Ring, ring. “Hello?” “Hi, is Doris there?” Pause. “Well maybe you can help me. I’m with…”
I get this call on my cell phone several times a week. I have blocked the number, but it changes every time. Concerningly, it comes in on numbers that appear to be from the local area — an 814 area code, or a 412 area code.
It’s a computer, of course. If I respond at all anymore, it is to say “She’s dead” before I hang up the phone. Morbid, yes, but it makes me giggle.
I’ve signed up for the Do Not Call Registry. That seemed to have no impact.
I know I’m not alone in this. In fact, on Monday, Pat Geary called to express his frustration with the same thing. He has a landline, and gets 3 to 5 calls a day from India, usually asking about his Microsoft Windows.
“It’s harassment,” Pat said. “Your home is supposed to be your castle.”
And what of the older folks who have to get up to go answer the phone so many times a day? Many, like my own mother, aren’t sure on their feet. What if she were to fall on the way to answer a telemarketer’s call?
Pat said he’s called U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s office, and U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson’s office. He plans to call U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey’s office as well.
“I tell them they can work with other senators to tell India to put a stop to this,” Pat said. That’s not a bad idea.
Last October, Casey and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission asking them to implement a rule to let telephone providers block robocalls.
On the FCC website, it says unwanted calls are the biggest consumer complaint to the FCC, with more than 200,000 complaints a year.
“Some private analyses estimate that U.S. consumers received approximately 2.4 billion robocalls per month in 2016. Unfortunately, advancements in technology make it cheap and easy to make robocalls and to ‘spoof’ caller ID information to hide a caller’s true identity,” the site read.
Not every senior citizen has or wants caller ID. To many, it’s another unnecessary expense.
Citizens can report a scam call to the FCC Consumer Complaint Center, which helps track trends in scams and supports enforcement investigations.
So yes, there are things you can do. But why should we have to?
Pat called Verizon to ask for help, and was told there’s nothing they can do because the calls are international.
There must be some way to make it stop. Sadly, though, it seems that as hard as people to work to build a better mousetrap, the more devious and conniving the mice get.
Some will even record what you say and use that recording to simulate you giving permission for them to access something on your behalf. I wonder what they would do if I scream?
There is perhaps no other time in history where man is so connected to other men, via telephone, computer or satellite. Are we simply to accept this as our lot because of our need for connection?
I am sure I don’t know the answer.
But when I answer a call from another could-be-local phone number, I can assure you, if there is a telemarketer on the other end, he or she will know my displeasure. Or the computer can record my expressing an affinity for spaghetti or asking inappropriate questions about the caller’s attire.
It’s the little things, sometimes, that make me feel like smiling.
(Schellhammer is the Era’s associate editor. She can be reached at marcie@bradfordera.com)
