It’s a gamble. For all you know, the new number may also be on telemarking lists. This is why I haven’t changed mine.

When we wanted to cancel our expensive land line, I didn’t want to give up our home phone entirely because our cell phones aren’t real reliable in the house.

We ended up getting an Ooma and enrolling in an annual package that offers a few handy services including call block That’s the number I give to businesses and so on. Callers can leave a message on it and I can block calls too. We also have a secondary number that will ring differently and that’s used for just family.

If you don’t want to use the home number at all, you can hook a phone up to it, turn the volume off and you’ll never be bothered by it. The basic Ooma service is free all you pay is the taxes for the line which comes to 3-4 dollars a month. It’s an alternative that will keep both of you from being bothered by the calls.

Have you tried using an internet phone number like Burner phone for when you have to give out a number?

I got a new phone (and number) for my kid and the marketing calls were so bad we made her swap with one of her parents. (We're better at stopping spam than a kid who barely knows how to turn on a phone.)

It's a gamble.

My spam calls seem to come in spurts. I just continuously block them. But, I don't get them continuously throughout the day. Maybe one a day, then some days none.

But, if your phone is constantly ringing with unsolicited calls, then I would change it.

DH has a google number that is attached to his phone and he gives this one out for business purposes. It's free to have it. They even have a one time fee for a custom number. Google Talk.

You need a google account of course.

I am not ready to give up our land line. It s one of our perks. DH is a former Verizon employee.

Why would changing your phone make a difference? The auto dialers used now randomly dial every possible combination of numbers till they find a real phone line. One phone is no less likely to get them than another. Those machines can dial tens of thousands of numbers a second, if not more.

I have not but I never give out my cell number to anyone other than people I want to call me. I also never fill it in anywhere online where they say they might need it to get a hold of me or for two factor authentication (just send me an email to my spam email address) When I got rid of my land line I got a cheap family plan flip phone and kept my old land line number and that's the number I give to anyone other than people I really want to talk to. I check that voicemail every other day.

I also never answer my cell phone unless I know who's calling. If it's important they'll leave a message. I get very few spam calls - just the ones with the same first six numbers who think they're going to fool you into answering. I block everyone of those and they have gradually been decreasing.

You could keep your old number as the spam phone. We have a voice message that says no one we know calls this number any more so if you know us call us at our mobile number. Otherwise leave a message as we do check messages from time to time. Then people you want to have your new number who don't could eventually get it.

WB,perhaps I am assigning false causality, but ever since i started filling in my number on forms and giving it to businesses, i get these calls. Before that, virtually never. So I want to wipe the slate clean.

I get one or two spam calls a day on my cell phone. I block them religiously. However, like many people, they spoof a number similar to mine, i.e., same area code + prefix, because it initially looks local and you think you might know the person calling. I found a free app (Blocker) that lets you block a range of numbers. So I blocked every number like mine that isn't mine. If a friend within that range tries to call me, too bad. So far, it seems to be working and my spam calls have plummeted, at least from that quarter.

I've just recently starting getting telemarketing calls on my cell phone and I never give the number out. I get junk messages on voicemail, too, that I have to sift through. I'm also stuck with a landline because we run a business from our home and we get dozens of telemarketing calls per day. They are the bane of my existence. And that do not call registry is a colossal joke.

hmm, i think I will try an app based on what y'all have said

tho, as an aside, ive always hated my number. It has no pattern to it at all. If a number can be ...ugly ... it is.

I know,I know. Not a real problem. : )

I'm a bit odd perhaps.

I like my cell phone number and it seems like a huge hassle to change it.

I still have a landline. Actually it's one of those fiber internet "landlines" where I got to keep my old number. Of course, it doesn't work if the power goes out, but that's too infrequent to worry about. I would rather people call me on that line. I actually hate talking on the phone, period, and always switch to speaker because I can't stand holding a receiver to my ear. I can't even imagine how my teenage self gleefully spent so many hours on the phone.

I rarely answer my phone, I will if I see it is one of my sons or if I am expecting a call. My hearing is impaired so talking on the phone is difficult. But if these telemarketing calls are random I should be getting the same amount of telemarketing calls as other people and I don't.

I feel your pain...I just received a call the other morning for Jamaica....I'm sure it was legit!! LOL

We have cell service thru AT & T. When we got our new phones there was an app AT & T Call Protect. It is basically free and has worked wonders on stopping the calls. It flags them or doesn't send them through. The calls do seem to be reduced.

You can pay a monthly fee if you want call look up and some other options but the free service has worked fine for us.

I also have Call Protect through AT&T. The only calls it stops are "Potential Fraud" calls which it auto-blocks, and of course the ones that did come through that I manually blocked. Since so many came from a definable range of numbers, Blocker has substantially reduced the calls.

