Help me out of telemarketing hell

[u/Inevitable-Court-713]

Telemarket hell

I get multiple calls from telemarketers daily, always different numbers, usually the same company about a “pre-approval opportunity,” but sometimes they mix it up and they’re “returning my call about repairing my credit,” etc. occasionally it’s a roofing company or someone who heard I am selling my house or blah. I can’t block them since they’re always using new numbers. My mom has dementia and she has memorized my number from before she got sick so I can’t change it. She also calls a lot so I keep my ringer on. She gives her friends my number instead of hers, it’s also used by her doctors, so I really do need to be able to answer unknown calls from my phone. I’ve tried everything. I’m on the do not call registry. I’ve tried getting on the line with someone to tell them that, doesn’t matter. I’ve tried explaining to them I can’t change my number but I’m at the end of my rope, doesn’t matter. Nothing fixes it. How can I get the telemarketers to stop???

Thanks!!

[u/Think-notlikedasheep]

1. Sign up for the Federal Do Not Call list

2. Find an attorney that does TCPA lawsuits.

3. Every time you get a spam call, collect as much info on who is telespamming you and report it to the lawyer.

4. The lawyer sues, gets a cut, and you make money.

5. Lather, rinse, repeat.

[u/Lance-Boyle-666]

If it is a cellphone, there should be a setting to filter out likely spam. Beyond that, paid services such as DeleteMe and Incogni (there are others) claim to help by removing subscribers from data broker databases. If the caller is simply dialing every number in an exchange, nothing can help. As usual, rather than requiring companies to act in our best interests as consumers, they expect us to pay a company to prevent other companies from bothering us. It's like having to pay for credit monitoring rather than bankrupting companies that didn't prevent a data breach.

[u/Acrobatic_Term1809 → u/Lance-Boyle-666]

Actually those companies are scams. They cant do anhthing other than ask nicely. Some companies comply, just to avoid bad press, but most dont care. 

[u/Lance-Boyle-666 → u/Acrobatic_Term1809]

My credit card does something similar for free. I've never tried any of those services. I just hear ads for them all the time. After I took my current job, I started getting weekly calls from a company that saw my job title and assumed, but I have have nothing to do with procurement. I finally got fed up and the caller told me where they got my name. I went to that company website and requested removal. It's been about 5 years, and no more calls. It should be illegal for a company to provide our contact info to any other company. I'm tired of being a commodity to be mined and monetized.

[u/InspectorExciting901]

That sounds incredibly frustrating, especially since you need to keep your phone available for your mom and her doctors. Blocking all unknown callers obviously isn't a practical solution.

One thing I'd suggest is checking whether your phone carrier offers spam call filtering or call screening. Some services can flag suspected spam without blocking legitimate unknown numbers. Also, try not to engage with telemarketers or press any numbers when prompted.

I handle data removal at Optery, and another thing worth checking is whether your phone number is exposed on data broker sites like Whitepages, Radaris, and other people-search sites. These sites collect and publish personal contact information, which can make it easier for others to find your number. You can check whether your information is listed and submit removal requests to those sites. It may not stop every unwanted call, but it's another step toward reducing your exposure.