Harassment --Unavailable and Invalid Calls
SERENITY2
Newbie

Harassment

Every hour, every day, I am receiving calls which come up unavailable.  When I try to find out who sent the call it comes back invalid call.  Also, I have been receiving calls from area code 917-399-5566 and 312-878-5592; when I return the calls the line is busy. I do not know anyone from these area codes.  Please Help !!!!!
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Re: Harassment --Unavailable and Invalid Calls
Bob_Robertson
Specialist - Level 1

Telemarketers

You can report the number to the

Nuisance Phone number 1-800-257-2969

You can also try to add yourself to the National Do Not Call Registry  www.donotcall.gov  Offers registration for consumers to stop telemarketers from calling

you could also try answering the call, and asking to sepak with a supervisor and ask to be taken off the list

you can also look into the CALL INTERCEPT feature


http://www22.verizon.com/ResidentialHelp/Phone/Calling+Features/Call+Intercept/Call+Intercept.htm

Call Intercept

Call Intercept answers incoming calls that do not provide a valid phone number. Callers must then identify themselves before Call Intercept rings your phone and plays the recorded name of the caller. You must have Caller ID to use Call Intercept.
How Call Intercept Works Call Intercept screens unidentified calls to your phone.
  • All calls that appear as "Anonymous," "Private," "Out of Area," or "Unavailable" on your Caller ID unit (or display phone) are answered by Call Intercept before your phone rings.
  • The system informs the caller that unidentified calls are not accepted. To reach you, the caller is instructed to record a name or enter an override code. If the caller does not do this, your phone will not ring.
  • Once a name has been recorded, your phone will sound a different ring from normal and "Call Intercept" appears on your display.
  • When you pick up your phone, you will hear the recorded name, followed by five call options: Accept or decline the call, refuse a sales call, reroute the call to Home Voice Mail, or repeat the recorded name.
Call Intercept messages heard by your caller When you answer your phone you will hear the recorded name of the caller. You have your choice of five response options.

1Accept call "Thank you. Please hold." Music plays until you answer.

2Decline call "The person you are calling is not available. Thank you. Good-bye."

3Refuse a sales call "The person you are calling does not accept phone solicitations. Please add their name to your Do Not Call list. Thank you. Good bye."

4Send to Verizon Home Voice Mail "Connecting to an answering system." If you do not have HVM or an answering machine, your caller will hear "The person you are calling is not available at this time. Thank you. Good bye."

5Repeat name of caller. You caller hears music until you answer or make a choice.
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Re: Harassment --Unavailable and Invalid Calls
DoctorBill2
Enthusiast - Level 2

We're being driven crazy by "Unavailable" calls.  We get 10-20 every day.

These are not pranks, but robo-calls from marketers and political offices.

Each one comes from a different, valid number so call-intercept and account-management options will not work (for 4.99/mo you can block up to 20 numbers, which would not work here because the number is a different toll-free every time).

Unless Verizon provides a way to automatically block ALL "Unavailable" calls or intercept them all, I am seriously going to have to consider giving up FiOS to go with some other phone service.

I do not want to do this as the TV and Internet services are excellent.

Verizon:  Help!!!! Smiley Sad

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Re: Harassment --Unavailable and Invalid Calls
ElizabethS
Moderator Emeritus

Have you looked into Call Intercept?

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Re: Harassment --Unavailable and Invalid Calls
thetick
Newbie
Hmmm I remember getting harassing calls in college. We made a game out of it to see how quickly we could get them to hangup. Note: I would never harass anyone unless they were harassing me at my number. If it was a female I would start with wow you have very nice voice.. talk some more .. what are you wearing.....It did have to get vulgar for them to hang up. Ha Ha same procedure with a male... they tended to hang up much quicker. Finally I started to use a fog horn to blow into the phone (I wore firearms ear protection)... instant hangup and after few we NEVER got anymore calls.
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Re: Harassment --Unavailable and Invalid Calls
DoctorBill2
Enthusiast - Level 2

To moderator Elizabeth:

Thanks for responding.

As I mentioned above, call intercept only works when the call comes from an invalid number, or no number is provided.

These robocalls all come from valid toll-free numbers, therefore they will not be intercepted.

And,  since the number changes with each call (these devils are clever), blocking specific numbers won't solve the problem.

Verizon needs to provide a management tool which will automatically block ALL calls from "Unavailable".

Re: Harassment --Unavailable and Invalid Calls
Hubrisnxs
Legend

@DoctorBill wrote:

We're being driven crazy by "Unavailable" calls.  We get 10-20 every day.

These are not pranks, but robo-calls from marketers and political offices.

Each one comes from a different, valid number so call-intercept and account-management options will not work (for 4.99/mo you can block up to 20 numbers, which would not work here because the number is a different toll-free every time).

Unless Verizon provides a way to automatically block ALL "Unavailable" calls or intercept them all, I am seriously going to have to consider giving up FiOS to go with some other phone service.

I do not want to do this as the TV and Internet services are excellent.

Verizon:  Help!!!! Smiley Sad


You might have to change your number,  that is the only way going to another phone company would resolve that issue.

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Re: Harassment --Unavailable and Invalid Calls
Hubrisnxs
Legend

@DoctorBill wrote:

Verizon needs to provide a management tool which will automatically block ALL calls from "Unavailable".


I am not familiar with a company that does this today. 

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Re: Harassment --Unavailable and Invalid Calls
Hubrisnxs
Legend

and this should be helpful to you as well

http://www.ehow.com/how_5127114_block-unavailable-numbers-landline-phones.html

How to Block Unavailable Numbers on Landline Phones

onymous calls, which sometime show up as "Unknown" or "Unavailable" on caller ID, can be a nuisance to landline telephone users. While some calls marked as "Unavailable" are legitimate communication and cannot be blocked, a majority of these calls can be diverted by simply dialing a code from a properly equipped landline telephone.

Subscribe to Anonymous Call Rejection. This service is free for many telephone users and may already exist on some home telephone lines. If the service is not already on your telephone line,  or if the steps here do not work for you, contact your local telephone company (either by dialing "611" from your landline telephone or calling your local telephone company's business office number) to subscribe to this service.

  • Step 2

    Pick up your telephone receiver. Using any wired or wireless landline telephone, pick up the receiver and listen for a dial tone.

  • Step 3

    Press "*77" to activate the Anonymous Call Rejection service from your touchtone landline telephone. If you use a rotary dial telephone, the rotary equivalent code to dial is "1177."

  • Step 4

    Listen for a confirmation. Depending on the equipment your telephone company uses, you may hear either a quick "buzz buzz" sound or a recording informing you that you have successfully activated the Anonymous Call Rejection service. You should not hear a busy signal, a fast busy signal, or a recording indicating that your call cannot be completed; if you hear any of these messages, you may not be subscribed to the Anonymous Call Rejection service

The Anonymous Call Rejection service is free for many customers, but it may incur a nominal monthly (or per use) charge in some local markets. The Anonymous Call Rejection service intercepts and blocks callers who have intentionally blocked delivery of their telephone number; legitimate callers with no caller identification information--such as police departments, battered women's shelters and government offices--cannot be blocked. If you wish to turn off the Anonymous Call Rejection service, simply dial "*87" (or "1187" for rotary dial users) from your landline telephone.
  • Using the Anonymous Call Rejection service will not affect how your own caller identification is displayed to called parties. Although blocking "Unavailable" numbers may stop some callers, all threatening or harassing telephone calls should be reported to local law enforcement officers to ensure personal safety.