The Robo Calls have gotten out of hand. I may disconnect my home phone.

[mackdaddy]

I am now getting 10 to 15 Robo Calls per day, every day. I have stopped answering my home phone so I get over half of these calls go to blank answering machine messages.

My phone number is listed with the "Do not call" registry, but I think they use that list to make calls now.

I have had the same phone number for many years, and it is used for some account registrations for stores, banks etc.

The most calls recently come from Home warranty, Auto warranty (my vehicles are 20 years old), Insurance offers, and refinance or other loan offers. Also want me to change my utilities, but I do not have natural gas, and I do have solar panels so I have a near zero electricity bill. But, These fukers are relentless.

They often spoof or fake other local area code phone numbers. I have gotten a few at least real but angry calls from other people because they got similar BS calls and these companies faked my number on caller ID.

It usually takes at least 8 seconds for the robo caller to connect to one of their flimflam specialist, so if you keep saying hello to a blank line you know it is a BS Call.

If I am connected to a human I ask to be added to their do not call list, and they usually just hang up on me. Occasionally I can dial a number to be added to their do not call, but either way within a day they are calling again. This has gotten much worse in the last few months for some reason.

Note that this is a simple basic phone line that does not have call blocking available. Apparently I can add some of this for additional money to the phone provider.

The new internet technology has been great for lower cost long distance, but faking caller ID and these foreign or other scam call centers has got to be taken care of some how.

My cell does not seem to have near this problem but it does have some scam blocking.

Anyone else having this problem?

[lastlib]

1. YES!

Being 64-1/2 now, I'm being besieged with calls from folks wanting me to buy Medicare supplement plans! And that's on TOP of the usual scammers telling me my Amazon account (which I don't have) has been used fraudulently, or people wanting to fix my credit-card debt problem (which I also don't have), or....ad infinitum.

I can't drop my land line, because my mother depends on it. so I'm stuck for now.

[mackdaddy]

7. I am the same age. Just got one as I am typing this.

I told them I had it covered and could they remove me from their calling list. They of course abruptly just hang up on me.

That may be the only way to end the call other than hanging up on them. Had one guy once that actually told me that other than that he was to keep me on the line as long as they could, and they were not allowed to end the call on their end as long as he had me talking.

[keithbvadu2]

2. When you have spare time to kill.... (Entertainment value only)

When you have spare time to kill....
(Entertainment value only)
-----------------------------

How to answer spam phone calls...

Keep asking: What is your name?
... until you get an answer.

What is your company/org name?
... until you get an answer.

What is your company/org address?
... until you get an answer.

What is your company/org phone number?
... until you get an answer.

What number can I get in contact with you?
... until you get an answer.

So what if they lie?
You're just going to hang up on them anyway.
Even better if you say 'sorry, not interested'.
.
Their time is also important to them.

[mackdaddy]

17. I have though about this.

When the Do Not Call Registry first came out, there were stories about a few people who would make some spending money by suing companies that called any way.

I guess technically that could still be done, but with all of the fake caller ID and such would be hard to get to the actual perpetrators. I suppose that is also why they just hang up on you when you mention do not call.

I did get a scam operator to cry once. It was a bank card scam, and I told them that they were actually hurting people and I know they need a job but what ever god they preyed too would not be happy with their actions. Only worked once though. I tried it some other times and they did not give an S.

[Danmel]

3. We just canceled our landline

95% of the calls were spam or scam

[lastlib]

4. I no longer answer the phone with "hello"

because, I understand that scammers often want you to answer the phone that way so they can record you and use your voice elsewhere. So now my standard phone answer is "Are you there?"--and of course, if they're not, there's no point having a conversation. It also throws them off guard a little because they're expecting "hello".

[ret5hd]

25. "A Hoy Hoy"...

the only proper way to answer a telephone machine.

[padfun]

5. I'm getting a lot the last three days

About car warranty and/or insurance.

I usually answer to get to a live human and then...
I tell them I have a DeLorean and I use it for time travel.
They hang up without giving me a chance to explain it.

[Silver Gaia]

6. We use NoMoRobo. Works great.

Rings once, then they boot them. It's a free service. Or at least it was when we registered with them. They are very good at ID-ing robo calls and scams. Important calls still get through. Just google nomorobo to find them.

[mackdaddy]

9. Good link. Looks like $2/month now.

But, probably worth it if I keep this line.

[Silver Gaia]

14. It's well worth it.

We only keep our landline because we would have to change too many things, particularly all of hubby's VA medical stuff. NoMoRobo makes that possible for us.

[Tetrachloride]

10. ty. Bookmarked. The reality is that the phone company let's

junk calls through. No security checks.

Over here in the Eastern Hemisphere, i get one unwanted call a month. One. Always wrong numbers, , not spam or robocalls

[Silver Gaia]

16. You're welcome.

[rurallib]

8. I do not answer unless I know the number

If they really want me they can leave a message and I will return the call.

I have had over the years a rise and fall in these calls. Right now they are way down. I wonder if the fact that I do not answer such calls causes them to skip over me?

[iemanja]

11. I get robo call and texts on my cell

The texts are worse, but not nearly as bad as what you describe. I block every robo caller who contacts me, but like you I still get them.

[Happy Hoosier]

12. Ditched my land-line years ago.

Don’t miss it a bit.

[CrackityJones75]

24. Ditched mine in 1998.

Never looked back. My wife on the other hand wanted one when the kids were little. That lasted about a month and she agreed and cancelled it.

[Initech]

13. They are becoming a gigantic pain in my ass.

I'll tell them where I would like them to stick their file on my car's warranty!

