That’s fantastic. I wish I had seen the judge’s face. Also, I’m totally stealing the line.
I have found nomorobo to be much more effective than the do not call list. It screens out virtually all robocalls. You still get human telemarketers for charities because they get free telemarketing labor in the form of volunteers but if you ask them not to call, they will stop.
I am only rude to telemarketers that telemarket for police charities, these charities are frequently formed by a couple of retired cops that form a charity and then form a telemarketing company to raise money for the charity for 95% of the proceeds. Its a horrible scam that preys on people who idolize police.
My preferred (and previous) solution:
Get a cell phone.
Don’t set up voice mail.
Set it to silent.
Return missed calls from people you want to talk to.
Unfortunately, there are just too many places won’t keep their communications to texting and email, so I had to set up voice mail.
Also, I don’t have kids. I realize that this necessitates doing things differently.
There’s no point.
The DNC list was a great idea 20 years ago. Nowadays, with caller ID spoofing and cheap IP telephony, it simply means that you never get calls from reputable marketers; you only get calls from scammers.
Look at 800notes.com and similar sites - any number you get called from will show up as a known scammer.
The closest to a “real” number I’ve ever gotten was a recent “Department of Treasury, you’re gonna go to jail” call. I called the number back just for giggles and got an Indian voice saying “Internal Revenue Service, how may I help you?”. That one deserves kudos (or something) for actually having a more elaborate setup. I actually did report that one.
Correction: it’s nomorobo.com.
And yeah - I thought some cell companies could work with Nomorobo but Verizon certainly doesn’t.
T mobile doesn’t support it either. 
Too bad, it looks like a great idea.
Not to sound like a shill, but:
Get an Ooma!
For the $10/mo “premium” service, I get a personal blacklist, a community blacklist, and Nomorobo.
I was away for two weeks, and when I got home there was exactly 1 message waiting.
I used to get 5-6 spam calls/day, now I get fewer than that in a month.
My main strategy these days is to just not answer if I don’t know the number. I push the END button on the home phone if it’s nearby, and no more ringing. I check the voicemail occasionally.
The only thing that can get through would be a local number or a number local to a loved one, but, so far, those haven’t happened. They’ve only gotten the same general area. Sometimes living in smaller towns is a benefit.
We only have a dozen numbers on our block list so I guess hardly any telemarketers know about us. First telemarketer number I put on there was those “Windows” people in case they tried calling again after I practically got them to admit they had no clue about our computers.
We’ve been getting a lot of calls from solar companies, and a couple of weeks ago one of them made the mistake of calling about 9:30 on a Saturday morning. I answered (too far from caller ID to screen), and as soon as the guy started his pitch I started whining: "Hey! It’s Saturday bleeping morning here! Why would you call someone on a Saturday morning? Thanks a big fat heap for waking me up. I don’t want to talk about solar power, I want to sleep. You guys just suck donkey - " [CLICK - he hung up].
I don’t think they’ve called back since the whine fest.
“Unfortunately, Nomorobo is not available on traditional analog landlines or wireless phones at this time.”
Not to T-mobile, Verizon, or any of them – remember that they make money from SPAM calls, robocalls, telemarketer calls, any calls.
Then they make money from selling you services to block these calls.
Then they make money from allowing telemarketers to spoof incoming numbers, to get around your blocks.
Are we seeing a pattern here?
Four calls and counting today alone from these pricks.
Maybe it’s better to just switch numbers every year or two, especially if you’re already not too keen on keeping up with more distant family members.
I’m real lucky. I get a new phone about a month ago and haven’t had a spammer yet. I’ve just added myself to the no-call list, and we’ll se how long the peace and quiet will last.