telemarketers

[JonathanW]

It is amazing both how smart and how stupid telemarketers have gotten.

Smart, because they went from random calls from all over the country, to calls coming from (fake) numbers in your area code, to calls coming from fake numbers in your city, to now the caller ID showing the caller as a company that you might get a call from in your profession (or in my case just 5min ago, the university my son just graduated from).

Stupid, because all of the calls I've gotten the past 2-3 months are about my medicare benefits, when I'm almost 10 years too young for medicare.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

I never answer the phone unless I know the person calling.

I then Google the unknown number. It usually comes up as a scam or telemarketer. I did have one call me 3 times n a row yesterday from VA area code that Google failed me on.

No normal person calls 3 times n a row though so assuming spam or scam or telemarketer.

 

[JonathanW]

They (or anyone else) should not be allowed to fake a number that they are calling from.

 

[Blue-ish]

Voice mail is an effective tool for weeding out telemarketers.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

Google Assistant pre answers all calls from unknowns, ask them what they want, and hangs up on these characters. Meanwhile, Tom Mabe was great.

 

[Deeeefense]

They (or anyone else) should not be allowed to fake a number that they are calling from.

They are coming from off shore so the government can't stop them.

 

[Deeeefense]

I use the Robokiller ap it gets rid of all the known telemarketer numbers and if it isn't recognized it sends it to a voice mail. You only get the calls you want.

 

[kybloo92]

I don't even answer the phone anymore unless it is family. Let everything go to a voice mail. Too many shit bags trying to scam people out of hard earned money rather than get a job and make an honest dollar. CDC was trying to call me last week. Just blocked them. Assumed they were trying to do a survey, in which I would be the wrong person for them to call and answer. AT&T usually puts up "spam risk" and "telemarketer" on my caller ID when calls come in.

 

[BeaveUKGT]

I don't even answer the phone anymore unless it is family. Let everything go to a voice mail. Too many shit bags trying to scam people out of hard earned money rather than get a job and make an honest dollar. CDC was trying to call me last week. Just blocked them. Assumed they were trying to do a survey, in which I would be the wrong person for them to call and answer. AT&T usually puts up "spam risk" and "telemarketer" on my caller ID when calls come in.

You blew it, dude. The CDC was calling you to offer you the position of their new director under Trump.



(It probably wasn't the CDC calling you. Learn caller ID spoofing.)

 

[kybloo92]

You blew it, dude. The CDC was calling you to offer you the position of their new director under Trump.



(It probably wasn't the CDC calling you. Learn caller ID spoofing.)

It was the CDC. Green check mark verified on my call log. The number was 404-806-4811 listed on the tweet from their official X account and this article back in December on their site.

Information for Participants

To inform and engage NIS-Child, NIS-Teen, NIS-CIM, NIS-CCM, and NIS-ACM participants.

www.cdc.gov

 

[JDHoss]

I never answer a number that's not in my contacts list unless it's a local business I've used. If it's something legitimate, they'll leave a message.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

I have my phone set that it goes straight to VM unless you are in my contact list

 

[Creed Bratton]

Voice mail is an effective tool for weeding out telemarketers.

As is answering the phone, saying you are detective Jones investigating a homicide and this number has shown up multiple times on the victims phone so you need to speak to them as they are a potential suspect. They usually hang up quickly and don't call back. Just don't use that if it's the state police doing their fundraiser. They frown on impersonating a police officer apparently. 🤣

 

[BigBlueDave]

Not so much on telemarketers or voice calls anymore.

Mostly scammers via text with the texted you by mistake routine to start a conversation.


Incoming:

I'm at xyz and I don't see your car.


We are going to be at xyz this weekend at 1, when will you guys make it there?


I should always Report As Junk, but occasionally go with As soon as a get done ****ing your mother!

I was probably only responding to a bot or at least put on a list of potentials that bit.

They frown on impersonating a police officer apparently.

My oldest had one last year the reverse of that. This guy looked up real detective names in counties close to where you live. He would state that he is Detective Jim from Nextdoor County Sheriffs Department and he has a warrant issued for your arrest. If you send him $$$ he can make it go away.

I called Nextdoor County Sheriff Dept directly and asked for Detective Jim. The real detective tracked the guy down to freaking Georgetown, Ky.

 

[WTF Cat]

A little foreign language usually stops them in their tracks "Comment allez-vous? Excusez-moi... je ne comprendre pas" usually ends the call quickly.

 

[kywildcatsfannumber1]

How I answer to them when picking up the phone.

 

[JonathanW]

They are coming from off shore so the government can't stop them.

It's not a government thing, it's a phone company thing. Phone companies allow it. They know where calls are coming from. Or if the number is blocked from them they could not allow it to go through.

 

[JonathanW]

I never answer a number that's not in my contacts list unless it's a local business I've used. If it's something legitimate, they'll leave a message.

Yeah. But can't do that when you are sending out your resume for job opportunities.

 

[HymanKaplan]

I never answer my phone; PERIOD.

Not even sure why I own one.

 

[Tskware]

My oldest had one last year the reverse of that. This guy looked up real detective names in counties close to where you live. He would state that he is Detective Jim from Nextdoor County Sheriffs Department and he has a warrant issued for your arrest. If you send him $$$ he can make it go away.

I called Nextdoor County Sheriff Dept directly and asked for Detective Jim. The real detective tracked the guy down to freaking Georgetown, Ky.

My aunt almost fell for something just like that, if my Mom had not called me in a panic and begged me to call my aunt (when I was sitting down to dinner on an out of state vacation with my wife and daughter) right then and there, she would have handed over $30K. Had already been to the bank and withdrawn the money and was going to go meet the "officer" around the corner from her house, late at night. They prey on older people who I guess just can't believe what low down POS are out there trying to steal your money.

 

[JDHoss]

Yeah. But can't do that when you are sending out your resume for job opportunities.

Is that something you do all year long?

 

[JDHoss]

I never answer my phone; PERIOD.

Not even sure why I own one.

In 2002 when my now wife and I started living together, I talked her into getting a cell phone and put it on my plan. Back then, most plans were limited minutes. I think my plan was 400 minutes. The guy at Verizon said he was going to check my usage to determine which plan I'd need. After looking at usage, he deadpanned "I don't know why you even have a phone".

 

[WillGolf4Food]

It's not a government thing, it's a phone company thing. Phone companies allow it. They know where calls are coming from.

it's VOIP (voice over IP) which was the step up from analog. It allows you to digitally manipulate "header" and other call source information.

VOIP enabled a lot of cool stuff along with some fancy integration but there was a price to pay.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Still not as bad as Project Managers..