Nuisance Telephone Calls

[woofas]

I am suddenly being inundated with calls claiming to be from Talktalk Technical department about a so-called problem with my computer speed. These are obviously scams as they hang up when I ask for any specific info. The majority are "Number Withheld" so I cannot call bar them and Talktalk say they cannot help with such calls. We had more than 10 calls yesterday and 3 already this morning.
Any ideas as to how to stop this?

[woofgang]

I have got an answerphone with caller ID if the number is not one I recognise then I don’t pick up.

[hc4361]

I paid £30 ish for a call blocker phone - it is very effective and any number not in the phone's memory has to announce who they are before my phone rings. If they hang up, it doesn't ring.

This is the one I have but there are others

Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation

[atalanta]

Tell them you've got a Mac

[woofas]

Thanks for your suggestions. I have Caller ID on my phone but it is still annoying just to stop what you are doing simply to view the Caller details. There have now been 7 calls this morning. I have just discovered that I have the option of Anonymous Caller Reject on my phone which sounds the same as hc4361's suggestion. Apparently the only problem is that some larger organisations (eg NHS) use Number Withheld for calls. How much of a problem is this?

[hc4361]

It's not a problem for NHS staff and the like - they know to redial with the correct prefix so the number is displayed

[mikey4444]

Filter these type of calls with your answering machine, if you have one. Everyone I am contact with, now knows to say his or her name as soon as the machine answers, when I will then pick. If not, then I ignore the call.

[Hopkirk]

Just ignore them and they will soon stop

[woofgang]

woofas, I don’t stop what I am doing...I let the call go to message and listen to see who it is if I am not close to the phone.

[johnny37]

we have BT call guardian. the phone system is a BT8600. cost about £50. any calls not on the list cannot get through. scam calls have reduced to zero. worth every penny.

[waterboatman]

I get them too. Just tell them you've tracked their location. That usually stops them in their tracks. The ones that do show a number can be barred.