[rebekahb]

In the past week or two has anyone seen a massive increase in spam calls? 25 calls just today. I'm also getting text messages too. I've asked a few other people and they are having the same issue. I'm on the do not call list but apparently they've changed that to the call this person as many times as possible list.

[BimmerDimmer6]

https://www.welivesecurity.com/2020/...covid19-fears/

[rebekahb]

Well, I certainly don't answer them and not giving any info out. The messages that are left are from lawyers to fix your credit, auto insurance, and health insurance quotes. None of these I need or have I even inquired about. It's extremely annoying because my cell is my work phone which I work off a lot during the day.

[kscarrol]

Originally Posted by rebekahb

The messages that are left are from lawyers to fix your credit, auto insurance, and health insurance quotes.

What about an extended warranty? We've been trying to reach you...

[rebekahb]

Originally Posted by kscarrol

What about an extended warranty? We've been trying to reach you...

Haha, I wonder if my beater car with 156k will qualify

[BimmerDimmer6]

Originally Posted by kscarrol

What about an extended warranty? We've been trying to reach you...

Omg I thought that one was just me haha

[BimmerDimmer6]

Originally Posted by rebekahb

Well, I certainly don't answer them and not giving any info out. The messages that are left are from lawyers to fix your credit, auto insurance, and health insurance quotes. None of these I need or have I even inquired about. It's extremely annoying because my cell is my work phone which I work off a lot during the day.

Change phone number. I'm thinking about doing it.

[F30lolz]

Originally Posted by kscarrol

What about an extended warranty? We've been trying to reach you...

I was receiving text/calls about warranties as well. Told them I had a 1995 McLaren F1. Sadly, they mentioned that said car didn’t qualify under their plans. Gladly, they haven’t bothered me since.

[RickFLM4]

Yes. Have been getting than warranty call for years it seems. Plus many surveys. Also get odd calls asking for my father in law who has never lived here or had this number.

Actually had someone ring the doorbell to sell pest control services. People still go door to door?

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by rebekahb

Haha, I wonder if my beater car with 156k will qualify

I always pester the person in the call center that catches all of the robodialer calls. They hang up every time when I try to get my warranty extended on my 1967 VW-Beetle-based Formula Vee open-wheel race car.

Seriously though, they are all using random number robodialers, with spoofed caller ID and no regard to the do-not-call list. They seem to target our area code and prefix en masse for a day or two, and then go silent for a week or more. With unlimited VoIP trunks to North America from overseas being dirt cheap, telemarketers can originate calls from overseas where they are not touchable by the feds and pipe the responses to call centers in places like India where they have no idea that the inquiries are coming from robodialers and not legitimate customers making their own calls.

The FCC has recently un-tied the hands of phone carriers with regards to blocking robocalls. Some of the mobile carriers are already offering blocking services, but it may require downloading a smartphone app and/or paying an extra fee for the service.

The last major iPhone iOS upgrade has a new feature to "Silence Unknown Callers" who are not in your address book. If your work calls are all coming from contacts, this is an option.

I also have a paid subscription to the iOS Robokiller app, which is neat because they transfer suspected telemarketers to their "answer bots" for revenge. I don't care about effectiveness as much as the warm and fuzzy feeling from sending scammers to a bot that pretends to be a radio station call-in contest that tells them they won a free cruise for being caller number five.....

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

First, I'm seeing no increase.

I used to just hang up, but ever since I started hitting 1(?) to put myself on the Do Not Call list things have been better. Try it.

[TXSTYLE]

Absolutely has increased exponentially!!!

Good thing for direct call blocking in Android and Apps too.

[premier3is]

For sure has increased. Fuckin hate spam calls.

[pz619]

Yep, seeing an increase. It’s going to get worse. FTC won’t do anything and service providers won’t either because it’s revenue. Weirdly I can deal with calls, but its spam texts that get me every time. It’s always CBD gummies too.

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

Originally Posted by pz619

Yep, seeing an increase. It's going to get worse. FTC won't do anything and service providers won't either because it's revenue. Weirdly I can deal with calls, but its spam texts that get me every time. It's always CBD gummies too.

Reply stop

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by pz619

FTC won’t do anything and service providers won’t either because it’s revenue.

About 10 years ago, I sat on the stage in Washington, DC, as a panelist at an FTC event about email spam. I was seated next to the CEO of the Direct Marketing Association. I'm pretty sure that I've posted about the whole experience, and the moral dilemma of letting him live instead of strangling him on the spot as an example/warning for other spamming ilk. Despite being on stage in an auditorium full of lawyers with satellite TV feeds all over the country, there is no way that any court could pick a jury where none of the 12 jurists ever had their dinner interrupted by a telemarketer call and would vote guilty. Heck, I bet they'd sentence me to a ticker tape parade, but I digress.

The whole multi-day event was a lobbying $h-t show, with businesses large and small pitching their half-baked commercial solutions to email spam. On the last day, a few of the participants asked if I would be at a Boston anti-spam event in a few weeks. Yup, the whole thing was a traveling, lobbying $-t show!

Long story short, I left the event with the conclusion that the email spam problem would never be solved by legislation, and with an eye-opening view about how lobbyists run/ruin our country.....

[Alfisti]

Scammers are basically closing my business. I run a legitimate survey polling firm and response rates have plummeted in the past 18 months because of the scammers. We do a lot of work with farmers who are quite interested in giving their 2c on the products they use but getting through to them has been hellish.

[rebekahb]

Originally Posted by Dog Face Pony Soldier

Reply stop

I did that and they just changed the number and started texting again🤷🏼*♀️😡

[jmack]

Don't ever reply to them, that just gets you added to the known legitimate list and you'll get hit even harder.

[gjm120]

I've found that nothing works to slow down the number of calls - including leading the person on for a few minutes then telling them to #%#@ off and go rob banks as it's more honorable.

They spoof area code and exchange and I think I get calls from the same entities over and over regardless of opting out or verbally abusing the caller.

[tcphoto]

In difficult times, thieves get more active if not more bold. I have seen more emails promoting scams but not robocalls. I do not pickup calls from unknown callers and will add the number to a Robocall profile on my phone.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Scammers are basically closing my business. I run a legitimate survey polling firm and response rates have plummeted in the past 18 months because of the scammers. We do a lot of work with farmers who are quite interested in giving their 2c on the products they use but getting through to them has been hellish.

Please remove us from your list. Thanks.