If they are from a 03 code ….which is Victoria area code ..then … no ….cause you can 100% guarantee it’s a scammer.
If either of our cell's show "Spam", we don't answer. Other than that, we answer. To avoid many of the calls my SIL use to do to us, I would put my cell on "mute" around the time she would call. My wife agreed with me about putting my phone on "mute", when dealing with SIL calls. Guess she finally got the hint and doesn't call us that much anymore. However, we can handle her texting us, but don't always answer her texts either.
I actually did that same thing, (years ago, of course) and said “Hello”/pause several times, and then ended with, “I guess it is a bad connection, so if you can hear this, please just leave me a message”.
One day I was over at her house, and when she went into the bathroom, I changed her greeting in my best imitation of her voice. I think her sister asked "When did you change your answering machine?" I never did fess to the crime. My greeting respected people's intelligence: "This is John. I'm not here. You know what to do." *BEEP*
It's hard to believe, but many of us grew up in a household which didn't have a phone. You only used a telephone when it was absolutely necessary and then you used a call box. I've never felt comfortable using telephones and have an answering machine. A genuine caller will leave a message and then I'll call back. The only time I appreciate the phone is at Christmas when there are calls between the family.
Interesting. I'd bet that most of us who grew up in the states had Party Lines, meaning we shared a line with a neighbor or two, with each of us having our specific ring. You could pick up the phone and listen in to the conversations of your neighbors; in fact, if any neighbor was on a call, no one else could ring out until everyone hung up. They were more or less extension lines in different houses. ps: Sorry if you know what party lines are (I suspect you do.) I wasn't trying to be condescending.
My answering machine picks up after 2 rings and says leave a message. If I recognize the voice I pick up.
I remember when I always answered the phone. There was no caller ID and I didn't have an answering machine. As time went on sales people started calling. Back then you were not rude on the phone. You tried to be nice to break away from the schpeel. Eventually you got less nice and then you just hung up on people which I considered a very rude response. But, then again, their intruding on my phone when uninvited was rude. Now, caller id tells me if it is a spam call. But mostly I let my answering machine deal with it because sometimes I don't run so fast to pick up
My iPhone shows "Potential Spam" for lots of the calls I get. I dump them all into voice mail so the legit ones can leave a message. I don't even know if I pay for that service.
My computer keeps getting hacked, it tells me to call Microsoft ,but we just shut down od course. what the heck is going on with everything?
People say we should get a VPN. But the 911 systems in several states got shut down and I would think they have security we can't get. They are not conspiracy theories.