Can something please be done about solicitation calls?

[edhopper]

It is getting ridiculous. 10 to 12 a day minimum. Sometimes one after another. We are on the "Do Not Call" list, which seems to be completely ineffective.
I am sure the Repugs would find a way to thwart any effort to reign this in.
But come 2020, can we please find a way to end this annoyance?


This is mostly our landline, but on our cell as well.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Cell?

[edhopper]

2. mostly land line

but cell as well.

[JenniferJuniper]

3. My cell rings all day with these

I have to turn it off when I'm at work as on average I get 3 -4 calls a day ranging from the ones telling me the IRS will be having me arrested any minute now to people selling windows.

I'm on the do not call list. It's being completely ignored.

[Eliot Rosewater]

12. Real easy to block the calls, google how as to your phone, and yes they use different numbers

but it only takes a second.

[JenniferJuniper]

27. They usually don't use the same number twice

blocking doesn't do much

[crazycatlady]

4. can't speak for landlines

But on most modern cell phones, you can block calls from numbers that are not in your contacts.

[edhopper]

9. There are calls from people

not on my contact list that I still need.

[Eliot Rosewater]

13. You can block individual calls, numbers. Just google how to do it per your phone.

On mine it is right there when I look at details of the call.

[edhopper]

19. It's never the same numbers

they spoof a lot of numbers, often making it look like a local area code.

[Eliot Rosewater]

20. I know, frustrating, but block them anyway as I would think eventually they

would reuse them.

[edhopper]

21. Thanks, and this is what I am talking about

we shouldn't have to put in this much effort for a little peace.

[CreekDog]

23. they never reuse them, do you know how many numbers there are? come on

I haven't blocked a single number and NEVER has one been reused.

Blocking numbers is a waste of time unless you get a repeat call.

[marlakay]

30. True about local numbers

Most is my spam cell calls are from WA where we used to live and kept phone number. So I actually know if I see my local one to pick up!

I had thought of switching to local number until I figured this out.

[dalton99a]

5. "Do Not Call" is a joke. They're using Caller ID spoofing

and nobody is doing anything about it.

It's easier to ignore numbers that are not in your contact list

[Afromania]

6. I love getting calls from "Ace Hardware" letting me know I've "won" a 4d/5n vacation to wherever.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Check out Nomorobo.

https://nomorobo.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/115000963232-Nomorobo-Landline-101

Using it depends on whether your phone carrier will support the service, but if it does you might give it a try. It detects robocalls and forwards them somewhere. You hear the phone ring only once, so you know it's trapped a robocall. It's been working quite well for me.

[SoCalNative]

10. Seems to only be for landline/VoiP

but not cell providers

[edhopper]

22. There is an app for cells

but it cost $2 a month.

[louis-t]

43. Oooh, send them all to drumpf.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

44. I wish, but the app just sends them to its own number.

[LuckyCharms]

8. I get about 20 per day on my landline, and it is the biggest...

pain in the ass.

I utilize nomorerobo, but the phone still rings once before the call is silenced. I guess it has something to do with the way the blocking technology works that allows the phone to ring once. If you are expecting an important call, or trying to get some shut-eye or in the middle of a project, that one ring is infuriating.

I am hoping that someone develops a solution to this problem.

Sometimes if I am not busy, I will just answer the call and fuck with them for about 45 minutes. One thing that I find funny...when they realize that I am screwing around with them, they always have comments about my mother and sister. There must be some kind of procedure manual for all of these assholes that tells them to accuse people of having sex with female family members.

What a world.

[CrispyQ]

11. They are rude about calling times, too.

We've gotten calls past 8PM on weeknights & calls on Sundays, too. There is never a break from someone trying to sell you something or ask for money.

[safeinOhio]

14. If you have caller ID, you can try this.

Do not pick up if don't know the caller number.
Let the machine get it. Your message needs to tell caller, if you do not leave a message and call more than twice, this number will be blocked. Please try one of my other numbers, even if you don't have other numbers.

[edhopper]

18. We so that

still getting all those calls, multiple rings and the voice mail picks up.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

35. We have caller ID, and if someone calls we don't know, they get this message:

"If this is about refinancing our home, please remove our number from your list. Otherwise, leave a message." We've had pretty good luck so far -- in the past year we've had only one salesman sneak past, and they were spoofing a number from our town.

We still get 5-10 calls a day, at all hours, seven days a week. Now when a website asks for our name, email and telephone number, they get: Betty Bowers, [e-mail], and 1-800-928-2086, which is Dial-a-Prayer. If they won't provide me the information I want on their website, I'll be damned I'll give them mine.

[csziggy]

15. I hat the robocalls because I can't punish them

I keep a whistle next to the phone. For the IRS and Microsoft technical support scammers I blow that whistle as hard as I can. I usually hear a "fuck" before they hang up.

I can't do that to the robocalls. I especially hate "Ann" calling about health insurance since I have been on Medicare for over a year.

[backscatter712]

16. There are a lot of scammy overseas boiler rooms making those calls.

Until the phone carriers are forced to crack down, they're just going to shrug and refuse to do anything. With enough customer rage, and threats of regulation, they can act, in the same way that ISPs and email providers work to fight spam.

[Thunderbeast]

17. For a little more fun...

For a buck a month, these guys will answer blacklist calls with a robot "pirate". Check 'em out!

https://jollyrogertelephone.com

[HAB911]

37. LOL

I love that!

