Strange Spam calls

Grampa Don

Grampa Don

Yep, that's me
Location
Orange county, Calif.
For several months we've been getting these calls two to four times a day. You pick up the phone and say hello, and it's silent. Then in a couple seconds there is a beep, and shortly a person comes on. It may be male or female and it's always a different person. They ask for me by name and I say "Yes, who's this?' Then they introduce themselves and tell which company they represent. It's always a home improvement contractor but different ones. And, they ask if I need any work done. This gets pretty old.

I wonder how this works. Am I on a list that some company is selling to contractors? The calls are obviously automated. Are these people in a call center or are they doing this as part time work at home? Are they actually employees of the contractors? When I ask, I don't get any straight answers.

I've tried hanging up as soon as I hear the beep, but that doesn't stop them. I've thanked them for the name of their company and said I would file a complaint with the FTC. That can fluster them a bit. I have told them they have my sympathy for having to do such crappy work to make a buck. That usually gets a dial tone. I keep hoping I will run out of contractors soon and they will go away. That hasn't happened yet.

I wonder if the phone companies could stop this if they really wanted to..
 

When you do business with certain companies / organizations online they sell your personal info to third parties for marketing purposes. There is a phone number you can call that will take you off many of the contact lists from the marketers LINK. It may take a month or so but it will cut down on the calls.
 
I installed a call blocker some time ago and have had very good results. I'll still get a spam call now and then, but it's a lot better than it used to be.
 

oldaunt said:
I have an answering service. I never pick up the phone if I don't recognize the number. Their machine can just talk to my machine.
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Their machine hangs up and usually doesn't talk to your machine. I get these calls every day between noon and two pm and then again from 4 to 7pm. I just don't answer the phone during these times. None of them ever leave messages.
 
We have the porta phones inside set to ring just 3 times. The mechanical lady announces who is calling and then we pick up if its someone we recognize, otherwise after 3 rings it goes to robo messaging.
 
oldaunt said:
I have an answering service. I never pick up the phone if I don't recognize the number. Their machine can just talk to my machine.
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Same here. I let my answering machine screen my calls. If I want, to talk to them, I'll pick up. Most of the time, when the machine begins recording, they hang up-spam call.
 

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