# Telephone Harrassment **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 30, 2002, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848 "2002-03-30T01:14:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/1 "2002-03-30T01:14:42Z")
Every evening I receive 3-5 annoying hang-up calls. You pick up the phone and there’s dead silence. Hello? Hello? Hello? Until usually I or the caller disconnects. Now I realize these are computer-dialed telemarketing calls, where the computer continually dials phone numbers, and when I pick up, if there’s no “agent” available, I get the silent treatment/hangup. My roommate called the phone company tonight to complain. He was told our options were: 1)Sign up for a free month of caller ID 2)File a police report, and then request a “call trace” for each call, at $4.00 a pop Not sure what #1 would accomplish, since I’m guessing the name/number displayed would be some generic/bogus thing. As for #2, why should I have to pay $4 for each call? Are my local police going to actually do anything about this? Not. What I don’t get is, if I repeatedly called a neighbor or a stranger and said nothing and/or hung up, I could be charged with harrassment and face legal penalties, up to and including, IIRC, jail time. So why are corporations allowed to get away with this crap, via their farkin computers? Any Dopers have any suggestions on how to deal with this crap? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/2 "2002-03-30T01:46:24Z")
Write to: Direct Marketing Associates Telephone Preference Service PO Box 9014 Farmingdale NY 11735 and state that you want your TN removed from lists that are sold to telemarketers. It’s a slow process but it will gradually reduce these calls. Or have your TN changed and make in non-published. I work for a local phone company and we don’t charge for call tracing, so I don’t know where your company gets off charging four bucks a CALL?!? You might want to call your state’s Public Service Commission and see if that’s even legal. If you do get Caller ID (which I loathe with a passion even though it’s a cash cow for my company) it will display most of those telemarketer calls as “unavailable” so you can sort of screen them that way. If you get an actual person, get the name of the company they’re calling from and instruct them to remove you from their calling list. Check with your state to see if it has a “do not call” list. Wisconsin just passed a do not call law this year and practically the whole state is foaming at the mouth to get on the list. If your state doesn’t have one, write your legislators and ask them to pass one. And don’t say “hello” more than once. These computers will connect the call to the first person who says “hello” twice, so say it once, and if no one responds in five seconds or whatever, hang up. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/3 "2002-03-30T01:52:37Z")
Unavailable doesn’t always mean a telemarketer or what have you. For example, when I would get calls from professors at campus, the number would be unavailable. Weird, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/4 "2002-03-30T02:31:15Z")
I agree with **Otto** about the unlisted number. It costs more, and is more inconvenient, but I had an unlisted number for 10 years, and probably got one telemarketing call a year. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/5 "2002-03-30T02:32:42Z")
Sorry, I didn’t read closely enough. **Otto** is right about un-PUBLISHED numbers - ask for yours to be unlisted AND unpublished - this distinction is important. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/6 "2002-03-30T02:39:24Z")
3-5 per night? Kid’s stuff. We get about 10 a night. This is what kills me, though - they have a new strategy in which they’ll act like they’re a friend of ours, and actually talk into the message. I’ll see that it’s “unknown name, unknown number”, so I’ll let the machine pick up. Then I’ll get: “Hello? Hello?” or “Hello, Mr. Dooku? Mrs. Dooku? Are you there?” Cracks me up. Does anyone know anything about the [TeleZapper](http://tele-zapper.telezapper-as-seen-on-tv.com/)? It’s supposed to automatically send a signal back to the main computer and delete your number from their database. I’m a little skeptical, though… ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/7 "2002-03-30T04:33:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*Write to: > > Direct Marketing Associates > Telephone Preference Service > PO Box 9014 > Farmingdale NY 11735\*\* Thanks Otto for the advice. I’ve read about this before, but never got around to actually doing it. I’ll give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![emmy66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85f322/32.png) [@emmy66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmy66)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/8 "2002-03-30T04:56:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dooku \* > > This is what kills me, though - they have a new strategy in which they’ll act like they’re a friend of ours, and actually talk into the message. I’ll see