Relevant-Ad2254 t1_jckblny wrote on March 17, 2023 at 1:39 PM

Reply to comment by NotHisRealName in FCC orders phone companies to block scam text messages by QuantumFork

3? I literally get over 100

12inch_pianist t1_jcksbk6 wrote on March 17, 2023 at 3:34 PM

Answer phone. Mute microphone right away. Wait till they hang up.

DeathCap4Cutie t1_jcl54jg wrote on March 17, 2023 at 4:56 PM

If you answer the phone you go on a list of people who actually answer and you’ll get more calls.

Slowpoke135 t1_jclgdds wrote on March 17, 2023 at 6:07 PM

Can confirm. Don’t pick up at all. I used to bait scammers into trolling them and pretending I’m old and feeble to mess with them and waste their time. Guessing one of the Indian scammers got pissed off enough he must’ve put my number on every single scam call list in India because I went from 2-3 scam calls a day to over a dozen. It’s best to just not pick up the phone. If it’s not a scammer and even remotely important, they’ll leave a voicemail

MississippiJoel t1_jcm9d0m wrote on March 17, 2023 at 9:18 PM

So, I used to get a whole bunch. I have certain tricks.

For one, and I don't know if maybe I filled out some form with fake information on the Internet or what, but the scammers all have the name Newell Johnson attached to my (20 year old) phone number. So whenever they would ask for Mr Johnson, I was on their game right away.

When I found out about the bot Lenny (r/itslenny if you don't know), I would always ask them to hold and then for those to him.

The number of calls seemed to triple in a month.

Well then when I got tired of it, I started saying he had passed away.

The number of calls went down to nearly zero overnight after just one or two cases.

So, that tells me they are all using the same active server or some sort of centralized list they are sharing.

Nowadays, I always answer with a business greeting. Whenever a live person comes on the line, I always act like I'm taking notes. They ask me a screening question, and I just say okay. Then they forward me to the valuable people whose time they don't like to waste, and I say "well hi, Mr X. Pleased to speak with you, my name is u/MississippiJoel of company Y. How are you doing today?"

"Is this a business? Click."

12inch_pianist t1_jcntoue wrote on March 18, 2023 at 4:44 AM

Meh it worked for me. Was explained to me as: You'll get put on a list of dead numbers. Most of the scammers use autocallers so speaking into the microphone is what triggers the connection, so you answer but when no noise ever goes into the microphone (cause mute) the auto caller hangs up. It never registers a person on the other end and sorts you onto the list of dead numbers.

You should just trust me, I've been on the run from the CRA and CBSA for years with hundreds of warrants out for my arrest but they lost track of me when I did this.