Spam calls

[Pilgrimdawg]

Looking for some advice. I have to keep my cell phone on silent due to the number of spam calls that I receive. Thankfully the car warranty calls finally stopped. However, from Monday morning until Friday evening of every week I get multiple calls everyday about credit card debt ( I don’t have any credit card debt ). I don’t answer the calls other than one that fooled me because it came from a local number. I used to block the numbers but that just seemed to make it worse. I have had 4 today and that’s about average. I used to get as many as 20 a day but I guess the Feds got rid of some on them finally. Car warranty, fake social security, fake Medicare, etc, seem to be gone now but the credit card debt help people are still relentless. I have C Spire. My wife has ATT and does not have this problem. I understand that the phone companies are supposed to have programs in place to block spam but if C Spire has one it doesn’t work. I was going to change over to ATT but they pi$$ed us off over our land line so no. I just keep deleting the calls and voicemails and keep the phone on silent except for the weekends when they don’t call. I don’t feel like I should have to pay for a spam blocker program but I might not have a choice. Anyone have a good suggestion? Thanks in advance.

 

[patdog]

 

[jethreauxdawg]

Looking for some advice. I have to keep my cell phone on silent due to the number of spam calls that I receive. Thankfully the car warranty calls finally stopped. However, from Monday morning until Friday evening of every week I get multiple calls everyday about credit card debt ( I don’t have any credit card debt ). I don’t answer the calls other than one that fooled me because it came from a local number. I used to block the numbers but that just seemed to make it worse. I have had 4 today and that’s about average. I used to get as many as 20 a day but I guess the Feds got rid of some on them finally. Car warranty, fake social security, fake Medicare, etc, seem to be gone now but the credit card debt help people are still relentless. I have C Spire. My wife has ATT and does not have this problem. I understand that the phone companies are supposed to have programs in place to block spam but if C Spire has one it doesn’t work. I was going to change over to ATT but they pi$$ed us off over our land line so no. I just keep deleting the calls and voicemails and keep the phone on silent except for the weekends when they don’t call. I don’t feel like I should have to pay for a spam blocker program but I might not have a choice. Anyone have a good suggestion? Thanks in advance.

What’s your number, I’ll look into it**

That sucks. Goes in cycles for me. I’m not aware of anything to prevent it. Grandma used to keep a whistle by the phone to blow real loud in a telemarketer’s ear. Not sure it prevented it but it gave her some level of satisfaction.

 

[GloryDawg]

Answer it and if it's a live person mess with.

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

View attachment 304637

I did this one time and I started getting over 30 spam calls a day. Somehow they knew it was an active phone number. I reversed it and within a few days it started to taper off some.

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

Answer it and if it's a live person mess with.

I used to screw with them but I am told that if you answer they realize it is an active number and it just gets worse.

 

[patdog]

I used to screw with them but I am told that if you answer they realize it is an active number and it just gets worse.

Yeah. Don't answer that call if you don't know who it's from. Why even waste your time screwing with some low-level minimum wage employee anyway?

 

[mcdawg22]

I did this one time and I started getting over 30 spam calls a day. Somehow they knew it was an active phone number. I reversed it and within a few days it started to taper off some.

I had just the opposite experience. I was getting 10 or more calls a day and set my phone to silence. It continued for 5-10 days but has tapered off lately. I was always told to never answer the calls even to mess with them because they use analytic reports to see what calls answer and they are more likely to input those numbers more frequently.

 

[patdog]

I used to screw with them but I am told that if you answer they realize it is an active number and it just gets worse.

That is very odd. I still get the occasional spam voicemail, but I've gotten a total of 2 spam phone calls in the last week.

 

[Car Ramrod.sixpack]

Because of VOIP (voice over internet protocol) you will never be able to stop spam calls. They can change the number at will and the feds can't stop them. I get a lot of local calls that are spam but I think my Verizon app blocks most of the out of state ones.

I had my cell number spoofed once where they cloned my number and used as their caller ID. It was a royal pain in my a** for about a week. The surprising thing is the number of people that would just blindly call the number back after a missed call.

 

[RocketDawg]

View attachment 304637

The problem with doing that is that you'll likely miss important calls that aren't in your contact list.

Blocking the number doesn't do any good because their computers just generate another number to call from.

I've decided the best thing to do is just ignore the spammers (or in you have an iPhone, hit the button on the right side of the phone) and like you, keep the phone on silent most of the time. I have Verizon and don't get as many calls as I used to, but still get one or two a day.

