My time is too valuable to waste on them, but the swearing after the deafening whistle is priceless. I now look forward to calls from “the IRS” and “the Microsoft”
FWEEEEEEEEEEP!
Comedy gold.
People should keep in mind that in some countries, that’s considered an assault, and you could be fined for it.
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Only the calls posing as the IRS or Microsoft warning me about “a bad gateway sending viruses to the Internet” get the whistle treatment. I don’t do it to real businesses, no matter how smarmy they may be (looking at you, “local contractors” and solar installers.) Everyone gets reported to the do not call list anyway.
I feel no qualms about hearing damage to criminals or their associates. Zero. Zip.
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Agreed. I try not to be too surly with regular telemarketers; they’re people stuck in a very tough job. Hell, I’ve worked retail for (way too) many years, I know what it’s like to try to sell product to uninterested people, and I can’t help but empathize a little. But scammers… that’s malicious and predatory. Those are the ones I play with, if I feel like it. If i don’t feel like it, I’ll tell them off with no hesitation. Especially if they call asking for my elderly father. At that point…
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There definitely should be a “Do Not Kick” list, but it is even harder to opt out of law enforcement these days.
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I need a Zen-like approach (or Revenge Zen, just in the mind, as yours sounds like). In the times when I think about it I separate the callers from those who employ them. The employers should have the horrible stuff that @danimagoo suggested be done to them. As for the employees that are making the calls… I wonder if they are just trying to make a buck and that this is the only job available to them, like @beep54orama . Yes it is their choice but when you need a job the choices are less. Doing a little evil for a little good of getting a paycheck, supporting a family.
All thoughtfulness aside, god I do hate these calls. In our house if the call comes on the landline (not quite AARP yet folks…) it is likely a telemarketer, charity, political call, but not really for us.
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I haven’t had a land line in 15 years, but for some reason I’ve been on AARP’s mailing list since I was 30 
I’m on the Do Not Call registry (which doesn’t help much) and use Mr. Number for Android (which sort of does).
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I do get them on my cell phone but not anywhere near as often and I just block the number.
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Muggers often have the same excuse. I don’t believe that being vulnerable or in need ever justifies preying on the weak. But I agree that telemarketers are less evil than their employers.
@Nightflyer also makes an excellent distinction between actual cold-calling salespeople, and scammers, though I would argue that the cold-calling salespeople provide cover for the scammers.
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If you route your phone calls through Google Voice, there’s the option to block future calls from the same number, and the way they block is to play the official “this number is no longer in service” message, which is much more likely to keep your number from being passed on.
Our spam calls are down substantially as a result. Every time there’s another surge, a few days of blocking the calls brings it back down again.
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I am fascinated by the hoops you have to jump through. here cold-calls are verboten and extremly rarely a shady party ignores this, for me maybe, hmm, 2 times in 6 years or so?
sure, we have our fair share of outright illegal scam (like “hi, here’s the official Microsoft support, please start this or that remote control software”) and if one is already a customer it’s easier for the company to get some blanket permit to hassle via phone/mail/letter but generally the complete branch of robocalls and telemarketers is a non-issue here.
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I remind you that Germany is on our short list of countries to immigrate to if necessary…you’ve provided yet another example of why!
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Problem is, that;'s the argument used by drug dealers, thieves, stolen goods fences, con artists, internment camp guards, executioners and so on and on.
Evil prospers because people find excuses for making money from it. (Not meaning you.)
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