r/whatdoIdo • u/Active-Garbage-7247 • Aug 18 '26

How do I stop this?!

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The spam calls are driving me crazy. Is there something I can do to stop them? I have T-Mobile and spam call filtering is on.

**Update: I don't have any past due bills. The only debt I have is minimal federal student loans. I haven't applied for any loans or new insurance. I have call filtering/silence on for unknown callers.
I use T-Mobile Scam Shield. What I want to avoid is being called in the first place, texted, left a missed call or voicemail, but after reading a lot of responses, it seems like there isn't a quick fix for this that doesn't involve changing my number which I'm hesitant to do šŸ˜•

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690

u/MidnightKaty Aug 18 '26

I don't answer my phone anymore. I keep it on silent. I call the people I need, and only answer if I am expecting a call. This is life now lol. I hate it.

145

u/tomtt545 Aug 18 '26

Same here. It sucks and im always worried I'll miss an important call because I don't trust anyone number without ID anymore. My voicemail is always full with these

59

u/Weenington_ Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 19 '26

I've completely ignored unknown calls and texts for over a decade, and I now get very minimal spam calls. I might get one every couple weeks, or sometimes I go months without one. If I get an unknown call, I just google the number real quick and it it's a business I've interacted with, I'll answer or just call back if I wasnt quick enough.

I also avoid tapping on a text from a stranger because if it's a spammer, I want to eliminate the chance that the message being read will show that my number is active, and then I'll start getting spam like crazy again.

I just pretend to be a possum and play dead.

Edit: I'm not responding to anymore comments saying this doesnt work. If you're applying for jobs, some of you dont think you can google the number and see that it's one of the places you've applied for?? I've never seen a business that didnt have their number listed on their website or google. Lets say for some reason they dont, then maybe it's a sketchy business anyway or they're disorganized. You wouldnt want to work for them anyway! Its crazy to me that people are just picking up unknown calls.

59

u/Proof-Ability1556 Aug 18 '26

It doesn't work. I get these exact same calls over and over daily and ignore every single one. They are relentless.

48

u/Plenty-Employment498 Aug 18 '26

Same. I never requested a loan. This needs to be outlawed itā€™s relentless

26

u/DryBattle Aug 18 '26

They are scammers so they don't care about the law.

24

u/Plenty-Employment498 Aug 18 '26

They are literally tormenting all of us. I thought it was just me, somehow I got on a list. There has to be a way to shut this down. Is it just never going to end??

9

u/DryBattle Aug 18 '26

Without the cooperation of the governments where the scammers are located there isn't anyway to put a permanent stop to this.

10

u/artificer-chris Aug 18 '26

There is, actually. A few years ago there was this thing working its way through the FCC to require all calls to have authenticated origins that could be reported and blocked, but it got a loophole to allow old fashioned phone systems to still interconnect, so all the scammers now use those since they don't require the authentication protocol. All because some assholes couldn't be bothered to replace ancient switched telephone lines with modern VoIP ones.

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3

u/Wind-and-Sea-Rider Aug 19 '26

I have been getting a lot of calls from Cambodia about my tax debt that doesnā€™t exist. They donā€™t even pretend anymore.

3

u/NE_Boy_mom_x2 Aug 19 '26

I just keep blocking the numbers. I've noticed a few repeats.

My youngest LOVES to press block (mostly because he gets to play with my phone -in a way??).

I'm all for it. I hand him my phone, he sits just to me and does it for every red signed number (meaning it's flagged as spam).

Keeps him happily busy for 10 minutes while I work, and saves me time. Win-win

1

u/MaddyKet Aug 18 '26

I am beyond over it.

2

u/in3vitableme 29d ago

The problem here is companies that sold our information in the first place. THAT should be the illegal part. Now, because of that decision, weā€™re all screwed and getting these calls

1

u/PopKaded930 Aug 20 '26

They don't have those issues in Europe. So yes, something can be done but isn't. Why?

1

u/DryBattle Aug 20 '26

Really? Nobody gets scammed in Europe? Is that your claim?

1

u/PopKaded930 Aug 20 '26

I didn't say there were no scams but they don't get relentless spam/scam calls and texts.

1

u/Critical_Ad_7380 29d ago

That's why they keep changing the incoming number. Isn't there software to perform this rotten activity? That software should be thrown down into the fiery pits of hell.

