Poll: How Many Scam Cold Calls Do You Get Per Day?

[Midpack]

I NEVER answer any number that’s not already in my contacts, but I probably average 2-3 scam calls per day. All from unrecognized area codes, or my former area code, some with caller ID of “United States.”

I wish I knew why I get as many as I do, but I know all of us suffer from having personal info shared no matter how careful we are - believe me we decline sharing info whenever possible.

Do you get more or less?

 

[pb4uski]

I voted None because that is the average day... though I do get one every once in a while. Usually from my home area code and I answer it and there is no response, so I think block that number.

 

[Andre1969]

On the home phone, like clockwork, I get at least one call a day from some company called "Credence." I looked it up, and apparently it's some kind of collection agency. I had a housemate years ago, who had credit issues. He moved out in 2015, but I'm guessing that someone he defaulted on probably has my phone number. I just looked him up on the white pages, and after all these years, it still shows him living in my old town.

I might get a spam text on my cell maybe a couple times a month. Last time it said it was from Navy Federal Credit Union, but it seemed suspicious. For one thing, I have no account with them! Everything was spelled correctly, but some of the punctuation and spacing was off.

 

[CardsFan]

I probably average 1 per day, or less.

But DW often gets 3 or 4 a day. This is probably because here cell is our old land line number, so it is more "out there" from past use.

 

[athena53]

Less than one. I am very stingy with my cell number and I try not to answer my MagicJack number but sometimes it's someone from the church so I do. Any place that asks for u number where I feel they have no valid purpose for it (and it's an obligatory field on a form) it's (my area code) 867-5309. According to one monitoring service, that number is on the dark web.

I got a flurry of auto warranty calls for a long time after I bought my car- the dealer where I took it for warranty service (I'd bought it elsewhere) apparently sold my info to Sirius, which kept spamming me about a free trial except that my car didn't have it, and must have sold it elsewhere. I'd given the dealer my cell number so they could call me when the work was done.

They seem to come in waves. Earlier this month I got voicemails from some outfit with "Financial" in the name; lots of menacing talk about "your file", "preserving your rights" and "you or your legal representative". I don't owe anyone a dime other than the mortgage company and eventually the calls stopped.

 

[donheff]

I get very few on my mobile number but lots on my old landline number. I set it to go to voicemail and very few callers stay on to leave a VM. If they do, the system sends me an email with the message. I ignore all short VMs (eg. up to 10 sec) and listen to the longer ones.

 

[DrRoy]

1 to 2. When I have a message out somewhere then I answer the phone to a non contact.

 

[prudent_one]

4 or more per day on our landline. I had thought about canceling it but when I thought about it, I realized I get maybe 1 spam call a month on my cell and I decided I'd rather have the spam calls on the landline. I've had my cell for many years and I know if I make my cell the "main" number every place I need to give a phone number, the spam calls will just migrate to my cell when my number is out there in dozens more computer systems.

When I'm at home, I just have the cordless phone by me and when it rings, a quick look at the caller ID tells me when I can just quickly press Talk then End. For me that's preferable to letting it ring multiple times until the machine picks up.

 

[MichaelB]

2 years ago I was getting more than 5 bogus calls per day. Now it’s 1 or 2, and some days none. Average I’d say 1

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I said none. I get maybe 1-2 per week. But sometimes less. I ignore any unknown caller unless I have a repairman on the way or something like that.

 

[sengsational]

I have a Sentry box configured not to ring unless the number is white listed. Although the Sentry allows people to white list themselves, only legit callers ever do, so when the phone rings, it's like the 60's in our house, we drop what we're doing and run for the phone.

So although we get many attempts per day on the "land line" (Ooma), it doesn't ring, so I answered the poll with zero.

On the cell phone, I have unrecognized numbers screened ... they hear a message that requests them to say who they are and why they're calling. Their reply gets translated to text, and I can decide to engage or not. That's amazing technology!

 

[Winemaker]

I get about 10 calls a day from medicare advantage hucksters, life car repair insurance until we closed on our rental properties. I had to take all calls at that time, but they are starting to dwindle as I just don't answer a call unless in my contacts.

 

[Alan]

I get maybe 1 a month, which I then block. (No landline for many years so very easy to block with a few clicks when I do receive a scam call)

 

[RunningBum]

Less than 1/day, but not 0, so I'm not sure where that's supposed to fall. Some are blocked by AT&T's detector and I only see them in the log.

