How to stop scammers from calling you

[jmowreader]

This is a script. It must be followed to the letter to have any effect.

A few days ago, I started getting phone calls from the “suspended Social Security Account” scammers. I know these guys just use a robodialer to dial at random until they find a mark.

I pick up the phone the first time. “This is a call from Social Security. We are calling to notify you that your Social Security account has been suspended due to several fraudulent transactions...” I hung up.

The second time: “This is a call from Law Enforcement Agency. We are calling to notify you that a warrant has been issued for your arrest in conjunction with fraudulent Social Security transactions.” Yeah, right mother fucker. I hung up.

The third time was a repeat of the first call. I let it play until a human operator came on the line, and then I yelled at the top of my lungs, “I KNOW THIS IS A FUCKING SCAM, YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT. DO NOT EVER FUCKING CALL ME AGAIN.”

There have been no further calls from them.

[MontanaMama]

1. I've been hammered with those same calls this week.

Sometimes they’re calling my cell phone and the same # is ringing through on my work phone. Bastards.

[question everything]

2. And I would add a whistle

[CatWoman]

3. i just let You Mail handle them

https://www.youmail.com/

[grantcart]

25. Interesting

[marybourg]

4. My answering machine enjoys fielding these calls.

[MineralMan]

5. My recent calls have been from the "Chinese Consulate."

I just speak Russian to the caller, who hangs up right away.

[KentuckyWoman]

43. Thaaaaaaaaaaaaat's what she's saying !!!!!

I could tell she's talking Chinese after a few words in heavily accented English. I never could catch what she says.

The caller ID keeps changing of course but my fav is the time they told me I was calling myself.

[safeinOhio]

6. What I say when I want to have fun.

First I sound like I’m going to take the bait. Always make sure I catch name. Then when it’s time to pay or give my info I ask John for a phone number I can call to talkto him. They always say they aren’t allowed to give it out. So say give me your cell or home number. They won’t for some reason and then I tell them that if can’t have their number there is a possible scam by tech friend of mine. They hang up on me.

[WhiteTara]

7. I use a police whistle

and I tell them this is a small sample and if they call again, I will blow their eardrums out. That usually stops them.

[AllaN01Bear]

8. if this is a legit call : one they must send you a leter and day date and time of phone

appointment . then they must ask you your security questions and go from there . i got the solar panels one and i live in an apartment and i took the same approach as this poster , no more calls also someone said answering machines have a field day too.

[Wounded Bear]

20. Yeah, basic fact: They don't cold call people...

[shanti]

9. I have a free google phone number

that I never pick up. It's just for the scammers. But they've caught on to people not picking up and have been TEXTING me on my cellphone instead!

[Ilsa]

10. I was getting them 2 months ago.

I considered acting distressed and innocent and trying to play them for as long as possible, then telling them, "it's been fun wasting your time, MFer.&quot

[MuseRider]

11. This is a fun one to do and it also stops them.

Start and 1:43 and have fun.

[Beringia]

33. Great movie

I loved the scene where Griffin sees a woman, but pretends he doesn't notice it's a woman.

[Butterflylady]

12. I got an identical call.

I hung up immediately and then blocked the number. Haven't had one since.

[SWBTATTReg]

13. Just don't ever answer the phone, ever! It works for us and we don't get literally any calls...

anymore. I think that if you answer it, you get placed onto a list somewhere that (1) you actually answered the phone, etc. (2) based upon you answering the phone vs. an answering svc, the sales calls will change but still continue. I (from my experience), being that we never, ever answer the phone, the number of calls to our number has dropped to literally 1 call a week. Wonderful.

[chowder66]

14. I wait until someone speaks, walk to the bathroom, hold the phone up to the toilet and flush.

I should probably mention that I hold it pretty high up but my toilet is in a enclosed area so the sound carries.

[lapfog_1]

15. try this

I would change up the end of the call

[HDSam]

16. I use them

as a source of entertainment, stringing them along as long as I can or until I get bored to waste their time. The ones that I enjoy the most are those that call when I’m stuck in traffic during my commute. I’m already irritated and they give me something else to think about.

I kept a scammer (‘your Windows computer has a virus’ type) on the line for ten or fifteen minutes acting dumb then told him I have a Mac. That was time he wasn’t able to use to scam someone else.

[TheBlackAdder]

17. I answer the phone, say hello and then park the phone on mute, while they say, Hello? Hello? Hello?

[drray23]

18. Don't answer the phone.

If you do, the computer system robocallers use will mark your number as active and you will get even more calls.

[lastlib]

19. I got a series of calls from "Apple Product Support",,,

claiming they were going to lock my account unless I paid $400 to them. First time, I told them I didn't have any Apple products (true), stop calling me. They called back repeatedly. Caller had a distinctly "Eastern" accent (Pakistan, India? IDK). About the fourth time, I threatened to report them to the FBI and everyone else under the sun. They hung up.

Next time they called, I got mad and personal. Told them, "Your momma is a pig, your daddy's a feral hog, and your babies are bacon." They hung up and never called again. Hated to play dirty like that, but I was getting fed up.

