I missed that you can't change her number...not sure why not.

IAC, they do make call screening devices. My phone allows me to block up to 250 incoming call numbers so I would think with time, you'd be able to block most of the most frequent incoming calls.

I use Nomorobo to block robocalls, but that wouldn't help in your situation. How are the callers getting that number? Maybe you should answer and ask. If you can fix the source, maybe you can put an end to it. Other than that, I think the only answer is to change your number which is a huge nuisance.

My son's friend's fax number was listed on a company web site as the company's fax number. It was off by one number. She would get faxes all night and all day. She'd come home from work and her fax machine would be out of paper and there would be a pile of them on the floor. It was all orders for a very large athletic clothes manufacturer. Not only was it a huge nuisance to her, but the company was not getting their orders. She finally got them to fix their error but they were surprisingly unconcerned about it.

My biggest problem is spoof calls. I just got one from David's Bridal Shop. I knew it was not a legitimate call so I didn't answer and there was no message.

I'm going to go with Gray's suggestion and ask the next caller how he/she got this number and explain what's happening. I'm pretty sure it's on a list in the same industry that's sold or passed around, and hopefully the person can tell me how to take my number off the list.

We don't get many robo calls except during the election, and I always answer the phone because I get calls from people I know from numbers I don't recognize, and no name is provided.

Annie, have you ever changed a phone number you've had for years? It's a PITA letting people know your new number, and there's always a hundred people you forget to inform.

Oakley, still not clear why you feel you have to answer phone calls-you can screen messages easily so if you get calls from friends, answer them. Ignore the rest. This doesn't seem to be much of a problem really, more of a nudge from the universe to switch one of your personal systems (responding to phones ;).

Edited to add: trying to delve into where someone got the number then trying to take on marketing lists....whew that's a rabbit hole! Whoever got the number would have no way of telling you how to get off the list either.

Again why on earth would you put yourself to that level of aggravation when there's such a simple alternative?

Agree with Running. This doesn't have to be an issue really. I also never pick up if I don't know the number and name on the Caller ID.

We screen all our calls w/ our little combo cordless phone/answering machine, & set it to the shortest number of rings so we don't have to listen to a lot of ringing before finding out who's calling.

Hardly anybody uses landlines any more, so our calls are mainly close family/friends, telemarketing and appointment reminders - mostly telemarketing, scammers &/or surveys getting around the do not call restrictions. You can tell when it's telemarketing or scammers because they just hang up w/ no message.

We don't have caller ID, so screening is the next best thing. I figure, if it's important, they'll leave a message.

I think using the recording to note that this is NOT the business/person is pretty smart!

Forget putting anything on your outgoing message. People don't listen. When we first got our number, it had apparently belonged to a plumbing company. We could not locate the company, so they must have folded. Well I'm sure there were a lot of houses with the plumbing company's business card taped inside the kitchen cabinet. For probably five years we got calls for Progress Plumbing, some of them emergencies.

I recorded our outgoing message to say "You've reached ** and **, NOT Progress Plumbing." They left messages anyway. If it sounded like someone was really in dire straits, I would call them back and tell them to find another plumber.

Those calls stopped somewhere between years 5 and 10.

Tell your friends and family that you are letting the machine screen the calls, and you'll call back ASAP. Leave a message like AOK says (but don't leave a last name for safety), "you've reached Dick and Jane. This is no longer the number of Mrs. Deceased, who is deceased. Please leave a message if you need to reach Dick and Jane."

Sushi, good suggestion but I'd add something at the end of your last line 'and if Mrs. Deceased calls you back, please let us know'.

Screening wouldn't help. DH has his law office landline, and sometimes clients (whom I don't know) and potentially new clients call the house phone. Picking up the house phone when it rings is vital.

It's not like the business people call here every day, it's usually once or twice a week, tops. Except last night when the two calls came back to back around 8:30 pm, and I had to put my book down. :)

Sushi, that's funny! Except they also call for the deceased's grown kids, their spouses, and the deceased's grown grandchildren. lol

Who cares who they call for. Let them leave a message and ignore any calls that are not for you.

I don't get why clients are calling the home phone. Doesn't DH have a business cell phone for this purpose?

It's not unusual at all for a client (even a doctor's patient) to call their home phone unless it's unlisted. Many times they meant to call the office # but called the house # by mistake.

