Okay, who's answering SPAM phone messages?

[gdoane]

I know somebody must be doing it because the spammers wouldn't be leaving messages on voicemails and answering machines if it didn't work.

These telemarketers are idiots whom I can't imagine anybody wanting to actually talk to. They're trying to sell junk "extended warranties", they hawking "renegotiated mortgages" and offering to help me with a credit card debt that I just don't have because I don't owe a DIME on any credit card.

Still, they leave messages on my answering machine thinking I want to talk to idiots who offer me nothing and just annoy me.

I have Caller I.D., which was invented to shut these idiots out. I have a telezapper which was invented to shut these idiots out. I joined the DO NOT CALL registry which was invented to shut these idiots out.

WHY DON'T THEY GET THE CLUE??

[LouC]

i know somebody must be doing it because the spammers wouldn't be leaving messages on voicemails and answering machines if it didn't work.

These telemarketers are idiots whom i can't imagine anybody wanting to actually talk to. They're trying to sell junk "extended warranties", they hawking "renegotiated mortgages" and offering to help me with a credit card debt that i just don't have because i don't owe a dime on any credit card.

Still, they leave messages on my answering machine thinking i want to talk to idiots who offer me nothing and just annoy me.

I have caller i.d., which was invented to shut these idiots out. I have a telezapper which was invented to shut these idiots out. I joined the do not call registry which was invented to shut these idiots out.

Why don't they get the clue??

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Money Money Money........ Money

They are playing the odds, and from all the stories I read about people getting taken in by these people I would say they are winning.

[Dreamy]

I know somebody must be doing it because the spammers wouldn't be leaving messages on voicemails and answering machines if it didn't work.

These telemarketers are idiots whom I can't imagine anybody wanting to actually talk to. They're trying to sell junk "extended warranties", they hawking "renegotiated mortgages" and offering to help me with a credit card debt that I just don't have because I don't owe a DIME on any credit card.

Still, they leave messages on my answering machine thinking I want to talk to idiots who offer me nothing and just annoy me.

I have Caller I.D., which was invented to shut these idiots out. I have a telezapper which was invented to shut these idiots out. I joined the DO NOT CALL registry which was invented to shut these idiots out.

WHY DON'T THEY GET THE CLUE??

I get zero telemarketers. Why? ACR

https://www22.verizon.com/ForYourHome/SAS/ProdDesc.asp?ID=566&state=MA

Telemarketers hate to be identified by telephone for a call back so they rarely offer a number. No number showing,no call gets through to me. Goes to a recording where I let the caller know by pressing one number that sales calls are not accepted.

Also my number is:

Non-published~not avail by calling 411,0 or telephone books.
On the DNC List
Is given out sparingly.

[sgdp]

You still have an answering machine? ;)

And I quite enjoy SPAM. Ever been to the SPAM museum?

Yeah, really, if they're violating the no-call list, isn't there someone to call about this? Or is there some loophole? =\

[Dreamy]

You still have an answering machine? ;)

And I quite enjoy SPAM. Ever been to the SPAM museum?

Yeah, really, if they're violating the no-call list, isn't there someone to call about this? Or is there some loophole? =\

Not sure about Gene but I do. Built into my digital phone. I refuse to pay a monthly fee for voice mail.


https://www.donotcall.gov/

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt107.shtm

Will All Telemarketing Calls Stop If I Register?



If I register my number on the National Do Not Call Registry, will it stop all telemarketing calls?No. Placing your number on the National Do Not Call Registry will stop most telemarketing calls, but not all. Because of limitations in the jurisdiction of the FTC and FCC, calls from or on behalf of political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors would still be permitted, as would calls from companies with which you have an existing business relationship, or those to whom you’ve provided express agreement in writing to receive their calls.
Are calls from political organizations or calls soliciting for charities covered?Political solicitations are not covered by the TSR at all, since they are not included in its definition of “telemarketing.” Charities are not covered by the requirements of the national registry. However, if a third-party telemarketer is calling on behalf of a charity, a consumer may ask not to receive any more calls from, or on behalf of, that specific charity. If a third-party telemarketer calls again on behalf of that charity, the telemarketer may be subject to a fine of up to $11,000.
What about telephone surveys?If the call is really for the sole purpose of conducting a survey, it is not covered. Only telemarketing calls are covered — that is, calls that solicit sales of goods or services. Callers purporting to take a survey, but also offering to sell goods or services, must comply with the National Do Not Call Registry.

[mysticbeauty_nbeast]

I know somebody must be doing it because the spammers wouldn't be leaving messages on voicemails and answering machines if it didn't work.

