On Tue, 01 Dec 2015 15:35:28 -0500, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:

Per Micky:
the bottom line is that I now get five junk calls for every legit call
and that spells "Moot" to me...

I thought you were going to say "moot for me" or "in my case", but you
continue to sound like because it doesn't work for you it doesn't work
for anyone.

I'll take that....

My assumption being that those not getting my volume of junk calls are
not getting them for some other reason than the DNC lists.

As I said before, I used to get a lot of spam calls before the DNC but
it went down and stayed down.

I did get my first or second call about electric rates today. The
combination of all the background noise at his end, and his accent, I
couldn't understand most of what he said. There really is the
option now to change companies, and he might be for real. But
apparently the cheapest rate-giver changes weekly so it doesn't seem
worth it. One guy came around in person 15 months ago. They're
all taught a pitch which is too demanding. "Let me see your electric
bill." Who, you?

It's like the old joke where a guy is walking around Manhattan blowing a
whistle.

"Why are you blowing that whistle ?"

"To keep the wild elephants away."

"But the nearest wild elephants are in Africa."

"See !"....

On Tue, 1 Dec 2015 17:07:05 -0800 (PST), Andy
wrote:

On Monday, November 30, 2015 at 2:04:10 PM UTC-6, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Since the DNC lists became moot a couple of years ago, our junk calls
have increased dramatically - and, so far, I've been too cheap to spring
for CallerID and Simultaneous Ring in order to use NoMoRobo...

Last week, I did a count of one day's calls and wound up with five junk
calls to one legitimate call.

Is anybody keeping track ?

If so, what's your ratio ?
--
Pete Cresswell

You can get rid of most junk callers by using this ringtone.

Record it at the beginning of your message on your answering machine.

(I edited out the voice from the ringtone.)

http://www.mytinyphone.com/ringtone/3101827/

Andy

I wondered if that worked myself. It probably will unhook a robo call
but they don't usually talk to a machine anyway.

On 11/30/2015 06:00 PM, Micky wrote:
My wife got one where the guy admitted he was staying on the
phone with her a long as he could because because she was
nice to him and he did not want to face the next arse hole.
So my wife told him a bunch of jokes for about 10 minutes.
She got a huge thank you at the end of the conversation.

She sounds like a great woman.

Make up for her not coming with a rifle, or a boat for that
matter. :-)

On 12/01/2015 01:51 PM, Don Y wrote:

[snip]

The market driven solution is to provide a service whereby the
caller is CHARGED to place a call to a phone number. The CALLEE
(and only the callee) can elect to issue a CREDIT for each call he
is willing to ACCEPT.

So, I have an incentive to answer the phone -- I get a "cut" out
of the charge! The phone company has an incentive -- they get a
cut, too!

Friends calling would obviously result in your pressing the
"CREDIT button". Telemarketers would be desperate to get you
to do so -- they simply couldn't stay afloat if they had to PAY
(you!) for every call! Even if it was something as trivial as
10c!


Mostly sounds good. What happens when friends call and you're not home?

--
24 days until the winter celebration (Friday December 25, 2015 12:00:00
AM for 1 day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"It is from the Bible that man has learned cruelty, rapine and murder;
for the belief of a cruel God makes a cruel man." -- Thomas Paine

On 12/1/2015 7:04 PM, Mark Lloyd wrote:
On 12/01/2015 01:51 PM, Don Y wrote:

[snip]

The market driven solution is to provide a service whereby the
caller is CHARGED to place a call to a phone number. The CALLEE
(and only the callee) can elect to issue a CREDIT for each call he
is willing to ACCEPT.

So, I have an incentive to answer the phone -- I get a "cut" out
of the charge! The phone company has an incentive -- they get a
cut, too!

Friends calling would obviously result in your pressing the
"CREDIT button". Telemarketers would be desperate to get you
to do so -- they simply couldn't stay afloat if they had to PAY
(you!) for every call! Even if it was something as trivial as
10c!

Mostly sounds good. What happens when friends call and you're not home?

