Voice Mail Weirdness

[Chesterton]

I have a landline phone with a typical, standard type message recording for the voice mail, something like "I'm not here, leave a message after the beep". On a daily basis I get messages saying "Hello? Hello? Are you there?"

I don't get that from friends and family of course, but strangers, like salesmen, pollsters, charities, wrong numbers, etc. This has been happening every day for years, and it's baffling to me. Why do people hear an obvious voice mail recording and try to talk to it? I even occasionally have a salesman give his full spiel "we're having a special this month...blah blah...would you be interested? Hello? Hello?, as if he thought he was talking to me. Bizarre. Anyone else have this happen?

 

[Hammster]

They are trying to get you to think that they are someone you know so you’ll pick up.

 

[chevyontheriver]

I have a landline phone with a typical, standard type message recording for the voice mail, something like "I'm not here, leave a message after the beep". On a daily basis I get messages saying "Hello? Hello? Are you there?"

I don't get that from friends and family of course, but strangers, like salesmen, pollsters, charities, wrong numbers, etc. This has been happening every day for years, and it's baffling to me. Why do people hear an obvious voice mail recording and try to talk to it? I even occasionally have a salesman give his full spiel "we're having a special this month...blah blah...would you be interested? Hello? Hello?, as if he thought he was talking to me. Bizarre. Anyone else have this happen?

Old answering machines used to be audible and you could run to the phone and answer it if you wanted to.That doesn't happen with voicemail. Some people may never have adapted to the newer technology.

 

[Hank77]

I have a landline phone with a typical, standard type message recording for the voice mail, something like "I'm not here, leave a message after the beep". On a daily basis I get messages saying "Hello? Hello? Are you there?"

I don't get that from friends and family of course, but strangers, like salesmen, pollsters, charities, wrong numbers, etc. This has been happening every day for years, and it's baffling to me. Why do people hear an obvious voice mail recording and try to talk to it? I even occasionally have a salesman give his full spiel "we're having a special this month...blah blah...would you be interested? Hello? Hello?, as if he thought he was talking to me. Bizarre. Anyone else have this happen?

Telemarketer robocalls often behave this way.

 

[thecolorsblend]

I have a landline phone with a typical, standard type message recording for the voice mail, something like "I'm not here, leave a message after the beep". On a daily basis I get messages saying "Hello? Hello? Are you there?"

I don't get that from friends and family of course, but strangers, like salesmen, pollsters, charities, wrong numbers, etc. This has been happening every day for years, and it's baffling to me. Why do people hear an obvious voice mail recording and try to talk to it? I even occasionally have a salesman give his full spiel "we're having a special this month...blah blah...would you be interested? Hello? Hello?, as if he thought he was talking to me. Bizarre. Anyone else have this happen?

If a spammer uses an auto-dialer, their system is set to detect a connection on the line. Whether the connection is someone physically answering the phone or whether it's your voice mail picking up, the auto-dialer will detect the connection and put the spammer through.

The spammer is probably then confused why he can't hear anybody. It's basically his auto-dialer giving him a false positive.

Speaking of which, I desperately need to talk to you about your vehicle's warranty.

 

[nonaeroterraqueous]

If a spammer uses an auto-dialer, their system is set to detect a connection on the line.

Yeah, it saves time and money letting a machine do all of the dialing and sorting out the no-answers. That way, the paid personnel are focused only on the calls that actually go through.

I can only imagine what stress these people must go through, having to be ready instantly to start talking as soon as the machine connects them.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Speaking of which, I desperately need to talk to you about your vehicle's warranty.

That's better than the spammers who tell me about the arrest warrant for me because of some social security anomaly, how the cops are on the way, and how I can buy Apple gift cards at Target and send them the numbers to call off the cops. I love wasting the time of these spammers when I have a spare moment. I went on for 20 minutes with a guy from 'Microsoft' before I told him my computer was running Linux. He wanted to kill me. And I laughed. But maybe the Russians will show up at the door some day. I donno.

 

[Quackduck]

Block the call next time you get it, as it is no doubt from a spam site.

 

[Chesterton]

If a spammer uses an auto-dialer, their system is set to detect a connection on the line. Whether the connection is someone physically answering the phone or whether it's your voice mail picking up, the auto-dialer will detect the connection and put the spammer through.

The spammer is probably then confused why he can't hear anybody. It's basically his auto-dialer giving him a false positive.

Ah, that makes sense. I think you solved my mystery.

Speaking of which, I desperately need to talk to you about your vehicle's warranty.

No hablo ingles.

 

[Daniel Marsh]

I have a landline phone with a typical, standard type message recording for the voice mail, something like "I'm not here, leave a message after the beep". On a daily basis I get messages saying "Hello? Hello? Are you there?"

I don't get that from friends and family of course, but strangers, like salesmen, pollsters, charities, wrong numbers, etc. This has been happening every day for years, and it's baffling to me. Why do people hear an obvious voice mail recording and try to talk to it? I even occasionally have a salesman give his full spiel "we're having a special this month...blah blah...would you be interested? Hello? Hello?, as if he thought he was talking to me. Bizarre. Anyone else have this happen?

They are criminals trying find out who is home and where.