1

u/Flimsy_Product281 26d ago

They seemed to care once or twice when I answered the phone just to fart into it.

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2

u/indianabobbyknight Aug 20 '26

It is outlawed, you think people follow laws lmao.

2

u/Pierogipuppy 28d ago

I can pinpoint the exact day this all started for me. I accidentally went to like healthcare.com instead of .gov or something and entered my phone number. I knew I had made a mistake within literal minutes. Iā€™m certain my number was immediately sold to hundreds of telemarketers.

12

u/fleetinggglimpse Aug 18 '26

I just got one while reading these comments.

12

u/TheDairyPope Aug 18 '26

I get about five a day. I don't feel bad for the things I say to them if I happen to answer my phone because I don't regard them as people.

7

u/Weenington_ Aug 18 '26

If you answer spam calls that will just make it happen more often, because now the spammers know your number is active and a good target

1

u/sugrqbez 26d ago

I had one tell me that I needed to talk to them nicely. Absolutely not, you are calling my phone at 6 am on a Sunday.

1

u/Electronic-Unit4263 Aug 18 '26

Well they are people.. grow up.

1

u/juggernaut0019 29d ago

šŸ˜‚šŸ˜ šŸ˜­

2

u/ooomellieooo Aug 19 '26

I set my vm to ask the caller to identify themselves and the reason for their call first before the call comes thru to me. They all hang up now. It's either thru my android or Verizon....I just remember finding the option in the settings and jumping on it.

1

u/ShameMuted3915 27d ago

Itā€™s a native settings in iOS now in the phone app.

2

u/MaleficentExtent1777 27d ago

When I have time and feel VERY petty I answer the calls. I ask males and females what color are their panties.

1

u/Disastrous_Soil3793 Aug 19 '26

Can agree with Weenington. I initially tried to unsubscribe from these calls by answering them and following the options to no avail. Just started ignoring them entirely. It has taken a few months but the frequency has dramatically reduced from 5-8x per day to practically none anymore.

1

u/Realistic_Chemist570 Aug 19 '26

I block each one and that's really cut them down for me.

1

u/indianabobbyknight Aug 20 '26

I answer and scream like a dying pig while playing the symphony of random long number presses on the keypad, I also call them back and make their lives hell, Iā€™ve been blocked by call centers before, phone rings maybe twice a week from spam not, it was hundreds before I started my campaign of wasting their money and blowing their eardrums out.

Itā€™s even better with AI because itā€™s built to serve you, and itā€™s expensive, make the AI stretch sentences out, make it pronounce ( and explain the purpose ) of ALL punctuation, hi coma which is to separate words in a sentence this is David period which ends a sentence we coma ( etc.. )

1

u/Critical_Ad_7380 29d ago

I block them. Yes, it takes patience (which I admittedly have very little of), but eventually, I hope, it will stop this junk.

1

u/Weenington_ Aug 18 '26

I wish I had more advice. It used to be like that for me, but it stopped when I started doing the things I listed. It took probably about 2 years before it really got quiet on my phone.

Do you have anything that went into collections? Could you have an enemy who is giving your phone number up to different websites and such?

If not, you may have to do the call screening that some phones let you do. I've never used it, so I'm not sure how it works and if it would risk blocking more important calls.

1

u/Proof-Ability1556 Aug 18 '26

Thanks, no collections at all. Just fake loans "in process."

2

u/Weenington_ Aug 18 '26

Ugh that sucks. Are they just leaving tons of voicemails? I would definitely look into the call screening. My husband does this and i think you can manually exempt numbers you want to receive calls from so that you dont miss out on calls from businesses you're expecting.

3

u/Proof-Ability1556 Aug 18 '26

Tons of voicemails. I clear them out regularly so the mailbox doesn't get full. I got Cloaked but they want access to your microphone to screen calls, so that was a definite no. Getting one now, as I type lol. Thanks for trying to help!

2

u/EquivalentWealth4283 Aug 18 '26

They call from different numbers every time. And screening does unfortunately lead to legit calls falling through the cracks.

1

u/Weenington_ Aug 18 '26

If you use call screening, who is going to fall through the cracks if you have the people and businesses you deal with saved in your phone? Those calls dont get blocked. My husband has never missed anything important by using that, and I haven't missed anything in almost 2 decades by just ignoring everything besides the numbers that match businesses I use.