Don't answer?

Dunno. But, perhaps I've got too much of the "commerce economy" mindset;
I think in terms of prices to drive behaviors (instead of hoping for
compliance with "laws").

On 12/01/2015 02:43 PM, Don Y wrote:

[snip]

I like finding "portable" solutions -- things that others can apply
instead of just solving a problem for myself. E.g., the answering
machine with ringer off approach works very good for us.

I'm getting 2-3 calls a day from "TOLL FREE CALL" (caller ID name) with
varying numbers. Most of these leave a "blank" message on my answering
machine I have do deal with). The "message" is often just a breathing
noise or something obviously verbal with no identifiable words.

This answering machine beeps every 15 seconds when it has a new message.
That USED to be a useful feature.

[snip]

--
24 days until the winter celebration (Friday December 25, 2015 12:00:00
AM for 1 day).

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"It is from the Bible that man has learned cruelty, rapine and murder;
for the belief of a cruel God makes a cruel man." -- Thomas Paine

On 12/01/2015 06:13 PM, Mark Lloyd wrote:
On 12/01/2015 02:43 PM, Don Y wrote:

[snip]

I like finding "portable" solutions -- things that others can apply
instead of just solving a problem for myself. E.g., the answering
machine with ringer off approach works very good for us.

I'm getting 2-3 calls a day from "TOLL FREE CALL" (caller ID name) with
varying numbers. Most of these leave a "blank" message on my answering
machine I have do deal with). The "message" is often just a breathing
noise or something obviously verbal with no identifiable words.

This answering machine beeps every 15 seconds when it has a new message.
That USED to be a useful feature.

[snip]


Got a TOLL FREE CALL today. Turned out to be Ben Carson's campaign.
Usually it is a Google Scammer.

On 12/1/2015 7:13 PM, Mark Lloyd wrote:
On 12/01/2015 02:43 PM, Don Y wrote:

[snip]

I like finding "portable" solutions -- things that others can apply
instead of just solving a problem for myself. E.g., the answering
machine with ringer off approach works very good for us.

I'm getting 2-3 calls a day from "TOLL FREE CALL" (caller ID name) with varying
numbers. Most of these leave a "blank" message on my answering machine I have
do deal with). The "message" is often just a breathing noise or something
obviously verbal with no identifiable words.

This answering machine beeps every 15 seconds when it has a new message. That
USED to be a useful feature.

I don't think a viable solution can be trivial. OTOH, I don't think it
needs to be overly complex to be effective!

E.g., I wouldn't advocate folks "training" their "answering device" to
recognize each of their desired contacts' voices -- like a sec'y would
instinctively do.

But, you could put even small hurdles in the way to inconvenience
"uninformed" callers. E.g., the example I suggested (elsewhere)
whereby you engage the caller in a bogus dialog -- and THEN drop
the call (perhaps even silently). Folks who have called more than
once will learn how to "get through" while blind callers will
have to walk through a longer procedure -- investing time (and
resources) with no idea as to how it will ever "play out"! (pay off)

On Tue, 01 Dec 2015 11:10:55 -0800, Oren wrote:

On Tue, 01 Dec 2015 13:37:03 -0500, Nil
wrote:

On 01 Dec 2015, Moe DeLoughan wrote in
alt.home.repair:

If it's a legit company, it honors the DNC. Legit companies don't
call you if you're on the list. Therefore, the DNC list works as
designed - it keeps you from being hassled by legit and reputable
companies selling real products and services.

Quite right. The DNC list is and has always been limited in scope and
effectiveness. To call it "moot" as if it suddenly went bad is to
misunderstand it. It works about as well now as it ever did. The
difference is that there are lots and lots of bad guys who know they
can ignore it with impunity.


The DNC excludes Congress critters. They exempted themselves. Enjoy
the next national election

That coulld be a problem, but for me, I only got 2 or 3 calls last
fall, and 2 years earlier about the same.

