Scam and Phishbusters → Re: [Scam] Card Services relentless phone calls revisited

My take on it is that turnabout is fair play. Do a google search. There are lots of free "callerID" programs out there that take it a step further and allow you to "zap" these calls. I use one called "Phone Tray". As long as your computer remains on, you can program it to play multiple messages in response to specific numbers. You can track the numbers, have it show on your computer caller ID as "Cruise Scam" or "Credit Card Scam", and have it automatically play a SIT tone message or no telemarketing message, etc. phonetray.com and others are out there. Turnabout is fair play.

I didn't spend $$$ on phonetray, and yes, it works for me. I don't have to waste my time. I have it set to answer these calls after one ring, play a variety of messages back at them, then disconnect. Also know what the SIT tone is. phonetray will reproduce it, then disconnect the call.

Either way, they usually get the message and stop calling.

I really shouldn't tempt fate, but the silent treatment seems to have worked for me. After sticking with that approach I have not received a credit card services call in months. I still do the silent treatment on the rare occasion when I see a number or entity I don't recognize showing up on caller ID. Hah! Screw 'em if they won't start the conversation.

I do like the SIT tone trick though, and grabbed the clean wav file recording to put at the beginning of my answering machine message. I figure it couldn't hurt with the onslaught of political calls that are about to start ringing phones off the hook relentlessly. Thanks for the link to the "Telephone Tribute" site!

Ender

if you set this up, post back how it's working out for you. If get the recording level right, you will note right away the robo calls will disconnect upon hearing the tone (getting deleted out the the bank may take more than one call though... although it's possible it might be due to my recording quality not the exact pitch or they have a set limit to try again, don't know).

I'd be curious to hear how you did.
-Jim

I finally got around to installing the SIT tone at the beginning of my answering machine's message. We simply don't answer any numbers that we don't recognize and let the machine take them. The robo calls click off immediately following the tone. Puzzled people who don't know my voice mumble and hang up. Our friends and family aren't sure what to make of it, but it amuses me. The message I installed is at the link below. Great fun, eh?

Sure, help yourself! It really seems to work well, so thanks for the idea.

With the onset of the "political robo-call season" I'm looking forward to hearing the auto-bot robo-callers hangup each time they hear the SIT tone.