Telemarketers?

[whodunit]

I am just amazed. We have a home phone line, which we exclusively use for dial-up. We don't give the number out and use our cells as our main numbers.

The internet is connected about 95% of the time, but occasionally during the day it will disconnect itself.

I'll be darned that almost every time this happens during the day, the phone rings.

The times I have answered it (usually if I think there might be some reason DW would have tried that number because our cells don't always ring at the house), it has been a telemarketer, either a live person or an auto-dialer.

Are these people relentless?

Go to https://www.donotcall.gov/ and register your number. They will not call any more.

[Rockytopsis]

Put your phone # on the do not call list.

[SpaceCadet12364]

Hate to break it to you guys, but the do not call list does not work.

It may work for some legitimate companies, but it does not stop the autodialers....who usually use false caller ID's, so you don't have anything to report.

I don't know, I've not had a single telemarketer call in many years since I registered. I still get calls for polls, etc though, but nobody trying to sell anything.

[Windy in Kansas]

Even after registering with the Do Not Call list an occasional telemarketers with auto-dialers would still get through.

After filing a couple of complaints at the Do Not Call site I've not had another one since.

Expect when the FCC threatens a lawsuit with facts and figures of calls made that gets telemarketers attention and they make it a point to cease.

FCC can be our friend.

[Becka]

We've been on the Do Not Call list for years. It stops a few from calling, but we still get political and "non-profit" calls. Some of those "non-profit" calls are asking for money for cops, political recordings by candidates seeking a vote, offers for free termite inspections, bill collectors for other people with similar names, etc.

[HermitJohn]

The latest craze amoung phone spammers is to call and not give any info but to try and make it sound urgent that you call them back at so and so number. Apparently if you are really stupid and make such a call, they are off the hook since YOU CALLED THEM. I'd think telemarketers would be hurting as number landline phones continues to drastically shrink. But then again those still with landline may tend to be elderly that are prime targets of such scams.

[whodunit]

Yeah, we have registered there before. Do you have to do it periodically?

For the most part, I just let it ring. If I do answer, I wait for them to respond then just stand there without talking while they say "hello" several times. I then calmly hang up.

[AngieM2]

Auto dialers ususally are given a beginning phone number, and an ending phone number. They will call every number in between, unless specificially programmed not to. They will usually try 3 times. They have to release a phone line 30 seconds or less after you disconnect (hang up on them).

Just a bit I've learned over the years.

[HermitJohn]

The simple way to deal with this is to NOT attach a phone to the line. I mean you are using it exclusively for dialup connection, not voice communication, so why have a phone plugged in? You just need line attached to you modem.

If its some weird emergency situation and you have to attach a phone, then do it then and only then.