[B-flat]

I’ve got calls in the past from John obviously he was from India and I told John nice to meet you my name is Farouk. I won’t post what I really told him he could do but it sort of sounds like the first name I gave him.

[Velvet]

I wonder why robo calls are not illegal? They are using your phone and your time. I guess because we have international access. I don’t answer my door either unless I know the person. Door to door solicitation should be considered trespassing.

Does anyone get calls about fixing your Windows on your computer. But the guy doesn’t know what Microsoft is?

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Velvet

I wonder why robo calls are not illegal? They are using your phone and your time. I guess because we have international access. I don’t answer my door either unless I know the person. Door to door solicitation should be considered trespassing.

Does anyone get calls about fixing your Windows on your computer. But the guy doesn’t know what Microsoft is?

He not only knows what Microsoft is, but if you agree to talk to him, he might actually shut down your computer and not let you back on it til you pay him a LOT of money. It's sort of like ransomware in reverse, and these scammers are very good at it. The only GOOD thing you can do if you get any calls claiming to be from Microsoft, or someone calling about your Windows security, is to hang up without saying a word.

[Velvet]

Aha! Didn’t think of that. I use iOS only anyways.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by ColdNoMore

I lose arguments to myself...all of the time.

I'm still a bit amazed though, at how they are able to call me from my own darned telephone number and usually have to look twice...because I think I'm seeing things.

I had to block myself on my phone. Now I don't know what the heck I have to say.

[asianthree]

Have not had a landline in TV since we bought our first house in 2010. My cell is programmed so only my contacts can call

[ColdNoMore]

Originally Posted by CFrance

I had to block myself on my phone. Now I don't know what the heck I have to say.

Brilliant!

I hadn't even thought of that...but I can certainly see the advantages.

At least that way, I can finally...get in the last word.

[JoMar]

We have Spectrum phone....nomorobo included.....blocks about 95% of the robo calls.

[alwann]

Lately I've been getting calls from local 352-633 numbers, where the caller ID shows a name that could very well be a neighbor I do not know but my spouse might. Its typically a recording from someone who gives his/her name but is selling something. The robocallers are getting quite crafty. A network news report the other night made a big deal out of the fact that the government, Verizon and others had shut down the major robocall companies. You think? I even got one that left a recorded message -- in Korean.

If you buy on line, use social media, pay by credit card, sooner or later they're going to get your phone number.

[thetruth]

Not sure if it has gotten worse or people are targeting the villages.
Perhaps, old school but I do not give my cell number to most people.
When, we moved in, we did not yet have a home number so I gave out my cell number.

I am signed up for the do not call list and I do report calls. Far as I know it is a waste of time. These people seem to have the ability to change the number that appears on your phone.

The other day, I got a call collecting for something police. They announce that the call is being recorded. They announce that they are collecting for a fee. I asked the human what the fee was and he said he didn't know.

Who is really calling you. Truth is you do not know. What is their real motive? Truth is you do not know. They might be tracking when you are home. They might want a copy of your voice to get into soooo many places that use your voice as a form of identification.

Like most of us, I would be lost without the internet. The price for all this great whatever is your privacy.

[thetruth]

Robo calls. The computer makes the contact and the cost is close to zero. You have an option eventually to get the sales pitch from a human. That person is being paid. Before you post I am being nasty-YES I AM. Somehow they always seem to call when I am sitting down to eat diner OR?

These people need to make a minimum number of calls, close a minimum number of contracts or they get fired.

My record is four times.

They call and you say I'm very interested in your ????????
I'm in the middle of making mom's tomato sauce-just hold on a minute while I stir it. You come back to the phone and apologize you rushed it and must stir it again. You can get creative with mom's recipe. I think it needs a bit more salt. Do you think I added enough? Oh no, now it is too salty. Do you think adding celery will absorb some of the salt?

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I think the term "robocall" needs to be better defined for some folks. A robocall might or might not have an actual person on the other end of the phone, at the point when you say "hello?"

A robocall is when an automated system dials phone numbers on behalf of a company, person, scam, hoax, fraud, prankster. Someone programs a program to do this. In many cases, the computer dials 1-352-1111-1111. And then they dial 1-352-111-1112. And then 1-352-111-1113. And it just goes on and on until they actually get someone picking up the phone. They're not calling YOU, in other words. They're calling whoever answers the phone at a valid phone number.

SOME programs will only dial numbers that they can identify. Their system will connect to networks throughout the region - maybe even something as simple as the local phone book or online directory. It will automatically dial whatever numbers are shown to be active, and keep dialing until someone picks up the phone.

These scammers might be in long halls with individual cubicles, and each of those peoples' phones will have access to the same bank of numbers. When operator #1 is able to get phone number 47 to answer, operator #2's phone starts dialing phone number 48. And that just keeps continuing til they get to the end of the list. And then they start over again with all the numbers that never picked up, or they add another region's worth of valid phone number lists.

SOME scammers actually purchase phone numbers from legitimate companies. Whenever you give a supermarket your phone number, there's a risk you're also allowing the supermarket to sell your phone number to Proctor & Gamble, Gillette, Bayer, etc. etc. Whenever you fill out a form to get a rebate or coupon, you are risking that information being sold.

The "do not call" listing only works if you NEVER give your phone number out to these entities. Once you do, you have given your permission for OTHER companies to call you, because you've given permission for the company you gave the number to, to sell your number to someone else.

Nomorobo is helpful and will definitely reduce the calls. But it isn't foolproof, because scammers can get around it.

[davefin]

Yes, normally pick up and immediately hang up, then block the number. If I do listen and they say "How are you today", that is my signal to hang up.

[perrjojo]

My husband enjoys talking to them. I love listening as I can tell they are getting very frustrated with him. They generally hang up on him. I never answer but he saves a little time so they can’t call you. Lol

[coffeebean]

Hubby signed us up for Nomorobo on our landline and it works just like it says when I Googled it....... and......it's FREE.

What does the caller hear on Nomorobo?
Nomorobo screens that number and if it determines it's a robocaller, the caller would hear a recording: "This phone is protected by Nomorobo. You've been identified as a robocaller." "It's almost instantaneous. The only thing the user hears is one single ring in the house, and then it stops,"