My Mom answers the phone sometimes when these freaks call, she never learns, hears the pause, but still says Hello LOL..I already know the drill, I see some funky number I dont recognize I dont even bother answering it, or I just say Hello and hang up the second I dont hear a response
One time, my own phone number showed up on the display. It looked like the call was from my number... to my number. Somehow they made the call hook through my own number.
As a result of all this, my own children never really learned how to answer a phone properly because they were raised to ignore the phone. lol
To this day, my sons, now in their teens, still approach the phone with suspicion, look at the number displayed, and then discuss it for a while: “I don’t recognize this number. Do you? Should we pick it up?” Whenever they do pick up the receiver, they won’t say “hello” right away. Instead, they just listen... for that second of silence... lol.
The only time they felt comfortable with the phone was one day when I let them have some fun with the scam “computer center” guys who called. ;-) lol