This is the Canada Revenue Agency the scammer says and exactly at that point I hang up because I got what I wanted. As soon as I get a call from a scammer or polling company, I hang up and block the phone number 1 437 227 9157
How to block a caller
Android-based phones make blocking any caller easy. Here are the steps.
- Take the call
- Hang up (as soon as you realize it’s a scammer)
- Touch the “i” icon to the right of the last number that called
- Touch the “More” button at the bottom right corner
By now, you should see a picture similar to this one. I can tell by the area 437 code that the phone number 1 437 227 9157 originated in Ontario.
Select “Block contact” and you are done. From this point on, the spammer or scammer can no longer call you with that number. It is also important to know that scammers have access to many many numbers but based on my experience, I get only very few calls and when I do, I block them immediately.
iPhone iOS
I have moved from Apple to Android and don’t have a way to verify the number clocking process but know that it is similar. You start with the last caller (call history) and find the menu option which allows you to modify the caller.
What not to do when getting a scam call
Scam and spam calls are here to stay because “someone” is making a lot of money off of them. As long as there is an audience, those calls continue. Please keep in mind that those calls are mostly made by computerized scripts and don’t involve a human. Therefore, you should never say anything and definitely not get mad at the caller.
Silence is golden
My home phone gets about one scam / fishing call per week and if I think it might be a legit call, I take it but don’t say anything. If there is a real person on the other end, then I’ll respond or hang up. Why is it so important to not say anything? The answer lies in what one can not see after such a call is made.
Call centers document every detail they can get about you so be warned
Let’s assume your phone rings and someone is offering you a carpet cleaning special. You say that you don’t need your carpets cleaned because you are just about to renovate the house. If the caller on the other hand is clever, she/he will quickly say something like “nice, I bet you look forward to getting new furniture” to which you reply and tell even more details.
Everything you say is useful to marketers and adds to a text file they have about all of us. When you are home, where you work, what you do, which car you drive, married, number of children. No detail is too small. The more information a marketer or scammer has about you, the more value your phone number has.
Selling the list
The information about you is collected and stored in a database. The information that is listed (list) is then offered to companies who want to market to you. Advertising is extremely expensive but if a company can identify a list of people who are going on vacation at least once a year then it pays to have those names and contact information.
Calling an interested party is still profitable compared to sending a flyer to every one in the country. I hope you understand that those kinds of calls are here to stay because the phone companies are not shutting them down. Evaluate every call, be silent at first and once you know who you are dealing with, block their number. It takes a few seconds and buys you days of piece.
Thank you for reading and don’t call me. 😉