Sushi, in the law business the last thing you want is for a potential client to talk to an answering machine. That's when they find another attorney, and then Oakley can't buy pretty decorative things for her house. ;)

Oakley, look at the links in the one below, and see if any of these will work for you. Your carrier may be able to help you, too. Blocking calls

BUT, since you need to block many incoming numbers, that may be a PITA. Maybe you can change the answering message on the home phone to say- 'If you are calling for (list the names of the people who used to have the number), their number has changed to ###-####, please make a note of it."

You say "We can't change our phone number, and the land line is staying."

Do you get more calls on your home number from people dialing the family/business who used to have it, or from potential clients of your husband?

It may be that you just have to live with it, since you say that you can't change it and you MUST pick up the phone when it rings.

Annie, have you ever changed a phone number you've had for years? It's a PITA letting people know your new number, and there's always a hundred people you forget to inform.

Yes I know. But it's a question of which is more painful...getting a new number and informing people you know, or sticking with the old one and dealing with all the wrong numbers. That's for you to decide.

Years ago our town only had 2 prefixes, ours and the other...seems the other belonged to a locksmith who worked out of his house. We got lots of calls from "Lori's" friends and boyfriends in addition to some locksmith calls. But eventually Lori grew up and the calls stopped. Never bothered us so much as we took it with a sense of humor. We get far more robo calls now than we ever got from Lori. So we never changed our number.

I feel for you. In our last home, we had the old number of an pediatric orthopedic surgeon. We would sometimes get calls during the night. I believe they stopped after 15 years. We lived there just over 20.

We own commercial properties, so we have to answer 24/7/365. DH does, however, turn his cell phone off when he goes to bed. I only wish the alarm company of one center would stop calling when lightning or no power makes one of the two fire alarms go off. One signals fire sprinklers are on, the other "power disruption" and it needs to be reset. :-/

Getting a new # is no guarantee you won't start getting calls for someone who possibly had the number before you, too.

There doesn't seem to be a solution to your problem.

I was just going to say the same thing Olychick did - getting a new number is not likely to be a fix. No matter what number one gets assigned these days, it almost certainly already existed and was in use before you got it.

So before anyone jumps to the "get a new number" conclusion, I'd just make sure you really, truly, 100% can't stand whatever inappropriate calls you are getting now.

Oakley - I moved a few years ago, and got both a new landline and a new cell phone number at the same time. Both phone numbers still get calls for their prior "owners", although it is diminishing over time. I block numbers that repeatedly call.

The cell phone number was in use with a gentleman who apparently decided to stop paying ALL of his bills. I used to get calls from debt companies all the time. LOVELY folks. Ha ha. At first I tried to be helpful, and would answer calls, and explain I'm not "Jason", I don't know who "Jason" is because I just got what was apparently his old phone number... etc...

However the debt companies apparently love fighting with random people, because I had one woman go off on me, implying I was lying to cover for "Jason." Since that time I no longer answer calls from numbers I don't know. I program all my known contacts into the phone so I can tell if anyone I know is calling - and otherwise they can talk to my voice mail. A second call from the same number with no voice mail left gets blocked.

Yes it's a pain the rear. I have no easy solutions for you. Sorry.

Certainly not as annoying, but we get intermittent messages on our landline from an Aunt Betty. When the calls are serious or important I call her back and tell her she reached us by mistake.

Our number is probably very close to her relatives.

Our home phone is unlisted specifically for that reason. Only the senior partner has ever called DH at the home number if he cannot reach him by cell (this usually means DH is in the shower which I have to tell him he is in the shower and he'll call him back when gets out). We do not want clients calling here!

I changed my cell phone number when I moved here. It took a little while for people to get used to it, but it happened. I wanted a phone with the same area code as home.

What Olychick said. The phone number I got at my last house was apparently previously the number for someone who had a lot of debts. For years I dealt with debt collectors.

RE: screening

Even w/ clients and legit calls, you can pick up when you recognize who it is. message should say, "leave your name & number please, and we will return your call". And if you miss picking up in time, can't they be called back immediately?

Gee, what happens when no one is home to answer a call? Do your husband's clients have to leave a message then?

