Do you think I was born yesterday ?

Make sure you are registered with the Telephone Preference Service. All genuine companies will stop calling you so you know anyone who does is not a reputable company. With this knowledge any cold callers generally get a 2 word response from me. I have the no cold callers sticker on my front door as well so any callers generally get the same response as well.

Gunge said:

Probably, but must have been called something else around these parts. Go on - remind me what it was!

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Pretending to be disabled and door to door selling of dusters/teatowels etc.

Yes, the TPS is a good scheme to register with although it only stops reputable, UK based companies.

I seem to remember being told that some Trading Standards authorities can sometimes help with call blockers for vulnerable people. But I have ensured that my elderly mother is equipped!

I do hear that some people enjoy playing with scam callers but to me it's just not worth the increase in blood pressure ... I've got beer to brew and drink after all!

It is easy for sane ,normal peopel to stop this , just say no. I refuse to but anything unless I actually decide that I want it, research it and go out and look for it. I will turn away cold callers and phone scammers.

Unfortunately there are people ( like my sister in law) who are gullible in the extreme, will invite salesmen in and discuss buying new windows on the phone. A lot of it may be down to intelligence but some of it is due to mental health , low esteem etc and these people cannot just say no. I saw a case on TV where an elderly woman had sent more than 70,000 to competitions for prizes that she had not won and her daughter could not stop her doing it. She was sane and no one could convince her after years that she was being scammed.

Some people just do not believe the old maxim " if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is"
I firmly believe that it is not just greed it is a personality disorder in some people and can blight their whole lives and those who try to help!

geetee said:

Unfortunately there are people ( like my sister in law) who are gullible in the extreme, will invite salesmen in and discuss buying new windows on the phone. A lot of it may be down to intelligence but some of it is due to mental health , low esteem etc and these people cannot just say no. I saw a case on TV where an elderly woman had sent more than 70,000 to competitions for prizes that she had not won and her daughter could not stop her doing it. She was sane and no one could convince her after years that she was being scammed.

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My missus is well weird like that; she has no problem telling a cold caller at the door to scram, but seems to find it impossible to do the equivalent on the phone. She flusters and frets whilst I'm shouting at her to put the phone down until I have wrestle it off her to do just that.

Gunge said:

Anyone who phones my landline gets redirected to a porn line and it costs em �£5 a minute hehe.

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S**t Gunge i wondered why it cost me £640 for that call to yours last friday night:lol::lol:

Pavros said:

Many years ago I had a call from someone saying he worked with the Halifax (I had actually just renewed my home insurance with the Halifax a month before). He said that they were moving into the home security market and would I tell him what security systems I used in my house!!
I replied, 'Yeah, right! Do you think I'm stupid enough to tell that to someone who has just cold called me?'
His response was, 'Why not? Other people I've spoken to have discussed it with me'
I put the phone down.
Nowadays I am not so tolerant and he would have received a mouthful of abuse before I slammed the phone down!

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You should of said three half fed bull mastifs:lol:

I just ask them to hold on a mo, then leave the phone next to the TV.
Or, even better, the parrot cage - he hates the phone, and isn't as polite as me!!

Tanzanite said:

S**t Gunge i wondered why it cost me �£640 for that call to yours last friday night:lol::lol:

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Over 2 hours??????

And you thought it was Gunges missus??????

Ale said:

Over 2 hours??????

And you thought it was Gunges missus??????

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It is Gunge is getting her ****** on some home made hootch hes concocting and shes doing a Telephone S*x Line, Gunge is charging, �£5 a min to subsidise his beer making, i had 2 hours worth , very good it was too, , she was waffling on about nuts bannnas and Lidl .Gunge gave me ten percent discount and promised not to send no pictures.:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

MrDasherD said:

I do hear that some people enjoy playing with scam callers but to me it's just not worth the increase in blood pressure ... I've got beer to brew and drink after all!

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I have a brother-in-law who does. It actually has a calming effect on him as he finds it quite enjoyable.

Hi!
I save all cold calls under the name "Cold" (imaginative, ain't I?). All members of the household are instructed to let it ring if "Cold" shows on the caller display.

When I was younger I got a call trying to sell me a new phone. I was in a good mood so I happily played the idiot. After a few minutes they asked me what type of phone I had and I responded "it's blue" I kept this up for a few minutes before hanging up