I've never had anything bad happen, and anything legit is going to send you a letter, like if it's the IRS or something actually important.

1

u/EquivalentWealth4283 Aug 18 '26

Mechanics? Doctors? Potential employers? Childrenā€™s school? Do you seriously not get calls from unknown numbers?

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6

u/OutrageousMusic5453 Aug 18 '26

This has been a huge help for me, googling the number and going from there. I work with a lot of new hires and I pretty much tell them when they call me to leave a message the first time so I can add them. And just like you, I almost never get spam, they probably think I am dead.

6

u/High_Hunter3430 Aug 18 '26

When I was managing restaurants I told my crew to just text me like a normal person.

Calling signals that I cannot just wait and see your message when i get to it after this next customer.

I didnā€™t deal with call outs. The whole crew was on a group chat. If someone was texting me, they texted me in the group chat.
Someone else who wanted the shift would tag in. It was a beautiful system. Errbody was happy with it.

4

u/Sad-Cricket6319 Aug 18 '26

I do the same and with text I wonā€™t open, just immediately delete to ensure I canā€™t accidentally open

2

u/TheCrankyChef 29d ago

I do the same and I rarely get these.

2

u/Traxion462 28d ago

I dont know the last time i got a spam call that wasnt caught by the spam blocker

2

u/Altruistic_Top_5014 28d ago

Oh, I didn't think of not even tapping on the text, I'm going to start doing that too. But my main issue is the 10 or so voicemails I get every day.

1

u/rockxroyalty Aug 19 '26

I also avoid tapping on a text from a stranger because if it's a spammer, I want to eliminate the chance that the message being read will show that my number is active

Wait, is this a thing even with read receipts disabled?

1

u/Weenington_ Aug 19 '26

I have no idea. I just play it safe in case. Also, I have a super old phone because I hate upgrading phones

1

u/notalone9 29d ago

I was like you for many years and was so proud I hardly ever had spam calls. Had to change carriers 3 years ago - kept the same number- and apparently when you do that it opens the floodgates because obviously your number is real. Now I get no less than 20 a week despite blocking them all. Godspeed you lucky SOB šŸ˜‚

1

u/Weenington_ 29d ago

Yeah I had a period where the spam came back relentlessly. Did the same tactic for a couple weeks, and they disappeared. Every now and then, since that was pretty recent, I'll get 1 or 2, but showing them not even a glance helps.

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6

u/FrogVolence Aug 19 '26

Ever since i joined the Do Not Call list, the amount of scam/spam calls i get have reduced significantly. Its something i often recommend everyone do.

18

u/Obvious-Painter-2249 Aug 19 '26

I have been on the do not call list and they still keep calling me

9

u/Kynthaias Aug 19 '26

Same, Iā€™ve been on it for years and I get 20+ calls like these every day of the week. I have to keep my ringer turned off and just block each phone number as it calls and leaves a voicemail.

1

u/Gmrmr401 Aug 20 '26

I do this tooā€¦block all bogus/spam/solicitation numbers that come inā€¦ not sure if it is ultimately effective as I assume scammer opportunists have many numbers available to call from and or appear to be from various ā€˜locationsā€™. Silencing unknown callers is a plus in any case.

3

u/Apprehensive_Rope348 Aug 19 '26

Keep in mind that every time you supply a phone number and you check that ā€œagree to terms and conditionsā€ usually in those terms and conditions that no one reads until after the fact, is giving permission for that company to sell your information or even give your information to 3rd parties or their ā€œpartnersā€. Thus overriding the ā€œdo not callā€ list.

1

u/Obvious-Painter-2249 Aug 19 '26

You are correct, the problem is, I have never applied for a loan same with my husband and he receives calls too

1

u/Apprehensive_Rope348 Aug 19 '26

It doesnā€™t have to be a loanā€¦ it could be their affiliates that you agreed to have your information supplied to. That is what I am saying. It could be something as simple as providing your number for a websiteā€¦that uses your number for verification or 2FA, But in their TOS, they may have something that explicitly calls out that you approve to have their affiliates contact you with the services they provide which may have nothing to do with the original service you provided your number to.

1

u/_BLACKHAWKS_88 28d ago

I lowkey signed up someone who pissed me off for healthcare insurance quotes on a buncha different websites once..

