One day our own number showed up like we were calling ourselves. We are so sick of these calls.

Both are creepy and disgusting.

And I often get calls with all my digits, but the last four transposed.

You can report it to the fcc and ftc. [http://www.consumercomplaints.fcc.gov| and [link:http://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov|

I checked to see if my numbers were still listed, which they were.

I'm not sure how to make my complaint clear since I don't have any information on them. Each call was (or originally was when I was on long enough to hear part of their blurb) from a different company but probably the same telemarketer. About all I can say is calls from walk-in bathtub salespersons or time-share properties, etc. Any suggestions?

Huge pain in the ass.....very time consuming

My cable company lets me block thirty numbers

Other, bigger ones allow more, and may have blanket protection

There’s a website that lists cable and mobile companies

See if yours are on there. You might very some relief that way

I never answer the phone unless I know the number. I let em leave a message, then delete it. Usually they just hang up

Only thing that works

Sometimes I get five a day, sometimes none

Good luck

Hate those mofos

They change them every time. I'd fill 30 in a week, easy.

There should be a code that I can plug in to block the last caller.

I realize telemarketers provide jobs to a lot of people, but damn. I can't believe they get any results in regard to sales.

Next, we'll have political calls and Medicare supplemental insurance.

Maybe I should get rid of the phone.

I gave up on the 30 blocks a long time ago, for the reason you mention.

Congress is supposedly working on this, but these creeps seem to be several steps ahead in the technology

Dunno if there’s ever going to be a solution

I just live with it, and delete the calls/messages when I come home, while ignoring them when I’m sitting around

Really sucks A**, yes?

I have Mediacom. I'm going to talk to them tomorrow, as well.

The more complaints against a specific violator, the higher the fines have been. Recently one of them was socked with a $3.5 million fine, and there have been others as large and larger over the past few years.

Unfortunately, this only works for scammers that are in the US. Most of the newer scams are based in India, Pakistan, or other countries and out of reach of the FCC.

My number is 123-456-7890 (obviously not my real number)

I get calls from 123-456-0987 and the like from time to time.

Unless I'm expecting a call from an unknown number (ie professional calls) then I just ignore it.

ETA I don't memorize numbers anymore. If you're family or friends, you're programmed in my phone and your name will come up. The advantages of not using a landline.

They were always spam calls. I have all of those combinations now blocked.

What I don't understand is why the NSA won't shut these asses down. It would take no effort at all to find the pattern of telemarketers from the data they already collect. Turn it over to law enforcement or to the military for drone strike practice, I'm good with either.

and I'll get caught. There are days when I get nearly 10 calls and then my b/p gets involved.

I thought cell phones wouldn't have problems. Hmmm!

I'm about to that point of calling them in.

They are usually either call centers in India or the Philippines or Eastern Europe, so I usually just start talking in French or Swedish or Catalan, or something a call center directed at Germany is likely NOT to understand. Hasn't failed me yet.

My son will be friendly for a minute and then put the phone down and walk away. I suppose I could try that and tie them up for a few minutes.

I love the video of the guy who asks if they knew the victim of the murder he is investigating at that number. The caller was so shook, he could hardly defend himself.

The first telemarketers asked for {name} in English. The person responds in Spanish, "I don't speak English." Telemarketer transfers to a Spanish speaking salesperson. Person responds in Japanese, "I don't speak Spanish." Transfer to a Japanese salesperson - in German, "I don't speak Japanese." And so on until the telemarketers give up. I think the person who was answering knew a dozen or so languages.

I just keep my great aunt's Phys Ed whistle handy but that only works when there is a scammer person on the other end. I think I have damaged the hearing of several fake Microsoft and IRS scammers. Most of the spoofed number calls seem to be robocalls so there is nothing I can do to them - other than leave the phone off the hook until they disconnect so their robo system can't call other victims as quickly.

they also ignore the Do Not Call list
I report them anyway even if I don't answer
I just don't answer if they are not on my calling list unless I feel like messing with them
my old phone could block anyone not on my list, I liked that

I know I have call block, as it still blocks calls that have to be 7 years old. Talk about persistence.

I'll have to see if I can find my instruction book. If they'd block the last caller, I wouldn't have to have any information on them.

just put all the people you will talk to in your contacts list and don't answer if it is not one of them
if it is important from a number not listed they will leave a massage and you can call them back
just don't answer unknown callers

But mine (Galaxy S4) can block anyone that is not in my contacts. I'm sure that more modern phones have that setting.

had a 4 and liked that blocking feature ... my new phone only blocks specific numbers I enter... not really good enough
I just don't answer if I don't know the number.

If it's important they'l leave a message.

Or you can do like I do and play with them.

Tell them you're selling cookie dough to raise money for t-ball uniforms.
Tell them you want to turn yourself in to the police for taking gum at the gas station.
Ask them if they've seen your dog because it took off chasing a cat.

