Constant hang-up calls on landline

[XanaDUer2]

It's driving us crazy. We're on the "Do Not Call" list. We keep getting calls like a man saying, " Is the lady of the house there?. Hello?". My male partner finally answered the phone and told him to stop calling. I use my landline. Sometimes for imp business. I snapped last week with a caller who keeps calling my partner about something and demanded they stop calling everyday.

Can I get their number and call my provider? Lots of hang up calls. They're creeping me out and making me anxious.

Anyone deal with this? I feel like telling them to stop should end it. Is there something we can do? Tia

[billh58]

1. From personal experience

the only "sure fire" method is to change your number and make it unlisted. I know it's painful and a lot of work to notify those you trust, but I've had to do it twice over the years.

[CrispyQ]

2. Mine are not hang-up, but they don't seem to connect to anyone.

They are always 888 or 877 numbers. When I answer, no one responds. Even after I wait for a few moments no on responds when I say Hello. And when I don't pick up it goes to vmail. I get several messages of silence every day. It's driving me crazy!

[Jimbo S]

4. From what I was told

the initiator will dial two numbers simultaneously and talk to the first line to answer and if the second line answers, then will get silence because the caller is still talking to the first person.
More efficient to dial multiple numbers at once.

[zanana1]

9. That's Predictive Dialing.

[Tetrachloride]

3. Change number.

if you can get a phone service which requires an extension , it acts as a password

[abqtommy]

5. I let all unknown numbers go to message. I notice that if a call goes to two rings I

always get a number shown in my caller ID. No message or silence? It's spam but I
have a number and even if it's spoofed I can contact my account at my service
provider's and put that number on my Blocked List.

If I get a message that's obviously a scam I can report it online to our local police
department and I've done that more than once.

Since I've been doing the things I've mentioned I get very few spam/scam calls.

[rurallib]

6. If you have caller ID and you do not recognize the number, do not answer

If it is someone really trying to get ahold of you, they will leave a message.

If you do not have caller ID phones it will be worth it to by some.

We only answer calls we recognize. Others can leave a message and we will return the call if we want.

[AngryOldDem]

11. This.

Plus, if it’s important, folks have my cell number.

[rurallib]

13. Just don't assume calls to a cell are only from friends

I get many crap calls on my cell also.

Same rule applies. If I do not know the caller, no answer - they can leave a message.

[AngryOldDem]

15. Yeah, I do that too.

I get just as many bogus calls on my cell as well.

EDIT — I truly don’t remember the last legit call I had on my landline. Need to seriously look into getting rid of it, I guess.

[Akoto]

7. If it helps, the calls which just straightaway hang up...

... Are often computers testing when you are reliably at home, so that salespeople know when they have best odds of reaching you.

[2naSalit]

8. *86

Used to be how to find out the last number received* back when I had a landline. Otherwise, get a caller ID unit so you can see who is calling so you can chose to answer or not. Just because the phone is ringing does not mean you must answer it. It's not a law yet.

ETA: *The number from which an incoming call was made from.

[AngryOldDem]

10. Yes. All the time.

I had two on my answering machine this week, as a matter of fact. I’ll go for a long time without getting any, and then they swarm.

I have caller ID that pops up on my TV, and if I don’t recognize the number I don’t answer. Do Not Call is a joke because I think there are a lot of ways to get around that. Last weekend, in the space of about two or three hours, I got calls from the same “survey” company. The last one was as late as after 9 p.m. Abuse of a utility? I think so.

I would get rid of my landline, except that it’s bundled with my TV and Internet, and I don’t trust my cable company to not to screw it up and take out all of my service.

EDIT — If you have a lot of time on your hands, google the area codes that come up. A “local sounding” concern could be calling from thousands of miles away. Also google the name that comes up. I had a “bakery” calling me, which did not exist, and the area code was thousands of miles out. Don’t answer, just let it ring through. You answer, and they know they’ve got a live one.

[XanaDUer2]

12. It IS abuse of a utility and harassment

As far as I'm concerned. Especially when you ask them to stop and take you off their list. The man who calls for the lady of the house was told to stop calling, and did again.

If we don't respond the first 50 times, why would we the 51 st time?

Do not call is a joke

[XanaDUer2]

14. The cops just called asking for money nt