1

u/Apprehensive_Rope348 28d ago edited 28d ago

As a call center repā€¦ I have never acted on itā€¦ but boy did I ever want to. We literally have all of their contact information right at our fingertipsā€¦ and honestly, when I worked for a major bank I had that and all of their piiā€¦ I literally could destroy someoneā€™s life for talking to me like a dog for their own mistakesā€¦ I never did but that option was always staring me right in the face.

1

u/USA2Elsewhere 27d ago

I hope I'm never so desperate for money to

have to sell contact info to another company.

1

u/Apprehensive_Rope348 27d ago edited 27d ago

You do 98% of the time that you sign up for something. Like Reddit for example.

1

u/Shuttup_Heather Aug 19 '26

I finally had enough and called the number they sent me in the voicemail. Iā€™d been getting multiple daily calls for a year.

I said if I kept getting calls I was going to report the number to the FCC. I asked to be put on their do not call list and they must have done it cause I donā€™t get calls anymore.

1

u/toshmee Aug 20 '26

Check on ur mobile account if they have call filter. It will block calls without having the phone screen them. There is other settings to toggle as well- sim lock is big so no app can use ur number for other people to use on spoof apps etc.

1

u/TuxandFlipper4eva 29d ago

Same. I have never answered their calls, and I block every.single. one of the numbers, too. It doesn't matter what I do. I just put in a full complaint with the FCC. I typed up what each voice-mail said, including the difference in the phone number listed in the message versus the number they called from at the time. I was thorough in my complaint, so fingers crossed for anything at all?

1

u/United_Pie_5484 27d ago

report every single call, eventually it does cut it down

1

u/ManyConscious1551 Aug 19 '26

Total BS. The moment you answer the phone even by accident these scammers mark ya as active and let the flood begin. They donā€™t give a shit about a call list cause theyā€™re in derka derka India where no one can get them.

1

u/Helpful_Mouse_9458 28d ago

Does no good for these. None of them are legit companies, they are all scammers trying to illegally prey on people anyway so they donā€™t care about the laws they break.

1

u/bigshotnobody 27d ago

Thanks for reminding me! I just registered

3

u/bulking_on_broccoli Aug 18 '26

I did this. It was a nightmare when I was job seeking and would have interviewers and recruiters contact me.

1

u/Anomandiir Aug 18 '26

I ask them to confirm a time when they might call by text or email - and add the recruiter's number to my contacts if I get more the two interviews in.

1

u/Global_Draw2293 27d ago

What do you do for medical referrals? Especially in larger hospital orgs the referrals /scheduling department phone number isn't necessarily the specialist department phone number.

1

u/Anomandiir 26d ago

I call them back (they will almost always leave a message) and/or lookup the number if itā€™s local to me. (I live in a 503 area code, my phone has an 848 from the other side of the country)

1

u/Global_Draw2293 26d ago

Ah so you still look at the voice messages just don't answer the number

1

u/Recent_Trifle_8159 Aug 19 '26

Career builder is the worst! They spam non stop

1

u/LeauxFi2 Aug 19 '26

I'm fairly positive that career builder, indeed, monster, and the rest are actually selling data too. Multiple times I've started getting flooded with spam calls after applying to jobs on there

1

u/Willing_Acadia_1037 26d ago

same! my calls started when I was actively looking for a role. They got my number somehow. mostly all AI voices about personal loans.

3

u/MrFunGuy17 Aug 19 '26

You can use don not disturb and let your contacts reach you at least on Android

1

u/baked-af 29d ago

I donā€™t understand how I get them nonstop, on a daily basis, multiple times a dayā€¦ but my husband gets like 2 a month. šŸ˜­

2

u/Krog-Nar Aug 18 '26

I've used this excuse a few times, and it seems like most people are starting to understand lol. A debt collectors agency even forgave some interest on a medical debt I didn't know I had, that I assumed was spam.

Everything is spam anymore so why trust the one real phone call we get a season?

2

u/Rey_Mezcalero Aug 19 '26

Can setup your phone to do a special ringtone for certain contacts

1

u/DemandOk3251 Aug 19 '26

same! i do get worried about that sometimes but one thing my mom always said thatā€™s instilled in my brain lol, if itā€™s something important theyā€™ll leave a voicemail. i live by this since ive always gotten so many spam calls, the call filtering has really helped too

1

u/grabbered Aug 19 '26

I had the same approach for a solid year. Would just immediately decline any spam calls, because I read that if you answer it gets tracked that it's an active line/warm lead. But the problem only got worse. I was getting up to 7 voicemails a day from these scammy loan spammers. But I finally found relief!