Once I get one, I have fun with them.

I've been on the NCL since 2003, but have renewed several times. I'll see if complaining/renewing my registration has any results. I doubt it.

Asking about my dog sounds like a winner. They may think they just got hold of a crazy lady and leave me alone from then on. Worth a try. For now, I think I'll try laying the phone down and walking away.

If I get a call and they last 5 minutes, that is it. I also get very few calls since I changed to a digital number

Not my idea of a good time.

Much less of a time waster than some of the other things I could be doing.

I just never answer the phone,so I’m missing out.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Here's something that may sound annoyingly familiar. Your cell phone rings, and the number that flashes across the screen has the same area code and prefix as yours. So you pick up, and gotcha (ph) - it's a telemarketer again. It's been happening nonstop to Ailsa Chang from NPR's Planet Money podcast, so she went to figure out why.

AILSA CHANG, BYLINE: Planet Money asked listeners if they've been getting calls from phone numbers that look strangely similar to their own phone numbers. And in less than one hour, our Twitter account was exploding.

CHRIS GALLELO: I'll get a call. I'll see that it's from my area code, plus the same first three numbers.

OMAR WILLIAMS: Oh, my gosh, yeah. And I just got one about ten minutes before you called, as a matter of fact. Hi, this is Elizabeth from resorts, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, yeah (laughter).

ALEX NOSTRO: I had four different phone calls in that eight-minute span on Tuesday morning. I mean, these are all starting with my area code and my first three digits.

ELINOR JOHNSON: I picked the phone up and looked at the caller ID. And I guess I got a puzzled look on my face because my husband said, who's calling? And I said, apparently, we are because the number in the readout was our phone number.

CHANG: Chris Gallelo, Omar Williams, Alex Nostro and Elinor Johnson are all victims of what's called neighbor spoofing. It's when callers disguise their real phone numbers with a fake phone number that has the same area code and prefix as yours. The idea is you might be more likely to pick up because maybe you're thinking, this call could be my neighbor or my kid's school, someone I know.

Have you been spoofed?

AJIT PAI: Oh, absolutely.

CHANG: Even the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, cannot escape.

PAI: Every now and then, even on my work BlackBerry, I'll see call that seems to be coming...

CHANG: On your FCC cell phone?

PAI: Oh, yeah. It'll seem to be coming from the 202 area code, which is here in Washington, and then our prefix for these BlackBerries. And I know for a fact that, you know, it's probably not someone calling from the office. I know, you know, most of the folks who would be calling.

https://www.npr.org/2017/07/31/540515367/familiar-looking-numbers-are-the-latest-twist-in-robocalls

Don't share your number with anyone.

Scan your smartphone for malware that could potentially steal your contacts and their numbers.

Don't give your number to any website.

But, how do they get the numbers of friends/family to make me think it is OK? I'm old and when I have so many family members with home phones and cell phones, I have to stop and think or look up their numbers. Too many numbers to store in my brain. Then, if I lie down for a nap and they call and wake me, my brain is slow to respond...but, the number looks good...so I answer. Telemarketer. There goes the b/p.

I'm going to check into the call blocking of the last caller. If that is possible, I might be able to cut down the number/day of these irritating callers.

Some of these telemarketers could have gotten your number from an infected smartphone from one of your family members/friends.

My ex gf signed my number up for some of these companies - It got so bad that I had to change my number. haha

There are phones on the market that can block these numbers on your landline. I found this one after a Google search:

http://www.smithgear.com/block-phone-calls.html

Or if you need an app for your smartphone I would be happy to look one up for you. I used to have one on my smartphone, but I got rid of it after I changed my number.

I have logged calls from quite a range, including my own number. I have blocked my own number (since I will obviously never call myself on the same phone!)

The scammers aren just randomly calling numbers and spoofing their Caller ID to make it look like they are local to you. They don't have any access to your call records.

I use a VOIP system (Ooma) that gives me a wide range of blocking tools. I can block by number, or wildcarded range (I have blocked a huge number of exchanges in Arizona and Florida, where a huge number of timeshare scams were based). It also has a 'community blacklist' that will automatically block calls from numbers that a lot of people have reported, and includes the NoMoRobo service which has done a pretty good job of blocking the vast majority of robo-calls from ever coming through.

The Federal Do Not Call Registry actually is good - I have not received a call from a *legitimate* telemarketer in several years. The ones that are still calling are the criminals and scammers, and they are breaking the law anyway, so what's one more broken law to them?

(One thing that I usually do when answering a call from a number I don't recognize is this: I turn on my scanner radio by the desk when the phone rings, and will answer, "North precinct, Fraud Division. Clearly state your name and company name for the record", with police radio calls going on in the background. Most of them can't seem to hang up fast enough at that point, and I almost never hear back from that particular scammer again.) One guy did laugh and call my bluff, but I just left the phone next to the scanner and let jim listen to police calls...and he stayed on for another 15 minutes!

