More fun playing with telemarketers

[Lakewood90712]

Now that I re- retired, I have more time to play with the cockroaches.

The first was a spam telemarketer text for artificial turf. I will get back to them on that.

Second telemarketer of the day, Solar time. took about 2 minutes get thru the automated questions, " Are you the homeowner" , how much is your electric bill" etc, then get connected with an actual human on the phone. Along the way, the person wanted to put me on hold a few times.

I told the telemarketer " I would love to keep talking about a solar salesman coming to the house, but I don't work for free, is that ok " Telemarketer said that is ok."

Then I ask for a credit card number to charge for my consulting services.

Funny, the line disconnected.

The caller ID number came back as a disconnected #

Maybe I was too pushy

 

[Lukeee]

Lol

 

[brett]

We do not answer our phone unless we recognize the caller.

Simply cannot be bothered to speak with, or even hassle the telemarketers.

They are just trying to make a living....annoying as they may be.

If we do inadvertently answer a telemarketer call we hang before they he or she get to the third word. Don't want to waste our time or theirs.

 

[Helena]

We do not answer our phone unless we recognize the caller.

I don't answer the phone at all unless I am expecting an important call. Anyone else who wants to speak with me can leave a message. Same with the front door.

 

[Dtail]

Now that I re- retired, I have more time to play with the cockroaches.

The first was a spam telemarketer text for artificial turf. I will get back to them on that.

Second telemarketer of the day, Solar time. took about 2 minutes get thru the automated questions, " Are you the homeowner" , how much is your electric bill" etc, then get connected with an actual human on the phone. Along the way, the person wanted to put me on hold a few times.

I told the telemarketer " I would love to keep talking about a solar salesman coming to the house, but I don't work for free, is that ok " Telemarketer said that is ok."

Then I ask for a credit card number to charge for my consulting services.

Funny, the line disconnected.

The caller ID number came back as a disconnected #

Maybe I was too pushy

I love that comment.
I love to play with Fisher Investments's aggressive calls. I do have fun with them. Most others I just hang up on.

 

[Car-Guy]

We do not answer our phone unless we recognize the caller.

Simply cannot be bothered to speak with, or even hassle the telemarketers.

They are just trying to make a living....annoying as they may be.

If we do inadvertently answer a telemarketer call we hang before they he or she get to the third word. Don't want to waste our time or theirs.

I don't answer the phone at all unless I am expecting an important call. Anyone else who wants to speak with me can leave a message. Same with the front door.

Rarely answer the phone if we don't recognize the caller ID. (Unless we're expecting a call) If I do get a telemarketer by accident, I'll hang up without saying a word. I don't allow them the option to leave a message. And no one has knocked on our door since we moved to the county over 10 years ago.

 

[Jerry1]

I get mildly irritated with the telemarketers but there’s no mercy for those who come to my door. Quickly told in no uncertain terms to leave. Just a bit too much invasion of my space.

Have taken some time to mess with the “Microsoft” guy trying to help me with my computer. I kept telling him how greatful I was that he called because I was indeed having problems with my computer. But, I kept expressing to him how amazed I was that he knew something was wrong given that I didn’t have internet. He kept on with his BS for quite awhile before he finally accepted that I couldn’t give him access to my computer because I didn’t have internet. He even suggested that I go to the library.

 

[Aerides]

We only keep a landline for our security system, and because... hurricanes (cell goes out in one, often the landline is the only thing working for a few days after).

Once we RE'd we turned off the ringer on the home phone. Anyone that really needs us is calling our cells/text/email. We just check vmails once a day rq to delete and clear the light on the machine.

And I never answer my cell on an unknown number.

 

[Ticker]

"Have taken some time to mess with the “Microsoft” guy trying to help me with my computer. I kept telling him how greatful I was that he called because I was indeed having problems with my computer"


He told me he was calling about problems with my Microsoft computer. I pretended not to know what he was talking about, then he mentioned windows. I told him that it was about time that he called me back, and when were they coming out to measure my broken window. acting even more confused, I got even more irate at his answers, insisting that he come out to the house and fix it as I had been awaiting a return call for the last week. it took him about a minute of arguing before he loudly clarified that he was calling about my computer. I told him that I had none and he hung up. The language barrier made the call even more entertaining than it should have been.

