OT What's up with all these phone calls from odd ball callers

[Richard King]

For the last 12months or so, I have been getting calls on my cell phone from Cafe's, Auto part stores, etc and no one is on the end of the line when I answer. It has to be some sort of spam? The last couple of weeks I look at the caller ID and if it's from someone I know I answer it, if not I let it roll over to my voice mail. Then when I check it there is no message. My son put on Mr. Number App that is suppose to catch the Spam, but it still isn't working. Anyone else know what to do? If I answer can I get a Virus??

 

[daryl bane]

I used to get car warranty calls many times a day. Now not so much. Usually what happens now if I do answer, there is a pause (this is the tipoff to hang up), then the robot says, "Hello? Hello? and if I reply, it goes into its spiel. I think anytime you buy something online and they require a phone # even if it's legit, they sell your number to data bases, and it goes to who knows where.

 

[Gordon Heaton]

The 'car warranty' jerks got nailed by the feds.

FTC Action Leads to Lifetime Industry Ban for Operators of ‘Extended Vehicle Warranty’ Scam

As a result of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, the operators of a telemarketing scam that called hundreds of thousands of consumers nationwide to pitch them expensive “extended automobile warra

www.ftc.gov

 

[Rob F.]

I get the same here, wife looked into it a little and thinks it might be your phone carriers problem with the caller ID. Sometimes I will quickly call them back and many times it is a disconnected number. Others are a real person who answers but assures me that they did not just call me 30 sec ago. One I called back was Ventura police number, Another showed up on caller ID as Vandenberg Air Force Base (that one called twice)
What got her to look into it was I called a buddy and his phone ID my number as wifes cell ph. This was just
after I had called her, but the odd thing was it did not identify her name ph # but as what someone else had identified her as in their cell. The thought is that my buddy and the 3rd person whose personal ID note must have the same cell service and wires got crossed in that system somehow.

 

[SIP6A]

You should be able to go in and block the numbers you don't want. That's what I do and it works fairly well. Spam like the poor will always be with us.

 

[Vecair]

If YOU answer the phone the calling system knows its an active number and that you will answer and sells that number to others. It also knows if its call blocked or an answering machine and then not valuable. Don't answer or suffer the consequences. They know most people can't resist answering the phones they are addicted to.

 

[gustafson]

When phone systems computerized, there was no internet. They never updated their systems, so anyone can make up the information on the caller ID.
internet+cell phones+ 70's phone tech, caller id is meaningless
Verizon shows
SPAM? on lots of calls

 

[gustafson]

If there is more than 1 second pause, or that 'bloop' sound, just hang up
Never say hello twice, say hello, pause, hang up.
Any real person will just call back, computers don't
My cell had 15 calls in the last week, 8 junk

 

[trevj]

Can't say as to the actual reality, but I always considered that the weird calls were simply some guy putting his auto dialer (or software) to work, farming for currently 'live' phone numbers to sell as a list online.

Mostly I get east Indian type voices with suspiciously American sounding names, claiming my credit card (unnamed) had been 'suspiciously charged', or my non existent Amazon Account had suspicious purchases on it. I almost had one of them convinced that I had a Local Amazon Store that I could pick my refund up at, if he would only process it...

 

[GregSY]

They know most people can't resist answering the phones they are addicted to.

Umm....last I checked, people owned phones so they can place and receive calls. To suggest that someone not answer their phone or they're stupid or addicted is pushing things a bit.

I hope someday you resist answering your phone only to learn it was Ed McMahon with a million dollars.....

 

[guythatbrews]

Umm....last I checked, people owned phones so they can place and receive calls. To suggest that someone not answer their phone or they're stupid or addicted is pushing things a bit.

I hope someday you resist answering your phone only to learn it was Ed McMahon with a million dollars.....

Not pushing things a bit.

People own phones to place calls and receive WANTED calls. Not to receive dubious, unsolicited, unwelcome idiot calls. If I don't know the caller and they want to talk to me they can leave a message. Nobody minds leaving a message these days.

I got one from the netherlands today. Didn't answer, no message left. Maybe Ed is doing some travelling in the great beyond. Another million I missed out on.

If nobody answered or responded to these unwelcome calls the incentive to make them would be greatly reduced or eliminated. Be part of the solution and don't answer.

 

[Ron Hofer]

For a long time, I answered the odd phone numbers thusly: "Clarence Despair's House of Bad Brakes."
Lately, I've switched to: "Front Desk."