By building a good blacklist and taking advantage of the services that my provider offer I have drastically reduced the number of scammer calls. Where we used to get at least 4 or 5 a week we are now down to maybe 1 or 2 a month.

I wish I'd kept my parents' scanner. I love that idea.

I was getting up to 10/day, but usually there are 4-5/day of late. However, with this new method of local numbers, they are succeeding more often. I guess I'm a slow learner.

My answering machine answers all my calls - I keep both ringer and voice volume muted - and asks people to announce themselves. Telemarketers hang up. Real callers announce themselves. No problems. I think caller ID may now be creating more problems than it solves.

I don't understand.

phones and scam callers are coming up with new numbers and spoofs as quickly. How much time are people spending trying to fend off these numbers? Looking for new services and apps to block unwanted callers? Actually shunting off unknown callers to some voice mail without listening to the message, which may actually be their kid who needed to borrow someone else's phone?

All this is a perversion of phone answering caused by adopting caller ID and being subject to the escalation and counter offensives it has caused. A whole generation has grown up thinking that answering the phone is complicated electronic warfare.

I continue to do what I did in the 80's when answering machines first came along. No anger or revenge seeking or outsmarting scam callers. They don't think I'm going to pick up the phone when I hear their name and business, they hang up; a friend or neighbor or someone I do business calls, they say their name and start talking. All this while keeping the volume so low, I'm not disturbed at all. And it's free.

For a personal call that is. I've never had a landline in my name and all of my friends are cell only.

At work I'm "crazycatlady with XYZ campaign" and most regulars save my number and usually answer "hi crazycatlady"

(I also despise voicemail. Before I started using my phone for work, my greeting said to send a text instead of leaving a voicemail).

...call several times a week. I never bother to pick up my landline any more, I just let it go to voice mail.

I did have fun with the old Windows Technical Services call, which seems to not be happening any more. Guy who sounds like Apu from The Simpsons : “ This is Windows Technical Services. You have a problem with your windows!” Me, in an idiot voice , :”There haint nuthin wrong. Mah Windows go up an down just fine!” Apu: “ (in disgust) Not the windows of your house, the windows on your computer!” Me: “I haint got no computer!” Apu puts me on hold. Apu’s supervisor comes on and says “You have a dangerous virus on your computer!” Me: “AND YOU HAVE A DANGEROUS VIRUS UP YOUR ASS! NOW IF YOUR’RE GOING TO TRY TO RIP ME OFF, THEY TRY TO RIP ME OFF, BUT DON’T INSULT MY @#$&* INTELLIGENCE WHILE YOU DO!” Then I hung up.

Had some fun (my teenaged son was in the room listening and went into hysterical laughter, probably told the story to friends 30 times), wasted some of their time. Never got another call from them.

went into vicious batshit lady mode. As in seething, scary batshit lady, "get a real job, you scamming asshole!" mode. They never called back. I feel sorta sorry for the workers, but not sorry enough to not be scary batshit lady.

They don't have an answer for spoofing, but when they see a number from a "black list" their robot holds them on the line for as long as possible. Check out some of their YouTube videos. Warning....some of them get really crude and ugly. The fake "WEENDOWS TECHNICAL SUPPORT" guys from India get very lewd when they figure out that they have been played.

I need to find the one with Bob investigating the murder at that phone number. He had that telemarketer terrified before it was all over. I could never pull that one off, but it was good for laughs.

.

They pose as restaurants, local businesses and people in the area that do not show up on the 800caller list.

It is quite easy to match the Caller ID with the actual number called, it just that they choose not to do it.

Many use a skype type of service to perform this function, which should be an indication of possible fraud.

.

...Ooma. Then turned the ringer on the phone off, set it to go to voice mail after two rings. I use this number for everything that asks for a phone number, from store rewards cards to sweepstakes.

All our friends and family have our cell number and we have their's, so it pops up with their name...but occasionally I see a number with no name on it...I send it to voicemail. And sure enough, either there isn't one...or I get a recording about my special vacation package that's about to expire. I delete it.

But also have the same prefix (first three of the seven digit number) of my cell, or sometimes the same prefix of a local major hospital/medical clinic organization, so I don't know if it's maybe a local co-worker/customer's cell or a doctor's office until I pick up. I don't like marking them spam for that reason.

Haele.

If they know your close relatives they have their phone numbers.

Some of them are recordings and you can't tell until you interrupt and say you're not interested and they keep speaking.

To match the NPA-NXX of the TN

Oh, and 555 isn't a valid NXX I've seen a bunch of those lately. They aren't that bright really