How to stop telemarketers from calling you

SeilerBird said:

If you know you are not going to be home then turn off the answering machine.

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Kinda defeats the purpose of having an answering machine...

garyb1st said:

When buying something or opening accounts never give them your phone number.  Most ask for it even though it's not required.  We do not get many telemarketing calls.  Normally, I don't pick up if I don't recognize the number.  When I do and it's a telemarketer, I add the number to my contacts under the name SCAM.  It works.

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I usually give them SeilerBirds phone number....that gets rid of them

Jeff in Ferndale Wa said:

Kinda defeats the purpose of having an answering machine...

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You only need to do this for a week to get rid of the telemarketers then go back to normal.

catblaster said:

I usually give them SeilerBirds phone number....that gets rid of them

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What a coincidence. I was giving them your phone number.... ;D

When you pick up the phone and you say hello, there is usually a lag time before the caller starts his sale.

You see the computer is doing the dialing, and when the person sees that the call was answered, too late.  If there is no answer right away hang up, it is a computer generated call.

If I don't recognize the number, I like to answer with, "New Haven field office, special agent Johnson". For some reason, they usually hang up and don't call back.

Actual outgoing message one of my friends left on his machine for about 6 months.

"You've reached the Zzzzzzzzzzz Valley obscene phone call hotline.  All of our perverts are busy on other calls at the moment but if you leave your number your call will be returned in the order it was received".

It kinda backfired on him though, he got hundreds of calls a day as word got out.

Got a call today from America Tech Support saying they have detected problems with my Microsoft Windows.
I Said: Really what?s the problem?
He Said: We have detected a problem you need to sit down in front of your Microsoft Windows and we can fix the problems.
I said: Ok, I?m in front of my Windows.
He Said: What do you see?
I said: My front yard and car driving by.
He Said: No, your Microsoft Windows.
I said: Sorry I didn?t understand just a second I will get in front of my Microsoft Windows.
He Said: Now what you see?
I said: I see my back yard and patio.
He said: NO, that?s not Microsoft Windows.
I said: You?re right. They?re Pella Windows, can you still help me.
CLICK

I ordered the CPR Callblocker.  WOW!

This thing works like a charm and was incredibly easy to set up.

I am loving it!

NY_Dutch said:

The fault isn't with the "Do not call list", it's with the modern phone system that allows calls from anywhere in the world to appear as if they came from your next door neighbor on Caller ID. Many of the spam/scam calls originate from outside the US where the list usage cannot be enforced. I've found "NoMoRobo" to be effective for spam/scam calls to our VOIP number, and the "CallControl" app to be quite good on our Android smartphones.

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Thanks NY_Dutch. I followed your link to CallControl and I was impressed with their write up to install it. Here is what they say about their app:

The Original FREE Community Blacklist and Call Blocker app. Automatically blacklist and block thousands of robocalls and spam callers instantly. Reverse phone lookup millions of numbers, even spam callers, for free! Easy to use and powerful, Call Control is the best call blocker, text blocker and reverse phone lookup app available.
Tons of features like blocking calls from private & unknown callers, personal blacklist, Do Not Disturb mode, text SMS filter, Community Blacklist, blocked call log and more!

Call Control is a full featured blacklist and call blocker that's super easy to use and is used by more than 12M users to block unwanted calls and texts. Calls are blocked silently without you ever knowing someone called!

Features:
- Download completely FREE!
-      Powerful call blocker and blacklist (text SMS blacklist too)!
- Block robocalls, telemarketers and other spammers automatically with our Community Blacklist feature.
- Enhanced Caller ID - Know who?s calling you even if you don?t have the number as a contact.
- Personal Blacklist - Block any phone number or area code, using wild cards and more.
- Block violators of the FTC/FCC Do Not Call list automatically.
- Free Reverse Phone Lookup for spam callers to find out who called you.
- Do Not Disturb - Easily schedule when you don?t want to receive calls.
-      Supports message blocking in all OS, including KitKat and Lollipop.

