Phone Call Scams

[Roadrunner53]

What is the latest scam phone call you have been getting? I get so many unwanted calls every day and I registered with NOMOROBO but these B*stards keep changing their phone numbers.

Current scams:
~Some Asian guy named 'Johnny' was going to save me money on my electric bill.
~A septic additive company calls me continuously even though I have told them repeatedly that I would never buy their crap but they still call.
~Still the stupid calls from credit repair people that are going to save me all kinds of money and it is always my LAST call.
~Another Asian guy who calls and tells me he is from Microsoft and they 'see' that there is a problem with my computer.
~Some place that calls about getting a frigging back brace and I think they say it is covered by Medicare and they can HELP you get it for free.

I blocked some number on my Frontier account but they only allow you to block 20 phone numbers. Now I think they erased all of them because when I called it said there was no numbers blocked! GRRR!!

I am so sick of it! Why can't something be done. They call mostly Mon-Fri. Some filter in on Sat and Sun.

None of these jerks will remove phone numbers from their lists. If you try to ask them they hang up on you. What legitimate company would hang up on you? Have any of you found a solution to these idiots? I know they say not to pick up the phone but I get so angry sometimes I have to holler at them to make me feel better! What kind of bums work the phones to try to scam people?

[FIRE@50]

I don't answer calls from numbers that I don't know. That has solved the problem for me.

[Roadrunner53]

I don't answer calls from numbers that I don't know. That has solved the problem for me.

But does your phone ring like 10 times a day with unknown callers? It is very annoying! It occurs all day long. Plus, think about elderly people that may not have caller ID or computer savvy and are frustrated with these calls all day long. My mother who is no longer alive was so naïve that she didn't even realize that these recorded messages and at the time from Robo Rachel were not real. She actually thought the recorded robo calls were people talking to her. She would hang up annoyed and told me about Rachael. I didn't know what she was talking about for a while till I also started getting calls from Robo Rachael. I told Mom that they were not real people, just recordings. Just to hang up. Also, what about people who work from home, it is distracting. Plus, what if you or loved one is home sick and needs to sleep and these stupid phone calls won't stop. I am also talking about land lines for some of us geezers who still use them at home.

[Frankies Girl]

I have a landline still and that's the number we give out for anyone needing a number. We do not answer calls we don't recognize, period. But one thing that seems to have helped enormously was adding the disconnected tone to the beginning of our answer message. Found it online, set up the machine and recorded it off and then put on a short blurb of the number itself (no names) and to leave a message. So it sounds like: BEEEPBEEPbeep....... this is 123-456-7890, leave a message.

The tone is recognized by auto dialers/robocalls and removes the number from their active list to keep calling supposedly. I was doubtful of it working but in the year since I put it on there, I get maybe 2-3 calls a week and that's down from 2-3 a day.

I do remove it when I am expecting a call from like the doctor or something, but now tend to give out my cell to the important # I want to get through anyway.

If you have landline, turn off the ringer if someone is sick/doesn't want to be disturbed. Check messages/Caller ID later to see if you missed anything important. Hell, I do this for my cell anyway.


OP - stop answering your phone. As sucky as it is, until the communications companies figure out a way to stop number spoofing and the other technology needed to cut off spam/robocallers, you can't depend on recognizing the number or being able to consistently block callers you don't want to your phone. So the workaround is to screen all calls unless you are 100% expecting a call from THAT number today... but in general, if is it's someone you need to get back to, then call them/text them back after you see their number/listen to their message. If they are legit, the wouldn't call you at all, and if they're scammers, you've just added a target to your back. Arguing with phone spoofer/scammers is actually bad because not only did you just confirm they have a real live person on the end of that number, you are talking to them. They ALL believe that no matter what you're saying/screaming/threatening... they will wear you down and scam your last dollar out of you eventually. And they will sell out your number to every blacklist out there so even more scammers will start on you. Smartest thing to do? Ever seen that old movie, Wargames? The only way to win is not to play.

[Sibley]

My cell phone has an area code in another state. I've found 90% of the spam callers have that area code. Since there is literally no one with that area code who might call me, I can safely ignore all those numbers.

I also tend to let a lot of things go to voicemail. Mostly because I just miss the phone.

