Posted on 07/06/2018 12:46:18 PM PDT by BTerclinger
I am getting a lot of spam phone calls lately, with a sprinkling of new Doctor's offices calling to confirm appointments, prescriptions etc.
Most are not showing caller-ID.
I used to have reasonable success using DuckDuckGo to find out if the telephone number was spam or a collection agency, but now the free "Who Is Calling Me?!" websites are all returning long ranges of telephone numbers, and/or non-specific names.
Wondering if anyone here has subscribed to one or more of those online reverse directory services, and are they worth it?
Thanks in advance.
Next to useless. Spammers, salesmen, etc., have learned to spoof legitimate numbers. They can make your phone think it’s any number they want it to be.
You would think there would be a demand for this, but all I have found are scams or subscription sites that were too expensive for occasional use.
Often one in your area code / exchange, to make it seem like it might be someone you know.
Uuuhhhhg! I get about 4-5 calls a day on my work cell phone from any number of bogus sales or scams. And they are computer generated and automated messages. It does make it easy to hang up on them. But on the down side, it makes it a pain to screw with live scammers too. Too much work to have fun with them.
Today, I learned that the IRS has issued a warrant for my arrest. And my assets “are being watched”. If I don’t call this number right away they are going to arrest me and take all my money and stuff.
I’ve taken it a step further. If it doesn’t return an ID from my contact list, it goes unanswered. If they leave a V-mail I’ll listen. Most don’t.
I've asked them that very question and am surprised how many are genuinely embarrassed.
I have the Hiya app for Android which works pretty good. Available for iOS too.
Bummer! Almost every junk call I get says "YOU'VE JUST WON A CRUISE!!!"
Have you tried nomorobo.com? You can go to their website and put in your land line phone number to determine if their system will work with your phone. If it does, then simply register your phone number at no charge. Every time you get a spam caller, your phone will ring once and then will stop ringing and the video screen will go back to being blank.
Some, only a few, calls will get through, usually the ones that are spoofing a local exchange number. Also, you can add suspected phone numbers to their system.
Nomorobo now has a cell phone service but there is a monthly charge for that.
White Pages work okay.
When I was young, and more naive, I signed up for a free cruise. Then it turned out all my wife and I had to do was go listen to their spiel on time shares.
Of course I’m just going and figure spending a few hours is worth a cruise. Half way through my newlywed wife is “Oh - wouldn’t this be great! We could go wherever we want! We wouldn’t have to worry about the maintenence, it would be so nice to blah, blah, blah.
After it was over she was SO excited. I was an emphatic NO. (”We’re trying to save for a house - we’re not taking what we’ve already saved for a vacation place that we may use once a month, etc.”)
My wife was SO pissed. “Well why did we even come down here if you ....”
We never did go on the cruise - we were both so done with it.
Who has time to deal with scammers? I generally don’t pick up unless I know who it is or am expecting calls.
If I answer and they take an extra millisecond to greet, I’ve hung up. That always means it’s some list of beggars or scam.
“I’ve taken it a step further. If it doesn’t return an ID from my contact list, it goes unanswered. If they leave a V-mail I’ll listen. Most don’t.”
When they don’t, I block the number.
I use nettalk.com for home phone service. They have a Robo Answering bot to answer and play with spam callers. My phone only rings once, caller ID says 100% Spam Caller. It’s pretty cool.
Hiya for cell phones. It’s free and works pretty good.
I was getting those, about 4 a day from different numbers. Finally I had to block all calls for a few days and then I took the block off and that seemed to work. I have nomorobo which works great but these irs things were getting thru. I have caller ID and sometimes I get a spam call and it shows up as Walmart or Olive Garden.
Unfortunately, now I got a new Apple phone, I get them all the time. (For some reason, my earlier Samsung android never used to get them, although the number was the same).
I basically just never answer my phone unless I recognize the number. Same problem at home, we never answer our phone any longer unless someone we know starts to leave a message and then we pick up.
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