Here's what the calls are about: https://www.wsj.com/articles/stop-robocalling-me-i-didnt-11546261200

This can be avoided by setting up Do Not Disturb on your smartphone. Set to block ringing during the overnight hours of your choice. Exceptions can be made so that calls from people on your contact list (or selected contacts) will ring though and not be blocked.

Why even answer if you don't recognize the number?

That's pretty bad when you can't answer your own phone when someone calls...if my phone rings I'm assuming it's someone trying to reach me.

.... and I hope those calls (and other robocalls) have freed you of that assumption.

Someone is "spoofing" your number-- using your number to make scam phone calls.

Happened to us a while back.

pudgeder: did you/can you do any thing I can do about it...??

I got a call a little bit ago from someone with a thick accent saying I may qualify for disability compensation. LOL. I laughed out loud and hung up on them. It was a local number and is why I answered, although, I didn't recognize it. I thought it might be those stupid people calling me again about warranty on my car.

Do not call is down right now

I normally do not get robo calls on my cell phone (I do get them at work, however), but I got one just now from someone saying that I was eligible for a free vacation because I had stayed at a Marriott hotel recently (don't remember doing that). I try to boycott Marriott and hung up as soon as I heard that. It was also a recorded message - not a real person. I answered the call because call ID put it in my area code, and sometimes I get calls from doctors whose numbers I don't know, although I do know their area codes. Calling a doctor back is not always an easy matter.

I guess I got this call because Do Not Call is down. I have no problem hanging up on people I do not know if I think they are scamming. I pretty much always hang up on callers who are recorded.

Unfortunately, people fall for the "disability" calls like Kathsgrdn has described. My mother (early 80s, still pretty with it) answers her phone all the time and has almost fallen for at least one scam (the "grandchild who needs bail money"). I have told her numerous times to get Caller ID, but she refuses.

I just realized there's an upside to my mom not hearing and/or answering her phone. She's so easily confused, she might just get into financial trouble. Oy. Glad she doesn't answer it for that reason.

No Robo Call is down? How can you tell? I get at least 5-7 calls per day every day and have for quite a long time (talking about my landline) and occasional ones on my cell. Both my cell and land line read "spam likely" some of the time. Many times the number just shows up as a local call in which case I don't answer. I really really hate sneaky spammy people.

I receive spam calls on my cell phone from a number that is similar to mine. If I do not recognize a number, I do not answer it and block it. I do not miss any important call because the caller will leave a voice mail and if not, oh well.

Last year I got a TON of calls like that. My number had been spoofed. It was a nightmare.

I cleared all my 50 calls that I've had blocked. Now when the phone rings and it's not a number I know, I pick up the receiver and don't say anything. I keep it on speaker and when I hear someone talking, I just let them talk. I don't say a word and all I hear is "hello" "hello". Then they finally hang up. I've noticed my calls dropped from 6 or 7 a day to one or two. I still block a few. My next step is getting a whistle and blow.

The agency that runs the Do Not Call registry is shut down.

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-hillsborough/businesses-receiving-more-robocalls-as-do-not-call-service-is-down-during-government-shutdown

It's not always possible to answer only 'known callers'. I'll pick up unknown numbers when I'm expecting new information or to make appointments for a medical problem. Unfortunately, some of those will start with, "Don't hang up," so somewhere, some solicitor counts me as prey and will call again and again.

I never answer my phone if I don't know who's calling. They can leave me a vm and I'll call back if it's someone I know but not in my contacts.

My dh however answers his most of the time because he uses it for work. He gets tons of sales calls whereas I get next to nothing.

I had only one company that kept calling me so I blocked their #. Problem solved.

I do the same thing, Linda. (On my landline)

I don't think anyone who is spoofing our numbers or trying to scam us pays one bit of attention to DoNotCall list, whether it's down or not.

When it comes to "spoofing" I don't think there's any way to prevent it. However they do it doesn't have anything to do w/your phone line or account, they just use the number.

I know ours was being spoofed because at the time we still had our answering machine hooked up to our land line. I received several nasty messages from strangers complaining that we'd called them. I immediately disconnected the answering machine and turned the ringer off of the land line.

About 2 hours after I read this I got a voice mail from a guy "returning a call I just got from this number". I never made any calls!