[Travis]

What is the latest scam phone call you have been getting? I get so many unwanted calls every day and I registered with NOMOROBO but these B*stards keep changing their phone numbers.

Current scams:
~Some Asian guy named 'Johnny' was going to save me money on my electric bill.
~A septic additive company calls me continuously even though I have told them repeatedly that I would never buy their crap but they still call.
~Still the stupid calls from credit repair people that are going to save me all kinds of money and it is always my LAST call.
~Another Asian guy who calls and tells me he is from Microsoft and they 'see' that there is a problem with my computer.
~Some place that calls about getting a frigging back brace and I think they say it is covered by Medicare and they can HELP you get it for free.

I blocked some number on my Frontier account but they only allow you to block 20 phone numbers. Now I think they erased all of them because when I called it said there was no numbers blocked! GRRR!!

I am so sick of it! Why can't something be done. They call mostly Mon-Fri. Some filter in on Sat and Sun.

None of these jerks will remove phone numbers from their lists. If you try to ask them they hang up on you. What legitimate company would hang up on you? Have any of you found a solution to these idiots? I know they say not to pick up the phone but I get so angry sometimes I have to holler at them to make me feel better! What kind of bums work the phones to try to scam people?

1. They're not legitimate companies. They're all scammers.
2. Chinese call centers mostly.  They're just reading from a script.  The moment it sounds like you're not giving one of their expected responses they hang up and move on to the next person.

These companies are calling thousands of times a day.  It's profitable if just a few people get caught up in the sale.  They avoid all the "do not call" registries because they don't give any identifying information about themselves.  Notice how the numbers can never be called back and they don't give their company's name?  They can call with impunity.  I just started a thread because the phone numbers they're using sometimes belong to real people.  There's a good chance the next person you call back to scream at could be me.

[galliver]

My cell phone has an area code in another state. I've found 90% of the spam callers have that area code. Since there is literally no one with that area code who might call me, I can safely ignore all those numbers.

I also tend to let a lot of things go to voicemail. Mostly because I just miss the phone.

That aren't from that area code. They're spoofing (faking) the number. Which makes blocking numbers useless... But I use the same "trick" to screen calls.

Also Mr. Number app to tell what state/city a call is from and sometimes it screens known spam numbers.

[GuitarStv]

This used to be a big problem with us.  We were getting air duct cleaning calls daily, and even though we would say that we weren't interested and requested that they take us off their list they would just call back the next night.  Then there were the 'problem with your computer' calls from 'Microsoft', etc.

So I started keep the (non-emergency) local police detachment number, name of the officer in charge, and detachment address next to my phone.  When people call asking for some kind of house/home visit I will set up appointments with them at the police station with the name of the officer in charge.  If they're calling regarding a scam, I tell them that this is my cell number and ask them to call me back at the non-emergency police number.

This has radically reduced the number of calls we continue to get, and I figure the police have a better chance of tracking the scammers than I ever will.  Wasting their time is the only way you can really hit back at these people, so try to waste as much as you can.

[AccidentialMustache]

Spoofing caller id isn't a bug, its a feature. The phone companies make $$$ off that, because they can charge business for it. Its odd how, when it benefits them, the phone companies don't seem inclined to discontinue the feature. This is one that's going to take legislative/FTC action. Oddly, Pai was making noises about it which seems ... really out of character considering his handling of net neutrality.


For your own solution, four words: "Hello, this is Lenny"

Now of course if its a telemarketer robot that's not going to help. You need to get one of their real live people hooked up to Lenny and waste their time.

The other suggestion I have is to go Google Fi. I get remarkably fewer of those calls to my Fi phone than I do to the landline, or friends do to their non-Fi carriers. Its almost like google's incentive is to make sure I have more time to waste on the internet seeing their ads, rather than wasting it answering phone calls from scammers.

[robartsd]

I use Google Voice. When my mobile number started getting these calls (always spoofing the same area code and prefix as the mobile's number) I changed my default ringtone to silence. Since I have GV set up to use my GV number in calllerID on my forwarding phone, I just had to give that number an audible ringtone on my device. The calls didn't continue very long after I stopped answering the phone. They don't leave voicemail on my mobile because I turned off voicemail service on the line.

