telemarketing calls

[ducky911]

Hi,

I'm on the do not call list since 2006. I have also installed a call zapper so I can zap one number at a time (275 zapped). But they still get through.

Does anyone know what happens when you make a complaint to the do not call list?

 

[Bruceski44]

When I tried to file a complaint, the FCC told me I needed the name of the company, their address and some other info on them, besides the date, time and their phone number. And surprise, surprise, whenever I ask for that info, the caller hangs up on me!

This is another example of an unenforceable law implemented by our government. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but it has no teeth. We stopped answering the phone long ago.

Do you have caller ID?

 

[SteveNU]

Nothing!

They seem to be getting smarter nowadays. Seems like they constantly change numbers so you can block all the numbers you want but tomorrow they will be using a new number.

Our phone rings at least 2-3 times a day with calls right now, most likely political. I just went through and was trying to block some of them and found very few that were the same each day.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[RE2Boys]

I use an old fashion answering machine to screen calls.

 

[sengsational]

Entities that make these calls know they are breaking the law, so reporting them is a waste of your time.

Blacklist zappers are not very effective since the caller ID they send is just generated randomly.

Whitelist devices are better, but adding known callers is a problem. The device called "Sentry" allows callers to whitelist themselves. That doesn't sound too good, but it completely eliminates robocalls and it's very rare that a telemarketer will follow the procedure, which includes hanging up and calling back.

 

[easysurfer]

+1 about the whitelist approach such as the "Sentry". Otherwise, the telemarketers can just create another spoofed number to get through if you just try and zap one at a time.

 

[braumeister]

My protection is pretty good, but I still get at least one of these calls (usually from Cardholder Services) per week. I block them and move on.

I do highly recommend using Nomorobo, which is automatically included in my Ooma subscription.

 

[Lakewood90712]

When time allows, I have started to waste the telemarketers time , ala jolly roger telephone co. methods ( like on the youtube videos ). I do it on speaker when the scumbags call on my cellphone. The office gets a chuckle out of my telemarketer torture antics.

I have given up on the federal no call list and also telling the telemarketer to remove my number. Not effective.Those things are fantasy.

 

[Tadpole]

Is there a CAPTCHA type app or rather a reverse-CAPTCHA where the caller has to prove they are a human?

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Is there a CAPTCHA type app or rather a reverse-CAPTCHA where the caller has to prove they are a human?

At one time, the Mama Bells had an option that a caller got screened if it wasn't from a white listed number. I am not sure if this is around anymore or not since I haven't had a landline in many years.

Here's the deal with the DNC list. It's ineffective for the consumer. It's VERY effective for the spammers. The technology is now so advanced that the spammers are able to generate numbers instantaneously. You may have noticed an uptick in local area codes that are spammy in nature. Almost ALL of these calls originate overseas and there is NOTHING the government can do to stop it...well, for now. So, your number on the DNC list is a great source for the spammers to get good, working numbers.

Another BAD idea is "opting out" from a spammer. You know, they call and almost immediately say something along the lines of, "To opt out of future calls, please press 2" All you have done is let them know that it's a GOOD number and someone ANSWERS the phone. So, just hangup.

Here's what I have done. I installed an application that screens the calls for me. Initially, I used the feature that uses a FCC database of spam numbers as well as a community based database that is updated constantly to avoid the calls. It worked pretty well up until about 2 months ago and then I started to get spam calls from my local area codes. So, I changed it so that the ONLY call that will ring my phone is a number that is in my contacts list. If it's an unidentified number, it will go to voicemail. If it's a FCC spam number, it is rejected immediately. I did make sure to update my voicemail to indicate to callers that they HAVE to leave a message if they want me to call back, otherwise I will never know they called. This option has worked well for me and I haven't missed any calls that I have been expecting.

 

[gauss]

Is there a CAPTCHA type app or rather a reverse-CAPTCHA where the caller has to prove they are a human?

I have a partial setup of that nature.

If someone calls and the caller ID is blocked then the phone does not immediately ring. It prompts the caller to press a random touch tone digit to continue. If they do not comply they get dumped into voice mail.

As such I have not had a blocked caller ring my phone in some time. I still get robo calls with a phone number listed however.

This setup is via my callcentric.com VOIP phone provider. I pay them $1.95/month for up to 500 minutes of outgoing calls (via my Internet connection).

I see that they have an additional feature - "Spam call probability" - which uses data from www.truecnam.com which appears to add a reputation rating to phone numbers - interesting.

-gauss

 

[retiredunder50]

I figured that the complaint process must be useless given the number of these robocalls/spam calls/telemarketers/weasel calls.... Check with your service provider to see if they give you any call block utility (for example, FIOS provides the capability to block 100 numbers - but that fills up quickly these days). I now use NOMOROBO to block these calls for free. The company won the FTC challenge to deal with the annoying calls. Apparently the company has a massive database that is updated regularly to block the calls. I know you can configure your landline carriers, but I don't think they serve the cellular carriers. When a number that is on the list calls your phone, it rings once and gets hung up by nomorobo.

 

[Cobra9777]

I don't get any spam or other unwanted calls and I have no call blocking in place. My landline and cell phone are both Google Voice numbers. The landline uses an Obi-100 VoIP device. On the cell phone, I use Hangouts for all voice and text, using only WiFi or the mobile data connection. At Ting, I disabled all voice and text to the real mobile number, which did get tons of spam calls.

