They've gone too far
 

I just received a new generation AI generated robocall. The one that has the 'ums and ahhs so it "seems" like a real person. It even had call center noise in the background.

It was easy to figure it out, since not answering what it expected sent it to random phrases.

It is is not long now, boys.

Sadly true...of course, the don't call list gets ignored. Just another annoyance of modern life.

Sheet, that's how I sound on the phone half of the time! If you don't answer in the way I'm expecting, I spiral into a mess of confusion!

:D

in the last few months I have taken to completely ignoring both my office and cell phones if the number is not in contacts. The volume of spam calls has grown exponentially for me.


If you arnt in my contacts and you wont leave a message, I aint talking to you.

I use the do not disturb feature on iPhone to only take calls from my contact list. It has the option to accept a blocked call if tried again within a couple minutes - for possible emergency call.

Otherwise I never answer any calls if I don't recognize the number. If its important they will leave a message.

A guy on another forum says he's had good success by always answering, and when connected to a human, taking up as much of their time as possible (he's retired, has time). Says the number of calls has dropped by 90%, as his number has been circulated as a time waster.

I've started doing likewise. I'm constantly getting calls that my business's google listing is not current.
Always for an LLC I officially dissolved a couple years ago.
Kinda fun messing with them. They begin to explain what they can do for me. They mention key words.
"What do you mean by key words?"
"When you go out to eat, do you ever look up what restaurants are close by?"
"No. I get in my car and head towards the restaurants."
I see how long I can keep them before they hang up on me, or sometimes I hang up on them mid-sentence if I get bored.

How long will google keep info on an LLC that has had no activity in a few years? Guess I'll eventually find out.

I had one the other day that launched into a bit about returning my call. I just started talking and started naming the 77 counties counties in Oklahoma starting in the panhandle. If it was and AI they were pretty sure I was a NO-I

Just keep interrupting any sales pitch if I have time. If not, I hang up. It is lots of fun to get them so mad they start cussing at me for wasting their time.

I have to answer all calls since it is my business line. I received a call today from a random number I did not know. It was a customer wanting a new flight and they are excellent customers with a large campus and a bunch of phone numbers from different departments. We love all of them!

This is what I do as well. Sometimes I pretend I'm a cop and they've called the site of an active murder investigation. Sometimes I pretend that I run a suicide hotline. Sometimes I pretend that I run a gay brothel.

One that I've done that is pretty much fun. I pretend that they've reached a radio station contest line.
I let them know that if they can answer the trivia question that was just broadcast, they will win $25,000. After lots of stuttering on the other end, I ask them if they know the answer. When they proceed to say no they don't, I rip them a new one for being so stupid to call and tie up the line preventing someone who may know the answer from getting through. Then I hang up.

My best robo call-

Last year, I moved to the side of a mountain (stunning lake and mountain views) with very poor cell service. Lots of dropped calls.

So I bought a signal booster. Just after I hooked everything up, the phone rings. Robo sales call. Perfect.
I started wandering South down the driveway, until the sales dude said the call started breaking up.
I apologized, and wandered up the hill towards the West. When he asked to repeat what I had just said, "Sorry, let's try this"
Off a different direction, continually asking stupid questions that took long explanations. Once again, surprise, he had a hard time hearing me. OOPS!
After I had a pretty good idea of my new range of coverage, I once again apologized for the poor reception, said we should try some other time, and hung up.

I just answer in my best enthusiastic radio DJ voice "YOU'RE CALLER NUMBER FOUR! WHAT'S YOUR NAME AND WHERE ARE YOU CALLING FROM!". It usually follows with a "click" on the other end.

Something I used to do is pretend I had called them, but it was the wrong number.

I had no idea why it worked but they would buy it and hang up on me.

Now I know it is because the guys at the phone aren't placing the calls, the call is "sent" to them once "contact" is triggered.

It is sad, spam ruined email, and now it is messing with phones.

Maybe we will see some action soon:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wireless-fcc/u-s-regulator-demands-companies-take-action-to-halt-robocalls-idUSKCN1NA2KH?il=0&utm_source=reddit.com

Excerpt:
In May, Pai called on companies to adopt an industry-developed “call authentication system” or standard for the cryptographic signing of telephone calls aimed at ending the use of illegitimate spoofed numbers from the telephone system. Monday’s letters seek answers by Nov. 19 on the status of those efforts.

The letters went to 13 companies including AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc, T-Mobile US Inc, Alphabet Inc, Comcast Corp, Cox Communications Inc, Sprint Corp, CenturyLink Inc, Charter Communications Inc, Bandwith Inc and others.

Pai’s letters raised concerns about some companies current efforts including Sprint, CenturyLink, Charter, Vonage, Telephone and Data Systems Inc and its U.S. Celullar Corp unit and Frontier Communications Corp. The letters to those firms said they do “not yet have concrete plans to implement a robust call authentication framework,” citing FCC staff.

This. It’s very simple. What’s the upside of answering an unknown number anyway? Why do people do it?!?!

Agreed. If you aren't in my contacts, better leave a voicemail. It's a damn shame that the spammers have outsmarted caller ID.

With a business, I need to answer. It could be a new customer calling.

Sometimes the first thing they say is "DO NOT HANG UP. This is Patty from account services..."
[click]

Hey. It was opposite day. I had to.

Maybe it was someone from PARF.

I do it because I just moved to this area a few months ago. The number of calls out to new numbers has been more than I can keep track of. I don’t know if a call is someone I’ve only called once 10 days ago calling back or a robo call. I probably could figure it out, but when I’m busy that’s more trouble that just answering and hanging up if it’s a robo call.

Use Siri or voice reading on your phone to answer the calls, let AI to talk to AI.

Then for more fun tell Siri: “I see a little sillieto of a man”