 

[moonlight machine]

Umm....last I checked, people owned phones so they can place and receive calls. To suggest that someone not answer their phone or they're stupid or addicted is pushing things a bit.

I hope someday you resist answering your phone only to learn it was Ed McMahon with a million dollars.....

Ed is dead

 

[GregSY]

Not pushing things a bit.

People own phones to place calls and receive WANTED calls. Not to receive dubious, unsolicited, unwelcome idiot calls. If I don't know the caller and they want to talk to me they can leave a message. Nobody minds leaving a message these days.

I got one from the netherlands today. Didn't answer, no message left. Maybe Ed is doing some travelling in the great beyond. Another million I missed out on.

If nobody answered or responded to these unwelcome calls the incentive to make them would be greatly reduced or eliminated. Be part of the solution and don't answer.

You're running a business. Are you REALLY gonna expect your new customers to leave a message? Hardly. In my experience, ANY business that tells you leave a message will return your call about 5% of the time. So as a customer...I'll find someone who isn't ascared to answer their phone.

 

[CarbideBob]

You're running a business. Are you REALLY gonna expect your new customers to leave a message? Hardly. In my experience, ANY business that tells you leave a message will return your call about 5% of the time. So as a customer...I'll find someone who isn't ascared to answer their phone.

Interesting.
So once I had the secretary to screen the calls. That was a nice firewall. Now just a machine.
If I am free and someone says something I will go listen and pick up if valid.
I am not scared to answer the phone but do get too much junk.
If you can not leave a message with your needs you are maybe the poop guy.
I am busy... I will call you when time allows to discuss stuff. Some members here have my phone and they get the machine.
Sometimes I call back and get voicemail. Not a problem, they are also busy and I get that in spades. Tag--- you are it.
They have never bitched about leaving a message and a call back.
There are some people here that answer the phone fast and you can tell that it is in the middle of working and running parts.

 

[Orange Vise]

The world of phone calls is about to get real weird real soon.

AI assistants will be answering your calls, in your voice. The only tell is that the AI never stutters.

Spammers/scammers will also be using AI assistants. The two AIs will talk to each other. Hopefully, yours will be smarter and can successfully screen the call.

 

[TGTool]

I got a pitch recently that I hadn't heard before. They said the utility company had made an error in billing resulting in several months of overcharges and that they were refunding their customers the overcharge. They had tried to send a check by mail but there had been some problem and they were calling to get my bank account number or credit card number to process the refund.

That was pretty brazen AND transparent. After hearing his spiel I said I had a question. He said, "Yes?" I said, Do I sound to you like a complete idiot? He paused as though thinking a moment and said evenly, "No, I think you're a shitty c0cksucker." Well, I knew he wasn't a nice guy already.

 

[GregSY]

I sure miss the good old days when the spammers had the class to pose as a Nigerian prince and write you a letter on thin rice paper and beg you to send them money until they could get the $43 Million from the bank.

 

[guythatbrews]

You're running a business. Are you REALLY gonna expect your new customers to leave a message? Hardly. In my experience, ANY business that tells you leave a message will return your call about 5% of the time. So as a customer...I'll find someone who isn't ascared to answer their phone.

Not ascared. I just don't suffer fools who are trying to scam me. And I do not waste my time answering unknown calls. And I choose not to answer those unknown calls so I don't have to be rude and hang up on the ones who won't take no for an answer.

You are at least, at least several decades late if you think people resent not getting hold of you on the first shot. And I don't want to do business with somebody that impatient, narcissistic, and behind the times anyway.

 

[Richard King]

Last year I got a phone call and I answered it as it was a number from my same area code. It was a young woman who sounded American. She started out saying "Dad I got arrested and im at th county jail" I said what happened and she sounded as if she was crying and went on to tell me she had an attorney and he was going to call me so I could pay him and hung up.

It sounded like her, but the shock of it, it sounded legit. Then a few minutes later I get a call from a guy who sounded Nigerian. I told him I could drive to the County jail and meet him there as it's only 30 minutes. He then said no you have to pay me over the phone before we could meet. Then he said, go to Walmart and buy some prepaid credit cards and call me back with their numbers. His call really sounded phony from the and I hung up on him calling him the F-er word. I then called the Sherriff and they said many elderly people in the area were getting those calls. They said a few fell for it ang lost several hundred dollars to these creeps. I wrote on the local Facebook page warning people.