How to deal with persistent prank telephone calls

Ok for a some time this afternoon I have been receiving calls which are either made by an idiot who cannot get a number right or by some idiot trying to make prank calls. Anyway my number is unlisted and this normally does not happen. However because I don't like the phone ringing every five minutes and these people seem rather persistent what can I do? No number is coming up on the caller id.

please help

Unplug the phone?

leave the phone off the hook for awhile.

Pretend to do a survey about cold callers, how many calls they must make in a day, what the current pay is, do they get any company perks...

"Hallo? Oh, wie wunderbar... Ich habe paar Fragen..."

well that would help if they would talk. Just calling and being silent on the other end. First couple times there was something in a different language and then something about trying to get a hold of someone in syria in English. All very odd. seems to have stopped now though.

Get a whistle and use it next time they call. I bet they will not call back again...

It works well on telemarketers too

that is awesome! best suggestion I think I have ever heard.

When I had just moved into my first flat I received "prank" calls - wasn't really fun cos the guy said in a husky voice "Do you wanna f*** with me..." - I was quite young, the calls came in the middle of the night, he also started to threaten me. Really scary.

I did the whistle trick and he never phoned again. Hope he is deaf in that ear now. Prick.

No, it doesn't. Not at all. My parents used to do that until I was finally able to show them how stupid it is. I don't know why the fuck this bit of bullshit keeps getting repeated. Phone lines are compressed and limited. There's a maximum volume which is transmitted and it's far below that which it's being sent. Furthermore, only sounds between 400 and 3400 Hz are transmitted. All the high end is cut out and never sent. The only ears you hurt with a whistle are you own.

woof.

20 years back, it did help. Don't know why, don't really care - main thing is the calls stopped. Miaow

Odd, we at our unlisted number had two prank calls this week too. One was just a girl laughing, the other was a fella who said "Parla Inglese?"

Well, it has worked 3 times for me so obviously it does to a certain extent. Or maybe it was just pur coincidence every time?

Coincidence? No. Call centers don't call you back if you hang up them. They don't call back unless you specifically ask them to, and in some cases not even then. However, your number is still being passed on and sold and resold, so new calls are coming in from different places. They don't give a shit if you whistle; they just tick the box on their screen labeled "refusal" and the system dials the next number for them.

woof.

I have had a case in which I hung up on a call center agent because he could not take my no for a no. He kept calling for the rest of the day every 20-30 mins, it was very annoying. I then complained to the Vodafone shop about this, they made a note in my file and I never got a call again (it was about renewing my contract).

That's weird. We're getting more crank calls now too and we're also ex-directory. Someone phoned last night asking for Olga. Even though I said there has never been an Olga living here they insisted that there must be!

How about a script saying :
"Thank you for calling our help line. Our charges are 2 euros per minute. If you want to continue please stay on the line and one of our operators will be with you shortly. Thank you for your custom"

Well I've been trying to make calls today with my 1&1 internet phone and keep getting connected to the wrong number or busy signals. Maybe these aren't prank calls but internet calls being directed incorrectly.

Aha, the culprit is found. Silly Point can't dial properly

Ah yes. Making assumptions I see Mr Doggie, and trying to prove that you know everything about everything again... Silly puppy...

I have had telemarketers call me up 10-15 times a day. The hanging up technique did not work so i tried the whistle technique "as a laugh" and "By Jove!" it worked! This was actually just before I got my number registered. It is not always the automated dial up call centre you probably designed and ran, or invented, or something. Sometimes it is just an asshole with a list of numbers he has been asked to call.

This is just slightly off topic since it covers SMS. But you can now request the name of the company that contacted you from your phone provider. Then you can go after the company. Not sure whether that works for phone calls as well, though.

http://www.tagesschau.de/aktuell/meldungen...46_REF4,00.html

As to call centres i just tell them no and ask them to srike me off their list.This they are obliged to do according to the law.They know this and normally do scratch you off their calling list