Still getting unwanted calls after registering with the Do Not Call list? Here's why

Some consumers who have registered their numbers on the federal Do Not Call list report they are getting as many as 10 unwanted calls a day. It is more than a distraction when the phone rings multiple times a day.

[HillaryMarek]

I used to work as an appointment setter at a call center. This was not random solicitations as we were calling people who had registered at an exhibition booth to be contacted by a representative later on. One of the most valuable things i learned in that time was how to instantly thwart robocall devices. We used the same kind of autodialer as pretty much all those places do, it calls phone numbers in rapid succession and when someone answers it pings an operator to pick up. But what about voicemail and wrong numbers like say a business? Well it is programmed to ring through to the operator when you answer with 1-3 word salutations such as Hi. Hello? Hi this is (your name). Talk to me. What's up? What's good? and even, Who Dis?
However when it detects a string of 5 or more words that is a good indicator that it reached a business or voice mail.
Example: "What's up? You've reached Hillary, talk to me. " will probably get hung up on. But answering as I do with my business name like this, "Good morning. Thank you for calling Hillary's Of Houston. How can we best dress you today? " not only gets it to skip over connecting me but also submits a variable that lets the system know that this number is potentially a business. After the second time it flags it the number gets taken out of rotation for 90 days. If it is taken out 3 times instead of putting it back in on the 4th time, it permanently deletes it from the system.
In our case that usually means the person gave us a wrong number. Either way, it does not serve us in any way to keep it on file.
So how do you permanently block these guys? Answer any unknown number with a longer greeting. If it's a friend or family calling you can then explain why you are answering like that.
Up to you.

[becky]

I am being harrased by made up numbers in Maine for months now....6-8 a day! Tired of it! I block them everytime...they come up with a new number!

[kentharris]

When I get a Robocall I always purchase the product, this gives me the Telemarketers contact information and then I send a demand letter. This one company last year refused to pay so I sued them for $5 million and they settled for $15, 000 instead of the $3, 000 I ask in my demand letter. Once I get the telemarketer's contact information I do a chargeback on the credit card.

[lambda]

These unwanted phone calls are such a pain in the neck.

[quercus]

Robocalls and medical commercials on tv make my day. America the free. Consumer harassment is something that needs to be brought up in congress.

[Michelle-uyll]

This do.not call registry needs serious over haul. I'm on it. Still get these robo calls

[susanstandard]

I just got 4 calls since this video started playing!

[johnwright]

I can't believe that they have the shear gall to suggest that this ever stopped one single unwanted call. They know it hasn't. And they knew it wouldn't when they came up with it. And without people are still being paid to monitor the worthless system. They have only made it worse by proving to the people instigating this that they have absolutely nothing to worry about.

[REAL-UNKNOWN-SHINOBI]

AT&t has a serious problem with allowing robocalls ever since I moved over to T-Mobile I have not had a problem whatsoever the only spam I've got was a newspaper printer calling me to resubscribe.

[billwalker]

The federal do not call list is woofully ineffective. I have been on the list for years and receive an average of 10 calls per week. I report each call to the FTC, however the reporting of these criminals is ineffective as I receive repetitive calls from the same numbers. Many numbers are spoofed and reverse call identification tools are mostly worthless.

[KatieFisher]

I added my number on the list and I still get scam calls every single day and it's so annoying

[stephensmith]

If ANYONE knows someone who works for a telemarketer, you need to first slap the shit out of them, and then tell them that they're the most hated people in America!

[misterb]

I can't even turn on my ringer anymore, I get at least 20 calls a day, I block those numbers and the next day I still get about 20 calls. This is getting way out of hand. I don't answer or call them back because I don't want to open myself up to a scam. You just feel helpless after a while. I have missed important calls or texts because my ringer and notifications are off.

[maxheadroom]

I just keep fucking with them until they get so mad they hang up

[NortonChold]

The only way to stop this is discontinue your service and have NO PHONE 😃😃

[davidp]

Many robocalls are set to play their message when they hear a voice. I started to just pick up the phone and listen. If the robocaller doesn't hear anything they just hang up and might not call back. The calls have decreased by half (tell your friends that you're doing this).

[harrychristie]

I considered NoMoRobo 6 months or so ago. However, the number 1 complaint about the service was that robo calls increased after registration, sometimes as many as 4 or 5 times more. Needless to say, I didn't pay to register. As for Do No Call, once the the biggest issues with it is that it specifically excludes Religions, Political and Charities - all of which are in the top 5 telemarketing callers.

The only service I think could work is to see if your telephone provider has a call interceptor (usually available on land lines, but not too many cell) - this is where all incoming calls have to press 1 to continue (ideally, you could change that number). Robo calls, of course, can't press 1. On the other hand, I don't think many of the existing interceptors will allow for a whilelist to allow certain callers immediately through.

It also wouldn't be all that difficult for the telephone carrier to ping the caller back to make sure it's a "real" number and not a virtual number (since if you do try to call most of these back, you'll get a "number does not exist" error.

[stevenhorsefield]

I've never once pick up the phone but yet they always called me. Anybody know where theses people are located?

[Ghost]

How do you report spam and robo calls that don't have an area code and call four or more times a day

[ststephen]

i use both t mobile scam likely thing and the national trade thing and still get scam calls