Dear Liz: We’re getting daily robocalls from collection agencies attempting to collect debts from people with names similar to our own. Generally we ignore the calls on the advice of a friend whose mother died heavily in debt and who said nothing can be gained from a conversation with Repo Man. Is that good advice?
Answer: Ignoring debt collectors isn’t always the best advice — but in this case, it is. Using autodialers and pre-recorded messages is a hallmark of scammers hoping to scare people into paying debts that aren’t theirs.
If you’re not already signed up with the federal Do Not Call Registry at www.donotcall.gov, then do so. If you are on the list, file a complaint at that site. You also can make a complaint at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint.
Another good option is signing up for a free service such as NoMoRobo, which detects many scam calls at the first ring and hangs up on them.
Hi Liz: Love your column. As to the woman who receives robocalls, this is what I do. Almost all such calls come on my land line, which is now exclusively reserved for telephone solicitors and robocalls. I have it on two rings and never answer it. I will pick it up if I hear someone I know leaving a message. About weekly I go through the messages, and most turn out to be junk calls or automatic calls from doctors offices reminding me of an appointment. All my friends and people I want to talk with have my cell phone number. If I receive a call on my cell phone that does not have caller ID or is from a number I do not recognize, I push the button to stop the ring and let it go to voicemail. The majority of such callers do not leave a message, so I assume they are junk callers and I go into history and block all calls from those numbers. Problem solved. With modern technology there is no reason to ever speak to any person you don’t want to speak with.