Telemarketer Advice ?

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

Like most folks, we are on the "Do Not Call" lists, and screen our calls at home.  We don't answer if we don't know the caller.  This has cut down on the telemarketers greatly.

However, we initially got 3-4 calls a day from the same cell phone.  I made the mistake of answering one of these calls, thinking that I would deter the caller by pointing out that this is a Do Not Call number, and asking to be removed from his calling list.  No such luck.  Now we get 8-10 calls per day.  The cell phone is apparently in common use by multiple users, all of whom sound Indian or Pakistani.  They each have a pitch, from telling me that I'm a lottery winner  to threatening me with "IRS prosecution".  It's all phony, but it's damned aggravating.  Lately, when I tell him to stop calling, he unloads a ton of crude language and hangs up.

 

I want to stop these calls; any suggestions short of air horns or homicide?

 

LL

[Calico Mary]

I don't see what's wrong with the homicide idea.....

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

If your phone is a mobile device, you can block the number yourself. If it's a land line, you can have the phone company block it. At least that's the way it used to be.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

Start wasting their time in whatever pitch they are making.

When I kept getting called, in spite of being on the Do Not Call List, I feigned interest and went along with the pitch, asking questions, sounding enthused etc. then, at the very last said No Thanks.

You can have a lot of fun with these folks when you're retired and have time on your hands.

I even learned some new words.

 

[G W Wade]

Try keeping them on the line till they get mad and hang up on you....    If your on land line or have unlimited minutes available.     GW

[Rye Miles #13621]

Don't answer, let it go to voice mail. Then after you can block the number whether they leave a message or not. At least on my IPhone I can do that!

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Biggest reason we dropped the house hardline, and went cellar

Don't bet on that be'n the true phone number...

OLG

[Yul Lose]

I answered one of those IRS calls a couple of weeks ago when I was out in the shop. I could tell right away that Rangit was not from around here so to speak. He wanted my social security number so that he could verify it was me he was talking to. So I had a USPS postage receipt with tracking number so I read that number to him. He asked me if I was sure that was the number and I said it was. He then said yes that’s the number we have in our records and could I please tell him my name, again to verify he was talking to the right person so I told him that I was Harry Pubics. He then said alright Mr. Pubic and I corrected him and told him it was Pubics, plural not Pubic. He then told me that I owed the IRS $38,000.00 and I could settle it by giving him a credit card number. I told him that I didn’t use credit cards and I dealt in gold only and at that time I was fresh out of gold. He told me that until I paid the &38,000.00 my social security number would be suspended. I told him that that was fine with me and he hung up. They haven’t called since.

[Lorelei Longshot, SASS #44256 Life]

Being retired is wonderful.  I got even with the IRS scam a few years ago by calling back every few minutes for about 6 hours until they disconnected the telephone number.  I politely asked, "How do you like working for a scam operation?  Are they paying you a lot of money to scam people?"

[Sedalia Dave]

Be careful when calling back scammers. Caller ID is easy to spoof. I know of at least 2 people who were getting angry and threatening calls from people they didn't know simply because the scammer has chosen their number to spoof. 

[Joke 'um]

Two part solution:

 

1.  Land line direct to answering machine, ringer off.  Give out this number on all forms, records or business matters.  Only deal with messages you need or want to.

2.  Cell phone from Straight Talk or other outfit where you buy a card every month.  Only give this number to friends and family.  These systems do not connect your name with the phone number in any records.  There is no list of who owns which phone.  Don't give this number to snyone that may put it in a data base.  Data bases tend to get passed around.

 

This system has made life much more peaceful for me.

[Yul Lose]

Cellular phones do not work down in my little holler so I’m tied to landlines and interconnect phone service. I do find it very satisfying when I can tie the scammers up in enough knots that they hang up and never call again. My landline has caller ID and I can see who it is immediately the internet phone not so much but I do need to answer it as I conduct business on it. Usually you can tell right away if it is a telemarketer or surveyor and hang up.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I don’t answer the phone.

[Trigger Mike]

I tell them my car is 30 years old and I desperately want a warranty.  I tell the medical malpractice folks that my wife had a brain transplant that failed,  or I had a head transplant.  I tell time share and lottery people that I am unemployed.  