that it’s “unknown name, unknown number”, so I’ll let the machine pick up. Then I’ll get: “Hello? Hello?” or “Hello, Mr. Dooku? Mrs. Dooku? Are you there?” Cracks me up. I got one of those yesterday. The phone rings, the machine answers, dead air, and then hangs up. Happened 5 times in 3 hours. Finally it rings a last time, and the telemarketer goes “Hello? HELLO?” I dialed \*69 and Verizon says “number unavailable.” > [@](#): > > Does anyone know anything about the [TeleZapper](http://tele-zapper.telezapper-as-seen-on-tv.com/)? It’s supposed to automatically send a signal back to the main computer and delete your number from their database. I’m a little skeptical, though… I wouldn’t waste my money. You can record the same signal to playback on your answering machine for far less money. Besides, they only work on telemarketing systems that only dial one number at a time, rather than 6 or so and answer the first phone that picks up. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/9 "2002-03-30T04:56:50Z")
My home number is unlisted, and my home phone is not plugged in anyway. My work numbers run through a couple of staffers first. That has pretty much solved it. ---
**Author:** ![KarmaComa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@KarmaComa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarmaComa)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/10 "2002-03-30T05:19:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muffin \* > \*\*My home number is unlisted, and my home phone is not plugged in anyway. My work numbers run through a couple of staffers first. That has pretty much solved it. \*\* Your home phone… isn’t plugged in? Why do you even have one then? The TeleZapper reminds me of ‘_telezappeur_’, which is French (or at least Quebecois) for remote control… my high school French teacher used to say it with a really hammy accent. Me: Hello?..Hello? TeleCrappeur: Hello? Me: Click. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/11 "2002-03-30T08:31:29Z")
My personel solution? Get your computer on to a phone line and then do what Dopers do best—stay on the computer 24/7! NO ONE can get through! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Venoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@Venoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venoma)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/12 "2002-03-30T12:35:14Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by milroyj \* > \*\* As for #2, why should I have to pay $4 for each call?_\* Here, the local telco charges $5/trace at a MAXIMUM of $10/month. There might be a similar stipulation for your telco. I believe ours also alerts the authorities immediatly to prevent frivolous use. (Don’t ask me!) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2002, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/13 "2002-03-30T13:26:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KarmaComa \* > **Your home phone… isn’t plugged in? Why do you even have one then?** I have one available to plug in so that I can call out and so that I can take pre-scheduled calls. ---
**Author:** ![sj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@sj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sj2)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/14 "2002-05-16T21:57:04Z")
I posted this on another TM thread…but it does work. Tell them you are on a cell phone. They hang up immediately. I usually yell into the phone after the first hello: Hello? Hello? Are you there? I’m in the car. My girlfriend gets a big kick out of seeing me do this while I’m sitting on the couch! ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/15 "2002-05-17T17:08:00Z")
We have two phones in the house, one for the computer and my husband’s business, and the home phone. One night I got two calls, on on the business line and one on the home line, both from the same guy for the same thing, some security system. I was in no mood to deal with him, so when he called the second time I told him to put the number on the Do Not Call list. One of these days I’ll ask the TM, “Tell me, when you were a child, was your dream to be a telemarketer when you grew up?” That should make a couple of them cry… ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/16 "2002-05-17T17:16:05Z")
If a man answers, hang up. Anyone gonna get that? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/17 "2002-05-17T17:40:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Apricot \* > \*\*If a man answers, hang up. > Anyone gonna get that? \*\* Sandra whatsher name and Bobby Darrin movie? he’s a photographer, she’s his wife, her mom is French? right? ---
**Author:** ![pezpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@pezpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezpunk)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telephone-harrassment/100848/18 "2002-05-17T18:20:45Z")
Just screen your calls with an answering machine. Thats what we do. Not only do we not have to talk to telemarketers but we can also avoid ANYBODY we don’t feel like talking to.