Yeah that doesn't work at all, they just hang up and move on, they don't stop. No one doing these things is being paid to maintain the list or prune numbers. And for whatever it's worth, the FCC also recommends that if possible you don't pick up at all.

It's worked for me...

For a robo caller autodialing numbers listed on the do not call list against all FCC guidelines?

It'll totally work with regular telemarketers, but that isn't what we're talking about here.

Basically there's two things going on: Robo calling, which is restricted under FCC regulations. And calling numbers on the do not call list, which is also restricted under FCC regulations.

Someone who does both... usually isn't going to stop if you ask them to. I'm curious if you've experienced otherwise, very few people report having any success with that. Most call centers who violate federal two different federal regulations while dialing your number don't particularly spend time maintaining their calling lists.

Yes. Obvious scammer calls, skip answering a few times, same scammer keeps calling, answer & ask, poof, no more calls.

Of course it doesn't end such calls altogether, but 2 a week is a damn sight better than several a day.

Do you have direct knowledge that they would not bother managing their call lists, or do we have dueling suppositions?

I don't have direct knowledges of practices of companies who refuse to disclose who they are. What I'm saying comes from the fact that it just hasn't worked for the calls to my line. I switched numbers to make them stop. There's an Internet full of reports of other people saying the strategy you advocate doesn't work for them either, and the government agency that regulates the phone lines explicitly recommends against it.

But we could call that dueling supicions if you'd like.

And just to clarify, you're talking about a US number that's been listed on the national Do Not Call list, right?

And not just regular scam calls, but calls placed by an automatic dialer and answered by an automated system that falls to a human caller only after being answered, right?

How much emphasis would I have to use to convince you that I am participating in good faith and actually understand what a robocall is and all the rest of it?

The ellipsis in my terse comment was sort of grounded in why the hell else would I post what I posted, and now we are 2 or 3 rounds deep in you asking me if I'm really sure.

Explicitly answering those questions anywhere would be enough! Thanks!

I have no worries about your faith! Just your context!

I'm surprised.

Picking up at all confirms that your number is valid, connects, and an adult human at least occasionally answers - this makes your number more valuable for passing on to others.

There isn't much of a peer-to-peer "valid number sharing" market between companies, they protect their lists as a business asset with at least a little value, but larger groups will pass such data around their constituent parts and when a company folds whoever buys their data as a cheap asset is under no obligation to use any do-not-call list as a don-not-call list instead of a real-people-answer-here-add-them-to-the-next-campaign list.

>> and an adult human at least occasionally answers

Funny you should mention, because that is exactly what worked for me. Every time I get a marketing call I say I'm 17 so I can't buy anything from them, sorry.

Considering that we're dealing with loan sharks trying to collect from deadbeats, somehow I don't think this is going to be effective.