I am ringing about the accident that wasn't your fault!!

[Somewhereovertheroad]

I am getting a lot of nuisance calls. They start with "I am ringing about the accident that wasn't your fault?"

I have told them time and again. There was no accident.

Then they say were you ever in an accident...No I wasn't

Then a few days later the same thing again!!

Please tell me how to get rid of them. AIBU to think they have no interest in the truth?

Get your number on to TPS. It puts you on the suppression lists, which means they can't call you. If it does slip through, tell them you are on the TPS, and not to call again.

Here's a hot tip: never tell a cold caller to remove or delete your number. This means the next time they buy a list of numbers yours could be on it and they will start up again.

Always say: put my number on your suppression list. This means that even if they buy in new numbers, there is a record of yours already being suppressed so they can't use it.

My mother has dementia and if anyone tries to sell her something on the phone, she swears profusely at them - something she would never have done before.
Unfortunately before this stage she was caught up by a scammer and bought a load of crap supplements.
I did a bit of research on the company and they had been mentioned in the press for targeting the elderly and vulnerable.
If I wanted to call the company I would have to use a different number each time as they would ignore my calls from my regular number. It got to the point that after a hospital appointment, I actually used one of their department phones to call the company!
The police had problems in that my mother had willingly given them her details so there wasn't much they could do.
At that point the credit card company intervened and got the money back. I also then started to use the PoA that we'd registered, took control of her finances and cut up all her cards.

I was recently called on my mobile. The caller told me they had been contracted by road traffic to say I had been involved in a recent road traffic accident. Would I confirm? I acted all interested and asked what details they had. Pause... then they again asked me to confirm. I said I would once they told me what details they had. Another pause... and then they rang off. I will probably get called again some other time. Incidently, to save time and money many firms now send recorded messages. I am being taken to court for tax evasion etc. Amusingly, no personal name is ever so obviously they are just fishing. I cannot be bothered to listen once I hear a recorded message.

A lot of these call centres are just buying big lists of phone numbers and using an automated dialler system to make calls. It cuts down the number of staff they need because the machine does the dialling then only connects the call when someone answers. So, trick 1: don't speak when you answer the phone. If it's an actual person (family member calling from an unusual number for instance) you'll hear them saying 'hello?'. 90% of the time though it'll be an automated dialler and when it doesn't detect a reply on your end it'll end the call. You can then add the number to your blocked callers list.

Of course if you have time it's more fun to mess with them Tell them they need to speak to your legal advisor then pass the phone to your toddler. Or put on your best flakey/vague person voice and tell them you've been looking forward to having a nice long chat with someone and then launch into a hideously detailed anecdote about our Graham's haemorrhoids without letting them get a word in edgewise. Or thank them profusely for saying it wasn't your fault because you 100% should not have been driving that tractor after drinking all that vodka...

I can burp whenever I wish and normally just burp at them until they hang up. The DC find this hilarious. I expect them to grow out of it, I won't