For the last two weeks or so I've been getting 2-4 calls each day, from all different area codes. It's infuriating.

I wish I could do such. I do freelance work and a lot of my work comes from referrals.

quote:

Originally posted by kx90:
I don't answer any unknown numbers. If it's important they'll leave me a message. If they don't leave a message then obviously it wasn't important.

Amy? What are you wearing?

I have another idea. Put him to work to stamp out this practice. In his spare time he should be required to use a rotary dial phone and personally apologize to the people he has cheated.

As others have said, I don't answer calls from anyone that isn't in my contacts directory. If it's important, they'll leave a voicemail. I'll listen to the voicemail with a skeptical, very skeptical, attitude.

People of their ilk should receive harsh treatment in a special facility.

Please help me out here. What are the chances the guy will pay that fine? They can't jail him for not paying. Would it matter if he were fined $120 trillion? So would an hourly enema with high test fuel be cruel and unusual? How about a jail cell with a starving lion?

Everybody should do the opposite of what is being said. Instead of ignoring the calls, everybody answer them and then say nothing. You will get transferred, and the live person will take a minute to give their speech, and you still say nothing. 99% of us have unlimited minutes nowadays.

Make robo-calling unprofitable, and then it will cease. Of course, this is a fantasy of mine with no hope of a concerted strategy.

It is only a proposed fine. How often do proposed fines become actual fines at that high a price?

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Everybody should do the opposite of what is being said. Instead of ignoring the calls, everybody answer them and then say nothing. You will get transferred, and the live person will take a minute to give their speech, and you still say nothing. 99% of us have unlimited minutes nowadays.

Make robo-calling unprofitable, and then it will cease. Of course, this is a fantasy of mine with no hope of a concerted strategy.

All answering does is make the number "live." You'll get called more often.

Fining thieves & scam artists is fruitless endeavor. This guy is likely already a ghost in the wind. I have no easy answer, but possibly track the money & incarcerate any supporters or enablers until they can repay the defrauded folks on their prison wages.

I get so many robocalls from the same area code and prefix as my number that I literally don't even answer the phone anymore for local numbers.

Let's see if the guy forks out this 120M. I think his company will file bankruptcy.

"Jihad? Why are you calling about Jihad?"

Might work. "I'm on the Fucking Do Not Call List" sure doesn't.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
I told people prior to the election that if he would have promised to hunt down the ones responsible for the incessant robocalls and other telephone scams and put their heads on pikes, I’d have voted for the ghost of Joseph Stalin. They are without a doubt the greatest First World annoyance there is, especially as I cannot imagine what they accomplish by calling the same unresponsive numbers over and over. Are there really people who hang up or don’t answer at all 50 times in a row, and then say, “Sure, that sounds good to me,” the 51st?

And don’t brag about not having a landline. I do and will continue to have one for various reasons as long as it’s an option, and the robocalls are starting to go directly to my cell anyway. It’s only a matter of time before it becomes common. Nothing, literally nothing, would be enough punishment for me.

Only ever answer the landline when I am near it when it rings, and then only after I a) recognize the caller ID (rare as everyone knows to call the cell), or b) hear them start leaving a message and recognize the voice.

Got so sick and tired of the robocalls on the cell phone (seems like every single time I am busy with something else and have to stop what I am doing and pull my phone out to see who is calling) that I put the cell phone on permanent "Do Not Disturb" with only numbers that are in my contacts allowed through. People not in my contacts are welcome to leave a voicemail. Generally I'll call them back and usually add them to my contacts. Spammers never leave a message. I never even know they called until I pull my phone out and notice a missed call from an unrecognized number with no voicemail left. I don't even bother blocking them any more unless I recognize one number as being highly persistent.

When I was growing up I was taught it was rude not to answer the phone and I felt that way for a long time. Now with so many scumbags calling to waste one's time I am over that feeling...

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Everybody should do the opposite of what is being said. Instead of ignoring the calls, everybody answer them and then say nothing. You will get transferred, and the live person will take a minute to give their speech, and you still say nothing. 99% of us have unlimited minutes nowadays.

Make robo-calling unprofitable, and then it will cease. Of course, this is a fantasy of mine with no hope of a concerted strategy.

All answering does is make the number "live." You'll get called more often.

OK, but my point was if everybody wasted their time, the method would be unprofitable. Also, who keeps supporting these people through purchases? Granny can't be taking that many cruises.

I was getting called daily about a cruise, and then started this tactic. The calls stopped, so I'm not so sure there isn't a list of numbers to exclude.

The problem with me simply not answering phone calls with an advertised area and 3 digit prefix number is that there are only around 200-300 phone numbers with my 3 digit prefix. I was compelled to answer those phone calls only if to inform them that the wrong number had been called.

An antiquated solution to stopping these spoofed calls informing me that I won "free cruise" yet again is

I get calls from foreign people telling me they are calling to resolve my Windows issue or to resolve the issue with my Windows PC running so slow. I tell them up front that I need to boot it up and it takes several minutes because it is very slow. Then I continue to engage them for as long as I can. Finally at some point when they get into asking me what I see and I know I can't make it up any longer without them catching on, I inform them I have an iMAC. I can take the time to really piss them off, and it really does, and I figure I'm keeping them from ripping someone off even if only for a short period of time.

I also got a sales call at work recently. I tried to tell the woman I wasn't interested, but she was reading her script much too fast to hear me. So I sat the phone down and let her drone on.

If they call me, I have options and I often exercise them for my enjoyment.

Telemarketers are a nuisance, all right, as are the "IRS" and "Microsoft" scammers, but thanks to caller ID they can be ignored, just don't answer any numbers you don't recognize. Now, virus creators and other hackers, there are people worthy of creative punishment.

The only calls we get on our landline are from solicitors and the American Red Cross asking for blood, and we almost always ignore them. But lately, we've started seeing these 'spoofed' calls that look like a phone number in our local area. Drives me crazy. We're so tempted to cut the landline entirely, since everyone we talk to now calls us on our cell phones.