I’ve heard these wrong number scams are used to probe for an active phone number
Basically they’re fishing for a “sorry I think you have the wrong number” to confirm or deny that there is a human on the other side so they don’t waste resources spamming inactive phone numbers
Anyways this is still really funny tho
Exactly why you shouldn’t press the hang up button when unknown caller happens. Just mute the call and let it ring out in silence. Don’t press the voicemail button either to send them straight there. It’s like social media, any interaction is a positive for their bot system and the only way to avoid making things worse is to not interact at all.
There’s an even better way to handle spam calls if you have a recent Android phone: use the automated call screening. Every time robocallers hang up immediately before saying a single word because they know if the person flags the call as spam then Google now has a recording to automatically flag future calls even if they spoof new phone numbers.
Don’t fax machines directly initiate the handshake?
I remember being screamed at by angry modem noises in ancient times when calling a fax number.
All of them are to probe for active numbers. Calls and texts. The best thing you can do is ignore them. For calls, don’t pick up, don’t hang up. Even ending the call early let’s them know your line is live.
Just ignore them and their system will mark your line as dead. I get maybe one or two calls a month now.
Sometimes when I have to answer a call from an unknown number, I’ll pick up but won’t say anything. A human will say something when they hear it stop ringing, but most bots listen for voice activity before they start their recording so they’ll just stay silent as long as you do.
In a similar vein, there is unsolicited calls from call center that dial your number automatically. If you picked up and say “Hello?” they register the sound and connect you with an agent. So I picked up my phone and stay silent every time I got a call from a unknown number. Quite enough that ends up by being hang up after 5 or 10 seconds. Actual people say “hello?” first when we don’t.
Right, but why pick up the phone at all? Simply answering marks you down on their list as an active number even if you don’t say anything. Even turning down the call is enough to let them know there’s a human on the other end. I’ve heard the best thing to do is let it ring so they think its dead.
At least that’s my assumption. So maybe I’m wrong (though the part about letting it ring out is true, I believe)
but why pick up the phone at all?
Because sometimes it’s someone actually calling for you
That happens mostly with phone calls, doesn’t it? They call you and if you pick up, they know it’s and active number. I’ve picket up a phone call or two that immediately hung up on me and I immediately realised I had to expect a couple scam calls or texts I’m the coming weeks.
Yeah this is why I don’t respond. Immediately marked as spam and number blocked.
Now there was a (very brief lol) period of time where I got a few Trump fundraising texts (my guess is someone put in my number as a joke or out of malice). They stopped coming after I replied with dick pics lol
