Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for August 21, 2024

Agreed Arlo. Maybe you’re worried Janis just might be curious enough to have a look. I’ve seen some competent folks do just that.

A good PSA in the form of a comic strip.

All you spammers, I don’t want to sell my house. I keep blocking them and they keep using new numbers. My blockers can’t keep up.

It’s difficult to learn to NOT answer the phone. But, it can be done and furthermore you can learn to hang-up when it’s a sales call. Don’t talk with the caller – just hang up.

How do they know it’s Spam? It’s a phone call from Hormel.

You may already have won…

Your warranty is about to expire.

A Spam call? Oh, the Hormel of it all.

as a non-american I have no clue what this is about?

My mom, who has Lewy body dementia, asks me every time why someone would name their child “Spam” if their last name was “Risk.”

My landline records all of the calls I get. They fall into two groups: Spam, and Legit. Reading the list of calls by group name results in a Monty Python skit.

Good message and timing. There was a story posted 6 hours ago about a 76 year old scammed of $30,000. Let it go to voice mail. If they say they are from a known company, independently use their official phone number or email. Not the callers message.

If you don’t know the number, don’t answer. If it’s legit, they’ll leave a message, and you can add the number to the address book. You can also type the number into google, which will frequently tell you who it is, or if it’s a robocall.

When my phone rings and I don’t know the number, I have the option to click on an icon labeled “Screen call”. My phone then answers with a robotic voice of its own telling the caller to say their name and why they’re calling. If they do this, their message appears on my phone screen and I can then see who is calling and why. I started doing this about five years ago and after hundreds of unknown callers dialing my number, only two legitimate callers did this…my pharmacy and my car insurance company. If you see their response and want to talk to them, you can then answer the phone and begin talking to who called whenever you like, however, 99.99% of the callers hang up and I never have to bother with talking to spammers. I block the number and don’t have to worry about them calling back.

I think every phone had this capability, but it just goes unnoticed when the phone is ringing.

I just follow one rule if it is not in my contacts I do not answer it if it is important they can leave a message

Unless I’m waiting for a call from a repair technician or similar circumstance, if the number and name isn’t in my contacts, I don’t answer.

Here’s a tell tale sign…If someone says you owe money for a ticket, or your electricity is about to be shut off, but you can stop that from happening by going out and purchasing pre-paid gift cards and disclosing the card number to the caller, you might be dealing with a scammer.

I sometimes answer just to ask if they’ve ever heard of the “Do Not Call” list. Did that list ever work?

My pal Spam Likely should really change his name… ☺

The spam call blockers have lists. Smartphones let you look at the call, block the number and report the spam.

It’s exceptionally bad in an election year. I already know how I’m going to vote but, somehow, someone thinks a phone message will change my mind. Or send them a donation. Fat chance! All my discretionary cash has become grocery and gas money.

But do be careful. Some scammers are using AI to make legitimate looking scams via emails. If it looks bogus it probably is.

Just never answer your phone…

I don’t answer any phone number I don’t recognize.

I answer them in French, (doesn’t work if you are in France)

I never answer a call with a phone number I don’t recognize. I always check afterward if they left a voicemail. If not, sometimes I will check with reverse phone number look-up to see who it belongs to.

The absurd thing is that we have to deal with this kind of dilemma in the first place.

I still have my phone number from a previous state. I block every call from that state’s area codes that are not in my contact list. This has worked so far, not many Nigerian princes live in Colorado.

Unfortunately, many spammers are also spoofing numbers to look like a local person is calling. If the caller is not in my contact list, I don’t answer. I have to make an exception if I am expecting a call from a medical office since they use several numbers in addition to the main line. It’s amazing how many calls I get from the same location with a slightly different number.

If you don’t know the number, don’t answer. If it’s important, they’ll leave a message. If the message is from Microsoft, or a supposed bill collector and or the IRS, block it.

Databases can get screwed up. There have been plenty of times I’ve called customer service for places like Verizon and the called ID says I’m calling Spam.

“Local numbers” are a thing of the past. The first 3 digits of a cell number have no geographic significance.

Potential SPAM. The Shrodinger thought experiment of smart phones. It’s both SPAM and NOT SPAM until you answer

Anyone can get a ‘local’ area code phone number.

You are allowed to blame the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch of this. In 1997 they passed the law to keep your phone number, no matter where you went, called number portability. They also created the software, for federal student loan collectors, to use fake numbers, in order to get default debtors to answer their phones. Of course, that software got into the spammers’ hands and we know the rest. And, Congress keeps holding hearings trying to make people believe that they have had nothing to do with this crap. All they need to do is make phone companies pass along the correct originating phone numbers and that will end the mess. However California, (since it has one of the two international switches), will lose millions of dollars created by these spam calls. New York is where the other international switch is and you know how they rip people off, but not like California.

Ir it were legit, they could leave a message!

Never answer a number you don’t recognize, and tell them if they don’t leave a voicemail you aren’t calling back.

I looked up the number for my local CVS store and called it, but my phone marked the CVS number as spam.

If the telephone rings answer it. If it is noone you want to talk to, hang up.

The strangest calls, and this has happened several times. Phone rings. I answer and hear a recording: “I’m sorry, we are not available at the present time. Please leave your name and number and we will return your call.”But, I didn’t call them, they called me!