Tie them to a post in the town square. Pile up old tires around them, pour a few gallons of gasoline, throw a match on it.

Televise it nationally as a warning to all scammers.

Laugh while they scream !!!!

" You've given this some thought. LOL "

Yeah, a bit.

I have not experienced this new scam, but I am sick of all of the endless robo calls, etc day after day, after day. I have tried everything, don't talk, push the # sign, cuss them out, called state AG, got on the no call list a zillion times, already have a unlisted number, talk to callers in a foreign language, when caller asks for me have told them I died, or was in jail, or moved to South America, told a couple they were calling CIA HQ, told another lady this was Coreleone HQ, and we would burn her house down, you name it, I have tried it.

Some have worked for a few days, then game is back on

I AM SICK OF THEM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You get the impression that many of them are just scouting for live numbers or to record whatever they can pick up in the background in your home.

I've almost gotten rid of these kinds of calls, used to get one almost every day.

I deprive them of any chance to gather info just by ringing my phone.

I mute any radio/TV/internet audio. I pick up the phone and wait 5 seconds or more before making a very quiet hello.

That is what has worked for me. I'm down to maybe one robocall per month now. It's almost always the credit card refinance people. Since I don't have a credit card, I always know it's just scammers.

I also don't like to give out my phone number at all. I think that helps. Fewer places from which my phone number can be obtained.

I got one that I had a lot of fun with. It was a guy selling cemetery lots. I talked like Jed Clampett, told him man I am glad you called. We just had a death in the family, and we needed to buy 16 spaces. Man, I could hear that guys head clinging like a cash register. He asked the name of the deceased, and I shined him on for awhile, finally told him Ol Blue, and that we need spaces for Daisy, Bullet, Ringo, Lucy, Spot, on & on. Before I could finish, phone went dead. Have not had any calls from them again. That was a lot of fun !!

So I told them I was very interested and wanted to support DAMM. They acted puzzled. Then I told them I didn't want to donate to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers but that I was a bigtime supporter of DAMM (Drunks Against Mad Mothers). Then they were finally willing to hang up. My nieces overheard this and were a little shocked that their uncle would give these phone pests the business like that. Sure it was rude. But isn't it rude to have phone pests calling you all the time, like you got nothing better to do than let them waste your time with sales pitches because you answered the phone?

BTW, the one way to get on their calling lists permanently is if you ever donated to a charity or bought something from a phone sales pitch. That'll put you on their lists forever because they apparently believe that if you ever bought anything or donated to anything as the result of a phone pitch, they have a strong chance of getting you to do it again.

Responding to phone robocalls and sales pitches? Yeah, the punishment fits the crime. And the punishment is robocalls and phone pests calling you for the rest of your life.

The most annoying are the Anonymus calls. I can't report them without a number.

Lately, they have all been about that "free solar panels." What a joke. "Kevin" keeps calling me...Kevin has different accents. LOL

I've also started to get annoyed at these so-called charity drives at the local fast food joints. You know, where you place your order and then they ask ask you "and would you like to donate a dollar to Save Puppies From Perverts?" (or some other crapola charity). This annoys me to no end.

There are at least 3 different ways that this "charity" can be a complete fraud.

1. The employee(s) are getting an extra buck per order at the drive-through just by asking for it. It won't show up on the receipt and they can just pocket it. This only could work in small towns where even the big franchises like McD's or Wendy's or Arby's will have only 2-3 employees working during mid-morning or afternoons, i.e. outside the rush hours when they have more employees working.
2. The local manager can tell the employees to ask for the donations but there is no such charity drive going on. The manager just takes that much out of the till, no record is made since it was a fake charity drive and the manager pockets a nice little bonus, enough to go to Vegas for some gambling, a couple of hookers and some crack.
3. The franchise itself imposes the charity drive on its franchises who collect the money and send it in to the corporate HQ. The corporate HQ eventually transfers the money to the corporate foundation. But first, they just hold on to it for 2 months, or six months or a year. And it then becomes company money in the general fund and fungible, especially as relating to the need to borrow money to maintain cash flow. If they don't go out of business the charity will eventually get its money and if they do go out of business there won't be anyone to sue. Why borrow money at interest when the corporation can just use that charity money it already has on hand for a year or more? Hell, Trump does this stuff with his own foundation. He even did it when he raised money for that military charity during the Iowa debate. I know that six months later, he still hadn't sent a check to the charity.