Join a community of over 12M people who trust Call Control to take back their phones.

I hope it works as well for as it does for my wife and I, Tom. We do still get occasional calls, usually from telemarketers that work from home, but overall I'd say the calls have been reduced by at least 90%.

My problem is that this phone number I have was recently used by someone else and I keep getting their calls, including one from a high school that has a problem with some kid ditching class. Hopefully I will be able to remove some of those callers.

I had that problem for a couple of years after getting a new number, Tom. Apparently the previous holder of the number owed a lot of people and places money, so I got lots of irate or demanding calls for awhile. It slowly tapered off though, and now I only get a call for her once every few months. I did block some of the more persistent callers though.

Latest scam is one I almost fell for. 904 area code called me and did not leave a message, since I have been waiting on a call about medical supplies I called the number back. The answer was "Thank you for your call, if you wish to be remove from our call list please press one" I almost fell for the press one BS and I'm sure it would have been a scam.

My wife tells me that I have too much time on my hands. But, I like to have fun with telemarketers.

I enjoy actual conversations with friends, so when I hve time and a telemarketer is on the phone, I deliberately start a conversation, usually asking where the caller is calling from. This opens a world of opportunities for me to keep the caller on the phone without ever having to listen to a sales pitch.

After quite a while the caller will try to  hang up without even telling me why they called but I have learned how to just keep on with our conversation, until  finally the caller is so frustrated that they hang up on me.

I have actually kept a telemarketer on the phone for over 10 minutes while they tried to end the call numerous times. It is fun and sometimes I even learn something about the caller.

About 35 years ago I had one timeshare sales person call and to make it short she lived about 2 miles from me (a 21yr old brunette from Mass.) and we had an outstanding relationship for almost a year..... I did not buy a timeshare

I can HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U1PPWDO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

It's called the Sentry Call Blocker. A bit tedious to setup as you pre-program all of your friends etc into the machine. Once that's done, a "non-listed" caller is met with a pretty aggressive outgoing message (not customizable unfortunately). They are advised that if they ARE authorized to call your number to press a certain keystroke. This adds them to the approved list. They then hang up and call back and their call is put through. I know your first thought is that every telemarketer would do this but none, and I mean none, do - they just hang up. We then set our phone to not ring on the first ring (many phones have this setting. This gives the unit time to get the caller ID and if the call is blocked then the phone never rings. Every so often I check the call log to see if any "strangers" have added themselves to the approved list and move them to the reject list.

We've had this unit ($60) for 7 months. We used to get 2-5 telemarketing calls per day at all hours. Exactly zero telemarketing calls have gotten through since the day I installed it. Best sixty bucks I ever spent!

Sun2Retire said:

I can HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U1PPWDO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

It's called the Sentry Call Blocker. A bit tedious to setup as you pre-program all of your friends etc into the machine. Once that's done, a "non-listed" caller is met with a pretty aggressive outgoing message (not customizable unfortunately). They are advised that if they ARE authorized to call your number to press a certain keystroke. This adds them to the approved list. They then hang up and call back and their call is put through. I know your first thought is that every telemarketer would do this but none, and I mean none, do - they just hang up. We then set our phone to not ring on the first ring (many phones have this setting. This gives the unit time to get the caller ID and if the call is blocked then the phone never rings. Every so often I check the call log to see if any "strangers" have added themselves to the approved list and move them to the reject list.

We've had this unit ($60) for 7 months. We used to get 2-5 telemarketing calls per day at all hours. Exactly zero telemarketing calls have gotten through since the day I installed it. Best sixty bucks I ever spent!

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Your link is dead.

Hmmm. OK I tried it from a different search:

http://www.amazon.com/V2-Automatic-Blocker-Blocking-Repeated/dp/B00U1PPWDO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1446576143&sr=1-1&keywords=SENTRY+V2+Automatic+Call+Blocker

Both links work fine for me.