Do You Cringe When The Phone Rings?

I know that sounds like a weird questions,

but is it?

In today's world most have phones on them all the time.

The invention of the "cell" phone is looked at as a blessing and a curse.

They try and make new laws, such as, the "Do Not Call" list etc, 

but does it work?

Simply...NO!

If you call a 1-800 number or enter a contest, were/are a customer, they have the right to call.

Religious and other charities also are exempt from this rule.

Worse yet if you are Canadian, you are mandated to participate in phone surveys by the government.

The last one I know from experience.

I got calls from a number I did not know, so was not answering them.

After a while (the calls never stopped) 

I found a letter on my apartment door (I live in a secure building).

The envelope said that I was chosen to do a 6 month census on working.

It also said that I had no choice in the matter, it was mandatory,

and I was legally obliged to do it (even if I didn't work!)

So for 6 months I had to answer their questions on the phone once a month 

and give them the information they required.

Stupid.

Anyways this is not what this post is about.

This is about crank and spam calls.

Everyone gets them.

People asking for donations or trying to sell something.

Of course there is the people trying to scam you,

Hay you won money or a relative died, all we need is you to send us

$$$ and we will send you money back.

Sadly people fall for this.

Now they have "Windows people" calling telling you your PC is downloading

to much and that it has a virus!

Yep people fall for it!

Yea Microsoft is going to call you, you are that important!

Give me a break.  At least 7 different numbers have called my regular phone.

Each time I tell them I am reporting them, and I do, every time.

Last time got smart, let them talk for at least a minute, 

long enough for a good trace.

The number on my phone said 6-137-010-5010.

Will keep doing that every time they call

 (if they are stupid enough to waste their time on me).

Still not the point of this post.  

The point is calls coming from out of the country to my cell phone.

I report all spam or dead air calls to my carrier and on line at 800notes,

 White Pages (for American phone calls) and White Pages for Canadian numbers.  

You can also do a reverse phone # look up on the white pages sites.

Will give you carrier of last time the phone number was legally used and the location.

You will be given the option to report the number, do it.

In the last three days I have been receiving calls to my new phone (one I got for a friend).

The first one actually said

 "Don't hang up, I have your plate number and know where you are 

right now."

This number was 607-724-9716, a Verizon number from the USA.

Today got 3 different calls Monday night(tonight), 

one minute apart, from three different phone numbers.

2 were AMERITECH:

630-933-9463 and

618-462-3632.

And the third was also a Verizon number

914-271-9628.

I have a plan that has unlimited calling,

I feel sorry for those who get these kind of calls and have 

a limited amount of  call time.

Sure it is easy to not answer,

 but sometimes you don't think twice when answering the phone.

Now I no longer answer an out of country call or any call with unknown name, 

or  private number.  If I can not see a phone number, no chance I am answering it.

Even says that on my voice message!

With today's technology you would think that there would be a way to stop these calls.

I mean some of these numbers have been in use a long time.

800notes.com proves that.

Can't they write a program? Maybe one that they can add phone numbers too, 

and trace the location and/or stop the number from calling anyone.

Maybe make it mandatory to have a registered phone number to call anywhere.

No more throw away phones.

Make it so if a number can not be traced to a owner than it can not make a phone call.

Maybe they need to find a more secure way to use internet calling, 

something tells me a lot of these calls are coming from people using the internet. 

Call your phone company and ask it they have a trace number 

you can use right after you receive a unwanted call.

I know my phone company does.  I use it after every call I get that is a scam or dead air.

Use it when you get one of these calls.

Record the number and register it on 800notes and the WhitePages USA and WhitePages CANADA.

Also put it on any other site you find.

Maybe if everyone starts complaining and reporting these call, blocking these calls, 

one day the phone companies will realize that they need to do something, 

that governments and police agencies will make laws they can enforce

to stop these people.

One way the phone companies could help us would allow every phone, 

land-line and cell, unlimited block list.

If they keep getting blocked maybe they will give up.

Next time you get one of these calls think of this:

The next person they call may be a senior or someone who does not realize

that they are scammers.  These people may lose money they can't afford to lose.  

Not everyone is smart enough to realize they are being cheated.

The sad part about many of these phone scams?

These same people who ripped someone off will call that person back

a few months later claiming they took over the company and realize that the

old owners were ripping people off.

Than say for a fee we can straighten everything out and have your money returned

plus the money originally offered.

This will be repeated as long as they think they can get away with it.

So please report all phone calls, warn those you know not to fall for any of the scams out there.

Do not ever send money to get money or a car etc.

Do  not go to your computer, sign on to it 

and give permission for anyone to remotely access your computer 

to 'fix' or 'check' it.

Never give personal information out over the phone,

no credit card number, passwords, social security number,

social insurance number and do not answer personal questions of any kind unless you

know exactly who you are talking too.

Phones are the easiest way to steal.

A little information can go a long way for a criminal. 

So be careful!

Well I have to go,

lots of things to do yet.

Talk to you all soon!

Alice M (Aj)