I had a call a few days ago that my "Home & Gardens" magazine subscription was about to expire. Home & Gardens said I...I don't even know that magazine. I haven't taken it for years because I don't want it. and I hung up. Didn't even know the proper name of the magazine and hoped to scam money out of me. The nerve! Of course he was referring to Better Homes and Gardens, but what a bonehead!

I love these replys, lol. We have caller id and don't pick up either if the name or number doesn't show we know them.

What a low life to have such a job to technically 'rob' people. Shame on them.

We also screen calls, and I was dismayed to discover last week that a call coming repeatedly from "Out of Area" was actually my doctor's office trying to reach me with some routine test results. Results were negative, but I might have been missing something more urgent. I have to talk to them about what shows up as their ID. I got to thinking that it might be a deliberate effort to protect people's privacy, since that is one big concern lately. If it says "Doctor So-and-so" then someone in the vicinity of the phone might discover you've been seeing a doctor, and particularly at work, that might cause concern. There's a lot of paranoia around these days, some of it justified.

We are on the do-not-call list, and so almost all the unknown callers we get are either scammers, non-profits, or politicians. I could do without any of those calls, and immediately hang up on any recording. The most despicable ones are the ones that are silent when you do pick up, or worse yet they ask for one of us and then hang up without a word when we say, "Can't come to the phone." When it's a solicitor, I just interrupt and tell them as kindly as I can, "Sorry, I won't waste your time. We do not respond to any kind of phone solicitation. Please take us off your list." I hang up without listening to an argument. I'm really doing them a favor because in many cases they are required to stay on the line until the other person hangs up. The calls are often monitored, so they don't dare disconnect themselves, even if you're one who just likes to have fun with them. I've known people who say things like, "Please hang on. I need to go answer the door," and just go off leaving the caller hanging for however long they feel like it.

I feel very sorry for people who try to earn a legitimate living in these most reviled jobs, but if everyone had enough sense to shut them out - never buy anything, never donate anything via phone calls that you didn't initiate, and most certainly never, ever give information to strangers - we might quit getting these nuisance calls. When I was young, back in the Dark Ages, we never had pests calling us unless we had the misfortune of actually knowing them.

Good one! This would be a good time to buy an air horn!

First time I said I knew they were scammers, they hung up. Next call I said I don't have a computer. Again the person hung up. Haven't heard from them again.

Have you tried a police whistle? They make a lovely racket, and I'd think anyone you used it on would have ringing ears for quite a while. <G> I use mine regularly... but them I'm totally unfriendly to junk calls!

I accidentally answered one day. I told them that my other line was ringing and could they call me back on a different number. I gave them the sheriff's department number. Haven't had a call since and if I do, it just might be the State Police or the Attorney General's office they get the next time. Mary

Some people just have TOO much time on their hands!