I have a landline still and that's the number we give out for anyone needing a number. We do not answer calls we don't recognize, period. But one thing that seems to have helped enormously was adding the disconnected tone to the beginning of our answer message. Found it online, set up the machine and recorded it off and then put on a short blurb of the number itself (no names) and to leave a message. So it sounds like: BEEEPBEEPbeep....... this is 123-456-7890, leave a message.

I like this solution for a landline.

[Just Joe]

I don't answer calls from numbers that I don't know. That has solved the problem for me.

Get an answering machine. Let it do the talking if caller ID doesn't show a number you know for certain. Older friends and family seem to always answer the phone no matter who calls. A cultural reflex?

We have gone through periods of lots of calls but it always tapers off after a period of us never answering the phone calls. Repeat numbers get blocked within the cordless phone callblock feature. Never forgotten a number or run out of space.

The "Do Not Call" list seems to be powerless against these people. Seems like I heard the law is not as useful as it could be due to compromises. Seems to me the tech companies could prevent spoofing numbers if they wanted to.

We also went through this with our child's cellphone. Same strategy - let unfamiliar numbers go to voice mail, block repeat callers. Anyone important will leave a voice mail. Their phone has calmed down significantly from when we purchased it.

Edit: shortened my ramble.

[Travis]

We tried the gov't do not call list but I suspect that it has been rendered useless by certain political efforts to protect the interests of the telemarketing industry rather than the consumers.

It doesn't even need to be a "special interests" issue. If the caller doesn't identify themselves until they absolutely have to or uses a fake phone number there's nothing to stop them from calling every number they can get their hands on. 

[JLee]

I enabled spam filtering through my carrier (T-Mobile) and it's eliminated most spam calls. I only get a couple a week now.

[GuitarStv]

What's weird is that we put up with this.  It's not technologically challenging to require that every message sent across a phone network be easily traceable back to a real address.  It's not technologically challenging to just refuse to connect any phone call with a spoofed id.

The thing is, phone companies make money from these calls.  The incentive therefore is for them to increase the number of calls you get . . . not reduce them.  This is the kind of situation where some sensible government regulations could really benefit the average person.

[Holyoak]

I love the ones that leave messages... In Chinese!

[JLee]

What's weird is that we put up with this.  It's not technologically challenging to require that every message sent across a phone network be easily traceable back to a real address.  It's not technologically challenging to just refuse to connect any phone call with a spoofed id.

The thing is, phone companies make money from these calls.  The incentive therefore is for them to increase the number of calls you get . . . not reduce them.  This is the kind of situation where some sensible government regulations could really benefit the average person.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/fcc-says-carriers-must-stop-robocalls-and-spam-calls.html

[ChpBstrd]

What's weird is that we put up with this.  It's not technologically challenging to require that every message sent across a phone network be easily traceable back to a real address.  It's not technologically challenging to just refuse to connect any phone call with a spoofed id.

The thing is, phone companies make money from these calls.  The incentive therefore is for them to increase the number of calls you get . . . not reduce them.  This is the kind of situation where some sensible government regulations could really benefit the average person.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/gizmodo.com/phone-companies-are-finally-doing-something-about-our-r-1833434088/amp

[ChpBstrd]

I don't answer calls from numbers that I don't know. That has solved the problem for me.

Note how we have been cut us off from another form of social interaction and communication. Soon, all there will be is facebook and instagram, where we will accept the probability that at least some of our "friends" are not who/what they say they are. At least they share great memes, which makes them a good friend.

We will live in a world without physically meeting groups, no way to talk to anyone we don't already know, and no way to communicate besides the products of the social media monopoly. What are the implications?

[ender]

I don't answer calls from numbers that I don't know. That has solved the problem for me.

Note how we have been cut us off from another form of social interaction and communication. Soon, all there will be is facebook and instagram, where we will accept the probability that at least some of our "friends" are not who/what they say they are. At least they share great memes, which makes them a good friend.

We will live in a world without physically meeting groups, no way to talk to anyone we don't already know, and no way to communicate besides the products of the social media monopoly. What are the implications?

... what?

[GuitarStv]

What's weird is that we put up with this.  It's not technologically challenging to require that every message sent across a phone network be easily traceable back to a real address.  It's not technologically challenging to just refuse to connect any phone call with a spoofed id.

