The marketing/SPAM calls are getting weirder!

[peteski]

This is what my phone's CallerID showed for a call yesterday. They are getting very creative - maybe they are hoping someone will get curious what that is all about and pick up the phone?

[Classicgas]

Finally, some truth in advertising!

[Mark]

Hey, how'd you take that picture?

[iamsuperdan]

I'd almost want to answer that to see what it's all about! lolz

 

 

[smhardesty]

Is it possible the your phone company is aware that number is a scam number? Maybe they tagged it.

[KWT]

UGH I hate those things. I get them all the time. Even my cell now...

I have started having a little bit of fun with them though... The last one I got of these, the lady says the usual..."You won a free home security system".  She asked to speak to the owner of the house... I said, "no"... She said when would be a good time to call back? I said, "Lady I don't know. I broke in here and panic'd when the phone rang." There was a long pause and then "click"... lol.

[bobthehobbyguy]

I don't answer unknown calls. If its legit they will leave a message. I usully check on line to see if others received the call. I then block the number on my cell. Cuts way down on nusience calls.

[Howard Cohen]

My favourite calls are the ones from the IRS telling me that my taxes are due and they want my credit card...I live in Canada, the IRS doesn't work here  

Sometimes I press '1' then when the operator comes online I use my air horn ! 

Today I answered 'city jail', then waited...

[Snake45]

If I have time, I like to screw with these jerks as long as possible. Last week I had one from some foreigner "from Microsoft" claiming my computer had a virus. I kept him on the phone for about 20 minutes asking him where he was calling from, and who he worked for, and what a virus was, and so forth, acting like I was hard of hearing and/or maybe not too bright, and when he got around to asking me to turn on my computer, I said, "What are you talking about? I don't even own a computer. I refuse to have one of those things in my house!"

I didn't even have to tell him to put me on their Don't Call list. I think he did that on his own.

You should hear the fun I have with jerks calling from some bogus cancer or disease or "friends of police" charity. I like to ask them how much money THEY make and how much THEY gave to the charity. Among other things.

[peteski]

Hey, how'd you take that picture?

Just pointed my camera towards the handset and snapped the photo.

Is it possible the your phone company is aware that number is a scam number? Maybe they tagged it.

CallerID is easily spoofed. One spammer actually called me showing my own name and phone number. How could I be calling myself?

But maybe you are right about the scam thing.  Reading through https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caller_ID shows that "The calling party name is added by the consumer's terminating central office if the consumer has subscribed to that service. Calling name delivery is not automatic."

 

[HomerS]

Recently I've had them call my cellphone and ask for my wife by name.  I said you have the wrong number and both times they say I can probably help them.  They went on to solicit donations for charity.    CLICK....and pushing the button to cancel the call doesn't give the same satisfaction as slamming down the receiver.

[martinfan5]

Try running a business and its even worse, not only do they come via phone, they email and text you as well,  and they are always deaf and cant talk on the phone.

[Modeltruckbuilder]

-

Edited December 27, 2017 by Modeltruckbuilder

[crazyjim]

We let unknown calls go to the message machine.

[Rob Hall]

I don't have a landline, never answer my cell unless I recognize the number via caller id.    I do see fake spam numbers in the call log w/ my same area code and prefix, so I block those as well as ones I don't recognize. 

 

[mikemodeler]

There was a show on a few years ago with comic Tom Mabe called Mabe in America. One of his skits was dealing with a telemarketer and it was hilarious. If I can find it I will post it for all to enjoy.

I usually answer the phone and once I know it's a spammer, I leave the phone on the counter or desk and eventually they hang up.

[Snake45]

 I leave the phone on the counter or desk and eventually they hang up.

I've done that too, putting the phone right next to the radio playing one of my favorite talk radio programs. Might as well educate them a little while they wait!

[1930fordpickup]

I have a few friends  that are Farmers. They time to burn throughout the year  here and there. The one loves to talk to these people and harasses them back.  One was home improvement company that wanted to give him free quotes for siding and a new roof. They get to his house and ask him why he wanted to put siding on his brick house and cover slate roof. He responded I did not want to, you wanted to give me a free quote. He tells the window person he has no windows or waits for the full talk up and says I will ask my landLord.  

[peteski]

For laughs, watch these:

Someone created bots to keep telemarketers occupied as long as possible.

 

 

 

 

[Tom Geiger]

One bit of advise... if you buy a domain  (that's a web address)  don't use your own name!  My web provider (GoDaddy) offers a service that puts the domain in their name, masking it's owner.  I didn't understand why until I went alone!  The minute I bought the domain, I got tons of spam calls on my cell phone from companies hoping to offer me web services, programming etc.  I couldn't answer my phone for weeks.   

There was one that bothered me for months.  They would spoof the incoming phone number to appear the call was from California, New York, Texas, Washington DC and even local towns near me.   There call was a recording that said, "Hello this is Jennifer Taylor calling for Google and Bing!  We've been trying to reach you and this is your last chance to respond before we delist your website from the internet......"

I finally pushed 1 to connect to their operator and got connected to a guy who was obviously in a call center with tons of background noise.  I yelled at him and told him to take me off their call list. The calls kept on coming!   Finally I did the same again, and was greeted with a message to hit 3 to opt out. I think they must've gotten threatened from the authorities!   Finally the calls stopped.

What I don't understand is how a company thinks that they can spam you several times a day for weeks to months and that you will eventually do business with them?

[Ace-Garageguy]

Newest twist: today, I got a call from a robodialler selling security systems.

No, I never answer unknown numbers. HOWEVER...somehow this one managed to spoof the number of a business associate, so I picked up.

This is somewhat worrying because it would seem to imply somebody, somehow, has access to legitimate numbers that I answer.

[Rob Hall]

One bit of advise... if you buy a domain  (that's a web address)  don't use your own name!  My web provider (GoDaddy) offers a service that puts the domain in their name, masking it's owner.  I didn't understand why until I went alone!  The minute I bought the domain, I got tons of spam calls on my cell phone from companies hoping to offer me web services, programming etc.  I couldn't answer my phone for weeks.   

 

I own a couple of domains, my main one is my name--had it almost 20 years.   I've never noticed any spam calls related to them..

[Ace-Garageguy]

I own a couple of domains...almost 20 years. I've never noticed any spam calls related to them..

Same here...though I pay a little extra for "private" domain registration.

[Tom Geiger]

Same here...though I pay a little extra for "private" domain registration.

Which is what I did on the previous domains!  This one I just bought quickly without a thought of privacy issues.

and the phone calls from Jennifer Taylor started again this week.  Argh!   

 

[Dragline]

My phone shows text that says "Scam Likely" as it rings. A VERY nice feature indeed.