ULPT Request Non- stop realtor calls

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Princess_Moon_Butt@reddit

I used to get a lot of spam calls when I submitted a request for a refinancing loan through some quote aggregator, and mistakenly gave them my real phone number.

The trick isn't to annoy them, swear at them, harass them, whatever. It's to waste their time, and maybe even get them to reject you. Give them a fake identity- my name is Ryan Fauxman (after the name change, you see). I live at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, my birth date is 6/7/89, my SSN is 910-45-2287, and I earn $240k a year as an avian sports psychology analyst.

Just remember the fake info you give them, and stay consistent about it. If they get an error, ask you to repeat info, and you can't even remember the street name you just gave them, they'll hang up. If you give the same info back, they'll waste more time trying to figure out the issue, maybe even getting another caller or a higher-up involved. But I suspect that their script basically tells them "If they get rejected even after confirming their info, end the call and move on", and they mark your account as ineligible.

After doing this for about 2 weeks, I went from 5-10 calls a day to maybe 1 a day.

The funny part is, the ones that still call are easy to identify- because they still open the call with "Hi, could I speak with Ryan Fauxman?", and I instantly know I can ignore them (or mess with them, if I have the free time).

(And honestly I don't consider this unethical- wasting these peoples' time is a public service, if anything.)

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Xavier_Game@reddit

My favorite is, “Urology, can you hold?”

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yourdonefor_wt@reddit

You should do Mike Raphone, Eileen Dover, Ben Dover, etc

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Puceeffoc@reddit

The more time you waste of theirs the less time they can waste on others.

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Jaderosegrey@reddit

Speaking of fake names, I always go for: "Hello, this is Lieutenant Kelly McBride of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Do you wish to report an alien sighting, encounter, or abduction?"

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EastAd7676@reddit

If you have a smartphone, just go to your settings and have it silence calls from any unknown numbers. Most cold calls won’t be bothered to leave a message.

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Salt_Medicine2459@reddit

I once had a therapist who always called from a different number, so I couldn't do this. Very annoying.

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RivenRise@reddit

Screen calling from Pixel and iPhones are pretty good too. My pixel will even let them know that the call is being recorded prior to me answering if I choose to. Between the screening and recording i never really answer any calls, the screening alone on pixels is insane cause I probably get one call a week that gets through to the screening phase. I had a one plus before and it was annoying just having to constantly ignore or mute calls.

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Icy_Huckleberry_8049@reddit

If you don't know the number, then DON'T ANSWER IT. Just let it go to voicemail and then delete it and block the number.

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ribbitman@reddit

Happened to me too, and after I refi’d. I started taking their calls and responding to their texts and telling them I would sell for $5M, no negotiation and I would not take less, as is no inspection, owner to live in the home for 48 mos after sale. The calls quickly stopped.

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spacebunsofsteel@reddit

That sounds like the offer that got us our house.

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mommaquilter-ab@reddit

"I would like to be removed from your contact list. Failure to do so will result in your office being fined $1000 for every call thereafter." This is a rule in Canada at least. Dunno about anywhere else in the world. And it only applies to Canadian callers, not overseas ones.

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spacebunsofsteel@reddit

Learn to say it really fast!

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DubsNC@reddit

Not unethical but what worked for me: You can use call screening from either Apple or Google to ask unknown numbers why they are calling. I was getting about 4 a week and went to 2 in 6 months when I turned it on.

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spacebunsofsteel@reddit

I turned that on but can’t figure out how to turn it off. I have a medical issue and I can’t get the doctor to call me. Straight to VM.

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girlaimee@reddit

I came here to suggest this. And I always, always “Block and report spam” texts.

Also, don’t give out a real phone number to all those stores and whatnot who want your phone number. My partner gives out their real number and gets tons of spam calls/texts.

I have a google voice number that I never even look at, except on occasion that I have some 2FA I need. Works great.