My trick is to set up a ring tone for all of my contacts, and set the default phone ring tone to something pleasant and quieter. I don't even bother to look at my phone when I hear that default ring unless I am expected a call from someone new, like a doctor or someone coming to do work at my house. I use an app called Group Ringtone to keep my contacts updated with the non-default ringtone. So now instead of my BP jumping when the phone rings since I felt I had to always check it, I hear a nice tune and don't have to interrupt what I'm doing when a spammer calls, or I know to answer if it's a contact.

 

[jollystomper]

On our landline, it varies greatly. A computer logs all the phone call numbers than come in over our landline, and zaps the likely scam calls. We can go weeks without any, then suddenly get 4-5 in a day for a few days. In December we received on scam call. Last month (December) it received one scam call. In January we have received 11, 7 of them in the last week.

I rarely get scam calls on my cell phone, maybe one a quarter.

An interesting thing about my cell is that the scam calls that leave a message use a name that is not mine. It is always the same name. I did some research, and found that it is the name of the person from whom we purchased the home we owned prior to our current home. We are talking back in the 1980s, before I even had a cell phone. Somewhere on the dark web a data breach occurred that associated this persons name with my cell phone. But I am okay with it, I think it helps protect me .

 

[cyber888]

My landline gets a dozen a day. The worst are those who say ‘hello hello hello u there? Anyone there?’

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I voted "None" because they hardly ever get through, but we use Nomorobo, and T-Mobile blocks some known spam calls to my cell, plus I don't give out my cell # any longer except to friends, for businesses I only use my (main) Google Voice number, and it goes straight to voicemail. So some spam/scam callers may call my GV #s (plural), but they don't usually leave a message. And we won't answer our landline unless we recognize the number. I had to make an exception when my dad was sick, as I was talking on the phone to doctors, nurses, rehab centers, social workers, etc., but that was 2015, it wasn't quite as bad back then.

 

[MarieIG]

I don't pick up unless I know the contact. Some days I get more spam or potential spam calls than other days. Maybe three?

 

[5Miler]

None these days. I set my iPhone to not ring if the number isn't in my contact list. If it's important they'll leave a message.

 

[skyking1]

I get the 1 a day, my area code, tagged as probable spam. I let it go, no message left, and a different number each time so there is no point in blocking them.

 

[GenXguy]

Once a month maybe - very rarely. I never answer.
Also rare to get spam texts. I never respond.

 

[pacergal]

No landline.
DH and I average 1 a day easily, never answer them.
If you are not in my contact list, leave a message!

 

[Walt34]

I checked "2-3" but it's hard to tell because a few years ago we bought a nice little gizmo that comes with a long list of known spam callers and you can add your own as they materialize. It made an immediate and dramatic difference in reducing to almost none the number of calls we get. One or two a week still get through and those are of course added to the blacklist. Most of the time the call is blocked before the phone even rings, but some ring once and are then disconnected.

This one is for land lines, which we still have for a variety of reasons.

https://www.amazon.com/CPR-Call-Blo...refix=spam+phone+call+blocker+,aps,997&sr=8-5

 

[Lakedog]

Probably about one per week.

 

[ERD50]

I NEVER answer any number that’s not already in my contacts, but I probably average 2-3 scam calls per day. All from unrecognized area codes, or my former area code, some with caller ID of “United States.”

I wish I knew why I get as many as I do, but I know all of us suffer from having personal info shared no matter how careful we are - believe me we decline sharing info whenever possible.

Do you get more or less?

I answered "1/day", but hard to say on average. Seem to come in spurts, got several a day it seems from the Medicare sales people. Then none for days? Don't really keep track, but close enough.

I have "NoMoRoBo", which intercepts suspected spam, answers, then hangs up on them. I seem to catch some right at the time it's hanging up. Supposedly, with NoMoRoBo, you will still get one ring, because the Caller ID comes in between the 1st/2nd rings. But some seem to get caught w/o a ring?

BTW, this is on our VOIP phone, which has our several decades old landline/POTS number.

We occasionally get generic "ILLINOIS" calls on our cell phones. One a week?

Hey CONGRATULATIONS!!!! - this may be the first POLL in er-org history w/o a zillion questions/comments of "do I include....?", "What about.... ?", "You forgot category ...", " You made a math error ...","I don't own a phone...", or .....

-ERD50