 

[The Peeper]

I have AT&T and use their "Mobile Protect" and "Call Security" They stop most of them and auto block them, but if the number isn't in my Contacts, it doesn't get answered if it gets through them. I used to get a ton of them but seldom get any now. Rule number one is NEVER give your real cell # to car dealers because they in turn sell the lead to every insurance, warranty and any other company that will pay them for it. I've got a wifi burner number ('Groove IP VOIP Calls & Text' is the app) that I use to give them and its legit and will work as long as I'm around wifi so if they need to contact me they still can but I don't turn it on unless I'm listing something on Craigslist, buying something from a dealer, etc.

My voice mail message says "if I didn't answer its either because I'm busy or you aren't in my contacts and therefore I won't answer. If its important leave a message and if its legit I'll call you back, otherwise, leave me alone."

 

[patdog]

The problem with doing that is that you'll likely miss important calls that aren't in your contact list.

Blocking the number doesn't do any good because their computers just generate another number to call from.

I've decided the best thing to do is just ignore the spammers (or in you have an iPhone, hit the button on the right side of the phone) and like you, keep the phone on silent most of the time. I have Verizon and don't get as many calls as I used to, but still get one or two a day.

The call still goes through to voice mail. If it's not important enough for someone to leave a voice mail, it's not important enough for me to take the call anyway. I do disable the feature when I know someone not in my contacts is going to call me though.

 

[RocketDawg]

The call still goes through to voice mail. If it's not important enough for someone to leave a voice mail, it's not important enough for me to take the call anyway. I do disable the feature when I know someone not in my contacts is going to call me though.

A good example is, perhaps you've scheduled an electrician or plumber to come by. Chances are when he's on his way he's going to call from a cell phone that may even be out of state. You'd want to get that call, but won't if you block all calls not in your contact list.

 

[kired]

For whatever reason, the spam calls have really dropped off for me over the last 1-2 months. My call log used to be full of numbers I didn't recognize but now it's 90% legit stuff.

The strangest thing was many of them I'd answer (if it was a local number) would just hang up. Maybe those were just checking to see if mine was an active number.

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

Thanks everyone. It’s at least good to know that others are dealing with this same issue. For those that have managed to eliminate most of these calls be thankful. I think I will drive over to the C Spire office tomorrow and have a little chat with them. I do appreciate the suggestions.

 

[drexeldog23]

Answer it and if it's a live person mess with.

don't do that. i saw a video on You Tube that that they have some kind of tech where they make dozens of calls one after the other all day and all night when you piss them off. i had actually thought of getting an air horn and using it when i realized it was a bs call until i saw that video.

 

[Mjoelner]

Make sure you are on both the state and national no-call lists. Then if you do happen to answer a spam call, go to the Mississippi Public Service Commissioner website and report it. I don't answer any calls that aren't in my contact's list unless its a local Golden Triangle number. Those do get through sometimes since they now spoof legit phone numbers. Whenever I do answer, if its a live person, I go into full-on game show host voice and congratulate them for violating the state and national no-call list and earning a nice fine for their company from the Public Service Commissioner of the great state of Mississippi then I hang up on them and report them.

 

[dogmatic001]

View attachment 304637

^ This is the way. I had the same trouble. Now I don't.

 

[DerHntr]

My phone is on silent 24/7/365. I have a Garmin Forerunner 35 watch ($99 to $120) that has Bluetooth. The watch vibrates with an incoming call and I can see who it is. It also vibrates with a text and I can read the texts (but can’t reply which I prefer). It’s a terrific, basic running watch with a lot of cool features. I didn’t realize that it would allow me to keep my phone always on silent. It’s probably my favorite feature other than why I bought it (for running).

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

Make sure you are on both the state and national no-call lists. Then if you do happen to answer a spam call, go to the Mississippi Public Service Commissioner website and report it. I don't answer any calls that aren't in my contact's list unless its a local Golden Triangle number. Those do get through sometimes since they now spoof legit phone numbers. Whenever I do answer, if its a live person, I go into full-on game show host voice and congratulate them for violating the state and national no-call list and earning a nice fine for their company from the Public Service Commissioner of the great state of Mississippi then I hang up on them and report them.

I am on the national no call list. Did not know that there was a separate state no call list. I am going to get on it now. Thanks.

 

[AlCoDog]

Looking for some advice. I have to keep my cell phone on silent due to the number of spam calls that I receive. Thankfully the car warranty calls finally stopped. However, from Monday morning until Friday evening of every week I get multiple calls everyday about credit card debt ( I don’t have any credit card debt ). I don’t answer the calls other than one that fooled me because it came from a local number. I used to block the numbers but that just seemed to make it worse. I have had 4 today and that’s about average. I used to get as many as 20 a day but I guess the Feds got rid of some on them finally. Car warranty, fake social security, fake Medicare, etc, seem to be gone now but the credit card debt help people are still relentless. I have C Spire. My wife has ATT and does not have this problem. I understand that the phone companies are supposed to have programs in place to block spam but if C Spire has one it doesn’t work. I was going to change over to ATT but they pi$$ed us off over our land line so no. I just keep deleting the calls and voicemails and keep the phone on silent except for the weekends when they don’t call. I don’t feel like I should have to pay for a spam blocker program but I might not have a choice. Anyone have a good suggestion? Thanks in advance.

