Do not call registry

[JohnMOhio]

I am registered on the Do Not Call Listing on my Land Line and I still get calls. For instance in the last 13 day I have received 133 calls. That is an average of 10 calls a day. However to give you an idea, the slowest day was only 2 calls. On May 8th I had 23 calls.

The phone calls are multiples of Credit Card debt relief, Cable TV discounts, Medicare, Last Expenses for us old folks, Extended Car Warranties, Home Warranty and a plan for a $50 debit card along with a 35% discount on Natural Gas and Electric bills.

Having a land line, I have no way of blocking the indicated phone numbers. Doing so would not work in most of the cases as the phone numbers listed are not the actual source number. My phone used to list who was calling and in the great majority of the cases it was also not the actual source. Now the calling party is "unavailable."

Are any of my fellow posters here having the same experience or is this just local to where I live?

Thanks for your comments/replies.
John

[Dan in NH]

My land line is also on the do not call list and it rings all the time with unwanted calls. I can block them, but they never stop.

[Allen]

The "do not call registry" started off as a good thing but NEVER included political calls, political polls, political fund raisers and charity calls and THOSE were the bulk of the calls in the first place.

Later, it was discovered that the do not call fines were not being inforced so everyone suddenly became a charity and called away.

If you have the phone co block your calls or if you pay for a phone number blocker the phone will still ring at least one time till the device recognizes the caller so not a whole lot of gain there.

What we do: My hearing sucks but I still hear the phone ring and get annoyed. My wife use to get many dozens of calls daily just from her family. Now, we set the ringer as low as it will go in the bedroom, leaving the door open and shutting off all other ringers on the other phones. She still hears the phone ring--I don't unless I'm in the bedroom.

We have caller ID, have the phones set up to only ring 4 times and obviously don't answer the phone unless we recognize the number. We still get calls but very few compared to years ago.

The route I wanted to take and threatened to take was to get rid on my line phone and have my wife's countless calls from her family ring on her cell phone inside her purse.

When it was just telemarketers that was bad enough. Now it is the robo calls that can't be blocked and a caller may have dozens if not hundreds of different numbers they call from.

[lyman]

robo calls, that probably never heard of or know where the do not call registry is,

and the way they can hack your number and make it look like you called the person probably don't help either

[JohnMOhio]

When i am in the mood to answer the phone, I have used it to have a little fun. Sometimes I will wait and connect to a live person and inform them that they have reached a do not call number, as such, they and their employer are subject to Federal Prosecution. You hear a click very quickly.

Another thing I have done is answer with an accent. I grew up in a neighborhood with multiple nationalities. I do a pretty good Scottish accent. I inform them I am Ian McGregor and ask who they wish to speak with. They ask for me by name and I tell them that Prince John has been called back to Scotland on government business and will not be back for possibly two or three months. Next thing you hear is a "click."

At times it has been fun.

John

[lyman]

that backfired on me one day,

I got to messing with one caller and he did not appreciate it,
started calling me every 15 minutes for a couple hours,

eventually I answered and asked the guy, what is it exactly that you want, his comment was ' your money, A$$hole' and hung up,

at least he was honest

[5thDragoons]

Fun with tele-beggars. Asking if they're from Bangladesh usually gets their blood pressure up. So does asking if their home has a dirt floor. But my standard drill is to not even answer if I don't recognize the number on caller ID. We get very few calls like that anyway. SW

[hvymech]

I usually say that I can hardly understand what they are saying and ask for a English speaker, they get very insulted and reply, " My English is goood" and hang up.
Sometimes I just ask for the Nigerian Prince with all the money...but he never is in.

[Major Tom]

I get spam calls daily on my android cell phone. I block them, but they still get thru. I speak some German and answer in that language. They usually hang up.

[Mike]

Hi, I purchased a land line telephone with a block call option. My BS calls are now zero, regards, Mike

[Johnny P]

Blocking the number of the scammers does no good. They can make their number show up as any number they want, even yours. Has nothing to do with the number displayed.

Now the scammers are sending out calls that aren't connected until you answer. If there is no one on the line you have a second or two to hang up before someone picks up. If I am not doing anything I will go along with them to waste their time. The latest is your utility company is either going to give you a bonus for paying your bill on time, or you paid too much and they are going to give you a refund. Only thing is they need your credit card number to give you the refund.

[Tenboremag]

I will take on an Indian or South Asian accent and mess with them. Or I will answer with "Fraud Division, how can I help you?"
Since I killed my land line, I don't get any.

[Johnny P]

Hi, I purchased a land line telephone with a block call option. My BS calls are now zero, regards, Mike

If they are using a legitimate number, has does the phone blocker know whether the scammer or the legitimate owner is using it?

[JOHN COOK]

If they are using a legitimate number, has does the phone blocker know whether the scammer or the legitimate owner is using it?

You are correct. I get calls from my area code and local phone nbrs.
John in SC

[Johnny P]

Virtually all the scam calls I get are using my area code, so if it is an unknown area code it is normally legit.

Recently got one trying to sell something, and number was from a nearby town. Told them to just give me their address as I was less than 15 minutes away and would run by. Click.

[Phloating Phlasher]

I just start heavy breathing, wheezing & generally try to act like a serious Perv.
It works for the most part but there was this one call doing a pre-employment background check on someone I knew.
He actually took it pretty well considering.

[SteveC]

There was some talk a few years ago about the need to "renew" your number on the do not call list. I've done that once for my folks, but they tell me calls are picking up again. May be worth revisiting the do not call site and registering again...

Steve

[PWC]

I have a landline with caller ID; anyone we want to talk to has their number in memory; family, friends, dr.s, pharmacy, school, insurance co, etc. Anything else we don't answer. If there is a need to talk to another not in our directory or one time call (JC Penny, hardware store, etc) I ask for their number they will call from and put it in my cell for later block or delete as needed. If I don't recognize the number it goes straight to delete. Only one time did anyone say they could not get hold of me...answer, you didn't use the number you gave me. Never missed out on anything important that we know of...except maybe Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes....

If you ever answer "they" have a record that your # is active and goes into their file for use or sale.

Sometimes I screw up and answer, when I realize I answer, "23rd Prescent...Sgt O'Mally...." always works

[Phloating Phlasher]

My android phone is actually learning my habits & auto screening most of the scammers. It also seems to have some kind of database of "rubbish" callers. If I get a new & so unknown one, I get aprompt not the call, I can answer, ignore or add to list.

[lyman]

Ditto my Pixel,
I guess you block enough and it starts doing it for you,

I still get a pile of voice mails, (like 4 - 8 a week) that are spammers, but the phone itself never rang,

[Phloating Phlasher]

Yeah, mines a pixel too.

[RED]

I moved to a new State and kept my old number. I rarely answer a call from my old area code. If I want to have some fun and I answer, when the ?live agent? starts I interrupt and say can I ask you a question? Does my Parole Officer know you are conspiring with me?

Or if I?m already pissed I come out with about 5 minutes of total obscene language and my opinions of their mothers. It gives me a lot of satisfaction when they answer with their own obscenities!

I?ve learned to live with it!

[Former Cav]

ring ring
ME: JOES POOL HALL
caller: is this a business?
ME: YES, do you WANT A TABLE or not?
click

[Allen]

ring ring
ME: JOES POOL HALL
caller: is this a business?
ME: YES, do you WANT A TABLE or not?
click

You just lost $40M dollars from Publishers Clearing House. All the caller from Pakistan needed was your personal banking info so they could make the deposit for you. Next time you'll know better.