When asked to donate for such "charity", I always retaliate by demanding the senior discount. I never ask for it otherwise but if they're going to try to drag me into their fake charity schemes, I don't just take it. So I force them to give me money as a discount to punish them for asking me for extra money.

So I did this at Arby's about 10 days ago. And told the girl who asked for the "donation" why when I paid for my food and said that I had no reason to trust her, her manager, or her fast food franchise not to be dishonest scumbags. She kinda blubbered, "It's all in a good cause." So I said, "How do I know that it is? How do you know that it is?" Well, she disappeared from the window and the manager then came out to deliver my food.

I drove away, confident that every last employee in the joint had spat on my food before giving it to me. So the story did have a happy ending.

I gave it some thought and I have decided to change my policy on fast-food places asking for donations. I'll also apply this to Walmart or any supermarket or other business. I'll place my order (or have them ring up my groceries). Then when they ask for the "donation", I'll denounce them and drive away (or, in Walmart, walk off and leave all my groceries just sitting there to force them to restock them.

This way, they can't spit on my food. And they get punished somewhat for even asking for donations.

It's like with these phone scams and robocallers. If you just put up with being pestered, they'll keep calling and keep calling. You have to make them want to remove your name from their list. That actually makes the list itself more valuable when it comes time to re-sell it to some other business or charity.

BTW, as for these robocallers who let you actually speak to a live person, you do realize they are at your mercy and you can say all sorts of lewd and depraved things to them while they're trying to sell you aluminum siding and double-glazed windows and such? That's another good way to get your name taken off their LOS (List Of Suckers).

You'd be surprised how easy it is to get the Mormons and the JWs to avoid your door like the plague if you're just inventive enough. A few lewd words is all it takes to make them leave you alone forever. And they work from computerized lists on their phones too. I've seen them working the street on my security camera; they are very careful not to knock on my door. As in, I've seen them checking their phone and then move on to another house. I assume my address is well-known to them and marked as "Do not disturb, do not knock, no contact". I know the Mormons have my name and address because I saw them hit up all of my neighbors and then they checked their phone on my front porch and they just walked away, no knocking. This was on July 31 at 12:40:58 and they stood in front of my door until 12:41:50, with the older "missionary" just checking his phone but never knocking but they sure stared at my security camera. I have this all on video, very interesting to see them checking with the database back at HQ and being directed not to knock on my door to share their love of Jesus with me. What kind of door-to-door missionaries are checking their cellphones and a database for a whole minute while standing a foot from my front door and they never knock at all and just leave? Well, you can see my interest in why they did this. They aren't just going door to door to share Jesus. They have a database and a list of targets and a list of people to avoid. It is a sophisticated and targeted operation by a cult operating against targets in their own homes.

People don't realize it but these phone lists are very valuable property. These politicians often sell their lists of donors and volunteers for millions of dollars when they leave politics. Or a congresscritter in a key state might sell their list to the presidential campaign of their party or to a private business.

If you want an eyeful of how the rich really see charity and how they use it to benefit themselves, read this little expose. It is very typical of the New York moneyed class. And Forbes is actually very supportive of Trump as prez; they just don't hold back on how Trump runs his "charity" events and his foundation.

Forbes: How Donald Trump Shifted Kids-Cancer Charity Money Into His Business, 6/6/2017

If you have any further tips or ideas on how to keep these scammers and door-to-door pests away, let me know. I'm always looking for new ideas, if they don't involve firearms, fireworks, or garden hoses.

What a joke. "Kevin" keeps calling me...Kevin has different accents. LOL

You should try to develop your own outrageous foreign accents to talk to them with. I've done that. I have an Abu-from-India voice and a really terrible Chinese accent.

Just as they think they've gotten you to agree to something, just babble something foreign-sounding and pretend you don't understand what it is they think they just got you to agree to.

I've had these people get really really angry at me before. I even had a few that called me back after I hung up on them, just to scream at me. Usually, that is when they've spent some time to sell me something with a credit card and then when they get ready to finish the sale and they ask for the credit card or debit card, you ask them what a credit card is and really play it stupid.