On Mon, 30 Nov 2015 22:59:18 -0500, Mike Duffy
wrote:

On Mon, 30 Nov 2015 20:46:51 -0700, Don Y wrote:

Given that a caller can (not legally, in the US) spoof CID to report
*anything* they select (e.g., your own phone number)

Forget legality. How is it technically possible to spoof? I thought it was
all done by the telco equipment.

There are apps that allow you to send text messages that appear to
come from a different phone number from your own. I supppose you can
send them to yourself, for that matter.


If it's simply a matter of it being easy for foreigners, I suppose a
possible solution would be to block calls from outside the US & Canada. (I
put US & Canada together not for legal similarity, but because they use the
same 'International Country Code'.)

They do!? Maybe so.

Then we can use the adaptive spammer technique I saw on the news the other
night. I can't remember the telco, but one of the cell carriers offers a
phone app that lets you 'flag' callers as spammers, and you can set your
answering prefs to reject callers with a reported spam call rate above a
certain threshold.

On Tue, 01 Dec 2015 07:27:46 -0500, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:

Per Nil:
card services is the worst.......

I haven't had any of those calls for several months. My most frequent
junk calls these days are,

Somewhere I heard a news item that the feds finally busted them.

That was at least a month ago...maybe two or three.

Or 10 months?

http://consumersunion.org/2015/01/go...services-scam/
There’s good news on the way for at least some of the consumers who
have been impacted by this scam: The FTC will be sending checks for
$42.95 each to 16,590 victims. It’s releasing these checks as a part
of its November 2013 settlement with several entities who have engaged
in this illegal behavior.


The comments didn't really start until June, and there were several
comments just 5 days ago. Very strange.


But they or somebody with a similar business model are back - just got a
call last week.

;-(

Per T:
Got a TOLL FREE CALL today. Turned out to be Ben Carson's campaign.
Usually it is a Google Scammer.

If I didn't think it would make me the local nut case, I would keep a
log counting unsolicited calls from each party in the 2016 election
run-up and post the totals on my front lawn.
--
Pete Cresswell

Per Mike Duffy:
Forget legality. How is it technically possible to spoof? I thought it was
all done by the telco equipment.

I don't have a clue about the "How" part, but I do know that my VOIP
provider obliges me by spoofing the CallerID on calls from my cell phone
and tablet when they to out over WiFi over VOIP so that the CallerID is
that of my home land line phone.
--
Pete Cresswell

Per :
Seriously, you said it, now
explain what you meant: DNC became
moot. You mean not effective?

"Not Effective".... there appears to be a valid semantic issue around my
use of "Moot".
--
Pete Cresswell

Per Andy:
You can get rid of most junk callers by using this ringtone.

Record it at the beginning of your message on your answering machine.

(I edited out the voice from the ringtone.)

http://www.mytinyphone.com/ringtone/3101827/

It that's the SIT tone for "Number not in service", I've been using it
for several years.

Can't comment specifically on it's effectiveness because I don't have
another number without it to compare.... but I do know that my junk
calls have risen from almost zero to about five junk calls for every
legit call.
--
Pete Cresswell

(PeteCresswell) wrote:

If I didn't think it would make me the local nut case, I would keep a
log counting unsolicited calls from each party in the 2016 election
run-up and post the totals on my front lawn.

In Soviet Union, this is not problem. Nobody solicit voters.

On 12/02/2015 05:38 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per T:
Got a TOLL FREE CALL today. Turned out to be Ben Carson's campaign.
Usually it is a Google Scammer.

If I didn't think it would make me the local nut case, I would keep a
log counting unsolicited calls from each party in the 2016 election
run-up and post the totals on my front lawn.


Maybe if we could figure out a way to charge them 5 cents
for each phone call. My answering machine would make me rich!

On 12/2/2015 1:20 AM, Micky wrote:
On Tue, 01 Dec 2015 07:27:46 -0500, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:

Per Nil:
card services is the worst.......

I haven't had any of those calls for several months. My most frequent
junk calls these days are,

Somewhere I heard a news item that the feds finally busted them.

That was at least a month ago...maybe two or three.

