I keep ‘getting faxes’. I don’t actually get the faxes, because I don’t own a fax machine. I’ve never owned a fax machine. I’ve never given anyone my fax number, because I’ve never had a fax number. And yet my answering machine plays me the ‘beep… beep… beep…’ of someone trying to send me a fax. The calls come in groups of two or three. A few weeks ago I went to bed late and had to get up early the following morning. Just drifted off to sleep, and after midnight I received two or three of these fax attempts. Now, I’ve had the dreaded ‘midnight phone call’ --someone calling to say someone is in hospital – more than once. It’s a bit distressing to me when the phone rings in the middle of the night. I hate it. This morning I was pleasantly asleep and got another pair of these annoying calls.
I’ve tried picking up the phone (if I’m near it and I’m awake) and shouting that I don’t have a fax machine. If it’s a person sending the fax, then there’s a chance they’ll hear me. Obviously this didnt work. I’m tempted to buy a fax machine just so I can find out who these farging iceholes are and send them an endless loop of black pages.
So how do I stop these annoying, unsolicited calls?
Obviously, you have a computer. Get some freeware fax software and hook up your PC to intercept the faxes. With any luck, the fax phone number on the header line will be accurate, and you can fax them back. You can also use the per-call Call Block feature that many phone services offer. In most cases, it is activated by dialing *60 after receiving a call from a number you wish to block, but may be different for your carrier. To use it, you typically hang the phone up after the call, pick the phone up again, then dial *60 and follow the IVR menu.
This happened to me about 3 years ago. I finally got so pissed that I hooked up an old fax machine just so I could receive the fax and see what the hell it was. Turns out it was a junk fax - like spam for fax machines. It’s illegal, but somehow that never seems to make a difference. If you can receive the fax somehow, and it turns out it is a junk fax, this may help.
why not just dial *69? Get the number call it. It may not be a dedicated fax line. I had the same problem a couple years ago. When I called, the guy said it couldn’t have been his phone, because that line was his computer’s fax/modem line. :dubious: Huh? Then he said… oh.
This is getting even more annoying than it was before. Three fax attempts. At 3:00 in the fucking morning! :mad: And this after going to bed at midnight. Took an hour to fall asleep again. And just to make sure I didn’t get any sleep, another one at 0630. Mother humper! And to make things worse, my answerphone won’t delete messages until they’ve been played.
pestie: Thanks for the link. I may get a fax machine (I do need one, actually) and try to get to these people.
picunurse: *69 doesn’t work for me. Seems that everyone who calls is un-*69-able. Either they’re ‘out of the service area’, or their numbers are blocked, or there’s another reason. Last I heard it costs 75¢ whether it works or not, so I’ve given up trying it.
Q.E.D.: I really hate downloading things onto my computer. Too dangerous nowadays, even with my antivirus software. The *60 thing sounds intriguing, but how does it work? If a number is unavailable, does it not work? Or does it block every callwith am undisclosed number? (Some friends and family have undisclosed numbers.)
How long have you had the phone number? I have had my second business line for almost two years, and I still get regular calls for the people that used to have it. I finally decided to use it as a dedicated fax line. People hear the fax tone when it answers, and send me a fax instead of thinking, gee, maybe this isn’t a car dealership anymore. It used to be the primary number for the dealership three years ago. They never used it as a fax (I asked). I get car-related junk faxes regularly, and it often takes three or more calls to get me off their list.
Hmm, at that time of day, is it possible the faxes are international? This might account for *69 not working as well.
I used to work for a company and frequently used the fax to communicate with Japan. With the time zone differences and language/accent problems it was the easiest way.
When this has happened to me in the past, I call up my phone company and say I’m getting harrassing calls. They’ve enabled a ‘security trace’ so that after I get the annoying call, I hit *something or other and the company keeps a log. After 3 or 4 I call back their security office, they check the numbers (since I have no idea who called) and if it’s the same company, they start a police file for phone harassment-- and block the number to boot.