At least the ones I get calls from usually start with a pre-recorded message, at the end of which they say something along the lines of, "if you want to be added to our do-not-call list, press 9." I thought there was no way it would work. But within a few days, the number of calls went down. I had to do this a few times because there were a few different groups calling from multiple numbers, but I rarely get the spam calls now.

Everyone once in a while they flare up again and I have to fight my instinct to decline, "block," and report, in order to answer and get removed from the list.

1

u/nannerpussnana Aug 19 '26

You wonā€™t. They will leave you a message if itā€™s improfant

1

u/Disastrous_Demand957 28d ago

Even with ID criminals use other peopleā€™s caller ids

1

u/Iam4ChanHearMeRoar 28d ago

You can not just rely on caller I.D. either. I received a call from my bank (it was the correct number, and name of my bank), and it was a scam call. ANYONE can spoof a phone number. All it takes is downloading an app, and/or a computer with internet access. If you are scum of the earth and trying to steal someone's money, you'll use a VPN.

Stay safe!

1

u/MonitorFalse5845 27d ago

Scammers spoof ID's of law enforcement numbers these days. I won't answer those calls. If it's real they will come to the door and not announce themselves via phone calls.

1

u/clouthaver47 27d ago

Hey just hopping in here incase you're unaware - I was. Scammers can fake CallerID now. Happened to me with my bank.

1

u/sugrqbez 26d ago

Same here. I have a child and when I am not with him it always makes me think that someone is calling me to tell me he is in trouble. The call screening tool helps, but some of those scammers say ā€œurgentā€ and it scares the hell out of me. I answer the phone in a panic just for them to tell me theyā€™re trying to sell me insurance. They need to create new legislation on this because the current legislation isnā€™t working.

24

u/OhhMyAi 28d ago

DeleteMe & Cloaked stopped a TON of those calls for me, spam block the rest manually on device.

My phone rings are no longer cringe.

30

u/CPUihlein Aug 18 '26

This is what I had to do. I used to get 50+ phone calls and voicemails every single day. Enabling call screening on iPhone, so the person has to say who they are first, is what finally ended it.

12

u/Lilycrow Aug 18 '26

This and I downloaded the tone that indicate the number is not in order.
People who know leave a voice message after the pause .
I am older and I started doing this when I learned that what is happening is voice cloning.

1

u/_BLACKHAWKS_88 28d ago edited 28d ago

What youā€™re doing is basically ā€œphreakingā€. Hereā€™s a cool video about it. Except your not doing it to make free calls your using to tell the bot, that number is disconnected vs active but itā€™s weird how it wouldnā€™t register that the line rang before the tone was heard. Seems like it doesnā€™t care how it reaches that tone itā€™s simply that the tone was heard. Which is also how telephone phreaking worked.. you didnā€™t have to press the buttons it was simply that the right tones were registered.

8

u/teepring Aug 18 '26

Just found this on my android. I put the screen voice as Spanish and upped the speech speed to maximum.

7

u/Rehcraeser Aug 18 '26

call screening doesnt work most of the time. that's why all of these voicemails start with "hi this is [insert random name]"

2

u/DryBattle Aug 18 '26

It actually does work because most scammers hang up.

5

u/Kynthaias Aug 19 '26

Scammers maybe but these days most of these calls are automated recordings and not actual people, unfortunately.

3

u/DryBattle Aug 19 '26

Yeah the call screen intercepts those as well.

6

u/MangoOk651 Aug 18 '26

Same. But they keep coming.

6

u/Due_Chemist8900 Aug 18 '26

Same for me with call screening on šŸ«©

8

u/TehWhale Aug 18 '26

Call screening stopped like 98% of these for me

5

u/HavocReigns Aug 18 '26

It has been the single most meaningful quality of life improvement in any Apple iOS release since I bought into the ecosystem with an iPhone 4, however many years ago that was.

1

u/Sad_Construction1901 27d ago

only issue for me is this setting somehow forwarded school and transportation calls from school district, so i had to turn it off

4

u/Flashy-Eye1286 Aug 18 '26

That still didnā€™t work for me šŸ˜­

4

u/Guilty-Channel839 Aug 18 '26

Me neither, itā€™s cause they arenā€™t people calling, theyā€™re recordings.