[Charlie Plasters, SASS#60943]

I answer the phone "Yavapi County Attorneys Office, how may I direct your call?"

[bgavin]

You can block robot calls with NoMoRoBo.com
This is free for land lines, and a very minimal charge for cells.

You will get one ring, "Incoming Call" on the CallerID, then gone.
I am now fully trained to completely ignore the first ring.
If I get two I pay attention.

If the CallerID is not valid, it is ignored.
If the same number calls right back a 2nd time, it is probably valid and somebody I have not memorized.

The phone companies will never prevent these, because it is revenue for them.
The Do Not Call list has as much authority as stop signs in my neighborhood:  they are ignored.

[Pat Riot]

If I answer a call and it’s one of these Indian fellows the conversation goes like this. (It is quite entertaining)

 

”Hello”

”Hello, this is agent (whatever) calling from the (FBI, IRS, whatever)”

I am so glad you called. You sound like a strapping young man...what are you wearing right now?”

“Excuse me?”

”I said what are you wearing right now you brown luscious bit of chocolate”

At this point there is usually lots of yelling and cursing and some name calling and they hang up. I then block the number. 

 

Ah...It gives hours of entertainment. I am laughing now remembering long blocked friends.  

 

Improvise, have a little fun...life is short. 

[Dustin Checotah]

I get one caller almost daily and sometimes more than once a day trying to sell my wife and I one of those medic alert devices. One problem is that it seldom is the same number but there is the same recording and if you say no they disconnect. If you say yes then someone comes on with the hard sell. I did answer it once and said yes the guy came on and I asked why his caller ID showed Sappi Fine Paper  (that is a nearby paper manufacturer) all I got was a hang up. They still keep calling and I usually do not answer. I let it go to voice mail. I tell my wife if it is a number that we don't recognize and it is important they will leave a message.

[Lorelei Longshot, SASS #44256 Life]

7 hours ago, bgavin said:

You can block robot calls with NoMoRoBo.com
This is free for land lines, and a very minimal charge for cells.

You will get one ring, "Incoming Call" on the CallerID, then gone.
I am now fully trained to completely ignore the first ring.
If I get two I pay attention.

If the CallerID is not valid, it is ignored.
If the same number calls right back a 2nd time, it is probably valid and somebody I have not memorized.

The phone companies will never prevent these, because it is revenue for them.
The Do Not Call list has as much authority as stop signs in my neighborhood:  they are ignored.

Even though I am on the NoMoRoBo.com list, recently I've started receiving at least two or three calls per week on the land line that don't get blocked.  I don't answer and no message gets left on the answering machine.  It is frustrating though because if it rings more than once I have to look at the phone to tell if it is someone I know or not to answer because it is "Unknown." I get multiple cell phone calls almost everyday where they're spoofing someone's number, once even my own number. I have to go in daily to delete 3-5 of these annoying calls.

[Tex Jones, SASS 2263]

Scammers or even legitimate companies do not find any number at random.  There are any number of lists of phone numbers that are sold from company to company.  If you receive a series of calls over a period of time and don't answer you may notice that the calls become fewer until they stop.  Then after a time they usually start up again as the list (s) with your number is/are sold to another company.   Many years ago, I worked for a credit rating agency and I can recall investigating many companies who created and sold lists of telephone numbers and addresses.  Best thing to do is not answer the phone if you don't know who is calling. 

[Rye Miles #13621]

You think you guys got it bad? My cell phone is a also my business phone! I'm on a scammers list for personal AND business. I get calls about Visa, Mastercard, loans, etc etc. I let everything go to voicemail unless it's a customer or friend and family that I recognize. 

[bgavin]

These lists are constantly sold and released.
You can tell when a new list comes out, because you will get a barrage of calls.

@Pat...  it ain't PC, but after many years of working in IT, I can put on a good Indian accent.
I lay it on thick, and tell 'em my name is Debby.
And that I am happy to fix their computer for them, and if they sign on today, they get a free goat.

Never answer an unidentified call.
Never speak with them. 
They record your voice, ask you the question "Can you hear me OK?"
If you say "Yes" they use that as an "opt-in" for their scam.

Nomorobo is not 100% but it does filter out quite a bit.
Better to have 25% of the flies in your house, instead of 100%.

[Tascosa, SASS# 24838]

I put my cell on 'do not disturb' and only my contacts can get through. 

