Here's How to Stop Annoying Incoming Telephone Calls

[HopperD]

For the past couple of weeks I've been receiving a call from a certain number asking to speak
to Maria. When it first started, I told them they had the wrong number and hung up.

The same thing happened every day for a week, several times a day they would call, always
the same number (last 4 of number: 5830) and my caller ID says it's from Fort Myers, FL.

I did a reverse number look up and discovered that there were a lot of complaints against whoever
is doing this. They all report that someone calls from this same number, sometimes they don't
say anything and don't leave a message. Some have reported to have called this number back
and that's when the sales pitch falls into play. They are marketing some sort of educational
program, hoping some poor sap will give them their credit card number.

So here's how I got them to stop calling after telling them repeatedly not to and to remove
my number from their list.

One morning they called and asked for Maria again. I told them to hold on for a minute. I
then turned up my scanner and put my cell phone next to it. I was listening to LAPD at the
time. I waited for about 30 seconds, got back on the phone and said: "hold on a sec okay,
she will be right here, don't hang up."

This time I waited for about a minute and again, LAPD was on my scanner. I picked up my
phone and to my surprise no one was there.

I haven't received a call from them in over a 3 days now. I wonder if they got the message.

At first I was pissed that they kept calling me, now I can laugh at the situation knowing that I
got even.

[lep]

There is a technical solution. See: Call Blocker - Call Block Any Phone Number with Digitone's Call Blocker for information on a "call blocker".

I have no connection with the company other than as a satisfied user who has recommend the same to several friends who have purchased the device. It is especially useful during election season if you don't wishe to be bothered by "surveys" who have been exempted from the FTC Rules on "DO NOT CALLL".

[gewecke]

If you have comcast VOIP for your phone service, then you can block the phone number with no additional equipment or charges. Simply dial *60 for voice prompts to block the last incoming call.

73,
n9zas

[mtindor]

Anything is better than complaining to the FTC. The FTC has already suggested that they do not have the authority or ability to do anything useful about blocking calls, despite what their website says.

FTC Robocall Challenge

Basically, they have admitted defeat. As with most government agencies, the FTC can't do their job. They are hoping someone else can do it for them.

Mike

[hamstang]

Spending $100 for a call blocker isn't gonna help much. The main robocallers use countless spoofed phone numbers which are changed by the minute.

[n5ims]

I just switch things around on them and start giving them a sales pitch and see just how long they remain on the line. The other thing I do, when I have the time and patience, is to try to keep them on the line for just as long as I can without committing to anything. This really messes up with their "numbers" since they were on the call for too long without booking any revenue to it.

My record is a stock broker "cold call" that lasted over an hour trying to get me to buy the useless stock he was pushing. I gave myself bonus points since he was obvoiusly upset when we finally hung up - he finally said "You're not going to buy any are you?" which I replied "No, which is what I told you in the first minute of this call. Since you didn't listen then I wanted to see just how long it would take you to figure that out for yourself, and it took you quite a while didn't it?" I could then hear him say a few choice things about myself, my mom, and what a waste of time that was and then <click>.

[n9mxq]

I used to use a dialup modem to answer pesky numbers.. After a few calls being answered by the modem, they usually stopped.

[lep]

Originally Posted by hamstang

Spending $100 for a call blocker isn't gonna help much. The main robocallers use countless spoofed phone numbers which are changed by the minute.

My experience and yours don't agree. In the two years I have had the Call Blocker I have found it works quite well. You have a number of choices, most spoofers only change the number. The Call Blocker has a numerous options based on time of day, "invited numbers" (for friends/family/associates, Name Not Available, Out of Area, etc. My home model is limited to 100 numbers and so I do have to periodically clean out numbers that are no longer bothering me. My answering machine has the same ability but it is limited to 25 numbers.

[CrabbyMilton]

That is a great way to chase them away so hats off. I myself just keep the phone on slient since most people I know understand I hate phones and prefer email. I I don't recognize the number, I just ignore it.

