Just Don't Answer the Phone

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Yesterday, I read a lengthy government warning about not falling for scams being portrayed over the phone in a "believable manner".

(Clearly a relative term!)

The case study involved a middle-aged (not elderly) lady who answered a call from a guy who told her that he was from Apple, that they'd ascertained that her iMac was infected by a deadly virus and they needed online access to remove it.

She was in the process of giving them access when her daughter walked in, realized what was happening and fortunately shut the process down.

But what I don't understand is why she answered the phone in the first place.

My phone's contact list contains all my family, friends and business colleague's details, so if a call comes in that doesn't display any of their names, the chances that it's someone I want to talk to is pretty much zero.

I just don't answer them.

They never leave a voice mail (unless it's one of those robotic voices "from the tax office" which just make me fall about laughing) so that verifies that it was just a scam.

I probably get about 3 a day.

Surely I'm not the only one who just ignores them?

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Recent Comments

118

Good morning Phil,

Thank you for your blog post, it's appreciated.

I know where you are coming from, Phil; however, I have to answer my phone as many of the calls are connected with my offline business. Here in the UK, I notice that a lot more businesses and scammers are using mobile numbers to contact people.

To be fair, I don't get too many scam calls, the majority of the calls are from people who require my services. My Samsung phone also alerts me about scammers, however, I have to be careful as sometimes it is a genuine number and potential customer!

Have a great Sunday.

Roy

Thanks, Roy. Yes, it's difficult when you can have business calls from unknown numbers.

Thank you for your reply, Phil, it's appreciated.

I probably should have added that if I wasn't using the phone for business I wouldn't take calls from unknown numbers, I would let the person leave a message.

A very happy Sunday to you.

Roy

This is an excellent post, Phil,
I can see where you are coming from "why answer the phone" if you don't know who it is.
I will live by that motto now, and my phone tells me if it is a scam when I get a Phone call as we...

Thank you for sharing such valuable information.

Elke

Thanks, Elke. Glad you'll be doing this.

I don't answer them at all, Phil - especially if there's no caller-id.

Now I have had instances where an unknown number has called me and I didn't answer, and then I receive a follow-up text that it's actually a real person or acquaintance that I know, who's call I just missed. Then I add them to my contacts.

Isaiah 😊

That's the sensible way to do it, Isaiah.

I answer because it could be a new customer calling about my business, although I'm leery of outside area codes I don't recognize. My Android phone will sometimes inform me a caller "might" be spam, in which case I just hang up.

In some cases where I believe it's a spam call but my phone hasn't stated such, I have a feature to allow Google to answer the phone for me, and whenever I do this, they've always hung up instead of responding.

I had one of those supposed computer tech guys call me several years ago, the first thing that gave it away as a scam call was the accent... You know, the ones that sound like the convenience store owner on the Simpson's, "Good day, come again!"

Anyway, this guy proceeded to tell me my computer was infected with a virus and that he needed access to fix it, etc. I asked him how he knew that information about my computer, and he said he could detect it through my internet connection. I knew this was what he would say, and I had a reason for asking him that. At the time, my computer was broken and I couldn't afford to fix it or buy a new one, and it had been this way for at least a year. So, when he told me he could tell I had a virus through my internet connection, I said, "Well, that's very interesting, since my computer hasn't been turned on or connected to the internet in over a year!"

He hung up and hasn't called since. 🤣

I have to answer some, but I'm very hip to the scam callers.

Unfortunately, some people answer these scammers with what I describe as "shut up and take my money!"

Indeed, I'm sure your post will help.

I doubt it. They simply don't read any of the warnings. I'm talking about the general population, not WA members.

I usually don't answer any calls without caller-ID or unknown to me. But in Holland, hospitals and doctors call you without caller-ID (which is ridiculous, I am sure it is possible to display the hospital's name without revealing the number, but they just can't be bothered with it I guess).
I am currently on a waiting list for surgery, so I tend to answer anonymous calls at the moment. Last week, 5 out of 7 calls were suspicious, and 2 were from the hospital.
I keep on complaining to the hospital, hoping this will make them change their policy.

I agree when hospitals and other organizations hide their numbers. It's a total lack of common sense. At least they are likely to leave a voice mail if you don't answer.

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