone at least once a day and i block the number every time lol the worst was i signed up for a contest and received calls from welk resort every day and they never left a message ... finally saw them at an event and walked up to guy and asked him who do i have to talk to finally get you guys to stop f*cking calling me lol and the guy apologized and told me and i did it and it worked!!

[Baldman]

Boy this a first. Becky is fired up.

[GelflingEssence]

Originally Posted by mbnwa

I use the following on my iPhone it helps limit the amount of calls as you can have them blocked before ringing your device, The FCC is also working on a task force to limit the access that these folks have but will still take time to bring live.

As someone who works in the telecommunications industry we see these issues all too frequently.

Hiya

The problem with that app (and all apps like it) is that it relies on the integrity if CID. And there is none. It is trivial to spoof CID information and to make it worse there are no reprocussions for doing so.

Fun story: I got a call from my wife (full 10 digit CID) and it was spam. I thought it was funny so I call my wife back...but my line is locked out. I hang up and try again. Apparently at the same time I was getting a spam call from her number she was getting a spam call from my number.

I called Verizon and they said "there's nothing they can do" which translates to "we could do something but it would cost money, we'll wait until the problem reaches critical mass and the government pays us to fix our own problem".

People wine and cry about "guberment opression" but this is what we get when regulations are lax.

[CamaroSS50]

We are all getting bombarded from Robocalls, many coming from China.

With the China scam, they are hoping to get Chinese speakers telling them they owe the Chinese government thousands of dollars and need to pay it asap or action will be taken against them and their families.

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/10/60911...nal-phone-scam

Then there is Neighbor spoofing. This is where the area code & first 3 digits in many cases are similar to yours.

https://www.bbb.org/en/us/article/ne...ghbor-spoofing

If you answer to any of these, ensure that you are not recorded saying the word "yes" as the recording will be used to authorize them to charge credit cards, etc.

DNC really just stops legitimate telemarketers from calling you. Those spoofing, etc. are outside the country and functioning outside the law.

On my mobile I use Hiya.

Home phone was nomorobo, but instead blocked ALL numbers except those I input (tons of calls from China).

Office has not been touched.

The other crime here is minutes are still a thing with many mobile phones, so in effect this is stealing $$$ from many.

The major telecoms should be able to verify a call coming in (this preventing spoofs) but unclear on what laws prevent them from verifying numbers.

Like email spam, all we can do is minimize its annoyance.