I agree that the Do Not Call list is a joke.

I do not answer any call that is identified as unknown caller. Spam calls do not seem to leave messages. If it is important, the caller will leave a message.

ETA: We no longer have a land line. We got rid of it years ago and used a cell phone with the same number. When I retired, I canceled my cell phone and took the home cell phone number for my own.

I don't ever give out my cell phone # and probably only get 1 or 2 junk calls every 6 months or so, as opposed to my landline that gets from 2 to 10 a DAY. I have the ringer turned down and I check for VM most days. I block all the #s as soon as they come in, but my limit is 30 calls on my block list, which sometimes I can fill up in less than a week.

On a related/unrelated note, I am furious that we can't opt out of "presidential alert" texts like what went out today. I do not subscribe to any alerts on my phone, I don't WANT any alerts on my phone, but apparently, I HAVE to get these alerts on MY phone. I guess a lawsuit to force an opt out option was lost in court.

" If a number can be ...ugly ... it is." Yes, that is funny! My # has no rhyme or reason either.

If I don't recognize the incoming call # I don't answer. I usually have my phone silenced when out and about unless I'm expecting calls. I'll check it occasionally, but otherwise.... Telemarketers don't leave message so, NBD - I block the caller and delete the #.

I got a new cell phone and a new number. I changed the old number to a pay as you go service and that's the number I give whenever I need to give a business my phone number. I check voice mails once a month or so. It's great. I rarely get a spam call on my new (3 years old) cell number.

I get plenty of spam calls that leave messages, the latest being that there are several serious law-enforcement warrants out for me. LOL. They can't even speak in complete sentences.

No, I wouldn't get a new number. It probably wouldn't be a never used number and with my luck I would be like the mother that got her daughter her first cell phone and the number used to belong to a hooker. Needless to say, she DID have to get the number changed. LOL!

Bunny, did you break some laws in Nigeria again?

lol

Mtn, no number is ugly. All numbers are beautiful and you can find *a* pattern almost always, even if it’s not the pattern you recognize. I know, I know, I’m not answering your real question. Saying a number is ugly is like calling puppies, children or flowers ugly. (I, too, am odd.)

I wonder if you can request a new # that hasn't previously been issued? I know our area just got a brand new area code added, so those #'s have never been given to anyone before. You could then use your old # on a decoy phone.

I have an app on my phone called Mr. Number. It's free. As long as the app is open, if a call comes through it'll say "potential spoof" or something like that.

You can block them through the app... but scammers seldom use the same number twice.

I seldom answer if I don't recognize the number. Like someone else said, if it's important, they'll leave a message.

DH uses a cell phone only to call me and I am the only one who has his number and yet he still gets robo calls on it, so changing your # may not help at all. We get easily 1/2 dozen robo calls at home each day...so annoying as they all come in under different numbers so call blocking won't help.

I've pretty much stopped answering the phone. I get a gazillion spoofed calls a day, it seems, most with the same area code and first three digits as mine. My landline will prefix some caller ids with SPAM?, so those definitely are ignored. The one problem is when I get a call from someone near and dear to me who is out of the country and the caller ID lists Unknown Caller.

I never answer calls from#'s I don't know and feel that if it's a "real" call, they will leave a message. I then block that # and yes, I know it just switches to another #

My work cell phone is a government issued phone and I get spam calls all the time on that number too. I HAVE to answer that phone, since it's my work cell but I just hang up when I get those calls. My personal cell gets a few a week, but I don't answer it unless I know the caller.

I do get legit calls, some are robo calls, from my medical provider for example. I save those as contacts so when those calls come in I know what they are. But like others have mentioned, I get a lot of spoofed numbers. And more often than not, those robocall/telemarketer calls leave voice mails.

Today when the emergency alert came through every work cell phone in the office, as well as every personal cell, started blaring at once. It was awful! Thankfully it didn't last too long. A couple months ago we had a problem with our water supply here in town and an emergency alert went out mistakenly-and scared half the town. They followed up with a less 'emergency' style text, but that was very unsettling to have your cell phone start blaring an alarm sound followed by a disaster text!

Sounds like we are all besieged. We need a Class Action to go after these azzes.

I can't be too cavalier about numbers I don't know because I have one kid away at college and one at boarding school and one in high school. I can get calls from their teachers, advisors, coaches, administrators, music instructors, yogis, billing, friends, friends parents, teammates. And if they are during the school day and from an area one of them is in, part of me always panics just a little. I think it is cute how at least at the two high schools, when they call, the first words out of their mouths are always "Wilhemina (fake name) is fine," and then they go on. Still, i know I'm getting a cortisol zap each time!

