Subject: Info: Nuisance phone calls - Null messages on an Answerphone ?
From: Questioner@
Sender: Questioner@

I append  http://www.berklix.com/~jhs/std/nuisance_phone_calls.txt

Someone asked what to do about nuisance phone calls, &
Null messages on an Answerphone etc.

Standard reply:

Well if it's really only genuine silent callers
  {
  Some clubs have loonies. If you've helped run a club,
  it may be some club looney. 
  
  Been to any shadey singles bars or web sites lately ?
  
  Broken up with anyone lately ?
  I've heard (hearsay, not personally) of lousey blokes, after a girl gave
  them the shove, stick bits of paper in phone boxes
  	"For a good time phone The-Girl's-First-Name 123456"
  Not that some girls wouldn't also be equal to similar nasty tricks.
  
  Sold anyone a dodgey insurance policy or car etc ?  or other grudge match
  club/ business/ personal issues ?  Inadvertently been annoying
  someone who maybe foolishly thinking you must be doing it deliberately ?

  If you'r trying to guess if you might know who may be calling
  you, if it might be a pervert, don't even assume it must be from
  someone of the gender you might prefer as partner, it might also
  be from someone of a sex you don't fancy.

  If there's heavy breathing or dodgey silence, some say blowing a
  whistle tends to put off perverts.  

  Could be a bored kid, maybe in another time zone, playing patterns
  on a keypad, which may explain strange times (I used to get bouts
  of those).  Parents wouldn't even know later from a phone bill,
  if from a flat rate line.
  
  Thieves may try to figure times people are out, to rob a place.
  
  Could be any daft/ weird/ perverted/ bored/ human on the planet.
  }

Genuine Mistakes:
  {
  Not just humans mis-dial: Sometimes a memory phone can dial the
  wrong number, (one of mine did on one button).
  
  Sometimes phone exchanges mis-route.

  Sometimes humans genuinely dial the wrong number
    Then you answer, & They hang up 'cos it's not their friends
    voice, Then they quickly dial your number again without bothering
    to check, (from their same number, as shown on my PC+ISDN
    identifying screen), & again you answer with you name or number
    or even just Hallo & they hang up silently Again.

    The solution to these wasters after a repeat, is:
      Pick up the phone & say _Absolutely Nothing_ This forces
      caller to speak first, with their name & in their language.
      Then You have the pleasure of hanging up silently on them for
      a change. You also get a clue what nationality they are from
      their words & accent. (Rarely mine or host country's, usually
      some other 3rd language, likely 3rd country nationals are too
      challenged to say Sorry in either English or German).  After
      a few more silent answers these numb skulls finally start to
      think, check their number & they don't call you again.

      Don't worry about missing calls from real friends or
      businesses, they invariably say in some language you understand
      "Hallo, is that Your_Name or Your_Company"

  Sometimes business people just type wrong number into a data base
  or fax machine, & computer automated calling does the rest (OK,
  they're not silent so you'll know from a fax/modem tone)
  
  Any PC with a modem call unit may run amok.
  }

Phone Sales / Phone Spam / Sometimes semi robotised initial call
  Yes it does make sense for sellers to make you silent calls ! ...
  {
  Phone robots may be trying silent calls at different times of
  day, to figure when you are in, before compiling lists for human
  sellers of products/ services.  If they are on a flat rate tarif,
  they won't care how many calls they make, annoying us all even more.

  Why might someone Not speak to you ? Why might there be silence ?
    If from a call centre, human callers wouldn't make personal calls
    one at a time, then wait idle while it rings & answers.  They'd have
    a computer calling lots of numbers, & waiting until/ if answered,
    to hand to a queue of waiting human sales staff, occasionally the
    queue of sellers would run out, all busy, as a few called people
    would answer close together  & there'd be a short wait before a human came
    available to sell you their product.
    They're on flat rate probably, you'r waiting, why would they hang up,
    they might (or not) only after some seconds switch a robot announcer on,
    to keep you on the line.

  If you answer any of their questions, they'll more likely sell
  or cross trade your number in a list of "live suckers" to other
  associate marketers.  (Just as if you answer/ click on a spam
  email web ref., they may sell your email address to other spammers
  as a live contact).
  
  Sometime it's robot dialer "you've won a million" scams.
  As of late 2011 there was a spate of "Buy cheap Italian food" calls,
  in German language, but coming from Italy.
  }

Identifying Your Caller:
  {
  Caller ID on reception costs a few pounds more per month in Britain.
  & is available on Analogue lines, does Not need to be ISDN.
  
  Deutsche Telekom sell phones with caller ID display, (certainly for ISDN).
  
  Whether number remains recorded after caller finishes would depend on
  exchange & phone.  British Telecom exchanges can show last
  number that called you.
  
  Some people have a permanent record 'cos ISDN PBX (English) =
  TK-Anlage (German) = Local Call Office (American) keeps a permanent
  log a PC can display,
  
  (Some German logs tend to have last digits suppressed by German law)

  My phone system shows the caller name "SPAMMER" on my PC screen as it rings.
  Done with a combination of ISDN card & BSD, If you want that:
	I am a Computer Consultant http://www.berklix.com/jhs/cv/
  	I've contributed the source code to public domain software.
  	http://www.berklix.com/free/
  }
  
Ex Directory
  { 
  Even being ex-directory doesn't stop it, though must reduce it.  I
  get occasional calls even to my fax numbers, that aren't faxes.
  Even to my unpublished 2nd fax no.

  Some scam companies have phoned various numbers that were never
  published, I guess random dialling, or maybe someone in phone
  company sold numbers.

  }

Remedies:
  {
  If it becomes persistent, report to police, phone company,
  &/or change phone number.  Modern phone exchanges allow a lot
  easier trace back of criminals, pervert etc calls than old exchanges
  used to provide.
  }

Don't Just Hang Up, Waste A Spam Sellers Time, To Your Advantage & Pleasure ;-)
  {
  They interrupted you, calling you to the phone, 
  that cost you time & concentration. They owe you - Make them pay :
    {
    Reduce their sales per hour, tie up their phone lines !  If
    you'r lucky they'll mark your number on their computer as wasting
    Their time, so they & their waster associate firms will note not to
    call you again.  Isn't that an incentive to waste Their time ?
    
    eg Say
    	"Wait A Minute!"
    Do Not listen to their reply. Just put phone down on desk.
    Wait a bit, then say
    	"Hang on I'll get the wife/ husband/ phone owner!"
    Do Not listen to reply, Wait a bit
    	"Hang on, he/she's coming !"
    ...
    	"Just A Minute !"
    ...
    	"Hold On !"

    A handkerchief on the desk nicely muffles the phone speaker
    while you work & they wait ;-)

    Eventually, they'll hang up, later your phone may long loud
    beep [presumably from the exchange] indicating you should hang
    up too.  Doesn't matter if you'r out of the room & don't hear it,
    The phone will work after you put handset back for a short while.
    }
  If enough of us do this it might drive a lot of phone seller wasters out
  of business, & before then they would learn to mark & share those numbers not
  worth calling, cos they wasted their time too.
    {
    Email spammers buy lists from wholesalers, & get rebates on new
    updates, if they send in feedback on dead & alive addresses.
    One assume some phone spammers will do similar: If you
    waste a phone spammers time, they may do you the favour of
    marking your number as not worth calling again.  If you'r lucky,
    the phone spammer may sell your number back to a phone spam
    wholesaler as "Black list of numbers to be removed from spam list."
    }
  }

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