 

[FIYes]

I rely on being on the Do Not Call list. It doesn’t stop the calls but it assures me that anyone calling is a crook or a scam artist. Legitimate companies follow the Do Not Call list.
Like others here, I do not answer unless I recognize the caller. Some days we get as many as 10 of these scam calls including the ring once calls stopped by Nomorobo.

To the op, thanks for keeping these scam artists tied up for a few minutes. I just don’t have the patience to do that.

 

[ivinsfan]

We are very rural with somewhat sketchy cell service so have a landline . Don't pay for caller Id, since my phone company wants to bundle it with a bunch of other unless options.

One morning I'm just waking up and hear my phone ring at 650AM. I run downstairs thinking it's important, we keep our cell phones in the front entry way and I'm thinking someone tried to call our cells and then went to the landline number.

I pick it up and its a sales call, from a guy saying he sells for a farm supply company. I ask do you know what time it is in this area code. He says I don't care what time it is because I know farmers get up early. I reply I don't get up this early and I don't buy farm supplies over the phone so don't call me again.


Before I could hang up he said I'm going to remember you don't like getting up early. Next day same thing except at 630 and then a hang up. My hubby answered that one. We turned off the ringer on the phone for about a week..but what a knob.


Stuff like this reinforces my determination to speak nicely when out in public and not get annoyed at others when I'm driving, because you never know...

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I saw a story a few days ago about a new app called "RoboKiller". Basically, you pay for an application, but it will call back a scammer and play some annoying song/verse/something. Sounds all good, except for the new and improved scammers that are now using "neighborhood number spoofing"...basically, they will select a random number that will have the same area code and prefix as your number. I assume this is used so more people will answer thinking that it's a local call. I have gotten a couple of calls from people irritate about a scammer calling (from MY number) so I know my last four digits have been "randomly" selected by scammers. So now, if someone gets a call from "my number" and they use that application, well...I wouldn't appreciate it.

Like so many other things in life, the scammers are two steps ahead of the technology that stops them. The *only* reliable way I have stopped the calls is by enabling a call blocker that will only allow people in MY CONTACTS to ring through. I had it turned off for a while since I was dealing with a situation that necessitated a lot of phone calls and this resulted in a lot of phone calls that weren't welcome and it was a good reminder of how many scammers are out there.

 

[scrabbler1]

The phone number spoofing has been the biggest upgrade in the war against these scammers and robocallers, and the toughest one to counteract with the usual call-blocking tools.


I have nomorobo on my landline but it has been far less effective in blocking calls since I added it 18 months ago. It used to block about 75-80% of the garbage callers but now it's down to about 50%. The scammers keep changing numbers and use neighbor spoofing to stay one step ahead of the call blockers. Take all those "Ann from Health Care Alert" scammers calling a lot in the last few months. They call a few times, I (and others, presumably) report it to nomorobo. Two days later, I get the same call from a different number for a few days. Rinse and repeat.


My cell phone has its own problems. I have given the number to maybe 10 people, yet I get calls all the time on it, rarely going more than a day or two without one. Many of the calls are neighbor spoofing, with the calling number matching my area code and first 3 digits (even though I know nobody whose phone number matches it). Then I get some calls for the former owner of my cell phone number, even 3 1/2 years later!

 

[SheitlQueen]

We do not answer our phone unless we recognize the caller.

Simply cannot be bothered to speak with, or even hassle the telemarketers.

They are just trying to make a living....annoying as they may be.

If we do inadvertently answer a telemarketer call we hang before they he or she get to the third word. Don't want to waste our time or theirs.

I agree. I don't like such calls and usually avoid them by not answering calls from unknown numbers. But I also understand these people are trying to make a living so I just hang up on them. Sometimes if I even say "no thanks" first.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

They call a few times, I (and others, presumably) report it to nomorobo. Two days later, I get the same call from a different number for a few days. Rinse and repeat.

And you have illustrated yet ANOTHER issue with the neighbor spoofing. My number has been used at least a couple times as a "spoof" number...so I have to assume that perhaps someone has gotten a call from "my number" and they reported it to their Spam-avoidance-provider (like nomorobo)...so now if I try and call someone, will I be blocked because it's been flagged as a spam number? Oye...it just keeps getting worse.

