The Do Not Call Registry is worthless.
Best advise is to not answer the phone when you don’t know whose calling. Anything important, they will leave a message, IMO.
I have been deluged by “Medicare advisors” since I got near my 65th birthday.
I let my dog talk to them....
The FTC - yet another federal alphabet agency and parent of the Do Not Call registry - is equally worthless.
Robodialers and spoofed caller IDs make it a two-front war. In addition, the robocallers are often using your local area code to convince you that maybe, just maybe, it’s a legitimate call. But it’s not.
For iPhone (and landlines) the Nomorobo app and service is well worth the $2 per month. It compiles and updates a list of junk callers and/or spoofed numbers and identifies same when the call rings. It’s a bit of a pain to regularly open the app to allow it to update.
Robodialers’ volume of calls becomes a Chinese finger trap for them - since they make so many calls in such a short space of time they can’t avoid identifying themselves as spammers. Some people demand perfection from Nomorobo but an 80-90% reduction is certainly acceptable.
Philosophical types always tell us that if robocalls didn’t make money they would stop tomorrow but have any of us ever met someone who agreed to pay money to a total stranger with an accent who randomly called?
“List your phones on the National Do Not Call Registry. If your number is on the registry and you do get unwanted calls, report them,”
This is so much horse $hit! I’ve actually sent the FCC copies of Faxes that came in on a Do Not Call line together with info from a telecon I made to the telemarketer who sent them. After a YEAR, I got a letter from the FCC saying that they were unable to help.
So here’s my solution: On our wireline phone (where it’s a bitch to block calls courtesy of AT&T’s effed up system) we simply have a recording saying: “ Due to the high incidence of unwanted telemarketing calls, we do not answer this phone, ever. If you are a friend and wish to reach us, leave a message and we will return your call!”
On cell phones, just let them ring and then do the “block this contact” number on the offending number. Right now, I have more “blocked contacts” on my iPhone than I have normal contacts.
Finally, I wrote to the Chairman of the FCC and found that he was no longer a member. I got his number from the FCC website. The new Chairman is a guy by the name of Agit Pai. Drop him a note telling him to $hit or get off the pot with respect to telemarketers, I did, and I didn’t mince any words in doing it.
I concur. So far, in my case, no important calls have been lost, and a ton of garbage has been avoided.
It does appear so. There is no follow-up available to track what happened after your report.
I suspect that the DNC list is an employment service for the unemployable relatives of politicians!
Not answering is the first rule. As a second rule, I like to pick up the phone, put it on speaker and just be silent...until the disconnect. Sometimes it has funny results. Once I was watching a You Tube clip of Rodney Dangerfield and picked up a suspected robocall, without muting the You Tube. The caller, a woman, started laughing uncontrollably as Rodney delivered his stuff. I hung up after a minute or so, but suspect she was okay with the result of the call.
Just today, in the last few minutes, my phone blocked three calls I have in my block list. It’s a pain to constantly have to add numbers to my block list. But it pays off later.
I agree except when trying to schedule medical appointments and similar exceptions. The IRS scam was my last straw. Infuriating!!
Don’t answer the phone.
Great idea when the phone is your business line.
I love when they call to tell me how to reduce my credit card debt. I have none. Never have.
I have an android based phone and use the app “Hiya” to screen calls. I think you can get it for iphones as well.
I have a google voice number for my business and constantly get bogus calls
Correct. There are no enforcement provisions for DNC violators.