Or 10 months?

http://consumersunion.org/2015/01/go...services-scam/
There’s good news on the way for at least some of the consumers who
have been impacted by this scam: The FTC will be sending checks for
$42.95 each to 16,590 victims. It’s releasing these checks as a part
of its November 2013 settlement with several entities who have engaged
in this illegal behavior.


The comments didn't really start until June, and there were several
comments just 5 days ago. Very strange.


But they or somebody with a similar business model are back - just got a
call last week.

;-(


Got another robocall from some spammer that said something like this:

"Hello, we're calling from XYZ business and contacting {empty space
supposed to be someone's name they never say} to let you know about an
issue you may not be aware of regarding your SS#..."

I wish I could find a way to block it!!

--
Maggie

Per Muggles:


Got another robocall from some spammer that said something like this:

"Hello, we're calling from XYZ business and contacting {empty space
supposed to be someone's name they never say} to let you know about an
issue you may not be aware of regarding your SS#..."

I wish I could find a way to block it!!

I would admonish anybody who let somebody they do not know personally
get that far to hang up faster.

Seems to me like an indicator of the total failure of our news media to
inform the public is in the wishy-washy advice they give about not doing
business with callers before consulting some-authority-or another.

If it were me writing that stuff it would boil down to "Who is calling ?
Do I know you ?".... if the caller is unknown, "Click ! ".... no
niceties, no civility... just "Click !".

With me, 9 out of 10 times it doesn't even get as far as "Do I know you
?"..... more than about a half-second of silence, and I hang up.
--
Pete Cresswell

On 12/2/2015 1:43 PM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Muggles:


Got another robocall from some spammer that said something like this:

"Hello, we're calling from XYZ business and contacting {empty space
supposed to be someone's name they never say} to let you know about an
issue you may not be aware of regarding your SS#..."

I wish I could find a way to block it!!

I would admonish anybody who let somebody they do not know personally
get that far to hang up faster.

Seems to me like an indicator of the total failure of our news media to
inform the public is in the wishy-washy advice they give about not doing
business with callers before consulting some-authority-or another.

If it were me writing that stuff it would boil down to "Who is calling ?
Do I know you ?".... if the caller is unknown, "Click ! ".... no
niceties, no civility... just "Click !".

With me, 9 out of 10 times it doesn't even get as far as "Do I know you
?"..... more than about a half-second of silence, and I hang up.


I don't answer, and almost always let the machine pick it up unless I'm
in a "mood" to play with them and then I'll answer, "Pizza hut! Can I
take your order? Dine in or carry out? Hello??? click!"

--
Maggie

Per Muggles:

I don't answer, and almost always let the machine pick it up unless I'm
in a "mood" to play with them and then I'll answer, "Pizza hut! Can I
take your order? Dine in or carry out? Hello??? click!"

I heard a stand-up comic say something like:

"When I answer, I tell them that I've lost my job, the house is in
foreclosure, my wife left me, the 12-year-old daughter is pregnant, my
son is addicted to drugs, and the dog died.... and *they* hang up on
*me*...
--
Pete Cresswell

On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 13:55:37 -0600, Muggles wrote:

On 12/2/2015 1:43 PM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Muggles:


Got another robocall from some spammer that said something like this:

"Hello, we're calling from XYZ business and contacting {empty space
supposed to be someone's name they never say} to let you know about an
issue you may not be aware of regarding your SS#..."

I wish I could find a way to block it!!

I would admonish anybody who let somebody they do not know personally
get that far to hang up faster.

Seems to me like an indicator of the total failure of our news media to
inform the public is in the wishy-washy advice they give about not doing
business with callers before consulting some-authority-or another.

If it were me writing that stuff it would boil down to "Who is calling ?
Do I know you ?".... if the caller is unknown, "Click ! ".... no
niceties, no civility... just "Click !".

I generally don't hang up on people. I'd say No thanks, Bye.

If it's a charity, I say, Good luck, Bye.

Or maybe, I'm on the Do not call list. Please put me on *your* do not
call list. Bye.