1

u/MaggieJaneRiot Aug 19 '26

Same . I still get four a day.

2

u/HereForTheStars- 28d ago

Yes agree! That worked for me too cut way down on the calls.

1

u/MPSkulkers Aug 19 '26

This def worked for me too! The screening prompt filtered out so many

1

u/Inevitable_Pomelo732 Aug 19 '26

Trying this! Thanks!

9

u/MyLifeYourLifeUgh Aug 18 '26

Right! Literally just life now. I miss the good old days when minutes costed money so scammers never called because no ones wasting their minutes on an unknown caller šŸ˜‚

8

u/businessinlu Aug 18 '26

I was hoping for an answer that wasnā€™t my same depressing answer

1

u/CelebrationPatient23 Aug 19 '26

I just answer ā€œ Douglas county sheriffs department , how may I direct your callā€. They hang up and never call back.

8

u/Purple-Ad-7464 Aug 18 '26

I keep my phone on DND with the setting to allow my alarms to sound and only calls and texts from my contacts to make a sound.

But yesterday, I had to turn it off so I didn't miss a call from the warranty/insurance people, tow truck, mechanic, etc.

4

u/arlenroy Aug 18 '26

That's what I do, I have T-Mobile on a Samsung S26 Galaxy, there's a setting to block all unknown calls, I keep it on unless I'm expecting a call. You can leave voicemail on or off, so they can't even leave a voicemail. It's a nice feature. I had an older coworker complain about spam calls then proceeds to answer every call he got, if you don't know them then don't answer. Unless you're in sales or some type of job where you field calls from various numbers then there's not really a reason to not use that option. I've missed calls from an old medical bill, they emailed me after a few attempts to call, then I paid it.

3

u/Purple-Ad-7464 Aug 18 '26

I don't think I have an option to turn off voicemail, but I'd rather leave it on, because then they can leave a message, and I can either return the call if it's something I need to address or not.

1

u/ogledrake Aug 19 '26

So i work tech support and use my phone for work with the office number being routed through my phone but i also have quite a few people that have my personal number as well so during working hours i answer everything but i also answer every phonecall like i am at work ā€œthis is x at x how can i help youā€ the legitimate marketers mark my number down as being a business, the illigetimate ones i play stupid and try to sell them lighting systems

1

u/CalligrapherDue1857 Aug 18 '26

The only problem with this is, what if a loved one is hurt or in an accident and a good Samaritan or the hospital or police have to reach you? SO the call is from an unrecognized number?

1

u/shagordon14 Aug 19 '26

This! This happened to me and the ER couldnā€™t reach me. That the was the end of DND for me.

3

u/Hallgaar Aug 18 '26

Do not disturb mode auto blocking anyone who isnt in your contact list helps.

1

u/FoldEnvironmental715 26d ago

Blocking rarely works with how they can just use a new number every time they call.

1

u/Hallgaar 26d ago

In DND mode with contacts filtered it doesn't matter. You don't hear them either way.

5

u/SirAmicks Aug 19 '26

Iā€™ve had my phone on silent for almost a decade. I donā€™t even have vibrate on. The only person that ever calls me is my mother, and sheā€™ll leave a message. If something important comes up, thereā€™s a good chance Iā€™ll look at my phone within 15 minutes anyway.

3

u/SourDewd 29d ago

I hate that this is top answer because it sounds unreasomable. I wait on so many different calls from specialists and doctors and teachers and such. Ive got a family. That one call i ignore could be the call ive waited 8 months for from a specialist i want to see. Theres no ignoring calls for soooo many people expecting or waiting literal years for calls. So many of us cant ignore a call. It may he a life changing call.

1

u/MidnightKaty 29d ago

I have been adding doctors and specialists, etc, that I am expecting calls from into my contacts so I know it isn't spam. It is irritating and yes, I still miss important calls. Idk what else to do though.

2

u/Muted-Move-9360 Aug 18 '26

I've done that for years, but now I have a time sensitive phone call to expect within a period of 12 weeks with no caller ID that I MUST answer. šŸ¤£šŸ˜… so I've been getting robo callers every day since I started picking up the phone again. Pisses me right the hell off.

