You can always invent your own language and speak to them that way.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
You can always invent your own language and speak to them that way.

. o O (Klingon...)

Joke warning:

Give the phone to a 3 year old and tell him/her it's Santa.

quote:

Originally posted by SIG4EVA:

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Really? Are we so inept, wussy, or whatever you want to call it, that we now need to pay someone to ignore phone calls?

I think the point is that you don't have to do anything on your end (waste time) and they get burned. The same thing they do to you. (robo call). I don't even bother answering anymore because most of the time nobody is there.

I never waste my time. And, I don't need to pay some service for not doing anything, and "they get burned". And, I receive tons of garbage calls each day.
Who really gets burned? It's you who get suckered into this nonsense. Look at your pocket. It's a little less full now, isn't it? It's like a damn racket.

[quote]Give the phone to a 3 year old and tell him/her it's Santa

That is good and creative. Provides some entertainment for the kids. With bill collectors telling them you are incarcerated moves the conversation along.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
I like the V-Tail method... Lol

Just talk to them. That's what telephones are for.

What are you wearing?

Do you have underwear on? What color is it?

Are you coming over to see me? Will you bring ice cream?

What's your name?

Do you wear anything when you sleep?

Do you have a dog?

Is it raining where you are?

Are you going to send me a credit card?

Sometimes they take me for a walk, but I'm not allowed to drive the car anymore.

My hero

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:
I finally got so fed up with the "spammer" calls that I just put my phone on permanent "do not disturb" then set "do not disturb" to allow anyone in my address book through. No more stopping what I am doing to check who is calling, if they are not in my contacts I don't even hear a ring. I'll see the missed call next time I look at the phone and if they left a message I'll listen to it. If not I'll just smile that "do not disturb" did its job, ignore the missed call, and carry on.

What version operating system do you have that offers that feature?

I ask because i'm still using an "antique" Android v2.4.2 and am in the market for a new phone.

IOS 10.3.1 (Yes, it is an apple). Funny thing is just looking now to see I realized that I worked on IOS 10.3, but that was at cisco when we used IOS (short for Internet Operating System) for our software. It was trademarked, I guess someone in manglement must have cut a sweet deal to license the name to apple.

Are there software updates available for your Android? I'd imagine they have the same or a similar feature.

On this version of the iPhone, in settings, under do not disturb, it can either be Manual or scheduled. The choices for allowing calls are:
Everyone, No zone, Favorites, or Groups, the first of which is All Contacts.

There is also a Repeated Calls option which when enabled causes a second call within three minutes from any number to get through.

You can choose to silence always, or only when the phone is locked.

Note that people who are not allowed to disturb you still have the option of leaving voicemail. Telemarketers never do (at least on my phone), but folks who I may want to talk with generally will.

Thanks slosig.

And no, there are no updates available for my antique.

Currently I'm using a call blocker but that doesn't help shut down new scam numbers as it only blocks what I've added. What you've described your OS does is what would really be nice here. No sound and no answer to anything not in my phone contact list. Oh well...

UPDATE 12:43AM Found an app that works with my old Android OS version that will block any caller not listed in my contacts list called Do Not Disturb. I've installed it and we'll see how it goes....

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bald1,

Haven't had a landline in 7 years. The only people who miss it are the bill collectors for the previous owner of the number.

I have TrueCaller on my android and it will tell me if other users have marked a caller as "spam". Then I can add the number to the block list and that's the end of that. Very happy with that app!

Simple, I never answer the phone from ANY number I don't recognize.... ever.

When a telemarketer calls me, I say, "I charge $39.95 per minute to listen to solicitations. Now is when I take your credit card number."

Bu, But

You'll need to give me a credit card number to continue.

Click.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Micropterus,

karma

https://motherboard.vice.com/e...mmers-with-robocalls

quote:

Originally posted by SIGSense:
Simple, I never answer the phone from ANY number I don't recognize.... ever.

THIS. Cost: $0.00

However my wife ALWAYS answers... while I am yelling from somewhere else in the house: "DON'T ANSWER, FAKE NEWS err CALL!!!"

Sometimes we get even...

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/n...three-months-9440277

I think the professional networking site gets hacked or sells info like contact numbers to spammers. So, the cell numbers can be compromised.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
I like the V-Tail method... Lol

Just talk to them. That's what telephones are for.

What are you wearing?

Do you have underwear on? What color is it?

Are you coming over to see me? Will you bring ice cream?

What's your name?

Do you wear anything when you sleep?

Do you have a dog?

Is it raining where you are?

Are you going to send me a credit card?

Sometimes they take me for a walk, but I'm not allowed to drive the car anymore.

Does the carpet match the drapes? Or is it linoleum?

I don't normally bump old threads, but as I was just about to start a new thread on this topic I'll just add some info to this existing thread.

There was a recent Weekly Standard thread on the Telemarketer epidemic and I recently caught a radio interview with both the author of the WS piece as well as the founder of Jolly Roger.

Essentially, it boils down to the fact that there are couple different ways to counter telemarketers. One, block/avoid the calls...OR what Jolly Roger (and services like them) offer. Instead of trying to avoid the call they are attempting to use their own Bots to tie up telemarketers and waste their time. With tech improvements such as predictive dialers and low cost phone calls the most expensive part of telemarketing are the humans who take over the calls from the Bots once the Bot believes it has a human on the line...by keeping the human telemarketers tied up with Jolly Roger bots their efficiency is cut down which means fewer calls are made, costs go up, and their business model essentially "breaks". While it is probably not possibly to completely eradicate telemarketers, I sure don't mind throwing a few spike strips in their path and messing with their businesses. At only a few dollars per year for a subscription that covers multiple lines it seems like a decent value to me.

About the only real down side I can see to this approach is that it might tie your phone up when a legitimate call comes in.

Weekly Standard article

Telemarketers, Ahoy


850 KOA iHeart radio interview of the WS author and the Jolly Rogers CEO on his service.

https://www.iheart.com/podcast...&cid=/&autoplay=true


http://www.jollyrogertelco.com/

If anyone has used Jolly Roger, or any service like them, I'd be interested in hearing their impressions.

Hire Tom Mabe...

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Hire Tom Mabe...

I've listened to that one for years..in fact, that bit is included in the radio interview I linked above. Nice reference!

Yeah. First time I heard it, (back in the aught 90s, I damned near peed myself.)