Getting Spammed to death by calls for medicare Advantage

[GaryE]

On my smart phone, I get maybe 1 spam call per week. I've never had a political ad, but I'm in a different country with different rules (and rulers). Text spam is even rarer.
e-mail spam is a thing of the past - I haven't heard from a single Nigerian royal family member in years. They'd never sell me fish, even though their country has wonderful ones.
Facebook coughs up pretty young women who want to be my friends. I'm sure they don't exist in the real world, or they wouldn't be interested in old guys. Could they be a scam aiming for the early phases of dementia, for guys with bank accounts? Heaven forbid!
My old man annoyance is when Windows 11 not only won't stay off my lawn, but seems to have planted itself in it. It's a spyware operating system. I have a now outdated desktop that I use permanently offline to hold a large digital music collection, and even windows 10 gets very upset it can't contact the mothership. It tries very hard and clutters up my screen with earnest confessions that it's failing to connect. I suspect windows 11 would be worse. Many updates on my laptop override the settings I've put in to block bloatware or unnecessary (to me) apps. I see the push to use AI operating as less and less of a choice now.

I'm sure a lot of people have tried to avoid the corporate surveillance in these systems, but it becomes harder and harder to do. If you want to find a job, or even run many brands of aquarium lights, you need a smart phone. A few years ago we had large scale student campaigns for lower tuition, and all the old geezers were going on about these kids being able to afford phones. Those old guys hadn't been job hunting in the modern world.

 

[Essjay]

e-mail spam is a thing of the past

In the last 11 days, my email server has put 28 emails in my spam folder.

Double glazing - 6
Mcafee expired - 7 (don't use Mcafee)
Email account suspended - 2 (obviously not, I'm still using it)
Cloud storage expired - 3 (don't use it)
Car finance/insurance - 4 (don't have a car)
Gambling sites - 3
Another antivirus expired - 2
Pain relief - 1


OK so I don't get Nigerian royal family emails but I do get plenty of spam emails. Including TFF according to my main email provider (I had to create an account with a different provider just for TFF)

 

[GaryE]

I only count the ones that get through. The spam filters are very efficient on my server, much like on the forum.

 

[jaylach]

You can also register, in the US, on the do not call list. You can al tell the caller to remove you from their call list. Telling the caller to remove you from their list is a Federal law and they must comply. This helps but does not totally stop as many of these call systems are located at sea outside of the 3 mile limit so are in international waters.

If you want to look here is a link to the do not call site.

National Do Not Call Registry

How to stop most telemarketing calls through the National Do Not Call Registry.

www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov

I get almost zero spam calls or emails but years ago I got a bunch from a group that named themselves as Microsoft Windows saying that an attack on my system was detected and they could help. I was bored and decided to play a bit. I played the part of the frantic consumer and kept leading them on while giving no actual info. When I got tired of this playing I just told them that I used to have my own computer business and, also, had 5 awards from Microsoft and knew they were a scam. The caller just replied with something like I guess you don't need our service and hung up. Never got another such call.

 

[GaryE]

A lot of people engage with spammers and scammers, in that cat and mouse game. A lot of us have done it. I've been very broke in my life, and started out relatively poor. But I never chose crime to get ahead. I could have, and I knew the headhunters for the crime industry. I found a way to improve my situation (and I hope the situations of others around me) without robbing, scamming or pretending to be a gangster. I became a.... fishnerd.

People I know, friends and relatives became gangsters and thieves. It was just part of the fabric of life, and the ethics of how we choose what we choose. Starting back in the nineties when so much of popular culture was about being a gangster, and so many people seemed to admire the greed boys of organized crime, we've gone in a direction that's created now. It's unfortunate.

So I don't want to look away from how rough life is in the countries that recruit the scam industry workers, but when they call, all bets are off if I want to waste their time. They've made a choice and I can have my fun. But it accomplishes nothing. They're foot soldiers. Employees.

I try to block them, don't engage any more (I've collected a few funny interactions). They've improved their technology to get around that, or to cut what they must see as the clowns out. I don't answer cloned looking calls, and if I am expecting something and do answer by mistake, I don't engage. Why bother?

You're talking to criminals. Oddly, as I look back at people and the choices they made, it isn't what my gangster loving students thought. A few guys got "whacked". Most ended up making about the same income as the ones like me who went to school and worked all their lives. I knew so many of these characters because we lived in the same neighbourhoods and same communities. Go figure.

 

[Essjay]

We have the Telephone Preference Service in the UK which is supposed to stop marketing calls, we've been registered with it from the start. But UK based spammers still call. It cannot deal with the overseas spammers who use spoofed "UK" numbers to call from.

 

[Fishmanic]

I keep a portable fog horn near the phone and then “serenade” the spammers.

