I’ve stopped answering my phone

The more you answer the more you will get, you will be known as somebody that answers the phone and your details will be sold on.

Any time your number is added to applications, social media, online shopping etc it will get sold on.

I never get any of these 'crap' phone calls on my mobile phone and very few on my landline.

I do not have anything activated on my mobile or landline phone to limit them or block them.

Snap.
I only have a mobile, don't need landline too. 😃

We have no mobile reception unless we go to the bottom of the garden so a landline is essential.

We have call guardian from BT they screen all calls and people havew to say who is calling and I can accept deny or ask them to leave a message .Never havew unwanted calls . DH would love to get rid of the landline but I hate using my mobile and often leave it off .

www.telstra.com.au/accessories/home-phone-handsets/telstra/call-guardian-gen3

here you go, OP.
i'm guessing other makes are also available down under.

Thanks welbeck. I was actually meaning mobiles because no one rings our handset except our daughters. What I am now doing is listing the calls and then pressing the ‘block this call’ button if it is the same number. They do change numbers- who do I know in Karratha? There must be some individual there paid to make such calls. Im not even sure where it is - WA?

I had a call earlier today from a number I didn’t recognise. I didn’t answer, and no message was left. I then put it into
“Who called me?” and it was shown to be a number used for fraudulent purposes.

I have a blocking mechanism on my landline with a "white" list and only number on that can come straight through. I do google missed calls but its usually a scam of some kind. If its a genuine business I can call them back.

EE does block a fair amound of calls to my mobile as potential spam.

I quite like to chat to some of those who call me from unknown numbers. I ask about the weather and how their day is going. We can have quite a long chat about what they want me to buy but I always say no in the end. If they want to waste my time, I’ll waste theirs.

GrannyRose15

I quite like to chat to some of those who call me from unknown numbers. I ask about the weather and how their day is going. We can have quite a long chat about what they want me to buy but I always say no in the end. If they want to waste my time, I’ll waste theirs.

What if they are scamners and the pleasant chat is to make you drop your guard?
A few years ago, my neighbour foolishly gave her pin number and access to her bank account.

I'm fed up answering the phone .
My father used to yell PHONE at me all day long - phone being my mobile as well as the landline .
Or DOOR .
He stopped eventually .

I've got rid of the landline and block the cold calls on my mobile .

I've asked my friends to text or WhatsApp me .
We rarely chat on the phone .

The elderly ladies , that I visit still phone me on their landlines and I always call them back immediately I case there is an emergency .
Usually , they are bored and lonely .
They like pretty cards and letters especially when accompanied by flowers and / or chocolates !

I'm another one who has ditched the landline. It had become completely redundant except for scammers. My voicemail msg on my mobile says to send a text instead of leaving a msg. I don't answer calls I don't recognise and block any unsolicited calls so they can't call back. I'll often check the number out on Google to see if it's from anywhere that might be relevant.

GrannyRose15

I quite like to chat to some of those who call me from unknown numbers. I ask about the weather and how their day is going. We can have quite a long chat about what they want me to buy but I always say no in the end. If they want to waste my time, I’ll waste theirs.

Don’t speak to them! They can clone your voice - AI.

Germanshepherdsmum
Clone my voice ? What new hell is this ? I had no idea. I think it's time I paid more attention to AI.

www.welivesecurity.com/en/cybersecurity/your-voice-is-my-password/

It’s for voice recognition Greyisnotmycolour. My bank uses it when I phone them and it won’t be the only one.

I only answer those I recognise. The time wasters can get lost.

I do not have a mobile, only a land line. I rarely get sales calls and put the phone down when I do.

I find the TPS doesn't work as it should and Caller ID is only good at indicating if the number calling is in your phone's contact list and tells you who it is. As far as cold calling companies are concerned they are allowed to generate spoof real STD code areas numbers to display on your phone and blocking them (once you know its a scam) is futile as they call again with another fake number. Blocking "Withheld" or "Private" numbers can be dangerous as some posters have stated above as it could be an organisation you do need to hear from. If the call is at lunchtime or dinner time then it's almost certainly to be a cold call selling or scam so my husband always answers them and has a damn good swear at them which can be quite funny.

Chestnut

I would second using the Telephone Preference Service, I've been using this for years. it doesn't stop them all but if I get any unsolicited calls I just block them.

You can also check who called you, where people put the details of callers and whether spam or scam. You don't have to register:
who-called.co.uk/

I don't understand why BT is considered expensive. I'm paying £22.05 for Broadband and £6.52 for the BT Vision Box making £28.57 a month in total. That includes a landline but I don't use it. Is that expensive?

I don't find that the TPS stops all calls and guess that spam callers some just dial randomly generated numbers and don't even think about checking the TPS lists. However it does stop most of them.
We were allocated a new number when we moved here which has never been in any directory - I do wonder if this makes a difference?
We have a holiday home and have a phone there in case of emergencies, though it's rarely used. We have broadband included in the cost too and it is around £30 for three months which is really amazing. They don't advertise this rate at all, initially we just had the phoneline, then we were asked if we wanted to add broadband. At the start there was very limited broadband included but then it went to unlimited during lockdown.
The rate for calls is relatively expensive but, since we don't use that aspect, this is not a problem.

dragonfly46

I don’t answer calls from locations I don’t recognise but do answer those that have no caller ID as they could be the doctor or hospital.

Yes, my husband reguarly gets calls from different parts of the NHS that have no caller ID. I do wonder why they can't put a simple ID such as the initials of the hospital or just "NHS"?

I run any unknown numbers through this website who-called.co.uk/ Depending on what that tells me, I ring back or block the number.

Never answer any unknown number or caller on landline or mobile as details are on each screen. Never answer the door without checking Ring doorbell details first unless someone is expected.

Can I ask how many of you when ordering anything on line put your correct phone number in. You don’t have to. All the computer needs to see is a phone number.