Caller ID City, ST-no one there. Multiple calls a day
We receive 5-15 calls a day where the caller ID is a city and state only, and sometimes just The Hartford (up to three times a day). No one is ever there or leaves a message. I have tried to answer to find out who they are, but no answer, just empty air. I ignore them, but it is a time waster and interrupter and leaves us scrambling when it is a wanted caller. Most calls are daytime/evening. They come from all over the country, NV, CA, FL, SD and most common is CT where we are located. Is this a condition of internet phone, spamming, robo calls? Is there anyway to combat it or report it?8.2KViews0likes2Comments
How to end robocalls
I saw a number of inquiries here expressing frustration with robocalls and political pollsters. Here's my solution which was born out of frustration with the telcos inability to regulate themselves and the FCCs feeble attempts at enforcement. I've always been registered with the DNC registry, but I re-registered all my numbers with the DNC registry and waited the prescribed amount of time just to be sure. Then I started talking to every telemarketer and robocaller who dares to call me. Yes, I actually talk to them. I think of it as taking one for the team. For every second I keep them engaged, I'm saving someone out there from a ringing phone. Rather than be upset, I just let them go through their script while injecting comments and questions to make them think I'm interested. I let them think that they are going to close the deal of a lifetime and hit their quota with a single call. In the end, I make up some excuse like, "hang on, my daughter is calling me". I set the phone down and walk away. My kids know what's up when they see the phone sitting on the kitchen counter with the line still active because they have been properly trained. In other cases I just stop them short after 5 minutes and explain that I was never interested and that they should honor the DNC registry. I've had a car insurance quote get to 4 vehicles before the guy asked me if they were for real... I take a long time to decide if I want to plunk down $89 for a trip to Hawaii, because as much as I want to go there, I need to make sure the accommodations are what I am used to... you get the idea. If it's a political polling organization, I can usually figure out their agenda after a couple questions and then answer completely opposite to what they are trying to "steer" me towards. I have to laugh when they go "off script" to try to sway me and I have to remind them that they are polling me and to go to the next question. And finally, if they get upset with you, just politely let them know they would not have wasted their time if they honored the DNC registry. They can be mad as ***, but the DNC list is really easy for them to access and they have no excuse for not using it. Just imagine if everyone did this? In the end it's a numbers game for the robocallers. They need to hit a lot of numbers in as short amount of time as possible. If they get tripped up on just a few percent of those calls their profit model falls apart and they start looking for a different line of work. So next time your phone rings... Smile and take one for the team! Cheers P.S. The thing that really disgusts me is when I hear of the elderly or handicapped being taken advantage of by these people. I honestly don't know how those people sleep at night.4KViews0likes1Comment
Nomorobo
Is Cox going to offer the Nomorobo or similar service before AT&T? I personally would be willing to pay the $5 extra every month to get the service. Card Member Services and political calls are wearing me thin. Nomorobo is offered by AT&T U-verse right now for their telephone service. They do not offer it for their regular land lines. If their internet was close to Cox's I'd switch to them right now just to rid myself of robocalls and telemarketers. My number is listed on the donotcall registry and has been so for over a year. I have contacted the FCC numerous times about "card member services" They get 2.2 million complaints about them every year. Contacting the FCC does not and will never work. Please tell me that it is actively being considered because it would absolutely be a way to hold and not lose residential customers. Thank you.4.6KViews0likes3Comments
How far does spoofing go?
I just learned about spoofing because last week I received a call....from myself. It was a telemarketer automated message..something about credit card services. It really freaked me out. I've been thinking about it since and wondering if whoever called me could be using my number and to call others using my number. So I checked my phone history and find over the past 4 months there were 330 plus phone calls at all hours of the day and night showing as outgoing calls to my home phone number. How can that be? I use my home number very little. And I did not receive these calls either. My family and friends contact me using other methods so the bulk of calls I receive are telemarketer calls which drives me nuts. I am registered with the do not call registry. So how can somebody be using my phone number to make all these calls? If the calls were not generated from my home phone how can they show up in my phone history? I worked with Cox today to file a complaint with the FCC but I am seriously concerned about my privacy and I do feel Cox should be doing more to come up with a solution to prevent this from happening. It's not right and in my limited research find it's been going on too long. I honestly don't think I have any option but to change my phone number. Anybody have any experience dealing with this? I'm looking for information and answers3.5KViews0likes3Comments