You know it's a ROBO call when .. You know it’s a ROBO call when … __________________________________________________________________________________

bobbyjohn Loc: Dallas, TX

You know it’s a ROBO call when …
___________________________________________________________________________________
… when the call starts with an upbeat voice saying: “Hi! How are you doing today?” I respond: “I’m terrible. My wife and kids all just died in a traffic accident!” The voice responds: “Glad to hear that.”

…when the call starts with: “This is (insert any name here) from Dealer Services. We’ve been trying to contact you about your car’s warranty…”

…”This is Microsoft Technical Support. We’ve determined that you have a virus on your machine. Call 999-987-6543 ASAP and our technician will help you remove the virus.”

…”Congratulations! Your name has been selected as the winner of a free 7 day cruise for a fabulous vacation. Hit any key to speak to one of our agents.”
_________________________________________________________________________________

Do you have any opening lines for the ROBO calls you’ve received?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I get them every day. My great CPR1000 call blocker stopped working. It blocks almost all calls. I'm hesitant to buy another one because they have all gotten lots of bad reviews. The CPR customer service seems to be on permanent vacation. I've gotten into the habit of disconnecting immediately when I don't recognize the phone number. Unfortunately, I have done this with my doctors, and they had to send me letters. : )

David Martin Loc: Cary, NC

No matter what, you should never respond by saying "yes."

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

Why not set up your call filters to send any call not associated with your contact list or previously accepted calls to voice mail. If they don’t leave a message, you can then block that caller. I also have a Google phone # that takes all calls from commercial sites that I’ve previously contacted for on-line orders or other routine information, but don’t want to have a conversation with. I now get very few calls, and those that I do get show me caller ID.

pendennis

We have caller ID, and our land line service is provided by AT&T. We also have Uverse, so the caller ID is displayed when the television is on.

One of the cues for spam calls is the message that a call within our area code, is displayed as "out of ares". If a call is made within your area code, it can't be "out of area". We also allow all callers we don't recognize to go straight to VM.

Yesterday, I missed a call from "Apple Computer Services" about my iMac problems. I've never owned an Apple computer. I also missed a call from Bermuda; don't know a soul there.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

scubadoc wrote:

Why not set up your call filters to send any call not associated with your contact list or previously accepted calls to voice mail. If they don’t leave a message, you can then block that caller. I also have a Google phone # that takes all calls from commercial sites that I’ve previously contacted for on-line orders or other routine information, but don’t want to have a conversation with. I now get very few calls, and those that I do get show me caller ID.

For cell phones?
I just let them ring if the area code is not "good" or if it says "unavailable". I added real businesses (Dr., Hospital, diagnostic imaging, etc.) to my phone book so it shows up correctly and I know who/what it is. If they're real, they will leave a message, then I can add that number to my directory or block them. I can even block whole area codes or exchanges ("Begins with..."). Luckily I don't get many garbage calls on the cell.

Our land line doesn't even have caller ID.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

David Martin wrote:

No matter what, you should never respond by saying "yes."

BOY HOWDY!!!

"Is this so-and-so?"
I reply "Speaking."

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

David Martin wrote:

No matter what, you should never respond by saying "yes."

Right! They want to get you in the habit of saying yes.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

bobbyjohn wrote:

...

… when the call starts with an upbeat voice saying: “Hi! How are you doing today?” I respond: “I’m terrible. My wife and kids all just died in a traffic accident!” The voice responds: “Glad to hear that.”
...
...

I received one of those calls with the response analyzer yesterday.
I replied "Nif glurb sorenblap gifferdensosen."

It hung up.

Once before an analyzer couldn't figure it out (pause) and just continued with the spiel.

sgt preston Loc: Far South West Texas

for the car warranty people: I own a 1942 Chevy Ford, do you have warranty coverage for it?

sgt preston Loc: Far South West Texas

I actually recieved a call from my own number. Pretty sure I did not call myself . lol

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

sgt preston wrote:

I actually recieved a call from my own number. Pretty sure I did not call myself . lol

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

sgt preston wrote:

I actually recieved a call from my own number. Pretty sure I did not call myself . lol

Yeah, they can do that now.

Najataagihe

Is Julia there?

(dozens of these calls, all saying, “ Well, maybe, you can help me, then.” - followed by a request for donations.)

Finally, started answering,

“Yes, she is in chapel three. Visitation is tonight from 7-9 and the service is tomorrow at 2:00. Shall I tell the family you called?”

::click::

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

bobbyjohn wrote:

You know it’s a ROBO call when … br ______________... (show quote)

No matter what the person asks (the robos I just hang up) I reply "What is this concerning?" in a very officious tone of voice and about 50% of the time they promptly hang up. The other 50% they keep going with their blather and bloviating at which point I raise my voice and repeat "What is this concerning!" at which point about half who got that far hang up and the other half I hang up after telling them I am not interested and remove my phone number from their data base.
If they used a "spoofer app" to pretend to be someone I know they aren't I may add something like "You started using a spoofer to lie to me about who you are so I will never consider buying anything from a liar." then I hang up.

That is being nice, years ago a group of us would answer those kinds of calls with "You have reached the FBI fraud and bunko report desk. How may I help you?" We stopped doing that when one of us (a Sheriff's Office Sgt) was warned by his boss that could be seen as pretending to be the FBI - a crime.