[J. Mark Flint #31954 LIFE]

The moment you know it is a scam hang up.  Don't discuss anything, don't say anything just hang up.

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

[Pat Riot]

5 hours ago, bgavin said:

Never answer an unidentified call.
Never speak with them. 
They record your voice, ask you the question "Can you hear me OK?"
If you say "Yes" they use that as an "opt-in" for their scam.

That is a very good point bgavin...by the way, is that an old Indian name for "Man without alias'? 

Anyway, I never say the word "yes". Even if I think the call is legit.

If I get a call even from my insurance or a known business that I deal with if they ask if I am Tom L..... I say "uh-huh" or grunt in the affirmative.  I never say "yes".

[Church Key, SASS # 33713]

COSTCO sells a Panasonic package with five phones that has a feature you can turn on that requires callers not in your phone book to press 1 to leave a message on voice mail (no rings); stops robocalls. Also has a call block button that keeps any call you want from ever causing a ring. Works great for about $99. 

[El Hombre Sin Nombre]

19 hours ago, Yul Lose said:

I answered one of those IRS calls a couple of weeks ago when I was out in the shop. I could tell right away that Rangit was not from around here so to speak. He wanted my social security number so that he could verify it was me he was talking to. So I had a USPS postage receipt with tracking number so I read that number to him. He asked me if I was sure that was the number and I said it was. He then said yes that’s the number we have in our records and could I please tell him my name, again to verify he was talking to the right person so I told him that I was Harry Pubics. He then said alright Mr. Pubic and I corrected him and told him it was Pubics, plural not Pubic. He then told me that I owed the IRS $38,000.00 and I could settle it by giving him a credit card number. I told him that I didn’t use credit cards and I dealt in gold only and at that time I was fresh out of gold. He told me that until I paid the &38,000.00 my social security number would be suspended. I told him that that was fine with me and he hung up. They haven’t called since.

I love doing stuff like this. I told "Kevin" that my social security number was 9. He said that is not enough numbers. I said it is when you are as old as I am. He had to discuss it with a manager before hanging up. Another time when asked to verify my address I gave him the address of the treasury department. It seems that's the address they are supposed to give us in this scam. Other times i put them on hold and check in every so often saying I am looking for my social security card or credit card. I think word has gotten out because i haven't been called in a few weeks. I guess that's good, but it makes my afternoons a little more boring now though.

[bgavin]

19 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Caller ID is easy to spoof.

Indeed.
I was surprised by one call where CallerID said I was calling myself.

Highly amusing.

[El Hombre Sin Nombre]

14 minutes ago, bgavin said:

Indeed.
I was surprised by one call where CallerID said I was calling myself.

Highly amusing.

That would scare me. I might think It was my future self calling me with winning lottery tickets or sound advice. I might come to believe it so thoroughly, that I would assume everyone in the future spoke with heavy Indian accents.

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

NOW that there would make a really great scam.

Its your future self calling with winning lotto numbers.

WOW.

Best

CR

 

[Michigan Slim]

19 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Be careful when calling back scammers. Caller ID is easy to spoof. I know of at least 2 people who were getting angry and threatening calls from people they didn't know simply because the scammer has chosen their number to spoof. 

Yep. Got rather heated once when I did that.

[bgavin]

2 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

That is a very good point bgavin...by the way, is that an old Indian name for "Man without alias'? 

 

Nope.
This is my standard user name long before SASS came along.
Many decades back, I got to meet BKliban who did wacko cat cartoons for Playboy back in the day.

His wife Terri (?) and my (ex) wife were horse women together.
I never saw him at the stables or events, so I figured he disliked horses as much as I did.
I prefer the chrome ones...

My SASS alias is "WD Farren", an ancestor of mine.
He was a railroad agent, telegrapher and scamp who, along with my Uncle Tiner, rolled drunken miners in his saloon.
My bride is "Wrongway McGillicuddy" a childhood name for her dyslexia, or as Widder joshes me.. "lysdexia."

[Three Foot Johnson]

I used to get calls from a fertilizer company or something, wanting to sell me stuff to make my peanuts bigger.

[Utah Bob #35998]

I never answer the phone unless I’m specifically expecting the call or it’s someone I know.  Listen for the beep.