BB_TX wrote:
I have read before that simply answering a spam call lets them flag your number as a valid number. That gets added to a phone list that is sold to others causing the increase in calls.
Using caller ID we almost never answer a call we do not recognize. Most of the time they hang up before the answering machine answers, or do not leave a message. And if we do get a call from some spam number leaving a message (such as "this is the IRS"), I add it to the block list in my answering machine so we never get it again.
Blacklisting numbers is a waste of time since they are spoofed. Most of the spam calls I get on my cellphone are the same area code and prefix as mine, in an attempt to make me think it’s someone local.
The one time when the same number called right back I answered it and it was a gal who said she missed a call from me. I explained to her that my number just happened to be the one they spoofed for that call.
A buddy of mine once kept a scammer going about his PC for a half hour, only to tell him we was sitting on the couch and not rebooting etc, like he was asked. His best quote to the guy, “if you’re going to scam people you at least need to pronounce it right. Let’s say it together, ‘information’”.