The thing is, phone companies make money from these calls.  The incentive therefore is for them to increase the number of calls you get . . . not reduce them.  This is the kind of situation where some sensible government regulations could really benefit the average person.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/fcc-says-carriers-must-stop-robocalls-and-spam-calls.html

Given his history of pandering to industry lobby groups over doing what's best for citizens, I'll be interested to see if Pai actually follows through on this somewhat anti-industry promise he has made.

[Roadrunner53]

The latest phone scam I have gotten is a message saying my Social Security number has been compromised and my account suspended. Well, there are two people at this location and they don't say who's number. You can call them back to get more information. Hahahahaha, what a bunch of jerks. But I do feel sorry for some people who fall for this BS. My Mom was such an innocent person and could never conceive anyone could come up with something like this. She might be convinced it was true. However, I did have to tell her over and over that these robo calls are recorded messages and not a real person calling. She didn't know the difference at the time. I did get her to become skeptical of the robo calls. It took some time though. This stuff was just never done in her generation.

[bacchi]

The latest phone scam I have gotten is a message saying my Social Security number has been compromised and my account suspended. Well, there are two people at this location and they don't say who's number. You can call them back to get more information. Hahahahaha, what a bunch of jerks. But I do feel sorry for some people who fall for this BS. My Mom was such an innocent person and could never conceive anyone could come up with something like this. She might be convinced it was true. However, I did have to tell her over and over that these robo calls are recorded messages and not a real person calling. She didn't know the difference at the time. I did get her to become skeptical of the robo calls. It took some time though. This stuff was just never done in her generation.

I also never answer phone calls that I don't recognize. That's what voice mail is for.

My parents are Pavlovian trained to answer the ring. When I'm visiting, I have to remind them that they have voice caller ID and to wait.

They've been good about it so far; they politely decline the scammer and hang up. As they age, though, I fear their mental sharpness will decline and they'll be handing out gift cards like candy.

[MilesTeg]

Part of the problem, unfortunately, is the billing model for cell phones in the U.S. (and maybe canuckia?)

Phone companies in the U.S. charge both the initiator and receiver of a mobile call. However, they don't/can't charge the initiator if that call comes from outside their network. This means scammers in certain places in the world and/or with VOIP can operate call centers extremely cheaply.

Phone companies have a financial interest in you receiving as many calls as possible because it makes them money. Scammers don't have to pay to call you, so they can cast a wide net and play the numbers game.

If the financial burden was placed on the call initiator, scam calls would all but end. Just like there were almost no mass scam calling back in the day when long distance calling, billed only to the initiator of the call, was a thing.

[wenchsenior]

I don't answer calls from numbers that I don't know. That has solved the problem for me.

But does your phone ring like 10 times a day with unknown callers? It is very annoying! It occurs all day long. Plus, think about elderly people that may not have caller ID or computer savvy and are frustrated with these calls all day long. My mother who is no longer alive was so naïve that she didn't even realize that these recorded messages and at the time from Robo Rachel were not real. She actually thought the recorded robo calls were people talking to her. She would hang up annoyed and told me about Rachael. I didn't know what she was talking about for a while till I also started getting calls from Robo Rachael. I told Mom that they were not real people, just recordings. Just to hang up. Also, what about people who work from home, it is distracting. Plus, what if you or loved one is home sick and needs to sleep and these stupid phone calls won't stop. I am also talking about land lines for some of us geezers who still use them at home.

I work from home and keep my phone or ringer off. I turn my phone on to check missed messages every two hours or so, then turn it back off.

[wenchsenior]

I don't answer calls from numbers that I don't know. That has solved the problem for me.

Note how we have been cut us off from another form of social interaction and communication. Soon, all there will be is facebook and instagram, where we will accept the probability that at least some of our "friends" are not who/what they say they are. At least they share great memes, which makes them a good friend.

We will live in a world without physically meeting groups, no way to talk to anyone we don't already know, and no way to communicate besides the products of the social media monopoly. What are the implications?

... what?

Personally, a world where I don't have to talk on the phone with people I don't already know or who I must do business with (e.g., doctor's offices) would be FANTASTIC.  God, I don't even like talking on the phone with people that I DO like.  Talking in person is great. Phones...ugh.

