if it was important they'd leave a vm, ya'know?

It's because scammers have basically ruined an entire method of communication, and the FCC is just OK with it.

My experience with scam callers has been that if you pick it up, they will keep calling because they flag your line as live. At one point, back when I'd answer and threaten to report them, it would be at least one call an hour, every single day. Since I stopped picking up, I rarely get calls anymore unless there's a data leak with a company I use. Then I'll see a little ramp up for a month or two before it dies down again.

This is one step more than I do: If someone calls me there is a 99% chance it's spam so I never answer. If they do not leave a voicemail, I am 100% not calling them back.

If I don't get a text or voice-mail right after the missed call, that's how I know it was a scammer. If someone really wants to contact me they'll try option B

One time I got 3 calls over the course of two days from a number my phone identified as "Scam Likely" and then a text from my friend saying "I put you down as a reference for a job at the Department of Defense can you call them back?"

I googled one once after it left an obvious scam voicemail which led me to the virtual phone number providers site. I looked at reporting it on the FCCs website, but reporting there is a PIA. You have to fill out a big form to create a report. The virtual number providers site had it's own report page which took 2 seconds to fill out. Later that day I got an email saying they take it seriously, it's a Google voice number or something and they're opening an investigation. The next day I get an email saying they concluded their investigation and the number was disconnected and the account terminated. It was kinda satisfying, though I doubt it impacted the scammer much.

Never, ever answer a call to your cell phone that you don't expect. If it's legitimate they will leave a message.

Surely this person "Scam Likely" has some very important info for me

It's probably my phone number, I get endless people phoning and saying they have a missed call. I presume it's scammers faking my number

With the Pixel you can use an auto-screen feature for incoming calls. You press the screen with assistant button and it talks to them for you (transcribing what they're saying on screen in real time)

You can then just hang up on them or answer the call. It's amazing and both saves me time and also pisses off telemarketers, it's a glorious win-win!

Is there any legit phone number look up sites? Pretty much all Google and Bing results are just spam.

I don't know where my number got sold in a list but I get like 2 calls a day and they are trying to sell me crypto. Thick indian accent guy calling from a singapore number: "Good Afternoon Sir I'm (American common name) and I want to talk to you about great investment opportunities. Have you ever heard of Bitcoin?" and I'm like dude I used to mine bitcoin when it was like 1usd and deleted my wallet knowing it worth nothing and is a waste of time don't tell me what a good investment is.

The worst is when I'm expecting a call but don't want to answer because I'm not sure if it's a scammer or my doctor calling from a different number than the one that's listed on their website.

I never answer the phone if i don't know the number between 16:30 and 18:00, its always the Chinese embassy telling... well I don't know, I don't speak the language.

I too keep the Captain close at hand.

Crunch berries.

Its hard to answer a call nowadays knowing the voice record bs. its like ok don't want to say yes or my name or really anything that would be assent or acknowledgement and maybe the reverse and not sure about hello. bueller.....bueller...

It's me

Spoiler alert, it's a scam call from sector 5 New Delhi.

Can confirm. Have done this many times in my life, frankly more then I'd like to admit.

I have my phone set to auto ignore any number that is not in my contacts or that I have not called myself; if it is something important, they will leave a voicemail. This has saved me a ton of time and hassle with random calls

Truecaller because I just need my work to get done.