This is not the best idea, when you answer they know it's a live number. Your number will be sold and before long you'll get even more spam calls.
I love the feature on my phone that identifies and blocks spam calls automatically
Not a real option for me, unfortunately. I have kids, which necessitates picking up any old number in case one of my kids lost their phone and are trying to get hold of me by borrowing from a stranger.
Yes. They have it memorized. Me and their mom and each others'. I'm not talking about a theoretical scenario here. This happens constantly - usually due to them running out of battery.
Not very popular today, but I would recommend a dumb phone, the battery can last weeks with the additional benefit of not making the owner dumber (the smart/dumb phone names should be reversed IMO).
I get a particular spam call at least once a day. I recently tried answering, setting my phone under a pot, and banging the fuck out of it with a spoon. Modern phones must suppress sudden loud sounds though because all I got was, “I think you’re breaking up, is anyone there?” Highly disappointing.
Play the SIT intercept sound to them.
You know.. the beeps with the message that says the line is no longer in service, etc.
Is they're using an automated dialer, it'll recognize the beeps, and odds are your number will be automatically purged from their list for a while.
A majority of the time, they require you to speak to a robot for a minute to get at an actual human being. Not to mention there’s a 50/50 shot that you’d be wasting the time of a slave held prisoner under threat of death. Unfortunately, there’s no perfect answer to this, aside from massive and immediate police and telecom action. However, I sincerely doubt that either will happen.
That might be the case, though often it is young people voluntarily looking for some easy money.
But either way, it's not right what they do and every minute I take of their time is a minute they don't spend scamming a more gullible person who does not deserve their savings stolen.