[MilesTeg]

I don't answer calls from numbers that I don't know. That has solved the problem for me.

But does your phone ring like 10 times a day with unknown callers? It is very annoying! It occurs all day long. Plus, think about elderly people that may not have caller ID or computer savvy and are frustrated with these calls all day long. My mother who is no longer alive was so naïve that she didn't even realize that these recorded messages and at the time from Robo Rachel were not real. She actually thought the recorded robo calls were people talking to her. She would hang up annoyed and told me about Rachael. I didn't know what she was talking about for a while till I also started getting calls from Robo Rachael. I told Mom that they were not real people, just recordings. Just to hang up. Also, what about people who work from home, it is distracting. Plus, what if you or loved one is home sick and needs to sleep and these stupid phone calls won't stop. I am also talking about land lines for some of us geezers who still use them at home.

I work from home and keep my phone or ringer off. I turn my phone on to check missed messages every two hours or so, then turn it back off.

Many android phones have a do not disturb mode that can be set up to only allow certain contacts to ring and silences all others. It's an indispensable feature.

[GuitarStv]

What's weird is that we put up with this.  It's not technologically challenging to require that every message sent across a phone network be easily traceable back to a real address.  It's not technologically challenging to just refuse to connect any phone call with a spoofed id.

The thing is, phone companies make money from these calls.  The incentive therefore is for them to increase the number of calls you get . . . not reduce them.  This is the kind of situation where some sensible government regulations could really benefit the average person.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/fcc-says-carriers-must-stop-robocalls-and-spam-calls.html

Given his history of pandering to industry lobby groups over doing what's best for citizens, I'll be interested to see if Pai actually follows through on this somewhat anti-industry promise he has made.

So . . . uh . . . I guess Pai didn't?  If only some prescient person could have predicted that outcome.

[Just Joe]

Jim Gaffingan (I think) said that the phonecall app is the least used app on his smart phone. And you better not use it on him. He gets "mad" if someone calls him on his phone... ;)

[jim555]

I used to get tons of these calls, but since COVID they have almost completely stopped.  My state put in a nuisance call law recently so that may be a reason.

[MilesTeg]

What's weird is that we put up with this.  It's not technologically challenging to require that every message sent across a phone network be easily traceable back to a real address.  It's not technologically challenging to just refuse to connect any phone call with a spoofed id.

The thing is, phone companies make money from these calls.  The incentive therefore is for them to increase the number of calls you get . . . not reduce them.  This is the kind of situation where some sensible government regulations could really benefit the average person.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/fcc-says-carriers-must-stop-robocalls-and-spam-calls.html

Given his history of pandering to industry lobby groups over doing what's best for citizens, I'll be interested to see if Pai actually follows through on this somewhat anti-industry promise he has made.

So . . . uh . . . I guess Pai didn't?  If only some prescient person could have predicted that outcome.

Prescience enslaves us.

[frugalnacho]

All the damn time. 

-Car warranty about to expire scam
-credit card account scam
-social security account compromised scam

How are phone carriers making money from people placing calls? Most people already pay for unlimited minutes.  I don't see how my carrier, or most people's carriers, are making money when a scammer calls since we've already paid in full for the service. 

[PDXTabs]

I have a landline still and that's the number we give out for anyone needing a number. We do not answer calls we don't recognize, period. But one thing that seems to have helped enormously was adding the disconnected tone to the beginning of our answer message. Found it online, set up the machine and recorded it off and then put on a short blurb of the number itself (no names) and to leave a message. So it sounds like: BEEEPBEEPbeep....... this is 123-456-7890, leave a message.

The tone is recognized by auto dialers/robocalls and removes the number from their active list to keep calling supposedly. I was doubtful of it working but in the year since I put it on there, I get maybe 2-3 calls a week and that's down from 2-3 a day.

That's awesome. If you ever get tired of your current message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5kIVXNCzDA

[Gronnie]

I got one saying that I had recently been identified as someone in close contact with someone that tested positive for COVID and that they needed my credit card to charge me $50 to send me a testing kit.

[geekette]

Nomorobo is excellent.  Free for landlines, but they make their money on cell phones.

