# Annoying Phone Callers - Investigative Techniques

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-phone-callers-investigative-techniques/915620>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 17, 2020, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-phone-callers-investigative-techniques/915620 "2020-07-17T23:10:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Mr\_BinJu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@Mr\_BinJu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_BinJu)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-phone-callers-investigative-techniques/915620/21 "2020-07-24T09:16:35Z")

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They usually use someone else’s number. For instance one day I got a couple calls from people I never heard of and they told me I called them to talk about winning a radio contest. They didnt believe me or didnt care.

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**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-phone-callers-investigative-techniques/915620/22 "2020-07-24T15:55:36Z")

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Is there a follow up video anywhere of those duct cleaners showing up?

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**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-phone-callers-investigative-techniques/915620/23 "2020-07-24T18:49:35Z")

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My iPhone (and I suspect many other phone models) has a setting that silences all calls from any number not on my contact list. I love love _love_ this feature. If it happens to be a legit caller, they are still free to leave a voice mail, but 99% of the time they do not.

I know I’m a drop in the proverbial bucket, but if everybody just stopped answering calls from unknown numbers, it would no longer be worth the scammers’ time to make them.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-phone-callers-investigative-techniques/915620/24 "2020-07-24T20:24:51Z")

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I also have my iPhone set to not ring for numbers not in my contacts, sending them straight to voicemail. It is great!

I also have my voicemail set up so I can read the messages. Voice to Text has come a long way, transcriptions are usually correct.

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**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/annoying-phone-callers-investigative-techniques/915620/25 "2020-07-25T03:55:09Z")

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I usually don’t answer in English or Spanish with _hello_ or _hola_. I go with _guten tag_ or _jawohl_. Messes up robo dialers. Real callers either hang up or start with their message.

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