For whatever reason, these GV numbers don't get unwanted calls. They are both about 3 years old, but I suspect they were brand new, never used before. I only provide the GV numbers to friends, family, and internet sites that I trust. Occasionally I get a call I don't recognize. I don't answer and let it go to voicemail. It's usually my doctor confirming an appointment or something similar.

 

[youbet]

Low tech geezers here.......

We get multiple robo-calls/political calls/survey calls/scam calls a day on our landline. We screen with an old fashioned answering machine. It's a bit of a pita listening to the phone ring and then paying attention to see if we want to pick up, but we've gotten used to it. It was especially tough to get DW trained to not leap for the phone every time it rang...... just old habits from our youth when phones had cranks on the side!

We're very careful who we give our cell numbers to and, so far, unwanted calls have been rare.

It's too bad the kind of scum that does business this way exists. Maybe they'll get sick and die? We can only hope!

I guess the real problem is that we, as a population, are dumb shi*ts and a few of us actually do business with strangers who call us on the phone. If no one did, ever, they'd go away after a while. Ditto with survey takers and their like. If everyone, without exception, told them to go f*** themselves and quickly hung up, it's pretty likely they'd stop making survey calls after a bit. They call us because some of us make their creepy missions successful.

I guess there is a reason carnival barkers have been successful for centuries!

 

[RobbieB]

Today the scum sucking Marriott 5 star resorts robocalled my cell phone with an offer of free lodging. I hung up on the sleaze bags.

Rule 2 - You haven't won anything.

 

[youbet]

the scum sucking ............

I like the way you phrased that!

 

[Sunset]

........

We get multiple robo-calls/political calls/survey calls/scam calls a day on our landline. We screen with an old fashioned answering machine. It's a bit of a pita listening to the phone ring and then paying attention to see if we want to pick up, .........

Same here.
But it is still a PITA, and just the other day I was thinking we need to get rid of the landline as that is what it is about all it's used for.

I need to check into the things suggested, or turn off my ringers

 

[youbet]

Same here.
But it is still a PITA, and just the other day I was thinking we need to get rid of the landline as that is what it is about all it's used for.

I need to check into the things suggested, or turn off my ringers

The only reason we keep the landline is to have a number to give people we don't want to have our cell phone numbers. We generally don't use our cell phone number on Internet sites, when ordering pizza, for appliance delivery drivers, casual acquaintances, relatives we don't like, etc. The landline is the place where we accumulate the trash calls but, unfortunately, have to sort them out since there are a few legit calls among them.

But agree, despite getting rather used to it, it is indeed a bother to listen to the ringer followed, sometimes, by someone leaving a message.

 

[target2019]

Landline > Tracfone > Mr Number > problem solved. Cost $150 in first year, $100 in second year.

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

Google Voice has been pretty good about blocking unwanted calls, but occasionally a spammer gets through. So I changed the settings, so now only my contacts can make my phone ring. All other calls go directly to the answering service. I also did this for my cell phone with the "Call Blocker" app, since I was getting spam calls. Hopefully this will solve the problem once and for all. And best of all it's free.

 

[RobbieB]

Other than people I know (and I tell them they have to "run the gauntlet") none speak after "the tone" all my LL calls are screened. The only voice that sounds after the beep is a recording, someone I know or a wrong number.

I do tell the real people that actually speak that they have a wrong number.

I don't use my cell for anything unless I'm out of town and the junk is starting on that now just as it did on my company cell. They never stop and never will. They are like the terminator.

 

[ERD50]

I don't think that the NoMoRoBO and other blocks based on 'bad' phone lists are very effective anymore. As was mentioned, the spammers now just generate random numbers and IDs, so no way to block them based on number.

The systems that whitelist your contacts, and ask for input from others before letting them in sound good, but I am afraid I'll miss something I actually want.

So I'm also mainly relying on caller ID and the answering machine to screen. With caller ID, we can pick up anyone on our contact list or that we recognize (if we want). I've gotten to the point that if I'm near the phone, and it is a generic caller ID, I pick up and hang up before the machine kicks in. This saves me deleting it later. And I assume if it was a real person, or even a 'friendly' robo-call (like dentist appt reminder), they/it would assume the call dropped and try again. I'd pick up on the second try, or just let it go to the ans machine.

-ERD50

 

[retiredunder50]

I don't think that the NoMoRoBO and other blocks based on 'bad' phone lists are very effective anymore. As was mentioned, the spammers now just generate random numbers and IDs, so no way to block them based on number.

I have been using Nomorobo for nearly a year and it works very well for me. My only complaint is that you actually hear the first ring of every blocked call. If we hear a second ring, we know to look at caller ID to decide on picking up. Prior to nomorobo, I used to receive maybe 35 bogus calls a week (I didn't answer the phone, but it was annoying). I filled up my Verizon Fios block call list of 100 numbers real fast. So far, so good!

 

[gauss]

And we wonder why "the kids" Text/SMS only as opposed to voice call........

 

[EastWest Gal]

We updated our phones in the house a couple of weeks ago and now the phone announces what the caller UD says so we don't need to look. We get 95% robocalls on our landline.

A funny aside-the voice caller ID states the state as initials but tries to pronounce the name. CVS pharmacy sounds like someone spitting. It's sounds hilarious!


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