(WTOL) - When the phone rings, and it's an automated call you're not expecting, do you know what to do?
You should not follow the prompts of pressing 1, 2, or any number they tell you to, and there's a good reason why.
We've all had to deal with it. The phone rings, and it's another automated telemarketing call, or robocall as they are now named.
The automated voice tells you that you have won a trip, or it's your good friend Rachel, telling you how you can lower your credit card rate.
Then they instruct you to press "0" to speak with an operator, or perhaps to press "1" to be removed from their calling list. But don't do it.
The website Consumerist says by pushing any button at all, you are letting the caller know you are a real live person. You're almost guaranteed to get more, not fewer calls, after that.
And from the "doesn't that stink" file, what typically happens when you push a button in response to a robocall?
The caller then puts your number on a list of live and potential future customers. Some will even sell that list to other telemarketers, so you get more and more calls. Doesn't that stink?
Consumerist says if you get an unwanted robocall, hang up as soon as possible. If you capture the number on your caller ID, you can report it to the FTC.
Bottom line: don't let a robocaller know you are a real live person. Don't answer it, or if you do, just hang up.
That way you get fewer marketing calls, and you don't waste your money.
Don't Waste Your Money is a registered trademark of the EW Scripps Co.
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