 

[Naughts]

No Phishing

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I am still screening the spam calls. Friday it was 8 but slowed yesterday to only 4. So far none as of 1 pm today.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The Medicare spam calls are still coming. When one answers you must speak to activate the pre-recorded message. It directs one to push a number on the phone to be transfered to live insurance agent. The air horn doesn't help.

While Dec .7th is the anniversary of the WW II attack on Pearl Harbor, for me it is the final day of open enrollment for Medicare plans or to change the plan one has. So I am waiting on the next 8 days to celebrate The end of the sneak attacks of the Medicare Advantage Sales Army. I have the top od the line Medicare Supplement Ins. Plan and the same for my Drug Plan. I pay $0 for any services or prescriptions now but do pay a lot in insurance premiums. I am way ahead on these thins financially.

So raf i have had cataract surger on one eye, hip replacement surgery on one leg, triple bypass surgery, the Watchman procedure, 10 fays in the bospital for a serious case of pneimonia, a few days of in-patient IV antibiotics and ountless ER visits. Wvery day I take 5 pills and use 2 or 3 inhalers and sometimes a nebulizer. I am getting the better end of the deal when it comes to my medical;drug insurance plans. As of this year the drug co-pays have stopped. Plus, I need no referrals to see specialistsand I also pay no deductibles.

 

[jaylach]

The Medicare spam calls are still coming. When one answers you must speak to activate the pre-recorded message. It directs one to push a number on the phone to be transfered to live insurance agent. The air horn doesn't help.

While Dec .7th is the anniversary of the WW II attack on Pearl Harbor, for me it is the final day of open enrollment for Medicare plans or to change the plan one has. So I am waiting on the next 8 days to celebrate The end of the sneak attacks of the Medicare Advantage Sales Army. I have the top od the line Medicare Supplement Ins. Plan and the same for my Drug Plan. I pay $0 for any services or prescriptions now but do pay a lot in insurance premiums. I am way ahead on these thins financially.

So raf i have had cataract surger on one eye, hip replacement surgery on one leg, triple bypass surgery, the Watchman procedure, 10 fays in the bospital for a serious case of pneimonia, a few days of in-patient IV antibiotics and ountless ER visits. Wvery day I take 5 pills and use 2 or 3 inhalers and sometimes a nebulizer. I am getting the better end of the deal when it comes to my medical;drug insurance plans. As of this year the drug co-pays have stopped. Plus, I need no referrals to see specialistsand I also pay no deductibles.

Not getting any such calls here. Actually I pretty much get no spam calls.

I'm also pretty well covered. I have Medicare Parts A&B. What that doesn't cover the VA picks up most. What is left is taken care of by Tri-Care. Not everything is 100% but, as an example, my last colonoscopy cost me a grand total of $16.00 USD out of pocket.

 

[GaryE]

My last colonoscopy cost me $0.00 out of pocket. The same for my knee surgery, my sinus surgery, my wife's extensive and successful cancer treatment, and my ongoing diabetes treatment. I do sometimes have to pay for parking at the hospital.
I paid a small percentage of my income via my taxes into my medical care. I didn't need it much for 30 years, and then needed it only a little til recently. I don't mind the 30 years - my taxes were able to help my fellow citizens. That's fair. I see myself as a citizen, and not as a taxpayer.

Systems are soooo different in different countries. I don't get calls about insurance, except at election time.

 

[jaylach]

My last colonoscopy cost me $0.00 out of pocket. The same for my knee surgery, my sinus surgery, my wife's extensive and successful cancer treatment, and my ongoing diabetes treatment. I do sometimes have to pay for parking at the hospital.
I paid a small percentage of my income via my taxes into my medical care. I didn't need it much for 30 years, and then needed it only a little til recently. I don't mind the 30 years - my taxes were able to help my fellow citizens. That's fair. I see myself as a citizen, and not as a taxpayer.

Systems are soooo different in different countries. I don't get calls about insurance, except at election time.

Like I said, what I have isn't 100% but it sure is close.

 

[gimme30]

@TwoTankAmin The Do Not Call Registry only blocks legit telemarketers. VoIP is your huckleberry. I've considered it a necessity for years and these days it makes even more sense. You mentioned you have a computer guy so have him set it up for you if you're not inclined to do it yourself. 100% effective.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

We have FIOS triple play. Our phone, TV and net are all via the internet. It does not stop the spam calls. When I still had my copper line phone the spam was mostly blocked by the do-not-call. But Verizon does all phones via the net. When Verizon goes out, most times so do all our services. I have a flip phone for emergency use. I only do voice on it and no voice mail. My bro finally got a smart phone about 32 years ago but I don't use one. He has an Iphone but I will not use anything Apple.

I consider our house phones to be land lines because the signal comes in via the Verizon fiber optiic line.