Excessive incoming calls?

If you've got an iPhone, you can use the Settings > Phone > Silence Unknown Callers and/or Block Callers. The toggle within diverts incoming spam or unknown callers to voicemail without ringing your phone.
 
fatherbowie said:
My sister who is an MD and not stupid fell for one of those scams a couple of years ago. They claimed to be from the local sheriff's office and that she missed a date for jury duty and there was a warrant for her arrest unless she paid using $1,000 worth of gift cards. At least it was only $1,000, but it was a hard lesson for her.
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My number 1 rule is don't answer the call if it's a number I don't know. At least the calls were light today. Only 3.
 
I used to feel anxious when I saw a number I don't recognize. But I always tell myself "If it's important they'll leave a message". I get about 5 spam calls per day and always ignore. Super annoying.

Weird story, a couple months ago I got an unknown call from my area, ignored it then looked it up. It ended up being my town's municipal building/police headquarters, and they didn't leave a voicemail. Of course I'm a catastrophist so I assumed my condo was on fire with my cats and guitars trapped in it, or best case scenario, I had a warrant for my arrest and they pinned the wrong guy.

I've had similar issues in the past, one instance where my hot water heater crapped the bed, and was leaking into my downstairs neighbor's unit. Firefighters ended up climbing through my balcony to get in my unit to see what was up (I ignored their calls haha). Another one where a local detective called me, and informed me that he had me on CCTV finding and keeping a fat wad of cash that somebody apparently dropped in a liquor store parking lot, and that the guy who dropped it would like it back. I brought the money in that day and was ultimately happy that I was the one that found it, and that guy got his money back.

So in this instance I called the municipal building three times, each time getting a pre-recorded message that it was closed on this day (Mondays). I then called the police station, sounding ridiculous explaining my 'situation', and the guy dismissively gave me the same damn phone # I've been calling. So I hightailed it out of work, sped to my place only to find that of course everything was perfectly fine. Logic seeped in late and I figured it was probably a robocall about local elections or something.
 
Gorebomb said:
I used to feel anxious when I saw a number I don't recognize. But I always tell myself "If it's important they'll leave a message". I get about 5 spam calls per day and always ignore. Super annoying.

Weird story, a couple months ago I got an unknown call from my area, ignored it then looked it up. It ended up being my town's municipal building/police headquarters, and they didn't leave a voicemail. Of course I'm a catastrophist so I assumed my condo was on fire with my cats and guitars trapped in it, or best case scenario, I had a warrant for my arrest and they pinned the wrong guy.

I've had similar issues in the past, one instance where my hot water heater crapped the bed, and was leaking into my downstairs neighbor's unit. Firefighters ended up climbing through my balcony to get in my unit to see what was up (I ignored their calls haha). Another one where a local detective called me, and informed me that he had me on CCTV finding and keeping a fat wad of cash that somebody apparently dropped in a liquor store parking lot, and that the guy who dropped it would like it back. I brought the money in that day and was ultimately happy that I was the one that found it, and that guy got his money back.

So in this instance I called the municipal building three times, each time getting a pre-recorded message that it was closed on this day (Mondays). I then called the police station, sounding ridiculous explaining my 'situation', and the guy dismissively gave me the same damn phone # I've been calling. So I hightailed it out of work, sped to my place only to find that of course everything was perfectly fine. Logic seeped in late and I figured it was probably a robocall about local elections or something.
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Oh yeah and this too. Not the calls from Police though!
 
The list of blocked callers in my iPhone is RIDICULOUS.
I do enjoy screwing with them on my home phone time to time. I don’t even care if generates more calls. :p:D
 
Years before answering machines, caller ID or iPhones my dad used to have fun with unwanted calls.

Dad: Hello
Them: Mr. Smith?
Dad: Who's calling?
Them: (They'd give their name and state what they wanted).
Dad: Let me see if I can find him.

Dad would set the phone down for a few minutes then...

Dad: You still there?
Them: Yes.
Dad: Can't find him here so he must be in the east wing of the mansion. Hold on.

Dad would set the phone down for another 5 minutes and they were usually gone by then.
 
Decades ago Gary Burbank was the afternoon host on WLW radio out of Cincinnati. His group did regular comedy skits, and one of the characters was Gilbert Gnarley, an old man who would call product services to ask about things. One classic was when he called Trojan and told them that their gum he bought in the public bathroom was too chewy.

I plan on using the same approach with live spam callers.

But then I guess if it is a robocall you can press the * or # keys repeatedly followed by a bunch of numbers and see where that gets you.
 
A guy I knew from a music newsgroup (remember newsgroups?) loved to screw with people like that. He said one day, a couple religious folk showed up and said they'd like to tell them about Jesus. He said they seemed a bit surprised when he invited them in, but not as much as when he closed the door behind them and said, "But first, let me tell you a bit about Satan..."
 
All these stories remind me of a friend, who when he got cold calls about loans, would engage the person in conversation and start telling that he needed to refurnish his whole house because his wife/girlfriend had left him and went into the whole sordid tale about the break-up (use your imagination) giggle!
 
It's funny how people come up with inventive ways to handle those pesky cold calls. I can imagine the surprise on the other end of the line when they're suddenly thrown into a dramatic narrative about home furnishings and romantic mishaps. It's like turning an annoyance into a comedy routine. I bet after a few of those encounters, the callers start to think twice before dialing there.
 
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Bernadette123 said:
That's quite the tactic!
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Oblivius said:
It's funny how people come up with inventive ways to handle those pesky cold calls. I can imagine the surprise on the other end of the line when they're suddenly thrown into a dramatic narrative about home furnishings and romantic mishaps. It's like turning an annoyance into a comedy routine.
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Strange. Now they can reply to each other.
 
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