If it's on the naughty list, your phone rings only once.  The other end hears something like "this number is protected by nomorobo". If it's an actual person, they can enter a captcha and it will ring through.  The caller ID will be nomorobo's number, so you know it's probably your college asking for money (at least that's the only ones who seem to get through to us).

[Roadrunner53]

Gronnie, That is a new one! Have not gotten that one yet! These scammers just have to read the newspaper for new and fresh ideas!

[ChpBstrd]

I got one saying that I had recently been identified as someone in close contact with someone that tested positive for COVID and that they needed my credit card to charge me $50 to send me a testing kit.

I’m working indirectly with a new contact tracing team making thousands of calls. A double digit percentage of the people they try to reach hang up, probably because they assume it’s a scam. Another double-digit percent don’t answer their phones and won’t return the VM.

How many thousands of infections result from this behavior is anybody’s guess. All these people are unaware of their exposure or fail to provide their contacts, so their contacts don’t know their risk.

At a fundamental level, our country’s refusal to direct an aggressive law enforcement response toward phone scammers has now led to a consequence that is costing people’s lives and damaging our economy.

[GuitarStv]

I got one saying that I had recently been identified as someone in close contact with someone that tested positive for COVID and that they needed my credit card to charge me $50 to send me a testing kit.

I’m working indirectly with a new contact tracing team making thousands of calls. A double digit percentage of the people they try to reach hang up, probably because they assume it’s a scam. Another double-digit percent don’t answer their phones and won’t return the VM.

How many thousands of infections result from this behavior is anybody’s guess. All these people are unaware of their exposure or fail to provide their contacts, so their contacts don’t know their risk.

At a fundamental level, our country’s refusal to direct an aggressive law enforcement response toward phone scammers has now led to a consequence that is costing people’s lives and damaging our economy.

This implies that letting the free market solve it is not always the best solution to every problem.  Which makes you a communist.  :P

[ctuser1]

I am surprised to see so many people still take calls from "unknown" numbers (unless you are specifically expecting calls from a doctor or such)!!

I generally let it go to voicemail, and call back where appropriate!!

[NumberJohnny5]

Bought a Pixel phone specifically for Google's call screening feature. It worked fairly well, but you really needed it to screen all iffy calls to be effective. But we were missing lots of legitimate calls (from teachers, schools, etc.).

So I spent a few hours researching the best places to get a new phone number. Area codes with so little usage that I'd likely get a fresh, never used number allocated to me. An area code with no overlay, so I only had to ignore numbers coming from that specific area code (there are multiple area codes serving the area we currently live in, spam calls tend to use all of them). Narrowed it down to two options, and my first pick wasn't served by Google Fi (western Nebraska if I remember correctly). Got a number from my second pick, and so far ZERO spam calls! It's only been a few weeks, but still.

I also have a separate Google Voice number that I give out to possible spammers (such as when requesting an insurance quote). I can easily sign into the account on Hangouts, answer any calls I want, then sign out when I'm done. Also use that number for selling on Facebook/Craigslist.

I almost miss getting the scam calls when we lived in Australia. Called trying to sell us solar, I'd explain that we don't get any sun, we live underground. Problem with windows, we don't have any windows. I forget what prompted this, but I remember once saying "I don't have a phone".

[GuitarStv]

My approach of sending the Indian air duct cleaning people to the local police precinct is still working.  We have to do it again every 3-4 years, but they stop wasting our time after we waste enough of theirs.

Been getting a lot of autodialler "We are your credit card and your account is past due.  Type your card number into the phone for a four month extension due to coronavirus" calls lately, but they're doing some kind of checksum that lets them know when I make up a card number.  Not sure how to waste these guys time enough to make them stop calling.

[RetiredAt63]

Once upon a time only mu land line got spam calls, never my cell phone. Now it's the reverse. Sigh.

[Michael in ABQ]

I'm one of those weird people that actually answers their phone. Crazy, I know.

I get maybe one spam call a week or less. For a while there were a lot that came from my prefix, those were 99% spam so I did ignore those. Otherwise I will answer and just hang up after a few seconds if it's a robocall. I have a lot of unknown people call me due to my position in the National Guard and for my work. If I were to ignore those calls I would miss important messages or end up playing phone tag. Potentially wasting (literally) one minute per week is worth it to not miss otherwise useful calls. Other times it might be a contractor or doctor's office calling to setup an appointment.