As others have mentioned, with a “new” number, you run a risk of it being a number with an undesirable history. When I got my current cell number, the previous owner had a number of unpaid bills turned over to collection agencies (but way less than my previous cell - which used a much older area code). I also use an app (hiya) to block the spoofed numbers

Agreeing that changing your number won't help much if at all and having some of the spam blockers is really helpful. Currently using one called Should I Answer which is pretty good. The phone might ring once but then it cuts out immediately and on questionable ones, it even says Suspected Spam.

So far, I don’t get many spam calls on my cell phone but I get a ton on my home phone. I never answer the home phone and just let the answering machine pick up. Like many others have said, if the number does not appear in my contacts and thus easily identified, I don’t answer. I know if it’s important or an emergency, they will leave a message. Coincidentally, this backfired on me a little just last week. I got a call from an unrecognized number so didn’t answer. Immediately a second call from the same number. Still didn’t answer. Then my home phone rang, same number but this time my home phone caller ID announced it was “John Smith” which is the name of the father of one of ds’ friends. I thought it odd as they are not close friends but then thought it might have something to do with their h.s. sports team (the mom is team photographer and putting together senior night stuff). I pick up the home phone, to hear my son’s voice “Mom I just called you like three times on your cell phone! I locked my keys in the car, need you to come to practice...etc”

My response was...next time text me from your friend’s phone so I know it’s you! Then I will answer. My kids know not to answer calls from unrecognized numbers so I pointed out I was only doing the same. Thankfully I was actually home when he called and able to bring the spare car keys.

It can be very scary if you have someone in the hospital too or when we were caring for elderly relatives...you have to take these calls and every time the phone rings, your heart jumps...

...and it's not like there's a real person on the other end that you can yell at for disturbing you too! :)

4kids - your scenario is exactly the reason I don't have the luxury of ignoring unknown phone numbers. Glad it worked out!

I get almost no spam calls on my cell phone, but I also turn it off at night and then turn in back on in the morning when I feel like it. I think it is turned off most of the time, and I figure the battery will last longer that way. I tend not to answer numbers that I do not recognize, but sometimes these calls are from doctors' offices, and I have to call them back.

When I first moved to Culver City, I had a phone number that was either previously owned by Larry Welk or was very similar, and on my voice mail, I said "Please leave a message for Larry" because I used that name instead of Lars back then. At one point I started getting a lot of voice mail messages from companies trying to sell me insurance for my helicopter because Larry Welk was a news helicopter pilot for Channel 13. (Larry Welk was/is Lawrence Welk's son, in case you have heard of him.) Finally, to stop the voice mail messages, I changed my greeting to say "Hello, you have reached 310-xxx-xxxx, the house of no Lawrence Welk music. If you think you have reached this number in error, please take two Geritol and dial again in the morning." After having that message on my answering machine, the insurance companies stopped calling me, but my mother got mad because she liked Lawrence Welk and made me change the message.

Love it, Lars.

One more voice in the choir- my husband was forced into a number change when changing providers. He was very guarded with his previous number, and now he’s under a besiege of multiple telemarketers and other various junk. Better the devil you know!

And thanks to this thread, we’ll be looking for an app to fight the calls, thanks all!

I block spam calls on my mobile and they seem to have slowed somewhat. Maybe one or two a week. My landline, which comes with my cable/internet package, was my business number, and I’ve had it for over ten years. It previously belonged to someone who didn’t pay her bills, and even after all this time I still get calls from bill collectors. Got one today.

I really should change the number, no one uses it anymore as we sold the business in 2016. I get spam and telemarketer calls, and charity fundraising calls on it every day, probably because it‘s on business websites and lists. My favorites are the IRS calling to arrest me, and Microsoft calling to tell me my computer is broken. I let the calls go to voicemail most of the time, and they usually hang up without leaving a message.

Heres an article on the "neighbor spoof."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.marketwatch.com/amp/story/guid/61D54136-650C-11E8-AAA9-EC0FA6EDB264

I guess there are 4 billion spoof calls a month going out. Most of them originating outside the US. That's why the do-not-call list isnt working. Anyone with a laptop and broadband connection can dial thousands of numbers an hour.

I have an old number from an area code I dont live in anymore. I know if the call originates in that ac it's not legit.

If you don't answer it's better for you. Some dialers hunt for numbers that get answered. Then they sell that number to the scammer. Unanswrred numbers dont get sold.

I highly recommend Nomorobo. Almost brings spam calls to a halt after one ring. Sometimes I answer spam calls by saying Philadelphia Police Department, what is your emergency? If there is a live person calling, it stops them in their tracks.

I don't have a cell and very seldom get spam/robo calls on my landline. If I answer the phone and say hello and no one responds by the time I count to 2 I hang up because then I know it's a call I don't want. But I do have to remember to wear my reading glasses when answering the phone so that I can read the call display.