# What the hell is this call? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339 "2009-05-13T20:36:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/1 "2009-05-13T20:36:27Z")
Lately about once a week, I get a call on the same one of our business lines. Initially there is no answer, but then the sound of a man coughing and then the line immediately disconnects. It’s the same cough everytime. What the hell is this? I also often get calls that hang up the second I answer them. Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/2 "2009-05-13T20:40:42Z")
Sorry, I didn’t realize that was so annoying. I’ll stop. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/3 "2009-05-13T21:02:27Z")
😃 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/4 "2009-05-13T21:03:44Z")
Swine flu! Swine flu! ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/5 "2009-05-13T21:09:03Z")
😛 ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/6 "2009-05-13T22:48:40Z")
Oh, meant to add, the cough is so much the same everytime that it leads me to believe it’s recorded. Like I say, the fuck? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/7 "2009-05-13T22:58:10Z")
Do you have called id? If you do you can have it blocked by the phone company. Sounds like a not particuarly funny practical joke… ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/8 "2009-05-13T23:04:20Z")
I will look into it. Of all the things I remember about this call, the number on the caller ID is not one of them, of course. I should try call return at the very least. We do get lots of calls for the old owners of the four lines we have. This one, I believe, always comes in on one particular line. It’s just the weirdest thing. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/9 "2009-05-14T00:06:16Z")
> [@niblet\_head](#): > > I will look into it. Of all the things I remember about this call, the number on the caller ID is not one of them, of course. I should try call return at the very least. You most definitely should not. I recently got a foreign call on my private cell phone (Which is not listed, by the way.) in the middle of the night that was hung up the moment I answered, and looking up the number showed it to be a pay number costing €20 per minute. Call return is exactly what the insidious bastards are hoping people will do in that situation. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/10 "2009-05-14T00:16:49Z")
In truth, I was at least hoping I’d get the number. I wouldn’t actually call them back. I have little faith, though, as I’d bet that I’d get “the number cannot be reached” kind of bs. ---
**Author:** ![Miscue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@Miscue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miscue)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/11 "2009-05-14T00:22:00Z")
> [@niblet\_head](#): > > I also often get calls that hang up the second I answer them. Huh? I don’t know about the coughing part, but I had a friend who worked in telemarketing tell me that the system they used would dial out to several phone numbers for each telemarketer. Logically, one of those calls would get answered before the others, and when that happened the employee would proceed with that one and the rest would just get dumped. So, if you at home are to answer just slightly behind another person getting called, you may get hung up on. Seems like a waste of leads to me but I guess they’ve determined it’s more efficient. Especially if they’re able to call numbers more than once each. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/12 "2009-05-14T02:04:08Z")
Ah. That makes sense. At home at least, I try not to answer the phone until after three rings. Most telemarketing auto-dialers hang up after three rings. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/13 "2009-05-14T07:10:05Z")
This is just a WAG, but does the word “cough” bear a resemblance to your business’ name? This sounds like a rather juvenile prank if you are, say, in the coffin business. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2009, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-is-this-call/496339/14 "2009-05-14T07:32:11Z")
If you have caller ID you can try to look the number up on a site like [Call Ferret](http://www.callferret.com/) or [800 Notes](http://800notes.com/). I use them to check numbers I find in my caller ID before just blindly calling them back. Often times I have found notes from many others about the same number and its some known telemarketer, phone phishing scam, etc. Or maybe it’s just a local prank caller with a nagging cough… but always worth a look.