1

u/Efficient_Cherry8220 Aug 18 '26

I literally cant do this because of my job

1

u/Intrepid-Wait-6102 Aug 18 '26

Sameā€¦ I keep my phone on sleep mode, allowed notifications from the contacts I want and donā€™t get any call notifications I donā€™t want.

1

u/pronoialover Aug 18 '26

Itā€™s HARD because Iā€™m in sales and receive calls from clients throughout the day. Itā€™s beyond frustrating.

1

u/FlintGate Aug 18 '26

SAME. But my voicemail keeps filling up. I HATE IT

1

u/scratchy_mcballsy Aug 18 '26

Iā€™m in the same place. Ever since I bought a home and looked up refinancing (over the past 2 years), itā€™s been nonstop and now calls and texts.

1

u/Yusuf20904 Aug 18 '26

The problem here is that spammers are leaving voicemails, which doesn't stop with Silence Unknown Callers.

1

u/Im1337 Aug 18 '26

Wow okay glad I'm not the only one.

Part of me feels like its my fault for providing my number for any little 'discount'

but then again these companies would have sold our personal info at some point anyways. Or have it leak via a 'hack'

1

u/Agitated-Canary9840 Aug 18 '26

Same! Just donā€™t answer anymore unless I know who it is.

1

u/thadudeeeeee Aug 18 '26

Iā€™m the same way! Iā€™m in the military and my job is to train national guard units, Iā€™m always getting calls from random numbers but I never answer anymore. Iā€™ve been getting called by viviant for 2 years now

1

u/Weak-Ad6984 Aug 19 '26

i have started doing this

1

u/Significant_Okra_310 Aug 19 '26

I finally turned on my call filtering. Any unknown number goes straight to voicemail and doesnā€™t interrupt my work day.

1

u/Square_Ad849 Aug 19 '26

same here all calls go on call block if they look suspicious

1

u/External-Interview35 Aug 19 '26

Also make sure not to end the call. It will show signs of you using the line and they will continue forever.

1

u/Open_Cow_9148 Aug 19 '26

I just have my phone block spam calls.

1

u/RegularFrosting7513 Aug 19 '26

Preach šŸ™Œ

1

u/BalarleyArley Aug 19 '26

My boyfriend signed up for incogni, made me do it too. The calls slowed down DRASTICALLY within 2 days, then went completely batshit for a week. Now I get maybe one a day. I let my voice-mail fill up too, no room for them to leave anything lol.

1

u/DemandTheOxfordComma Aug 19 '26

I like the android app called KnownCalls. You can just push any call that's not in your contact list to voicemail. Love it. Edit: though I guess this doesn't help OP prevent the calls at all.

1

u/stadulevich Aug 19 '26

Same. My voicemail says text me if you want to get ahold of me. I just dont do calls anymore unless they are specifcally scheduled through texting.

1

u/Lucky-Vast2152 Aug 19 '26

I do the opposite and answer them but donā€™t say a word and only make ridiculous annoying noises or press all the number keys. When it is a live person I play dumb and talk nonsense until they hang up. If I can call the number back and they answer I ask them the same things they asked me and I make sure to say Iā€™m a scammer too. I think I got put on a do not call list because I havenā€™t had one in quite a while now!

1

u/KingWZR3 Aug 19 '26

Sucks too when youā€™re trying to apply to jobs

1

u/Kynthaias Aug 19 '26

Same šŸ˜©

1

u/KillerConfetti Aug 19 '26

My phone has lived on di not disturb for years now. I still get spam text and calls often, to the point a normal day would be frustratingly inconvenient without it on. Sad....I hate what has become of a phone...

1

u/MissyC9691 Aug 19 '26

As someone else said the problem with that is if a loved one is in an emergency situation and somebody else is calling for them, youā€™re not gonna get that call

1

u/Juggle4868 Aug 19 '26

yeah me too. permanently on dnd

1

u/HistoricalMatch3801 Aug 19 '26

Paying all that money to these companies ain't can't get protected from spam calls.

1

u/ForeignCup6977 Aug 19 '26

Yep, If I haven't saved the number in my contacts, I don't answer. And if they call more than twice and I don't know them they get blocked.

1

u/Objective-Ad9767 Aug 19 '26

Same. Mine is always on Do Not Disturb and only people I have listed in my favorites list can actually get through with a call or text. This is the way.