There is someone in Caledonia, MS that has been desperately trying to reach me for several months now.

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

Tom Maab

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

I am on the national no call list. Did not know that there was a separate state no call list. I am going to get on it now. Thanks.

I registered but they didn’t even CSpire as a provider option. So my application is not totally accurate. I pointed it out in the comments section. It can’t hurt. Thanks again.

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

^ This is the way. I had the same trouble. Now I don't.

I am glad that it worked for you. When I did it the calls increased dramatically. They didn’t ring but you still had to deal with them.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

For whatever reason, I get very few. The one or two I get a week I will try to engage the caller, but none will take the bait. 10 years ago you could have fun with spam callers

 

[Pilgrimdawg]

For whatever reason, I get very few. The one or two I get a week I will try to engage the caller, but none will take the bait. 10 years ago you could have fun with spam callers

My wife rarely gets a spam call. I guess that I am just lucky.

 

[Cantdoitsal]

Why even answer a call if you don't know who it is? If I were to do so I would tell them I'm currently going thru chemo at the moment and after they said "sorry", I'd say, oh it's okay, I've got at LEAST 3 more months to live, but how may I help you?

 

[msugrad2003]

View attachment 304637

Those are impressive arrows! I like your work. Mine would have been screen-shot and arrows drawn with my finger….which would have ended up looking like a stick figure guy doing a cartwheel. Cheers to your arrows

 

[patdog]

Those are impressive arrows! I like your work. Mine would have been screen-shot and arrows drawn with my finger….which would have ended up looking like a stick figure guy doing a cartwheel. Cheers to your arrows

I used the power of Google. I could never create screenshots and arrows like that. I mean, I probably could if I wanted to learn how to, but I really really don't want to.

 

[WilCoDawg]

A good example is, perhaps you've scheduled an electrician or plumber to come by. Chances are when he's on his way he's going to call from a cell phone that may even be out of state. You'd want to get that call, but won't if you block all calls not in your contact list.

Those guys will leave a voicemail. You listen to it and then give them a call back. Problem solved.

 

[DoggieDaddy13]

Somebody somewhere (India mostly) is just trying to make a living.
Obviously, it must be very lucrative or there wouldn't be so damn much of it going on.

 

[the dog is on the loose]

I used to get a ton of them until i recently downloaded the "robokiller" app. Took care of most of them and rarely get spam calls anymore and if i do they're silenced. I have Verizon

 

[msualohadog]

Add a hack I learned. Whenever I answer and say "hello", it cues the live telemarketer to talk. If I don't recognize the number, I say "sup?" and nobody starts talking 99% of the time. I learned that trick a couple months ago.

 

[The Peeper]

Add a hack I learned. Whenever I answer and say "hello", it cues the live telemarketer to talk. If I don't recognize the number, I say "sup?" and nobody starts talking 99% of the time. I learned that trick a couple months ago.

But in both cases you had to stop what you were doing and engage them. Why bother if you don't know who it is, let 'em leave a voice mail if its important and most don't even bother to

 

[Perd Hapley]

The problem with doing that is that you'll likely miss important calls that aren't in your contact list.

If it really is important, they will leave a voice mail.

 

[Ranchdawg]

Because of VOIP (voice over internet protocol) you will never be able to stop spam calls. They can change the number at will and the feds can't stop them. I get a lot of local calls that are spam but I think my Verizon app blocks most of the out of state ones.

I had my cell number spoofed once where they cloned my number and used as their caller ID. It was a royal pain in my a** for about a week. The surprising thing is the number of people that would just blindly call the number back after a missed call.

I have received two local calls from individuals that yelled at me, "Quit calling my number!" I told both that I didn't call them that it was a Spammer and explained what they are doing. One was satisfied while the other said, "Just don't call me again!" and hung up.

 

[NukeDogg]

But in both cases you had to stop what you were doing and engage them. Why bother if you don't know who it is, let 'em leave a voice mail if its important and most don't even bother to

Amazing that just 20 something years ago, we used to answer every single phone call (and if you had kids they'd race to the phone to answer it) without any clue who it was that was calling us.

 

[Car Ramrod.sixpack]

I have received two local calls from individuals that yelled at me, "Quit calling my number!" I told both that I didn't call them that it was a Spammer and explained what they are doing. One was satisfied while the other said, "Just don't call me again!" and hung up.

It got to a point that I cut my phone off for a few hours. The voicemails ranged from incoherent yelling to "hey I had a missed call". The best one was someone claiming they were my covid relief coordinator.