Don't be reticent to be a total griefer to these people. Otherwise, they'll take over your phone and use it to deliver constant sales pitches to you.

Don't let them use a robocaller to make your phone - that you pay for - their bitch. Make them pay.

I tried various strategies. Now what I do is just never answer the phone. It goes to voice mail, which is full. Essentially, my land line is for me to call OUT. Unless I happen to recognize the number dialing in when it rings, the caller gets an answering machine, listens to the message, perhaps even records a response, but I never hear anything or get any of the calls or messages, because the machine is full and I never listen to the messages.

And with the ringer off I never hear it ring.

If you want to call me, you know me and have my cell phone number. Otherwise, send me a letter. The chance you'll reach me by phone is virtually zero.

With the credit crisis long past, bill collectors no longer call, I suppose. I wouldn't really know, because they can't leave a message, and I never listen to the 44 messages that have sat unlistened to on my full machine for years.

If it's important, you'll send me a letter.

Such anger! I became philosophical about robo-callers back during the crisis when the people calling were bill collectors seeking payments of legitimate bills that I could not pay at that moment due to the crisis.

I think these phone people provide me an outlet for anger. I really do like to take it out on them. I am a griefer to them.

I have so thoroughly discouraged the robocallers and phone scammers that my phone really hardly ever rings now. They call me maybe once a month if even that much. Still, I wanted to post on it at some length to encourage others to do the same. If they start calling you and keep calling you, it is almost like torture.

As for your mentions of making yourself unavailable by phone, you could have missed a call from a hospital telling you that your wife/child was in a car wreck and near death. Besides, your method is cowardly. I don't like the idea of my phone service being used against me like that when I am the one paying the bill. That is probably the real source of my anger.

You should hear me answer the phone when these jerks call me. I wait 5-8 seconds, then semi-whisper "hello" in a total serial killer voice. That's when they hang up. I enjoy that a lot. LOL

Track them down. No BS court. Go straight for public execution.

Tie them to a post in the town square. Pile up old tires around them, pour a few gallons of gasoline, throw a match on it.

Televise it nationally as a warning to all scammers.

Laugh while they scream !!!!

Just yesterday I had 2 calls to my work phone saying my SS# was being used to launder dirty money and to do such and such to get the matter cleared up. lol

A couple of years ago I started a rewards account at O Reilly's auto parts, when I gave them my work cell# (which I've had for 12 years) they said that number is already on 4 other accounts. So I told the guy if I could prove to him that all the others were bogus could I have their rewards points he agreed. So I called into work let the guy talk to the owner who told him I'd had that number for 10 years, he closed out all the other accounts and gave me all their points, lol... That reminds me I need to check my balance to see if I can get some free axle bearings for the Ranger.

Before the 2012 election I had both political parties calling my work cell phone wanting donations, when I told them the only good politician was a dead politician they stopped calling and haven't called again since!!

As for Mormons and the JWs, a simple American flag stuck in your front flowers will keep them at bay. They consider them idolatry.

JWs consider the pledge idolatrous, not the flag. At least as I understand it. They don't otherwise seem to object to the use of flags.

I don't think that Mormons have any problem with the flag or the pledge. They just don't volunteer much to fight in the military and never have. They dislike the fact that people know this and try to pretend that they volunteer for the military as much as other demographics but they don't.

I don't think the flag will keep Mormons at bay and might actually attract them. The JWs are probably more reluctant to knock if they see a flag or other veteran totems on the property since they don't want to get screamed at for refusing to allow their children to say the pledge.

I have a neighbor who keeps a bucket with crushed empty beer cans on the porch right next to his front door. And he never empties them or gets rid of them or anything else. I think he's trying to keep the religious proselytizers away. Watching their behavior in recordings on my security camera, I think he is mostly successful. His porch gives the impression of someone who drinks and likes football and maybe does a little BBQing (not that he does BBQ, despite having two very pricey grills on his front porch for years, he has one of those green egg smoker/BBQ units that is almost completely unused since he bought it).

" I had both political parties calling my work cell phone wanting donations, when I told them the only good politician was a dead politician they stopped calling and haven't called again since!! "

LOL, Good one !!!