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Old 09-25-2018, 11:35 AM
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Default ROBO CALLS HIT A NEW LOW LAST NIGHT !

We must get at least 15 Robocalls and scam calls a day on our home phone - and that is with blocking as many calls as our service will allow (30)! That said, at least they had all been after 8:30 am and before 9 pm - UNTIL NOW!

Last night at 2:30 am our phone rang and woke us up out of a dead sleep - of course it was a Robocall. This morning I called our service provider and they basically said they could do nothing. The understanding woman on the phone for Optimum did tell us about a new devise or service called Robo-Blocker but said it was not fool-proof either and Robo-callers are finding away around that too.

Apparently there is a new thing now, called "Spoof-calling" that originates from other Countries and uses local phone numbers. The only reason I keep our landline now is mainly because of our alarm system (Central Station calling) and for when our Cell Phones don't work - my area still has some bad cell sites and sometimes will just cut us off when talking. We also have dead zones in our home where the cell phone just doesn't work!

This Robocall thing is really getting out of hand and I do intend to contact our Congressman (more to make me feel better and not because I really expect anything from him). I highly doubt the Phone Company's will do anything as they make money from every call, legit or not! It's really frustrating to be woken up in the middle of the night as a joke!

Does anyone here have a Robocall Blocker and how does it work??

Last edited by chief38; 09-25-2018 at 11:37 AM.
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Old 09-25-2018, 11:42 AM
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I do intend to contact our Congressman (more to make me feel better and not because I really expect anything from him).
I feel your pain. We get a bunch of them also.

In regards to contacting your Congressman......it seems they are only concerned if it jeopardizes them being re-elected.

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Old 09-25-2018, 11:47 AM
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The last landline I had I just turned the ringer off.The people that know me know how to reach me
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Old 09-25-2018, 11:52 AM
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Chief38 I use "Nomorobo" (Stop robocalls and telemarketers with Nomorobo). It is FREE and it works pretty well. My only complaint is that it doesn't completely block the call...it let's your phone ring one single time to indicate a call has been blocked. I wish they'd not even let that one ring through. Like you said, Nomorobo is not immune to spoofing...where they put in names and numbers of residents in your local area. That is done to bypass the blocking systems and about all you can do is ignore it if you don't recognize the name on the caller id. I agree that 200 am is an all new low. Technically, if the robocallers wanted to, they could bombard us with calls 24x7...rendering our phones useless. I'm surprised the terrorists haven't employed this as a from of psychological warfare.
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Old 09-25-2018, 11:59 AM
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That is a new low! I get them also, however what I did is set my ringer duration to ring only two times & then it goes to voice mail. After reading 500SNW post I may set it on 1 ring instead of two!
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Old 09-25-2018, 12:08 PM
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If everyone keeps on the elected officials it may work. I would like to sic the robo guys on them! That might get some action.
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Old 09-25-2018, 01:13 PM
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I am in the process (waiting for their email) to sign up for Nomorobo and will try that temporarily. I also see a devise can be purchased (Digitone Blocker) that is supposed to be the best of the devises and does NOT even allow it to ring once! Might buy that one since the Nomorobo does ring at least one time and I do not even want that.
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Old 09-25-2018, 03:16 PM
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I haven't received a robocall for 5 days now, that's when I disconnected our home land line. I had the "and the cops will drag you out of your house", IRS call just after receiving a 5% increase on my phone bill. Sorry, it was a good 50+ years with that land line # but no more.
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Old 09-25-2018, 03:29 PM
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I don't get it. Does ANY ONE actually expect to sell a product or service to someone after waking them up in the middle of the night?!? The whole process seems counter productive.

We dumped the land line years ago and we turn off our cell phoned at night. Phone rings in the day time I don't answer it unless I know who is calling. Get calls every day from Colorado, New Jersey, California, and others but most are from Michigan.

If they want to waste their resources and time it's ok with me. They aren't wasting mine.

The thing I dislike about robocalls is that it deprives me of the pleasure of messin' with 'em. Sometimes it's the only fun I get to have all day.
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Old 09-25-2018, 03:49 PM
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For the life of me I can not understand why no one sells a telephone that requires the caller to enter a few numbers to allow the phone to ring. It could be done in a way that would block 100% of robo calls - "Please enter the number that is equal to 100 minus 50", something like that, and would use a different question for each call, and give two chances at the right answer then hangs up on them. I'd pay $200 for one of those phones, and someone could sell millions of them.
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Old 09-25-2018, 03:57 PM
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The last landline I had I just turned the ringer off.The people that know me know how to reach me
That was going to be my suggestion also. The alarm will still be able to call out if necessary, and you won't be bothered.
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Old 09-25-2018, 04:57 PM
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Sometimes it's the only fun I get to have all day.
Go rent a copy of the "True Grit" remake
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Old 09-25-2018, 05:07 PM
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Nomorobo works great for me.
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Old 09-25-2018, 06:05 PM
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I get the robo-calls constantly as well. This in spite of being on all the "Do Not Call" lists I can sign up for. What I've been doing for the last couple of years, provided I'm close to a phone and I don't have to go out of my way to do it, is pick up the phone and immediately hang it up.

