something wicked this way comes

[NeverDie]

Not sure where to post this....
 
We've lately been hammered over the last month with something like 20 to 30  calls on our main hardline from some India based outfit insisting that we need to install their software on our PC's so they can "fix" our PC's.  These calls have become overt aggression rather than just an annoyance.  Never did we even once solicit these calls.  We started with politely declining, then we shifting to hanging up, and out of desperation we even tried harsh language and sending them to Hell--all to no avail because they keep calling back,  It's beyond idiotic.  We add their phone number to our blacklist, but they keep changing their number.  Enough already!  I'm starting to wonder if maybe it's not the same company but a gazillion copies of the same scam all operating out of India.  Actually, who knows where they're based, but the callers all seem to have varying degrees of thick Indian accents.  
 
And no, I don't have anything against Indians or accents, so that's not where I'm going with this.  If the callers always had, say, an Irish accent (or whatever, I'm just picking a random example), I'd be noting that exactly the same way.  I'm only mentioning it because:  if there were software that could automatically route to voicemail all callers with Indian accents without even ringing the phone, I would--given the circumstances--reluctantly turn it on.  Sorry, but there it is.  What other options are there beyond sending all calls directly to voicemail?  .  Is there such a thing?  I ask jokingly, but.... is there?
 
By the way, I hope this thing blows over and never happens again.  I really do.  But I'm doubtful.  We've had these calls, just not in such high numbers, in other months for over a year now, and we're sick of them.

 

[IVB]

I know its a huge deal, but we moved our main # to google voice partially for that reason. You have intelligent call routing. We initially got another home line that nobody knew the # to except for GV, it would send calls within our address book to that.
 
AKA, don't exclude #s, just include known ones.
 
This is a 2 step process btw:
Step 1: port landline to cellphone
Step 2: port cellphone to GV

 

[RAL]

A friend who has been plagued by telemarketers swears by Ooma for phone service and NoMoRobo to screen the calls.  Unfortunately, for now NoMoRobo only works with VoIP lines.

 

[BLH]

I am constantly getting such calls. Now that I am considered a Serior Citizen.
 
With the caller ID spoofing boxes now in use. You can't even tell who is realy calling. I have even had my own phone number and name show on my caller ID display.
 
I look some of the nunbers up on web sites dedicated to reporting such calls.

 

[ano]

A friend who has been plagued by telemarketers swears by Ooma for phone service and NoMoRobo to screen the calls.  Unfortunately, for now NoMoRobo only works with VoIP lines.

i have Ooma and NoMoRoBo and it does help, but note you need to have Ooma premier at $100/year to get the blacklist blocking.  I was getting so many junk callers on my cell phone that I set it up to only receive calls from my address book. Very annoying.

 

[Mugwug]

We were getting several calls a week from spoofed phone number using autodialers (advertising free cruises or airmiles prizes etc etc etc). Extremely frustrating.
 
I finally stayed on the line long enough to speak to a person, who told me to F off when I asked him to take me off the list, then hung up on me.
 
I ended up setting up an IVR through our VoIP provider (VoIP.ms) which presents all callers with a recorded message when they call asking them to press "2" to prove they are human, any other keypress OR no activity for 15 seconds and the system plays the "out of service" special information tone. The VoIP system also allows us to have a whitelist of regular callers who bypass the IVR altogether.
 
I also set it so that any call from a "private" or "unknown" number goes straight to voicemail.
 
Our phone never rings for the automated scammers anymore, and people get a real kick out of the automated system the first time they encounter it.