We get scam phone calls everyday. Is it just us or does this happen to everyone? Or do they just target the elderly?

Question

We get scam phone calls everyday. Is it just us or does this happen to everyone? Or do they just target the elderly?

Answer 1

It happens to everyone.



Start screening your calls and ONLY answer when you KNOW the person/company who is calling you.

There are those who will call and hang up .. what they are doing is to see if your phone number is a number where they can get ahold of an actual person ... and if it IS, then they sell YOUR number to whoever wants to cold-call the public for any reason.



Also, there are many 3rd-World scammers trying to trick you out of your money .. OR out of your identity. Saying they are from "Immigration" or they are calling because your computer has gotten infected .. or whatever.



And NEVER say your name OR say "yes". They can record you saying that and use that to release funds or set up a false identity.

If they call and ask if you are So-and-so .. reply with "Who is calling". If you do not recognize who this is, ask for their number and say you will call them back.

Then do a reverse-directory in the phone book, or google that name/company name. If you get no information, don't call back.



But it is just simpler to never pick up the phone. Those who have legitimate business will leave a message on your voice mail/answering machine. Those who don't .. won't leave a message.



The DO NOT CALL services are free, but where I live, they expire after a certain length of time and you have to renew them. They also do NOT screen out charities, political campaign calls, or those taking surveys (or CLAIMING they take surveys). Nor do they screen out the countries from 3rd-World countries trying to pretend their call is legitimate.



You can complain to various government agencies, but often they cannot do a thing .. especially for out-of-the-country calls.



In the end it comes down to this. The phone is YOUR convenience, YOUR servant. Just because it rings doesn't mean you have to pick it up.

As for wanting to connect with friends and families, use Caller ID, or a phone that announces the caller .. or tell these people to let the phone ring twice, then hang up and call again .. or some other signal that you DO want to take this call.



I will tell you this .. in 67 years of living only ONCE have I gotten an emergency call (husband had been in an accident and was in the hospital .. it as not critical no fatal, so I didn't have to rush to a deathbed).

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

Those are robot calls, they go down the list in the phone book calling anyone that will answer, they do not just target the elderly.

Use the DO NOT CALL website or c all them and register. and you should do this at least every 3 months if you do not want this.

If they keep doing this call your State Scams Hotline phone number or the State Attorney Office or Governor and make a complaint.

You also can call your phone service and have them block all those called.

I've done all of this and it works.

The only calls we get now are from charity groups like Highway Troopers Foundation or the Police Charity Foundation.

I also have landline service.

Answer 4

I've got caller ID, but I still pick up every phone call. Most of the robo calls have no one on the other end for 5 to 8 seconds, so I just hang up. But being an election year, I wanted to participate in election polls so Trump would have a good idea how much support he has in my area. The worst scams against the elderly are over-billing from medical suppliers, doctors and hospitals. We need to know our insurance and what they cover and how much copay is acceptable. My small town hospital gouges seniors for simple out-patient diagnostics to the tune of $250 - $400 while a nearby city they are free or $25 copay. I have received bills from the company that does my lab work for $250 when my United Healthcare Advantage plan (free Medicare supplement through AARP) covers them completely. Even calling them to rectify the situation, they still claimed I owed, but I refused, thinking they might refuse to do further lab work, but they didn't.

In short, it's fairly easy to tell a phone scam, but a medical over-bill is harder to detect but happens frequently.

Answer 5

I receive far less of these calls since I purchased a call blocker phone for my landline.

It is now down to about two per week. Everyone is liable to get these calls not just us

Seniors.

Call blocker works pretty well, but the odd call from foreign sales or scams does get

through.

So I have Caller Display, if I do not recognise a number I do not pick up.

We have the Telephone Preference Service UK, which bona fide companies are supposed

to adhere to, but some still ignore it.

Answer 6

These scum apparently believe we elderly are either stupid, desperate, or both, and sad to say in far too many instances they're right. Seems anybody ought to know one cannot win a contest he or she has never entered, that a genuine IRS or police officail would be able to identify the person they are calling, etc, but we could put the telescammers out of business overnight if everybody just stopped answering phone calls from unrecognized numbers or ID's. Some may label such behavior rude, but I, for one, don't care a fig for their opinion anyway.

Answer 7

The do not call lists are a joke. I always ask before I give any business my phone number to make sure they don't sell them to telemarketers. I think they do target the elderly. I couldn't believe all the insurance calls I got when I turned 65. And, yes, I am on the do not call list.

Answer 8

I get calls on my land line and on my cell phone. They target EVERYBODY, regardless of age. There's always a fish out there somewhere that will bite! They don't really know WHO they are calling; it's just a robo caller that is randomly dialing numbers.

If a call shows up on my Caller ID that does NOT display the calling number or the name of the calling party, I don't pick up the phone.



I tried the "Do Not Call" list a couple of times, but it made no difference. I had Call Blocker on my phone for a while, but it was totally useless. My carrier is ATT, and ATT told me that Call Blocker will NOT block calls from a different area code; it will NOT block calls from a pay phone or from a cell phone; and it will NOT block calls from another phone provider. It will only block local calls from an ATT provider.