 

[Souschef]

And you have illustrated yet ANOTHER issue with the neighbor spoofing. My number has been used at least a couple times as a "spoof" number...so I have to assume that perhaps someone has gotten a call from "my number" and they reported it to their Spam-avoidance-provider (like nomorobo)...so now if I try and call someone, will I be blocked because it's been flagged as a spam number? Oye...it just keeps getting worse.

I recently had the same problem. I got a voicemail from someone asking why I called him. I went through the "neighborhood spoofing" explanation and told him I did not call him. I also said I was sorry that he got the call.

 

[kcowan]

I had one from Coast Medical wanting to sell an air filtration system. No thanks. I like the air as is!

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I recently had the same problem. I got a voicemail from someone asking why I called him. I went through the "neighborhood spoofing" explanation and told him I did not call him. I also said I was sorry that he got the call.

And to reverse it, I have called a number back (didn't leave a message and thought it was someone I had been trying to get a hold of) and they swore up and down that they didn't call me.

 

[Midpack]

We do not answer our phone unless we recognize the caller.

Simply cannot be bothered to speak with, or even hassle the telemarketers.

They are just trying to make a living....annoying as they may be.

If we do inadvertently answer a telemarketer call we hang before they he or she get to the third word. Don't want to waste our time or theirs.

+1, unless I am expecting a call from someone not in my contacts, I don't answer my phone. If it's anything important, the caller will leave a vmail, and I'll call them if I am interested. It's reached the point that I get 1-2 spam calls a day now.

It's gotten easy to recognize phone scammers by their number (same first six digits as mine in phone number), so I answered one a few days ago just to tell the caller what a scumbag he was for making a living trying to scam people. He threatened me (obviously bogus), then quickly hung up.

And I only watched once, but there are some funny YouTube videos of attorneys and consumer watchdog professionals recording scammers, while playing along, acting naive/obtuse and twisting the scammers in knots.

 

[easysurfer]

Using a list of accepted callers are the way to go. Rest gets screened.

 

[Bestwifeever]

If I accidentally answer a spam call, I just leave the line open so I can hear the call center hijinks in the background. DH thinks I’m an idiot.

Two men even older than I, in shorts, sandals, and white socks , have come to our house three times the last couple of weeks, clipboards in hand; pretty sure they’re volunteers for one of the major political parties. The first time they asked to speak to my daughter who has not really lived here for 20 years but who did vote from this address in 1998—they said they just wanted to talk to her. The last time they came I just said “please go away”—when I want to listen to someone in shorts and sandals talk at me for twenty minutes, I’ll just ask DH an open-ended question.

 

[brett]

We do not buy anything at the door. Nor do we have time for any of the religious zealots that bang on our door from time to time.

They are all the same. Long on promises, short on delivery. We do the same with them as we do with phone calls. Say thanks, close the door...sometimes when they are in mid sentence. Don't feel bad at all since they choose to ignore our no canvassing sign beside the door. Besides, it frees up more time for them to hit on someone else.

 

[Amethyst]

I only ever accidentally got a "Microsoft" scammer on the phone one time. I lied, and said I had a Mac. That shut him down quick.

 

[Walt34]

They are just trying to make a living....annoying as they may be.

That may be, but they are also taking up my and other people valuable time trying to sell me junk that I don't want and have never expressed any interest in. I think they are lower than whale poop.

A call blocker was one of the best investments I ever made.

 

[kgtest]

My phone labels them as "scam likely" and I ignore. If they happen to get through I just hangup or delete the robo message.

I had Johovas stopping by on a weekly basis until they caught me cutting down a tree one day. Scared the he!! outta me when I turned around to see them standing by my fresh cut pile. I took the ear protection off, said you don't need to come by here anymore.

They were sneaky, sometimes they came in a car with multiples, sometimes it was on foot b-line to my garage as if they were a neighbor asking to borrow a tool.

I think I solidified the deal when I turned around put my ear protection back on and revved that chain saw like Freddy. Haven't heard from 'em since.

I occasionally get a realtor knocking on the door, times must be tough...one even gave me a $5 Starbucks gift card just for answering the door.

The other's I've seen but haven't bothered me at my property were insurance adjusters pushing hail damage claims and pest control guys trying to sell me their magic formula. If I am going to hire a contractor, it's not going to be the first guy knocking on my door. A simple flyer drop-off for me to toss in the garbage later would do just fine.