[jmowreader]

23. I get the "Microsoft" virus ones all the time

However, I think the ones I hate the very worst are the Extended Warranty assholes. "This is a courtesy call to remind you that your car's extended warranty is about to expire." I told one of those people my only car was an Edsel.

[csziggy]

32. The car extended warranty people can never tell me which car they are calling about

I keep asking them which of our various vehicles they want to sell me a warranty for, and they never know. If I feel like it, I can keep them going for a while, wasting their time and reducing the calls they can make to other people.

[Tarc]

21. My great-aunt used to keep an old police whistle by the phone, tell them softly that she had a cold

and that they would have to listen closely because her voice was going, and then...

...I think you can fill in the rest.

[Roland99]

22. It's more fun to drag them along for several minutes

I toy with them all the time

[dickthegrouch]

24. Another great trick

String them along long enough to hear sirens in the background. Then say, I've known all along that you're committing a federal crime, Those sirens are coming for you!.
I've actually got a squeal out of one caller before he hung up

[yortsed snacilbuper]

26. My phone warns me it is a scam call,

I block the number and then delete it.

[Rorey]

27. Ok, I'm the bad "guy"

The human who talks after the call is made by a computer is just a person working a job. Maybe it's the only job they can get. I'm sure most telemarketers don't actually enjoy their jobs. I get annoyed by these calls too, but I generally allow it to either get to a human and ask to be removed from their call list, or I push the appropriate number to get removed when prompted.

Usually I don't have the option of simply not answering. I get a lot of important calls involving business that I don't recognize. I just try to not allow the scam ones to get under my skin.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

28. I miss the phone slam...got the message across

I just don’t answer if it’s an unknown number from a state that isn’t in my life. If it’s a legitimate call they leave a message.

[keithbvadu2]

29. When you have spare time to kill....

When you have spare time to kill....

-----------------------------

How to answer spam phone calls...

Keep asking: What is your name?
... until you get an answer.

What is your company/org name?
... until you get an answer.

What is your company/org address?
... until you get an answer.

What is your company/org phone number?
... until you get an answer.

What number can I get in contact with you?
... until you get an answer.

So what if they lie?
You're just going to hang up on them anyway.
Even better if you say 'sorry, not interested'.
.
Their time is also important to them.

[2naSalit]

30. Hear's a good fake out...

String them on a little then hold the phone back and say, as if to someone else right there with you, "Okay, did you get that location? and whatever else to make them think their call has been traced and their location revealed.


Although I really liked that video I saw posted here, on DU, about a years or more ago where scammers called a programmer who set them up for continued denial of service every time they made a call out. I forget all the details but the program ran for a long time, essentially spamming them back where they got really frustrated and it sounded like it was driving them crazy after a few days. That was the best, if only we could all do that.

[bluecollar2]

31. A friend of mine

Tries to sell them AMWAY products.

[VarryOn]

34. I never seem to have this problem, but...

My elderly parents (late 70s) deal with it every day. Why? They answer every DAMN call, no matter if they recognize the number or not. There’s a setting I iPhone to stop your phone from ringing if the number isn’t in your contacts. I love it! Sure, I’ve missed a couple calls I wished I had gotten. But, if I’m expecting an important call, I either add the number to my contacts or I temporarily turn off the unknown call feature.

Of course, this all means I don’t get included in poll calls. Just as well, I usually don’t give true answers anyway!

[renate]

35. I'm embarrassed to have to ask, but how do you do that?

I can figure out how to block people on my contact list, but not how to block people who aren’t on my contact list. Maybe it’s because my phone is a few years old?

[VarryOn]

37. No need to be embarassed...

First of all, I'm on an XS under iOS 13.2.2. I'm not sure what version this feature appeared in, but you'll want to be updated. As long as your phone is newer than 6S, you should be ok hardware-wise.

Go to Settings then Phone then turn on "Silence Unknown Callers."

Good luvk!

[renate]

38. You've just improved life for a lot of people!

Thank you!!

[VarryOn]

39. I'm glad! Nt

[rurallib]

36. Back when I was still answering them

I would say "Lucky you. My friend's a policeman and he is here and he would like to talk to you."

[StarryNite]

40. My daughter's response is similar only...

she goes on and on until they wind up hanging up on her! They don't call back after that.

[mitch96]

41. I would just say" can you hold for a second?"

I would put the phone down and go about my business. When I hear the tone that they hung up, I would hang up too..
They waste my time? I waste theirs.... a quid pro quo I would say....

Now if I don't recognise the number I don't answer it. If it's that important, they can leave a message and I'll call them back...
m

[KentuckyWoman]

42. It doesn't work.

They just wait a few days and hit me again with 6-10 calls in a day.

My feeling is the phone carriers know the servers originating the calls. Just keep blocking them until they are effectively shut down.

[mercuryblues]

44. I turned off my answering machine

Most spam callers hang up after the 3rd ring. I don't answer until the middle of the 4th ring. Since I have been doing this, spam calls have dropped way down.

[FakeNoose]

45. For some reason my robo-dialed scam/spam calls have all but stopped

I don't get it, but since the first of November there have been almost no spam calls. I was getting at least 10 per day and now - nothing!

I'm not complaining, but I think Verizon has done something to finally put these useless scammers out of business. We always knew they had the power to do it.