Answer 9

Those nuisance calls are usually made automatically. There are some ways to help cope with them. Caller ID or Display, so you can see who's calling, and an answer phone are useful, genuine callers will leave a message or identify themselves and give you time to answer, robots will just hang up once they recognise an answerphone. TPS is only useful if the callers are genuine. Some of the newer phones have call blocker, it takes time to set up numbers to block but seems to work.



If only there was a way to deal with spam emails.

Answer 10

I think everyone gets them. At the same time I think the elderly may either get more or fall for the scams more. Because the elderly are always getting the warnings and reminders etc.

Answer 11

The definitly try to target the elderly. My grandmother calls me constantly telling me that someone called her and said she needs to upgrade this, or she won that, or that she needs to send money for the IRS. Luckily I was able to convince her that things that are important enough will come in a certified letter and that she always needs to ask anyone to send the information in the mail and never never ever make an over the phone payment to anyone who has called her. So now she tells them to send a letter in the mail so that her granddaughter can look it over and nothing has ever come. Scammers want to prey on the innocence of our elderly and it breaks my heart.

Answer 12

i don't know if they target the elderly on the basis they've got more time to spare but i get scam calls which purport to be conducting brief surveys every day at exactly the same time. i have used every excuse and now simply say i do not want to be involved.

Answer 13

Phone calls are related to your Life Not your age i get about 10 a day from either begging nobodies or Unknown charities



and emails of similar kind



I only answer the Phone to numbers i recognise and delete stupid emails that start My dear Friend

Answer 14

When at home for the day, I get at least 7 - 10 calls from people doing surveys, asking for money, and scams. I simply hang up.

Answer 15

Some nights I get 2-3 calls from people wanting to clean the ducts or offering Time shares . I just hang up and ignore them .

Answer 16

SCammers call people all the time. Just get a blocking app on your phone and when you go to "settings" check "known scammers", unknown numbers (that means when you can't see the number, and then when they call, as they do sometimes get through, just block them after the phone stops ringing because if you don't recognize the number DON'T ANSWER IT! Good grief it is not that hard!

Answer 17

I got the phony IRS call two times and then I came home the other day and dropped my phone and it no longer works. I had 15 messages on my home phone and all of them were those stupid calls..going to lower my interest and such. . .and I am on the no call list and report the idiots on a regular basis and it does no good.

Answer 18

My elderly mom got a call from someone who claimed to be her grandson. Then, he told her a sob story about being in jail and needing bail money. I notified my sister and she verified that her son was not in jail. However, the scam calls about the "jailed" grandson still kept coming. Its best to ask your phone service provider to tell you how to block calls.

Answer 19

We get some most every day. Yes, we signed up for the "do not call" list but there are so many exceptions allowed that it's nearly useless. We just hang up.

Answer 20

They do seem to target the elderly,sometimes we are just too polite, i tell them to f off and slam the phone down.

Answer 21

The no call list doesn't really work anymore. I just let the phone ring five times; if it doesn't ring after that then it's just a solicitor calling.

Answer 22

I have NOMOROBO.com which is available free to phones using internet protocol. My phone rings only once if it's a robo call, so I ignore it. Check google for more information, and names of recommendations like Consumer Reports.

Answer 23

Some do indeed target the elderly so be aware, beware and take care

Answer 24

The do not call list is joke. I got caller ID and do not pick up unknown numbers. I also have voice mail and let all calls go there if it is someone I know I call them back.

Answer 25

We get them all the time on our cell phones. Just don't answer calls from numbers you don't recognize. Easy peasy.

Answer 26

Those are robo calls, when I get them I don't answer at all. I google all of the numbers that are unrecognized at the end of the day, and 2/3 of them are phonies.

Answer 27

We don't have a land line any more. We use cell phones and still get them occasionally, but not as much.

Answer 28

I average one a week but I am 'elderly' so maybe we are being targeted.

Answer 29

Some days 2 or 3, some weeks none, it is annoying, but I just take it as part of life today.

Answer 30

I get calls as well I stopped answering my phone.

Answer 31

They do target the elderly.

Answer 32

I believe it happens to all of us. Just answer and hang up within 2 seconds. Eventually they give up.

Answer 33

i get them everyday. even at night past 8pm/ got one this morning telling ,e a window guy was on my street putting windows in my neighbors house.. told lady to hang on. I walked outside , nothing going on my street at all, got on phone told her she was a liar and hung up on her.. they are a home nightmare for decent people.

Answer 34

I only use my cell phone and only answer calls from people I know.

Answer 35

yes, but mostly the elderly.



get on the no call list and when they call ask for their name, phone number and tell them you are calling to report them because you are on the no call list.

Answer 36

It happens to all of the age groups

Answer 37

I only had one last. yr. Ask to speak to their mgr., and have them put you on the do not call list. If nothing else, report to the state.

Answer 38

Most people receive them regularly and most of us just hang up on them.

Answer 39

I don't have a landline and get zero telemarketer calls.

Answer 40

Everyone I know gets them.

Answer 41

We had to change our number, and have it unlisted. The problem stopped.

Answer 42

constantly happens now

Answer 43

i have them to, you must hang up on them every time.

Answer 44

its everyone