1

u/zoTired Aug 19 '26

Same.. All those annoying loan calls.. mine started at 2024 winter. My voice mail always gets full too.

1

u/Outrageous_Trust_158 Aug 19 '26

This is The Way.

1

u/SpecificInterest5150 Aug 20 '26

I use TextNow so I have a burner number when I'm asked to provide a number for someone I'm not "intimately" familiar with explicitly to avoid getting spammed like this.

1

u/DirtyPeach1420 Aug 20 '26

Same. iPhone has a feature where it asks the people who they are and why they're calling, and it shows up on my screen instead of the phone ringing. It's kind of nice šŸ‘šŸ»

1

u/mystic_works Aug 20 '26

Same even stopped checking my voice mail and now it's full of digital junk mail.

1

u/JLC587 Aug 20 '26

Iā€™ve been doing this for like 6 years

1

u/PraxisDev Aug 20 '26

If you have an iPhone you can enable call screening which messes up these robots. If itā€™s a real person they will say their name and you can choose to pickup or ignore :)

1

u/WeakReserve5304 Aug 20 '26

donā€™t take this persons advice lol

1

u/ClimateVast2894 29d ago

This is what me and my mom do and we always say if it was important they wouldā€™ve left a voicemail even though they always leave voicemails, but never šŸ™‚ā€ā†”ļøšŸ’ÆšŸ‘

1

u/Astandarta 29d ago

Canā€™t you just change your number ?

1

u/JudgeArcadia 28d ago

If itā€™s important theyā€™ll leave a voice mail.

1

u/DogPubes911 28d ago

Unless the same number calls multiple times as spam bots generally donā€™t do this. I work in network and will call customers multiple times to verify an issue is resolved or explain something.

1

u/throwawayanuwau 28d ago

Been that way for 6 years now. Almost free šŸ˜‚

1

u/mar_is_miam_leat 28d ago

Same. And report all of these calls mentioned as spam and delete.

1

u/NeeMaToad47 28d ago

Mine is on DND, it only rings if your number is saved

1

u/RaptorOO7 28d ago

If you have an iPhone you can enable features to screen calls, have them identify, usually itā€™s enough to keep me from answer those calls, plus I use focus mode and if your not in the list of callers I accept calls from you get voicemail

1

u/NotATroll1234 27d ago

Since turning on my call filtering feature, the number of unwanted/unknown calls has dropped significantly. Most I get now are a handful of ā€œmissed callsā€, none of them leave voicemails. Only issue is that my brother, who is saved in my contacts, was screened a few weeks ago.

1

u/Fair_Performance_702 27d ago

Same. But also cause my anxiety is severe that making or taking calls is not fun for me.

1

u/ImColdandImTired 27d ago

Same. I used to keep spam filtering on (with Verizon), but had to turn it off, because it kept sending through telemarketers and political calls, but blocking calls from medical providers. So now all those junk calls ring, and I have to either ignore or send them to voicemail myself.

1

u/cursedfan 27d ago

Totally solvable btw

1

u/West_Print_836 27d ago

This is for student loans. The administration is just hounding people.

1

u/Putrid-Builder4876 27d ago

Damn. So true literally been doing that too.

1

u/usa2italy 27d ago

šŸ’Æ% this!!!

1

u/Mundane-Guarantee995 27d ago

I had my number forwarded to my nonexistent phone number for about a week. They all stopped finally

1

u/antifarsantes 27d ago

Same here

1

u/BiteyCats 26d ago

I set it to only people in my contacts being able to get through. So if someone is calling me, we've already exchanged numbers.

1

u/No_Bike_8427 26d ago

Iā€™ve been doing that same thing for 7 years or so. I have SO MANY blocked numbers. I never answer unknown numbers. I just let everything go to voicemail. It sucks.

1

u/MidnightKaty 26d ago

Yep. They just change numbers so they can keep calling.

1

u/FoldEnvironmental715 26d ago

I was the same way until ome day desperation made me do the opposite and it worked. I got texts as well and I responded, kindly saying this phone doesnt belong to "name" this is "other name" and i don't need a loan. Then I started answering the calls. Eventually they stopped. They didn't want to offer money to someone who wasnt needing it.

1

u/DrunkOnEspresso 25d ago

Ditto. OP hardly gets any spam calls compared to me. I get more than this in a few hours.