[57Bill]

You are correct about the FTC being useless. I have had an open case with them since January and while they encourage me to continue informing them of the spoofed numbers that continually call me, they admit they will be of no help.
Pressing any number - either to be connected with a real person, or to "be removed from their calling list" - only confirms that your number is a valid number, and the robo will call again, and again! In frustration, I resorted to pressing the number to be connected to a real person, only to spew vile insults. Of course, this assures that my number is valid, and that I will continue to receive unwanted calls.
I am at the point of seriously desiring a device that will detonate at the other end of the line (my fantasy). I'm advised that all these calls I'm receiving are all from out of the U.S. and perhaps originate in Africa!
Anyone get the female identifying herself as "Rachel" about credit card refinancing? How about the free security system for your home? All spoofed numbers, seldom with repeats. I want to do serious violent things to these maggots!

[trsundstrom]

Wirelessly posted (Moto Droid Bionic: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_3; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.16 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0 Safari/533.16)

I just silence the phone. As the phone lights when it rings, I look at the caller ID and go or no go from there. I used to play with the caller's mind, never had them for an hour, but there are too many robocalls to make it fun anymore.

[gr8rcall]

Thats a pretty funny way to stop em,' OP!

[mdulrich]

This guy knows how to deal with telemarketers. Some strong language.

How to deal with a Telemarketer by Tom Mabe - YouTube

Mike

[K4IHS]

Create an entry in your address book to something like "do not answer". Set the ringtone for that entry to "none". Store any unwanted numbers under that entry. When they call again... your phone won't ring. Or maybe just answer with something like... "Detective Johnson... Homicide Division".

[mtindor]

Originally Posted by 57Bill

Anyone get the female identifying herself as "Rachel" about credit card refinancing? How about the free security system for your home? All spoofed numbers, seldom with repeats. I want to do serious violent things to these maggots!

Ahh, good ole "Rachel from Cardholder Services" -- yeah I get those automated messages probably 2-3 times a week. They give you the option to press 1 to speak to a rep or 3 to be removed. 3 obviously does not remove you, and if you press 1 to talk to a rep the nice ones will hang up on you, the not so nice will cuss you out rofl.

Mike

[kyguy]

Any one ever have " the captain " calling to tell you that you've won a cruise?
I hate the robot callers, but when it's a person I have fun with them- spend about an hour on you-tube and you can get ALL kinds of ideas after they call the second time and get the same treatment Ive not had the same caller/company call me a third time

[WayneH]

For the robo calls where a machine dials most should recognize the SIT intercept tone. You can always tell it's a machine when there tends to be a long pause before someone talks. The machines can tell when someone talks. If you pickup the phone and don't say anything they start a timer then disconnect, only to put you back in the queue.

I have my numbers routed through Google Voice so it's easy to control inbound calls. You can even record a specific greeting (like the SIT tone) for specific numbers.

[MississippiPI]

I have a police whistle that I blow in their ear when they call and if I have their number I will call them back and do it several times...


Be safe

[gr8rcall]

Originally Posted by n5ims

I just switch things around on them and start giving them a sales pitch and see just how long they remain on the line. The other thing I do, when I have the time and patience, is to try to keep them on the line for just as long as I can without committing to anything. This really messes up with their "numbers" since they were on the call for too long without booking any revenue to it.

My record is a stock broker "cold call" that lasted over an hour trying to get me to buy the useless stock he was pushing. I gave myself bonus points since he was obvoiusly upset when we finally hung up - he finally said "You're not going to buy any are you?" which I replied "No, which is what I told you in the first minute of this call. Since you didn't listen then I wanted to see just how long it would take you to figure that out for yourself, and it took you quite a while didn't it?" I could then hear him say a few choice things about myself, my mom, and what a waste of time that was and then <click>.

I think that's the funniest thing I've ever seen!

[57Bill]

Wayne- I have never found an audible tone that my hearing impaired ears could detect preceding a recorded voice on my phone. Is there a device that would automatically send a tone(s) when I (or my answering machine) pick up that would indicate to the robo that the call didn't go through or that my number is non-working? That is what I need!
While I was in the process of posting this, my phone rang, and the ***** Rachel was at it again!