Ah-oh, I said yes

[beowulf]

scammer = fraud, deception, misleading, cheating. nothing legit about that. there is no good reason to tolerate it either. and i will be as rude as i can possibly be to the scammers. figure me as a old sturborn bull headed man, that is set firm on scammers, that will never change his mind about it.

I typically say that there is never a reason to be unkind. But there is a time. I will not be polite to those calling me with scams such as pretending to be from Microsoft and asking for access to my computer, or the third call of the day from credit card services offering to lower my interest on cards I pay in full every month, or one of the many calls trying to sell me security systems, or those pretending to be from the IRS, or offering me estimates on tex-coating my house, and from all kinds of solar companies, and on and on and on).

It is one thing if you don't have to answer the calls, but sometimes you are expecting calls, and when it rings you need to run into the house, or otherwise interrupt what you were doing to get to the phone. I no longer have patience with these callers and my rudeness will match the inconvenience they have put me to at the time. I have been on the do not call lists, but that does little to stop them. I have at time patiently asked them not to call anymore but that does nothing to stop the calls. So now I am either in their face rude, or at times I will tell them that I would really like to consider their offer but can't do so because I won't deal with an unethical company which I define as a company that would call someone who is on a do not call list.

I should note that the calls are now fewer - instead of several a day we may get only several a week and even that seems to be diminishing. I think it might be because our non-cell phone service is thru the computer using Ooma which has call blocking features.

 

[teejk]

I dislike callers as much as you do. BUT, I try to remember if it's a live person they are trying to make a living 99.99% of the time, legitimately. You can politely tell them no and hang up. Then block the number and report them to the do not call registers.

What I don't understand is why you let them get you so torqued up over nothing. Do you think people have the right to just call you and start asking questions and you have any obligation to answer? THEY DO NOT. When they do it doesn't require you to be a rude sob.



TBS

You lost me when you added "legitimately". These are scammers.

 

[Dftodd]

OK, thanks for the explanation. How does cutting /pasting a yes answer result in a $50 charge on one's cell? And if one disputes the charge with the cell provider I suspect it can easily be removed, no? Not saying it wouldn't be a PITA to accomplish though.:confused3:

From what they said on the news. The scammers would play the edited recording of the conversation asking you if you agreed to there service as evidence during a dispute. Same thing with press 1 to except our charges.

Now I have pressed 1 to take me off a call list before when I have returned a missed call and got the recording. I didn't recieve any charges to my phone bill either. But we also use one of the prepaid cell service plans that is one flat rate per month for unlimited phone, text and data.

 

[teejk]

For those of us that use the "do not call" registry, it is becoming a joke. Quiz one of those callers sometime on what number they dialed to reach you and you'll most likely hear one digit above or below your number (that's their escape I guess). The current advice from the pros is now to not accept any call from somebody not in your directory. If it is important they will leave a voice mail. My experience is that 99.9% of callers will not.

 

[dragoneggs]

They must Love us old folk in Florida!
I get them on my cell phone all the time.

Maybe it's not regional but generational???

 

[two_bit_score]

You lost me when you added "legitimately". These are scammers.

Some may be. But your statement indicates that you think every call you get is from a "scammer" if it's someone calling to solicit your business for their product or service. That's not true. Some are just hard up enough for a job that they had to take a telemarketer job.

My brother had to do that one time. He was cold calling people to offer them a competitive rate on electrical service. Totally legit company. He sold some contacts but he said it was tough. He wound up doing it for a little less than a year before finally getting a much better job.

There is no reason to act like a SOB to someone trying to earn a legit living when it's not called for.

Would you be the person who berates a young person who makes a mistake ringing up your grocery bill? Or try to get them fired because they charged you wrong and you had to go to the service desk to get reimbursed?

Being nice is a whole lot easier than these schemes to take out your frustration on some anonymous voice on the phone.



TBS

 

[MossRoad]

Another good reason to drop the land line besides saving some $$$... and I recommend registering on the 'Do Not Call' government site. This cut our unsolicited calls to virtually zero.

National Do Not Call Registry

I've been on that list since it started.... still get the calls. And although they come around the same times every day, they are always from spoofed numbers, so you can never find where its really coming from, and no matter how many you block, they just use a different spoofed number to call from every day.

 

[oosik]

A thought just hit me - around here any & all cell phone numbers are not listed in ANY phone books. The only way anybody can get my cell phone number is if I give it to them or am foolish enough to post it on a site that request phone numbers.

I know the procedure I use for my cell phone won't work for everybody but.......... my cell phone is ALWAYS OFF. I NEVER take it with me when I leave home. I try to remember to turn it on in the evening to see if anybody left a message worthy of a return call. I turn it on when I want to make a call.

I tell people - if its extremely important that you reach me and can't by phone - call the State Police - they will come out and inform me.

This procedure has worked just fine for me for 35+ years - I'm never bothered by phone calls.

 

[dragoneggs]

A thought just hit me - around here any & all cell phone numbers are not listed in ANY phone books. The only way anybody can get my cell phone number is if I give it to them or am foolish enough to post it on a site that request phone numbers.

I know the procedure I use for my cell phone won't work for everybody but.......... my cell phone is ALWAYS OFF. I NEVER take it with me when I leave home. I try to remember to turn it on in the evening to see if anybody left a message worthy of a return call. I turn it on when I want to make a call.

I tell people - if its extremely important that you reach me and can't by phone - call the State Police - they will come out and inform me.

This procedure has worked just fine for me for 35+ years - I'm never bothered by phone calls.

You are spot on... anyone can control one's accessibility to others and vise versa... whether they 'know' you or not. Many of us have grown a new umbilical albeit cordless connection to the 'web'.

 

[RoyJackson]

The phone rang, caller Id showed a local number so I answer with hello. I heard a half second of noise as if someone was moving their phone from ear to ear then a cheerful giggling girl said she had a problem with her headset. I forget what was said in the next 3 seconds, other than me saying yes and instantly wondering if I just fell for the phone scam that has been on the news lately.

Anyone else fall victim to these vultures ? Is there anything we can do to save ourselves from their deceiving ways?

It's called spoofing...using a local number to falsely identify the caller. This is one way the spammers can violate the "Do Not Call" laws. As far as legality...not sure.
One thing I've done was to keep a police whistle close by the phone...I'm sure you can imagine what I use it for...