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The phone is ringing again. And again. And again A rant about unwanted calls and what one Taylor Countian is doing about it. He directs this piece mainly to seniors Click on headline for complete commentary By Harry Mack This commentary is for those of you that still have land-line phones with caller ID. That usually means most of us seniors, since the younger generations live glued to their cell phones. Seniors are targeted more by rip-off artists, which I call shysters. I was raised in a different part of the country, so that term may not be familiar, but I learned it from my father. It means someone that is trying to get money out of you by deceptive means or pressure. These shysters usually call you starting in the afternoon through the evening. They treat the national do-not-call list as a joke and ignore it completely. The number you see on your caller ID is usually without a name and from a city and/or state that has no one you know living there. The information on the caller ID is usually fake and sometimes they actually use your own name and number to show up. These calls are made by computers, called robot-dialers. They just keep dialing numbers until someone answers. Sometimes, they have a "sucker" list of numbers they use and other times, they just go through every number in and out of the book. That's why those with unlisted numbers sometimes get those calls. If you answer, it may take a minute or two for someone to speak because they have to pick up on their end when the computer tells them that someone has answered. That person may have a foreign accent and you can hear other people talking in the background because they are in a room full of people on phones or headsets. The accents are because, sometimes these calls are made from someplace overseas because labor is much cheaper there. Why are they calling? The answer is plain and simple. They want your money! They don't care about you; they don't want to "save" you money. They don't want to get you better insurance or some great new product. They just want to get your money and they don't care how they do it. Your first tip-off should be the fake caller ID. You could be on the brink of bankruptcy and the loan agencies are kicking down the door to repossess your home and they will still try to get money out of you! What can you do? Well, complaining to the do-not-call list is a waste of time. There isn't much you can do to stop the calling except having your phone removed. About the easiest thing you can do is ignore the phone when the caller ID shows one of those fake numbers and cities. If you have an old fashioned answering machine, like I do, the computer will ignore it and just hang up, except for one. There is one that leaves a recored message and "warns" me that it is my final notice. I must have had that final notice 50 or 100 times already. I wish they would keep their promise. Another thing you can do is get a call blocker. This thing connects into your phone line and blocks any calls that you tell it to. You have to either enter the number or push a button when the call is coming in and ringing. There are several different brands and models of this item out there for sale. I am on my second one. The first one I bought didn't work as well as it should. I am happy with the one I have now. It is a bit more expensive but it does work. I keep a tablet next to my phone and write down each number when they call. If I get a second call from one of those numbers, that's when it goes into the call blocker's memory. After that, if that number calls me, it rings once and is blocked. I hope that sends a message, but if it doesn't, at least the phone doesn't keep ringing. I can not recommend or not recommend a particular brand. All I can do is tell you what I am using now that works for me. I have a CPR Call Blocker(R). If you want to get a blocker, do your research before you buy and get the one you think will work best for you. You can also do the cheaper thing and just not answer any of those shyster calls. One final comment: If you think if you do not buy anything over the phone, it will stop those calls, think again. I am over 65 and have never bought anything over the phone all these years, so that does not work. I don't need anyone telling me that I need to buy something. If I needed it, I would know. Sorry, shysters, I am not that stupid! - Harry This story was posted on 2015-10-12 09:29:06
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