On the other hand we do not answer our door unless we recognize the person. There might have been a time some neighbor down the street was trying to get a hold of us but it's usually just door-to-door sales. The kids might run to the window and stare at the person but we just ignore them even if they can clearly hear us inside at a meal (dining room is right by the front door). 

[MilesTeg]

My approach of sending the Indian air duct cleaning people to the local police precinct is still working.  We have to do it again every 3-4 years, but they stop wasting our time after we waste enough of theirs.

Been getting a lot of autodialler "We are your credit card and your account is past due.  Type your card number into the phone for a four month extension due to coronavirus" calls lately, but they're doing some kind of checksum that lets them know when I make up a card number.  Not sure how to waste these guys time enough to make them stop calling.

There are some patterns/codes to card numbers. For example, each major carrier (Visa, MC, amex) start with a different number (Visa 4, mc 5, etc.). Are you aware of those?

[AccidentialMustache]

Nomorobo is excellent.  Free for landlines, but they make their money on cell phones.

If it's on the naughty list, your phone rings only once.  The other end hears something like "this number is protected by nomorobo". If it's an actual person, they can enter a captcha and it will ring through.  The caller ID will be nomorobo's number, so you know it's probably your college asking for money (at least that's the only ones who seem to get through to us).

At first I was excited, as it is our landline that gets all the spam calls. (Fi solves the problem for my cell)

Then I saw this wasn't landlines but was fixed-location voip and I was sad.

DW insists on a POTS landline. Which has no caller ID because that's expensive.

[dang1]

I give out my Google Voice to anyone needing a number- it screens calls- asks callers to "state your name" before ringing me. Cuts out a whole lot of spam calls. Of course, anyone who know me well knows I prefer text communication, or just call me through Facebook Messenger.

[bacchi]

My approach of sending the Indian air duct cleaning people to the local police precinct is still working.  We have to do it again every 3-4 years, but they stop wasting our time after we waste enough of theirs.

Been getting a lot of autodialler "We are your credit card and your account is past due.  Type your card number into the phone for a four month extension due to coronavirus" calls lately, but they're doing some kind of checksum that lets them know when I make up a card number.  Not sure how to waste these guys time enough to make them stop calling.

There are some patterns/codes to card numbers. For example, each major carrier (Visa, MC, amex) start with a different number (Visa 4, mc 5, etc.). Are you aware of those?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luhn_algorithm

There are free internet sites out there that can spit out a number; or you can create your own with the IIN and Luhn checksum.

[FINate]

For educational and pure entertainment value I recommend watching Kitboga. He's a scambaiter, so he intentionally calls scammers and tries to waste as much of their time as possible. Everything you see on his screen (bank websites, Amazon, Target, etc.) is all fake, and he keeps everything safely contained within his own virtual machine sandbox. And he keeps it classy.

[iris lily]

I’m sure we all know about the Lenny series You can find on YouTube. Hilarious.

[robartsd]

It used to be that PSTN providers paid each other for completing calls. Calls were always billed to the originator, if the receiver was on a different network, the originator's network paid a set per minute fee to the receiver's network to complete the call. Different prefixes might have different completion fees (primarily to offset the higher cost of operating a network in rural areas). Free conference call services (just dial a long distance number) were commonly set up in expensive to complete prefixes funded entirely by such fees. I know as recently as a few years ago, the dial in number for some of these services was not included in some people's calling plans, so I assume such a system still exists. This would mean that your carrier may indeed get paid (probably a fraction of a cent per minute) for completing spam calls to you from outside their network. The scammer is likely spending about $0.02 per minute to connect to you (perhaps as high as $0.05 per minute inclusive of all their infrastructure and electricity costs in addition to their telecommunications costs).

[Roadrunner53]

I have a jerk who calls and has anonymous as the caller ID. The person leaves a message every time for me call. I found out today that I can block this person by using *77 on my landline. It is supposed to give a message that this phone doesn't accept anonymous phone calls. It is supposed to give them the option to reveal their phone number to let them thru. So my plan is, if this jerk does do that, I will now have their phone number and will block it.