How many people never answer phone calls from unknown numbers?

[HawkOwl]

When you pick up, a scammer aquires data points. They confirm it is an active number. They know your gender. They might confirm your name and maybe city, with seemingly innocent questions. They can record your voice. It gives them a chance to access your gullibility and decide whether you are vulnerable to scams. The information gathered can be sold to other scammers

So, no, I don’t pick up on calls from numbers that I don’t recognize.

 

[ivinsfan]

When you pick up, a scammer aquires data points. They confirm it is an active number. They know your gender. They might confirm your name and maybe city, with seemingly innocent questions. They can record your voice. It gives them a chance to access your gullibility and decide whether you are vulnerable to scams. The information gathered can be sold to other scammers

So, no, I don’t pick up on calls from numbers that I don’t recognize.

Can I ask where you got this information?

 

[HFWR]

All call from numbers not in my contact list go to vm.

 

[JoeWras]

I don't pick up anymore. They'll leave a message if important. Happened yesterday. A delivery company unexpectedly wanted to schedule a delivery for me, which I was expecting, so it wasn't a scam. I just didn't expect the pinpoint delivery arrangement. It was inconvenient to call them back as it took a while to get the right person, but it was still worth ignoring initially. Today the driver will call me ahead of time, so just for today, I will be picking up all calls.

BTW, the company was Saia. I always see these trucks on the interstate. I didn't know they did terminal residential deliveries.

 

[HawkOwl]

Can I ask where you got this information?

Most of it is basic identity theft protection advice. I had heard it before from multiple sources, but in this case I refreshed my memory by doing an AI search asking something to the effect of “is it dangerous to answer calls from unknown numbers?”.

AARP has a discussion on the topic at:

Why You Shouldn’t Answer Calls From Unknown Numbers

Avoid scams — including the ‘say yes’ or ‘can you hear me’ scam – by ignoring unsolicited callers

www.aarp.org

 

[mebden]

We don’t answer calls from unknown numbers 95% of the time, only if I’m expecting a call and I don’t have them in my contacts. If it matters, the caller will leave a VM. But that means I have to maintain my contacts list, so I don’t miss a call I want to take - e.g. a new doctor or service I’ve just engaged with. I will put anyone new in my contacts right away, easy enough to delete if it’s not a party I expect to reconnect with.

I also have the benefit of not changed my area code since we moved 750 miles from there. Almost all my scam or cold callers are from my old area code or 8xx.

I'm the same way Midpack I have my same phone area code from a state I moved out of in 2015 and every scam call I get comes from that area code and the few that don't I answer and have fun with everyone of them let them go thru there spill and then tell them at the end are you done yet and when they say yes I say good bye you better go get a drink for the next one you going to try to get them to buy from you LOL And then sometimes if I'm not really into their call I ask them who are you looking for and if they say me I tell them that he passed away yesterday and this is just a answering service till they can close his account. Its funny listening to them on the other end of what to say next quite hilarious humor for the day

 

[imjustawarrior]

I just answered a call from an unknown number that my phone said could be spam. I am trying to work out the purchase of a new car from an out of state dealership. It was them. The area code was correct, that is why I answered.

It is ~$2k cheaper to buy a car in DFW area than I can find in Colorado.

 

[COcheesehead]

I just answered a call from an unknown number that my phone said could be spam. I am trying to work out the purchase of a new car from an out of state dealership. It was them. The area code was correct, that is why I answered.

It is ~$2k cheaper to buy a car in DFW area than I can find in Colorado.

You risk taker you.

 

[threeonesix]

I only have a cell phone (no land line) and have it programed so all calls that come from someone other than numbers on my contact list go directly to voicemail. I only change this if I am expecting a call from a doctors office or something like that.

Google Voice allows me to answer a call and listen to the caller for 10 seconds before I decide to speak to the caller or hang up. This can lead to some great comedy when spammers think they are talking to a human.

One time a friend was arrested for causing a public disturbance. Story for another time. He called me from jail to get bailed out. I didn't recognize the number, it just said "Butler County Detention" for caller ID. Figured they were calling for a donation to the infamous policeman's ball. But that 10 seconds allowed him to quickly tell me who it was and to come bail him out. Which I did. So you never know who might be calling from an unknown number.

 

[ivinsfan]

Google Voice allows me to answer a call and listen to the caller for 10 seconds before I decide to speak to the caller or hang up. This can lead to some great comedy when spammers think they are talking to a human.

One time a friend was arrested for causing a public disturbance. Story for another time. He called me from jail to get bailed out. I didn't recognize the number, it just said "Butler County Detention" for caller ID. Figured they were calling for a donation to the infamous policeman's ball. But that 10 seconds allowed him to quickly tell me who it was and to come bail him out. Which I did. So you never know who might be calling from an unknown number.

You win this thread..

 

[GenXguy]

I get so few scammers / telemarketers, but I still don't answer the few that I get. I made an exception the other day because I was waiting for a doctor's office to call me, and the number on the caller ID was my area code PLUS a local "exchange code", so I figured it was them (it was). The only suspect calls I've gotten in the last few years have never been using a local exchange code, even if the area code is the same. This used to not be the case a few years back, and I got more of these types of calls, so something has improved with the system.

 

[Montecfo]

Google has a great call screening service. I use it regularly. Every once in a while an "unknown" number may be something important.

 

[COcheesehead]

I find if it’s important, they’ll leave a message. 99% of the time they don’t.