Only after they've lied to me or done something similar would I hang
up on them.


With me, 9 out of 10 times it doesn't even get as far as "Do I know you
?"..... more than about a half-second of silence, and I hang up.


I don't answer, and almost always let the machine pick it up unless I'm
in a "mood" to play with them and then I'll answer, "Pizza hut! Can I
take your order? Dine in or carry out? Hello??? click!"

I can't do that. My phone number for the last 32 years is one number
off from a Greek sandwich shop, and callers would just order their
food. Despite the fact that the place is open to 2am, I don't
think I've ever gotten a call later than 11:30, and only once or twice
later than 10, and never when I'm sleeping.

For a long time, when people realized they had the wrong number, 3/4s
would hang up without any courtesy, but that changed about 6 or 7
years ago. Now 9 out of 10 apologize, "Sorry" or maybe longer. It's
possible I changed to saying "You dialed wrong" then but I don't think
I started with that until later.

On Tue, 1 Dec 2015 07:30:19 -0500, Frank "frank wrote:


I had one the other day from MS and told the guy, thanks, someone in
your group had called yesterday and fixed my computer. Told him it was
working fine.

That's a good one!

His response was to ask me if I was prepared to make the payment.

"I already did. Check your records." Maybe that's not good.

How about "He told me there would be no charge."

blah-blah

"You're going back on your co-workers promise?"

On 12/2/2015 2:26 PM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Muggles:

I don't answer, and almost always let the machine pick it up unless I'm
in a "mood" to play with them and then I'll answer, "Pizza hut! Can I
take your order? Dine in or carry out? Hello??? click!"

I heard a stand-up comic say something like:

"When I answer, I tell them that I've lost my job, the house is in
foreclosure, my wife left me, the 12-year-old daughter is pregnant, my
son is addicted to drugs, and the dog died.... and *they* hang up on
*me*...


LOL Gloom, dispair ... sounds like an old country HeeHaw tune.

--
Maggie

On 12/2/2015 8:23 PM, Micky wrote:
On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 13:55:37 -0600, Muggles wrote:

On 12/2/2015 1:43 PM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Muggles:


Got another robocall from some spammer that said something like this:

"Hello, we're calling from XYZ business and contacting {empty space
supposed to be someone's name they never say} to let you know about an
issue you may not be aware of regarding your SS#..."

I wish I could find a way to block it!!

I would admonish anybody who let somebody they do not know personally
get that far to hang up faster.

Seems to me like an indicator of the total failure of our news media to
inform the public is in the wishy-washy advice they give about not doing
business with callers before consulting some-authority-or another.

If it were me writing that stuff it would boil down to "Who is calling ?
Do I know you ?".... if the caller is unknown, "Click ! ".... no
niceties, no civility... just "Click !".

I generally don't hang up on people. I'd say No thanks, Bye.

If it's a charity, I say, Good luck, Bye.

Or maybe, I'm on the Do not call list. Please put me on *your* do not
call list. Bye.

Only after they've lied to me or done something similar would I hang
up on them.


With me, 9 out of 10 times it doesn't even get as far as "Do I know you
?"..... more than about a half-second of silence, and I hang up.


I don't answer, and almost always let the machine pick it up unless I'm
in a "mood" to play with them and then I'll answer, "Pizza hut! Can I
take your order? Dine in or carry out? Hello??? click!"

I can't do that. My phone number for the last 32 years is one number
off from a Greek sandwich shop, and callers would just order their
food. Despite the fact that the place is open to 2am, I don't
think I've ever gotten a call later than 11:30, and only once or twice
later than 10, and never when I'm sleeping.

For a long time, when people realized they had the wrong number, 3/4s
would hang up without any courtesy, but that changed about 6 or 7
years ago. Now 9 out of 10 apologize, "Sorry" or maybe longer. It's
possible I changed to saying "You dialed wrong" then but I don't think
I started with that until later.


For some reason I can't get the robo call to say anything to me when I
tell it, "Pizza Hut, Can I take your order?"

--
Maggie