If I'm not close enough, I'll just ignore it.
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Old 09-25-2018, 06:13 PM
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After 6pm all phones are off and they stay that way until we turn them back on the next morning.
If somebody wants to contact us, either call during business hours or email us.
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Old 09-25-2018, 07:01 PM
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Y'all might want to check with your landline providers. Mine is Spectrum TWC and they offer me the ability to program the numbers of family and friends with a distinctive ring...a double ring which goes "ring-ring." This feature has come in handy. If I am sitting at the computer, or watching TV or whatever and I hear a single ring, I just let the machine get it.

Speaking of robocalls...I'm about to get inundated with political calls due to the upcoming elections. Those are every bit as infuriating as the people trying to sell stuff. The night before election day my phone rings constantly.
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Old 09-25-2018, 08:27 PM
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Keep record of the numbers they call from and notify your State Attorney General to file a complaint each and every time.
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Old 09-25-2018, 08:29 PM
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Spectrum is my provider and they offer nomorobo. Doesn't eliminate political calls but disconnects them after one ring.
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Old 09-25-2018, 08:50 PM
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Too many phones in my home to turn off & on every day. At last count I think we have 15 separate phones on the land line.

I did sign up with nomorobo just now so we'll give that a shot. I do understand even when it blocks a call it rings once. I think I might get the Digitone devise that does not ring at all. For under $100 bucks it will be well worth it!

BTW we found out what happened last night. Apparently hundreds of people were called between 2 - 4 am from the same local number that actually belonged to a local family. Whoever called hijacked their number and used it for the Spoof-call. The amount of calls was so large it actually made the News! The woman who had her number hi-jacked got so many calls from people being woken up she had to get her number changed. Hopefully the devises they are selling to combat these calls lasts for a while!
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Old 09-25-2018, 08:58 PM
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Y'all might want to check with your landline providers. Mine is Spectrum TWC and they offer me the ability to program the numbers of family and friends with a distinctive ring...a double ring which goes "ring-ring." This feature has come in handy. If I am sitting at the computer, or watching TV or whatever and I hear a single ring, I just let the machine get it.

Speaking of robocalls...I'm about to get inundated with political calls due to the upcoming elections. Those are every bit as infuriating as the people trying to sell stuff. The night before election day my phone rings constantly.
And, as with so many other things, our legislators have exempted themselves from the laws passed to govern everyone else. Political calls do not violate 'do not call' laws at all.
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Old 09-25-2018, 09:10 PM
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"The only reason I keep our landline now is mainly because of our alarm system (Central Station calling) and for when our Cell Phones don't work "

I would unplug the land line phones until you need them. The alarm should still connect. Tell family and friends to call your cell only. Just a thought.
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Old 09-25-2018, 09:53 PM
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While we get our share of scammers obviously from overseas, I can tell by the accents many of the dirtbags are American, and they are using robocall machines with number spoofing capability, which makes the calls look like they are originating locally. I have called back many of these numbers, and mostly find there is no such number, or occasionally get some poor soul whose phone number has been hijacked by the scum.

While I realize there isn't much we can do about calls from outside USA, I'd like to see the importation, possession and manufacturing of robocalling and number spoofing machines made a felony in the USA.

Politicians won't go along; they need the robodialers you say - I disagree.
I don't know anybody who will listen to a cold call pitch from a talking machine - I don't even listen to the ones from my doctors, but insist they send me emails to confirm appointments, so I don't think it should hurt political campaigns much if robocall machines are outlawed.
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Old 09-25-2018, 09:56 PM
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My landline number is what I put on any form that I have to fill out that requires a phone #, or if I'm ordering something online. I have all the phone ringers on that line disconnected. If whoever is calling wants to get in touch with me, they'll leave a message, the robots never do. Every week or so I go through my messages and delete just about all of them. Everyone who I care about getting in touch with me will call or text my cell phone. I agree, these companies must think the people they are calling are incredibly stupid if they think their calls will sell anything after the inconvenience.
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Old 09-25-2018, 10:13 PM
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For the life of me I can not understand why no one sells a telephone that requires the caller to enter a few numbers to allow the phone to ring. It could be done in a way that would block 100% of robo calls - each"Please enter the number that is equal to 100 minus 50", something like that, and would use a different question for call, and give two chances at the right answer then hangs up on them. I'd pay $200 for one of those phones, and someone could sell millions of them.
You know a large % or the population could not answer that
question without some device to calculate the answer.
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Old 09-25-2018, 10:34 PM
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"Nomorobo" won't work on my landline (AT&T) unless something has changed since I last tried. I just let all incoming calls go to the answering machine. If it is a live telemarketer (not so common these days as they used to be) I will sometimes pick up and have some fun with them. I especially like to get female callers. They usually hang up very quickly when I start asking them some highly personal questions and probably resign the next day. Most of the time I get nothing but blank air after my answering machine answers but there are some die-hards who will say "hello...hello...hello..." or start into their spiel before they give up.