These telemarketers are idiots whom I can't imagine anybody wanting to actually talk to. They're trying to sell junk "extended warranties", they hawking "renegotiated mortgages" and offering to help me with a credit card debt that I just don't have because I don't owe a DIME on any credit card.

Still, they leave messages on my answering machine thinking I want to talk to idiots who offer me nothing and just annoy me.

I have Caller I.D., which was invented to shut these idiots out. I have a telezapper which was invented to shut these idiots out. I joined the DO NOT CALL registry which was invented to shut these idiots out.

WHY DON'T THEY GET THE CLUE??

I HATE these types of calls! Dear lord they even call the cell phone number now! It's maddening! I'm on the no call list...but it doesn't seem to stop these idiots from the mass robo calls.

Of late, I stay on the phone...wait for a live person..and tell them that they've reached a number on the "no call list'..and to send my check to......I never even get the address out before they hang up....lol.

I can't imagine anyone buying services via the darn phone. Although I was told by one patient operator of one of these stupid services that a bank card or bank does sell the numbers and you must opt out of those service type calls every 3 to 6 months in writing...eeeerrrrggghhhh....there's no end to it! :confused:

~Mysty

[GoBucks]

I've gotten so I don't even answer the phone if I don't recognize the caller id. I have to deal with enough of the idiot general public at the office... no need to talk to them when I am at home!

[ValricoKate]

I still have an answering machine.
I dumped caller id.

No one who I know calls me on my home phone ...I've bare bones'd all the services, just a hard wire line for 911 during hurricane season...if the phone rings I don't pick up...it's a salesman, plus the dead give away is they ask for the name listed in the phone book which isn't ours. (cheap way to be unlisted)

[birddog1]

I know somebody must be doing it because the spammers wouldn't be leaving messages on voicemails and answering machines if it didn't work.

These telemarketers are idiots whom I can't imagine anybody wanting to actually talk to. They're trying to sell junk "extended warranties", they hawking "renegotiated mortgages" and offering to help me with a credit card debt that I just don't have because I don't owe a DIME on any credit card.

Still, they leave messages on my answering machine thinking I want to talk to idiots who offer me nothing and just annoy me.

I have Caller I.D., which was invented to shut these idiots out. I have a telezapper which was invented to shut these idiots out. I joined the DO NOT CALL registry which was invented to shut these idiots out.

WHY DON'T THEY GET THE CLUE??

Got a recorded call about "our" extended car warranty just last Saturday. Funny thing is that we don't have extended warranties and don't want extended warranties on anything.

I too caught myself wondering how enough people fall for this crap that it is worth their while to make all those calls fishing for morons.

[Safiel]

Calls are cheap. If you get 1 person in 250 to bite, you will make money.

It is kind of a smaller scale of the internet spam thing. If you send out 25,000,000 emails and 1 in 1000 bites, that is still 25,000.

Spam, both phone and internet, works on the accurate assumption that a good deal of the general public are morons.

[Safiel]

I love the "refinance your mortgage" calls. I paid for all three of my houses in cash. I would like to know about these "mortgages" I supposedly have. :)

[CaptainPike]

I send out promotional emails, but it's only to people that have agreed to receive emails from me. So I guess it's not spam.

[gdoane]

You still have an answering machine? ;)

And I quite enjoy SPAM. Ever been to the SPAM museum?

Yeah, really, if they're violating the no-call list, isn't there someone to call about this? Or is there some loophole? =\

My answering machine is actually not half bad. It's a Uniden TRU-9488-3 "Powermax 5.8" with an added handset so I've got 4 cordless phones and one corded phone all with caller ID. Any of the 4 cordless sets can run the answering machine and I like the convenience of having the answering machine in any of the 5 rooms I have telephones in. My house only has 8 rooms (not counting the three bathrooms) and 3 of them I rarely use for much of anything. The system was just a touch over $100 at Costco and the 4th handset was like $30 on Amazon.com.

I have a voicemail type system on my cell phones (Alltel and Nextel) and I seriously do not like it. "Press 1 to play your messages", "Press 5 to delete this message", "Press 7 to keep this message as new and play the next."

I took out insurance on my Motorola Q because I've been sorely tempted to throw that damned thing through a wall out of sheer frustration getting through its crummy voice mail system. The phone plays MP3's. Why don't those idiots just make the message an MP3 recording and e-mail it to me to play instead of making me jump through hoops burning minutes in their Voicemail Hell?

I don't like voicemail. Not even when it's mine. You'll pry my answering machine out of my cold dead hands.

[CID_0687]

We got rid of our land line and only have our cells...thinking it would eliminate the telemarketers...It hasn't eliminated them 100%, but I would say we receive 80% less calls than before...Where it was 15-20 a week it's more like 2-4 now. And if the number shows up "Unknown" or "Blocked" I don't answer it...if they leave a voicemail I'll check it and then delete...I'm not buying any of their ****...