I have to laugh, remembering when a friend of mine's phone number was similar to a stereo repair shop's phone number. She got tired of telling people they had the wrong number, so she started telling people, "We're so sorry about the trouble you've had with your stereo repairs. We won't be charging you this time; just come in and pick up your stereo." The wrong numbers stopped pretty quickly. It is too bad we live in a society where we don't answer the phone unless we recognize the number but I do understand the reasons why and follow the same policy.

Sushi, I'm talking about the home phone, not his office phone.

Aw, Oakley. It sounds like nothing will work or help. I am sorry this is so awful for you. Maybe start meditating? OOOOMMM

LOL, Cyn. I'm going to do what Gray suggested and see if I can get information from the callers. I'll ask each caller until I find what I need. I was the family "Clue" champion for a reason! :)

You said:

Screening wouldn't help. DH has his law office landline, and sometimes
clients (whom I don't know) and potentially new clients call the house
phone. Picking up the house phone when it rings is vital.

What happens when they call the house phone and no one is there to answer?

Since the normal solutions aren't workable for you, you can at least have some fun with the callers. Tell them that you believe that the person (any of them) they want is dead and that the business folded. Obviously, you don't have any phone numbers for them to try. If they try another name, you think that person is dead too. Then start rambling on about a seances. Act batty enough and they won't call back.

Apparently our phone number is exactly the same as an ice cream company, except the area code has the last two numbers in reverse order from ours. We get probably 1-2 calls a week from stores needing to order ice cream. I figured out the problem when I finally asked someone what number they were trying to call. So now I can quickly just tell the people, “You dialed 123 instead of 132!” It’s no big deal. I could screen, but then they’d be delayed getting the ice cream! Can’t have that!

If I get a wrong number, I always ask the caller what number they're calling. Got one the other day that entered the area code wrong. I just tell them they have the wrong area code. I don't tell them my number, just point to their error. Hopefully that's one less person calling my number.

Nothing is worse than getting a phone number that once belonged to a person who never paid their debts..Collection dept. are ruthless. Took about 6 years (knock on wood) but I think it's stopped.

Statue of limitations on collecting a debt in several states is 6 years. That might explain things, 4boys2.

Linelle, I have to do the opposite, tell them the number they called because the person they're asking for has my number. The good thing is it's a business where they can't sell to just anybody.

The sad part was when the lady's old friends called and I had to tell them she passed away. Yikes.

I know this won't help you and it's probably insensitive considering your last post but this thread reminds me of a similar situation. Sorry in advance; I can't help myself. The land line at our beach house is in the name of my husband's uncle who passed away in 1970. We always got cold calls for John M. Where we would tell the caller he wasn't available. One day (after many, many years of these calls) I was feeling feisty and told the caller "Sorry, Mr. M. Can't come to the phone. He's busy pushing up daisies." I could barely get the words out I was laughing so hard. The room was full of family and friends and the whole room burst into laughter. From then on the young people raced to answer the phone hoping to have the chance to use that phrase.

Ok. Now back to your previously scheduled program. And I sincerely apologize if I offended the OP.

Honu, that wasn't insensitive at all, it was a good laugh! Did you ever watch the old Roseanne show? There was a scene where Jackie was the one who had to call extended family members to tell them that her and Roseanne's dad died. One person she called was hard of hearing and she kept repeating that "dad is no longer with us" Finally she screamed into the phone, "Dad died!" then hung up. LOL

Thanks, Oakley. The funny thing was, the kid on the other end of the phone had no idea what I was talking about. He was too young.

Oakley, once or twice the person will say they were trying to reach my number, i.e., not a mis-dial. Be sure to ask about the area code because that's a real possibility. Anyway, if I verify that they were indeed trying to call my number, I say, well, it's wrong, xxxx doesn't live here.

On a related note, my house painter wrote my phone number down wrong. He called the wrong number and didn't give up. Called it several times. Finally the exasperated woman at the other end said, "Dave" (because by then she knew his name), "why don't you just drive over to her house?" Luckily he had my address and drove over. We both laughed about it.

My late husband had a not uncommon name. There was a guy with the same name in our town who must have been a real deadbeat and collection agencies were always calling our house because we had just our names listed in the phone book. One agency got so nasty and aggressive with me that I slammed the receiver down so hard on our wall phone that I tore the whole unit out of the wall.