I like to get robocalls from the scammers - those guys from Microsoft telling me that my Windows license is about to expire, the IRS agents and bill collectors who are going to send the police to arrest me if I don't pay up, and my personal favorite, the process server who is going to serve legal papers on me unless I call him back immediately. Sometimes they are fairly clever and convincing and I can see how some people could be taken in.

I have concluded that being on the "Do Not Call" list means nothing.

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Old 09-25-2018, 10:49 PM
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My husband likes to drive the cold callers crazy by pretending he's an idiot or whistling into the phone or saying he's got to get his nurse on the phone. Some play along, some hang up, but he enjoys a little fun at their"expense"

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Old 09-25-2018, 10:53 PM
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Now they are spoofing my number on scam calls to other people. 3-4 times a week, I get a call from someone who says they got a robocall that showed my number on their caller id.

I wish they would put Jack Bauer on the case to hunt these animals down and eliminate them.
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Old 09-25-2018, 11:08 PM
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They spoof numbers from lots of different sources. It is better to never answer your phone, just listen to messages.
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Old 09-25-2018, 11:22 PM
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For several years we have used PhoneTray. It's a caller ID program that runs on our computer. Has worked out very well at our house.

PhoneTray - Block telemarketing calls, stop robocalls, zap telemarketers
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Old 09-26-2018, 07:11 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DWalt View Post
I have concluded that being on the "Do Not Call" list means nothing.
I think it's name has been changed to: the "Call List!"
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Old 09-26-2018, 08:22 AM
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Unless I see a name I recognize on the caller ID, I just let it go to voice mail. If they think it's important, they can leave a message. If I think it's important, I'll call them back.

I think many of you are letting your land line rule your lives.


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They spoof numbers from lots of different sources. It is better to never answer your phone, just listen to messages.
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Old 09-26-2018, 09:58 AM
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Mujibar was trying to get a job in India.

The Personnel Manager said, "Mujibar, you have passed all the tests except one. Unless you pass it you cannot qualify for this job."

Mujibar said, "I am ready."

The Manager said, "Make a sentence using the words Yellow, Pink and Green."

Mujibar thought for a few minutes and said, "Mister Manager, I am ready."

The Manager said, "Go ahead."

Mujibar said, "The telephone goes green, green, green, and I pink it up, and say, 'Yellow, this is Mujibar.'"

Mujibar now works as a technician at a call center for computer problems. No doubt you have spoken to him.
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Old 09-26-2018, 11:25 AM
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He has now changed his name to Joe.

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Old 09-27-2018, 12:46 PM
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After reading some of the post on here, I've decided to change my message on my answering machine. I currently use the standard or basic robotic message that comes with the system, which said's the following: "Hello please leave a message after the tone".

My new message will now say: "Hello, you've reached my home phone that I never answer because of all the BS calls that I get here. However, if you would still like to waste your time and leave a message, please do so at the sound of the beep".

This recording will come on after two rings!
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Old 09-27-2018, 02:17 PM
Beemer-mark Beemer-mark is offline
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My cable / phone company allows me to block any number that doesn't have an identified person names or originates from a toll free number. As someone else stated though the phone still rings once. I can't believe how many times it rings once every day.

The new one is spoof calling on my cell phone. Never used to get robo calls on my cell until spoof calling started. Looks like a local number but it isn't. For the most part it isn't scams but legit robo calls. Marriot and Spectrum are the worse (did i say spectrum was my cable co.?).

The only thing you can do is not answer the phone if there is no caller ID. I even turn my cell phone ringer off most of the time. People really want to talk to me will leave a voicemail.
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Old 09-27-2018, 02:47 PM
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Heck I'm retired I've got all the time in the world to wait until a live person on the other end picks up that's when the harassment gets reversed, political calls which are abundant right now get the same treatment. I had a political call a couple of days ago that the person on the end hung up on me...….I loved it.
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Old 09-27-2018, 07:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutchboy901 View Post
This recording will come on after two rings!
Make it 5 or 6 rings. Waste their time and tie up their phone line. That's one thing that has always bothered me about junk calls. After the call is ended on a landline, and you hang up, there is an almost 30 second period where you cannot pick your own phone up and call out...even if you have an emergency. Each time you pick up the phone prematurely, you "reset" the delay. Do an experiment and have a friend call you. Then, after you two hang up, try to immediately make a call out on your phone. It usually doesn't work right away. At least that's how mine has always been.
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Old 09-27-2018, 08:02 PM
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So I left a message for my Congressman to call me back and today he actually did! He did tell me that President Trump is seeking to get foreign Govt's. to crack down on the scam rings within their Countries (mostly India) but it is quite difficult since many of the Police are part of the scam rings and warn them when raids are eminent. I suggested that the USA hold back foreign aid on Country's that do not severely crack down and he said he agreed with me - however it is only a few weeks away from election day and he is running again! Even though my conversation was just that - a conversation...... at least I did what I could and gave him what was on my mind.
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