[Hotler]

24. I very, very, seldom answer my phone.

I am still land line only. I have had an answering machine forever. all my friends know and will say "Steve pick up." or they know to leave a message. If it is important the caller will leave a message.

[edhopper]

25. Which can be a pain in the ass

you still have to stop what you are doing to look at the call.

[Different Drummer]

26. I just let my answering machine handle calls from numbers I don't recognize.

Part of my outgoing message is, "If this is a sales or political call, please hang up now." Most of them hang up at that point, if not before.

[KT2000]

28. Yes! Every morning

while I am still sleeping I am getting a robo call where the tape is mixed up. The message makes no sense and it replays three times.

[MurrayDelph]

29. I have CenturyLink

and they have a feature available that, for no extra cost, pre-screens all calls with a recording informing the caller that we don't take solicitation calls, but if they have legitimate business they should press 1 or stay on the line.

We rarely get junk calls anymore. But we also rarely get the full recorded messages from our doctors reminding us of upcoming appointments.

[Initech]

31. I get so much spam, robo calls and telemarketers that I want to...

[brooklynite]

32. Political and charitable calls are exempt from DNC, so the answer is "no".

[edhopper]

34. Those are a small percentage

of the calls we get. Especially after the election.

[SWBTATTReg]

33. The best way is don't answer the phone (land or cell). If it's someone important to you, ...

they will leave a msg. My phone call volumes have virtually dropped to zero calls on the land line and very little numbers on my cell phone. We just don't answer the phones. I think that if no response is detected, and this occurs lots of times, your incoming phone call volumes will drop in number. By simply not answering the phone (of course it's easy for me as I am profoundly hard of hearing and can't hear the phone anyway!

[SeattleVet]

36. The Do Not Call list works very well...

I have not received a call from a *legitimate* telemarketer in several years. The calls we are getting are all from the scammers and other assorted criminals, and they are already breaking several laws, so what's one more? They don't care about the DNC registry, because they're using caller ID spoofing on a VOIP line from a call center, usually somewhere in India or Pakistan, so their chances of getting caught and prosecuted are minimal.

Every once in a while they do get caught - a few months ago a big operation in India was busted, with something like 95 people arrested. Another domestic one (Florida!) wound up getting hit with a $3.6 million fine (those illegal calls at $1500 each add up quickly!).

Having said that, we used to get around 4 or 5 of these scammer calls a day until we started using an Ooma VOIP phone system as our landline (our 'phone bill' every month is the taxes, so we pay something like $16/month for phone service on this, including the option I mention below).

They have a set of 'blacklist' features with their 'premier' option (for $10/month, but it also includes a lot of other nice-to-have stuff) that have reduced this to maybe 1 a week. You can block specific numbers (or wildcard anything - for instance, the scammers that use a DC area code...I have all of DC blocked, and a huge part of Florida where the timeshare scammers congregate), and it has both a hook into NoMoRobo (which blocks a huge percentage of the robocalls) and a 'community blacklist', where if enough people have blocked a number, it gets blocked for everyone that turned on that feature. Each type can be turned on or off individually, and you have the option of them getting a 'call blocked' message, a never-ending ring signal, or send it directly to voicemail. You can also block by name, anonymous calls, etc.

(We've been using this system for several years now. Handy for when we travel, too...we can bring the phone with us and hook it up to the Internet connection wherever we're staying and it works just as if we were at home. We've been super-happy customers!)

For the few calls that *do* manage to get through, if I see an obvious scammer or number I don't recognize, I turn on the scanner by my desk and answer, "North Precinct; Fraud Division" with police calls going on in the background. They usually can't hang up fast enough, and I *never* hear back from that number.

Good luck!

[cyclonefence]

40. Oh, I really like "North District, fraud division"! Thanks! n/t

[customerserviceguy]

46. "Legitimate telemarketer"

Talk about an oxymoron!

[pecosbob]

38. I get robocalls in Chinese these days here in Las Vegas...I don't know why.

[SeattleVet]

41. They are targeting Chinese immigrants...

it's a message about some type of a 'problem' with their paperwork that they can resolve by paying some money instead of having to go back to China to 'correct' it. Total scare tactic and scam...it's been publicized here in Seattle and other areas with large Chinese populations. The message is in Mandarin.

[pecosbob]

42. Sounds about right...I get another regular one about a problem with my credit card (I don't own one)

[cyclonefence]

39. Easy--unplug the phone

Tell anyone you want to hear from that it will be plugged in from 3-5 p.m. every day, and to call you then. Tell as many doctors' offices and other businesses to send you an email. After a week or two, plug your phone back in 24/7. You'll be amazed and delighted how few trash calls you get. When they start to pick up, unplug the phone again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I am convinced that many, if not most, junk calls are to verify that your number is a working number. If you answer, even if you block that number thenceforth, your number has been verified and can be sold to telemarketers, whose number you will not have blocked. Best not to let the calls connect with your number in the first place.

[customerserviceguy]

45. Dump the landline

It is totally unnecessary at this point in the 21st Century. And, with your smartphone, set your default ring as one second of silence, then assign a real ringtone to the people you know. If a doctor's office or somebody you actually care about calls, they'll leave a message. If a spammer does leave a voicemail, you can delete it quickly. Most don't leave one.

[edhopper]

47. We have reasons for a landline

[customerserviceguy]

48. I'd be curious

to know what they are. Yes, they tend to go down less in a severe weather situation, but the best way to deal with such a thing is to get the heck out of the area where you're expecting, say, a hurricane.