Another call came today! I told the guy about all the calls I'm getting and asked how he got our number. Not sure why I didn't catch this until we hung up, but he has a list of names in the industry and he finds the phone number at the white pages website. He said he'd take my name off the list and try to let others know.

After we hung up it dawned on me he called for the deceased's DIL, and the DIL never had the same phone number as her MIL.

So that doesn't make sense because I know the DIL pretty good and I have her phone number memorized.

Now I'm really confused. My name isn't on the list, and he can't take the name he wanted to talk to off since she's part of the business. Good lord.

We STILL get calls for the business who had our number previously, 13 years.mOne of the principals has the same first name as me, so it took a few very confusing phone calls till I figured things out. Now the calls are just from call lists, but for a while they were from taxing bodies in other states. For the first couple of years I gave the company's new number, then I said "they changed their number x years ago", now I just hang up.

Our phone footprint lives on! What will happen to our email accounts, forum usernames, and profiles as we depart the earth?

Linelle, I have a common last name and am listed in the directory just with my first initial. There seem to be several people who are deadbeats with the same initial and last name. One is the worst. I got so many collection calls for her for YEARS that I finally started telling them, "Sorry, she died." Didn't take long for the calls to stop. She should thank me for the fact that they probably all closed out her accounts.

I knew someone from back home who had their phone listed under their pet's name. Don't know if you could still get away with it now given credit checks required. But they knew it was fake call when callers asked for "Mr. DH Rover."

I have had my cell phone number for years. Got it back when we had those big bulky bricks for phones. About 5 years ago I started getting phone calls for a certain man. The first was a message from a pharmacy in a nearby town to say his prescription was ready. I ignored it thinking they had dialed the wrong number. A few months later an insurance company was looking for him. They repeated my number and I informed them ‘Charles Smith’ was not at that number, and never had been for the past 20+ years. I continue to get phone calls about once a year for this guy, especially insurance company calls. Don’t know how it happened, but I expect someone mis-typed a phone number and it has carried through on a data base, even though I asked them to remove it.

My dad passed away three days ago. Two hours after he passed I was on my cell with my daughter. My phone beeped that another call was coming in. I looked at the screen and it was my dad’s picture that told me his cell phone was calling. The screen disappeared as if the call ended before I could answer it. My dad’s cell phone had been in a drawer at his house with the battery dead for three weeks. His cell service told me it was impossible for that phone to have made a call and there also was no trace of it. I believe God let him say goodbye to me and was letting me know that he was okay. It was the best gift I’ve ever received.

Ugh, how frustrating! I think it's a great idea to try to discern the source of people getting the number, but I had a recent experience that makes me a little skeptical. While in San Francisco, we were trying to walk to a nearby Budget Car Rental office to add my son to my contract. Google gave us the address ten or so blocks away. After we got there and couldn't find it, I went into the business with the same street number as in the Google address, and he told me Budget hadn't been there for at least five years. So I don't know -the info may just be out there and impossible to completely trace or eliminate.

Hugs, HU. I’m so sorry for your loss.

Hu, how wonderful you got a sign from your dad! It’s so comforting to know they’re okay. I received signs from my grandfather and mother after they passed. Somethings cant be explained we just know in our hearts. It truly is a gift! So sorry for your loss.

HU, I love that your dad sent you a sign. What a wonderful gift.

So sorry to hear about your father, but nice that you got a final phone call. I can see how that would be comforting.

When I lived in Culver City (1989-1994) I had a land line with a phone number that had previously belonged to Larry Welk III, a helicopter pilot for channel 9 news. At this time I mostly used the name Larry instead of Lars because Larry is what my family called me, and that is the name that I identified myself by on my answering machine, which had cassette tapes back then.

At one point I started to get a lot of phone calls from companies that wanted to sell me insurance for my helicopter, and this would take up a lot of space on the cassette tapes, which I could not fast forward through at that time.

Therefore I changed my outgoing message to say, "Hello, you have reached 310 377-8855, the house of NO LAWRENCE WELK music. If you think you have reached this number in error, take two Geritol and dial again in the morning." The calls from the insurance companies stopped after that. However, when my mother heard this message, it made her mad, and she made me change it because she was a Lawrence Welk fan.