Recently we started getting texts from what was allegedly our bank, saying that our account had been compromised, please call 1-800-SCREWME...or whatever it was...Funny thing is we knew it was bogus because we have a local bank, and they only have two local numbers for their two branches, no toll free number.

A week after we got the text we get a phone call from a Colorado area code (live in Alabama)...I answered because my company's home office is in Denver. It was a cheap and horrible recording saying they were our bank and our account had been compromised, asked me to please enter my debit card # so they could reopen my account. :))

I laugh, but apparently some people are stupid enough to fall for this or else they wouldn't be doing it.

[gdoane]

Spam? Hmm.....Well im still operating on the "Pac-tel" pager. Its a bit weathered and rough around the edges, but im still closin the deals. When the Pac-tel starts chirpin, i just pull over to the nearest pay phone.....unless its raining out then i gotta get out the darn umbrella.

I think the pagers are dying. I sometimes listen to the pager band up in the 950 MHz range with my service monitor to decode the POCSAG encoded digital pages and the pager air traffic is way down.

If you think pagers are secure comms, think again. Every communications service monitor made this side of 1995 worth using can decode those pages.

It's getting to the point that nobody is going to maintain the obsolete technology because nobody is using it and it's not paying the bills.

I'd find another option for the pager. Remote sites are going to be first to be shut down and then inner city sites. The pager probably has less than two years left to live. Nobody is going to keep a money-losing system like a Modax pager running when people have e-mail in their pockets.

[sgdp]

My answering machine is actually not half bad. It's a Uniden TRU-9488-3 "Powermax 5.8" with an added handset so I've got 4 cordless phones and one corded phone all with caller ID. Any of the 4 cordless sets can run the answering machine and I like the convenience of having the answering machine in any of the 5 rooms I have telephones in. My house only has 8 rooms (not counting the three bathrooms) and 3 of them I rarely use for much of anything. The system was just a touch over $100 at Costco and the 4th handset was like $30 on Amazon.com.

I have a voicemail type system on my cell phones (Alltel and Nextel) and I seriously do not like it. "Press 1 to play your messages", "Press 5 to delete this message", "Press 7 to keep this message as new and play the next."

I took out insurance on my Motorola Q because I've been sorely tempted to throw that damned thing through a wall out of sheer frustration getting through its crummy voice mail system. The phone plays MP3's. Why don't those idiots just make the message an MP3 recording and e-mail it to me to play instead of making me jump through hoops burning minutes in their Voicemail Hell?

I don't like voicemail. Not even when it's mine. You'll pry my answering machine out of my cold dead hands.

Yeah. I never hit the correct button on my cell phone voice mail. 7 or 9. Hrm.

And I hate, hate, hate leaving messages on peoples' cells. They all do this *LONG* diatribe now.

"Hey! It's ___. I'm not available right now, so just leave a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks!"

Then the machine has to interject.

"You've reached the voicemail of xxx-xxx-xxxx. To page this person, press X. Z. To leave a voicemail, wait for the beep."

*Waiting*

*Waiting*

"Beep."

It takes me at least a minute of listening to this junk before I can leave the message. :wall:

[Dreamy]

Exactly!! People always wanna leave the obvious on their voice-mail etc! "Hey this is such in such,im sorry im not available to take your call but i will gladly return your call as soon as i blah blah blah blah"! And im thinkin *Oh no **** your not available?*

:)) But that is for those unoriginal types who leave generic messages. Then there are those of us who use our crazy imaginations and make the message worth the listen.:whistle:

[spearmaster]

You still have an answering machine? ;)

And I quite enjoy SPAM. Ever been to the SPAM museum?

Yeah, really, if they're violating the no-call list, isn't there someone to call about this? Or is there some loophole? =\

I like fried Spam myself. :drool:

[sgdp]

I like fried Spam myself. :drool:

Slap it on a bun and slap me happy. :mrgreen:

[peter45]

IMHO
The telemarketers are actually scamming the businesses that they sell the services to.

Nobody needs to answer the calls, or buy the products, it doesn’t matter.
The telemarketer tells the businessman that he will make XXXX calls, and that X% will produce leads.
Then the telemarketer makes the calls, and is able to prove that the calls were made. The businessman gets NO leads, but still owes the telemarketer for the service.
Once the businessman figures it out, another businessman subscribes to the service, so the telemarketer keeps on calling.

[spearmaster]

Slap it on a bun and slap me happy. :mrgreen:

Think it's time to start stocking up some Spam and lots of peanut oil. One can never be too prepared for the next natural disaster. :)