[AllaN01Bear]

15. mine are illigitimate calls . a lot i call hit and run. ie ring and gone . no one on the other end

to pick up. i got one claiming that they were my medical provider and they wanted to ask social secirity questions . i hung up .! : what firm. your name . what is a good number if i get disconected ? lot are out of area. i get one from inside my area code but how many of these are redirects and rollover numbers ? the national do not call list is a joke . so is calling the fcc and ftc. i got a call blocker phone and when they realize they have been blocked , they steal new numbers to call. i got one from a catholic arch diocises near here and it was a fake call. nothing the authorites claim they can do about it. one of my fiav is a video of a apex nj cop being threatend with arrest by so called irs agents . " id like to talk to your superiors " that would be capt. black. lt green,,, these are names that i know from a puppet show i saw as a kid called capt scarlet and the mystrons . hem lo blow. they get them at our local pd too also . another fave . my healthcare worker and i were in a elevator at my apartment complex and the car warrenty one was coming over the emergency phone speaker .

[Initech]

19. My favorite is the ones on my car's extended warranty.

My car is barely a year and a half old, I got a long time before my warranty expires. "Please press 1 so we can close out your file." I'll tell you where I would like you to stick it!

And then for business the one about updating your Google listing drives me crazy as well. Though it is easy to hang up on that one.

[XanaDUer2]

18. Oh yes

Not as many calls as you. About 5 perday. Some are hang up. Yesterday, one was a man yelling hello! I'm annoyed because I do use my landline for some business, but I'm afraid to answer it. We were stalked by a charity for years. Stalked. I once answered the phone and the asshole complained to me about us never answering!

I have credit card accounts linked to this phone. I need to answer it. I'm on the DNC list, which is a joke. I ask to be removed, and they hang up. I'm very angry about this. Total abuse and harassment at this point. The fct needs to do something, but they won't.

[Quiet_Dem_Mom]

20. YES! I've been logging the calls. Highest # in 1 day? 35!

It's down to only 20 or so on a weekday since I started blocking every number I don't recognize. Doesn't do much good because these scammers are spoofing/changing numbers from call to call. And blocking a number doesn't stop that same number from calling every day.

These calls still tie up the landline for 30-40 seconds, longer if I miss blocking the number and the call goes to voice message. Multiply that by 15-20 times a day, I'd be lucky to receive or make a call without being interrupted by call-waiting beeps.

We've also got the spoofed local numbers, too. We even got a call from a number that had my husband's name as the Caller ID.

So, yeah, in the same boat as you.

[Kingofalldems]

21. I get calls from 'the Medicare Department'

Also have gotten calls from my own number.

[dv421]

22. I'm not saying anyone should do this, but

robocalls went to near zero in my "landline" after I would push the number to connect to a human. I would inform them they called the 911 center and I absolutely needed their physical address so I could send an officer over to make sure they are OK. Most hung up immediately. The ones that stayed on for longer got to hear me claim the call was being traced to find them and we may need to activate the SWAT team to make sure they were not being held hostage.

[Silent3]

23. We'd held onto our landline in addition to our cell phones, but gave up on the landline...

...because of this. Never got anything but robocalls and solicitations on the landline.

I've also been forced to shunt every unrecognized number on my cell phone to voice mail, which sucks because there are occasionally calls I would have like to have picked up on immediately. You can end up in playing voice message phone tag if you need to call someone back who has also been forced to screen their calls like this.

Spammers, scammers, robocallers, and trolls have ruined telecommunication.

[yonder]

26. For us, they seem to come in cycles but don't know what the trigger is.

Sometimes they increase around elections. Perhaps the uncertainty surrounding Ukraine makes the spoofers think the calls would be more productive right now? Dunno.

For the last month or so those calls have rebounded to an all time high on our landline. Often enough the listed origination is some small, obscure or unheard of town. (Dipwater, Iowa??) Most other times they spoof our own area code. Hell, a couple of years ago we got one from our own landline number calling the same number. We just ignore them and review the answering machine later on.

Over 50 years ago we sent folks to the moon. You'd think someone could figure out how to stop this nonsense by now. My theory is the skids are being greased somewhere and it is much too lucrative to put much effort into stopping them.

[hunter]

27. For all the time they waste making or enabling these robocalls ought to be a felony.

They've made phones much less useful. Nobody even answers calls from unknown numbers anymore, nor do they listen to voicemails.

[lagomorph777]

28. I have used blocking for years - it GREATLY reduces the problem.

You'll have to decide whether the land line is valuable enough to pay for blocking on it.

[Trailrider1951]

29. Yes, I had that problem back when I lived in Texas and had a land line

I ended up unplugging the damn thing until I wanted to use it. I paid for the thing and it was there for MY convenience, not the convenience of robo-assholes. Only my close friends, family and work had my cell phone number, so I told them if they want to call me, use my cell phone number. Unfortunately, cell phone coverage out in the hinterland where I lived was spotty at best.

[Spazito]

30. If I answer them...

I let them start their con and then inform them 'this call is being recorded' and, without fail, they hang up sometimes after a string of obscenities but mostly without comment. It could be coincidence but right after that the number of scam calls declines to one a week or so for a while.

[keithbvadu2]

34. I like that one.

[highplainsdem]

31. That's why I got rid of my landline years ago. Plus everyone I wanted to hear from

always called my cell phone.

[RobinA]

32. Yes!

Lately it's been the police. Haven't gotten a car warranty for a couple months. Health insurance, yes, and since I'm also 64 1/2 I've already gotten one of those. At least "Amazon" finally gave up trying to get my credit card number so they could send me the iPad they say I ordered. Like Amazon doesn't have my credit card number.

[GoodRaisin]

33. When it dawned on me the only remaining thing my landline still did was receive spammer calls

i stopped paying for it. That was about 20 years ago. Just had cells since then but do keep an Ooma phone for back up that costs about $5/month. My cell blocks all the spammers.