Put their numbers in your address book.
These days, my only phone is a cell phone. Although I’m listed on the Do Not Call Registry, apparently telemarketers don’t consult that list before interrupting my work day or dinner or personal time. I get quite a few calls every single day.
I no longer answer calls from “unknown” or obviously fake phone numbers. I figure that if a person blocks their phone number, they’re likely up to no good anyway. If they are legitimate, they can leave a message to prove it.
But it’s the calls — often repeat calls — from telemarketers using legitimate looking phone numbers that I can do something about. I add them to my address book. Then, the next time they call, I know that answering is a waste of time. I just send it to voicemail.
Adding a telemarketer number after a call is as easy as pushing a few buttons on my smart phone. I don’t even bother entering in the name. Just “t” is enough for me to know. Then, after I sync my phone with my computer’s address book, I merge the telemarketing calls into one record and sync again. The result is a growing list of phone numbers always up-to-date in my phone.
I’m thinking that if a bunch of folks shared known telemarketing numbers, we could prevent first-time answers. So I’m inviting you to share a few telemarketer phone numbers here in comments.
I’d also like to suggest using 800notes.com, whocallsme.com, whocalled.us, www.callwiki.com, and mrnumber.com to look up and report telemarketing calls.
Finally, if you’d like my Telemarketer vCard (complete with skull and crossbones) to get started, you can download it here. I’ll try to update it regularly.
All of my phone numbers are listed in the