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Puceeffoc@reddit

I ALWAYS use Jenny's number. My area code and Jenny's number. It's awesome because there are like 18 Jennys in every store program. So I just say "It's the first one." When the cashier asks. Also ALWAYS say "zero" not "Oh"

Jenny I got your number, Jenny I'm gonna make you mine

Eight, Six, Seven, five, three, Oh, Niiiine

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DubsNC@reddit

Registered voters in MC have their phone number and home address listed publicly

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HI-McDunnough@reddit

This has legit saved my sanity. I get text messages still but they are easier to ignore and easier to troll the sender.

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senditloud@reddit

My phone just started doing this automatically recently. No idea why. It did screen a call I was expecting though and I wasn’t happy

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DubsNC@reddit

On Apple when I upgraded to the latest major OS it asked me if I wanted to turn it on. Did you just click yes to all the prompts by any chance?

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senditloud@reddit

I guess I probably did

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dnalloheoj@reddit

Seconding the Google Assistant call screen thing. I went from maybe 5-10 a day to like one notification a week, tops, that someone actually answered the AI Assistant and requested a callback (And so far it's done a good job of letting the "real" stuff through).

Even compared to just blocking unknown numbers, this has altogether eliminated my need to go into voice mail and listen to/waste time on that mind numbing "You have .... SIX .... new messages. First message. Deleted. Next Message. Deleted. Next Message. Deleted...."

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potterrach@reddit (OP)

I read it's illegal for them to solicit if you're on the national do not call list. Has anyone had luck persuing a legal route? It's supposed to be $500 fine per violation. I can't imagine they'd still do it if that was really what happens though.

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teachthisdognewtrick@reddit

$500 first time, trebled for repeated calls. Not applicable here but another $10,000 if they use a spoofed number to call.

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Miggidy_mike@reddit

Used to get texts messages and occasionally phone calls. Each time we received one the price went up 50k. I'm now up to 1.43 million. Haven't been bothered in months.

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MeanSam@reddit

I have also had success with this method. If I got a text, I would answer with a Dr. Evil 1 million dollars gif, then I report as spam and block. For a call, I tell them I'll take 1 million dollars, but it has to be in cash. They usually hang up on me. But if they don't, I tell them for $1.5M they can have the house & all the shit in it. And then I start laughing like a crazy person. It's fun to fuck with them & I haven't been getting calls lately.

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LackingUtility@reddit

I got one and responded that I would entertain offers starting at $2M (way over what my place is worth). When he responded, I said that I'm happy to talk to him, but I had to apologize for my typo, I meant $3M. He asked if I meant that, and I apologized again, and said it was $4M. He stopped responding at that point.

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RubyRaven907@reddit

That’s what I do…just say sure! A gazillion bucks!

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Chance-Equivalent501@reddit

Why not demand euros? In cash.

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aminor321@reddit

Bit coin.

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thesoapypharmacist@reddit

I did Dr Evil as well!!

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NonautonomousJob@reddit

Same here: every time I just pick a number that is $400-$500k higher than market rate for my house. Shuts them up each time

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Alarming-Distance385@reddit

My niece is on our phone plan. She gets about half the amount of calls or texts I do about one property or the other we own.

She started asking $3M for our primary home on one acre, $10M for my family's small ranch, or....

Ask them if they're talking about her home that burned down yesterday because cash would help her to find a new place to live. 💀

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3X_Cat@reddit

Make appointments at local restaurants or at their office, then don't show. Do it over and over. If any of them call you out, gaslight them unmercifully.

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Oahu_Red@reddit

I answer the phone (so it doesn’t go to voicemail) and immediately put it on mute. The absence of a spoken word means they don’t read it as a live number. Sometimes a human comes on and says hello, but hang up when they hear it’s a dead line. They do not call back.

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Bear__Fucker@reddit

I second this. After doing this for a while, I rarely ever get spam calls and never repeats.

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connection_lost@reddit

Act you are interested and try let them send in someone to meet you in-person. Then bail.

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YukariYakum0@reddit

No no. There is a chance for some real fun with this. Maybe do it as a reverse Jehovah's Witness/Mormon pitch.

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Puceeffoc@reddit

Op- "Yes I can meet you at the coffee shop at 3pm tomorrow. I might bring a friend if that's ok?" Realtor (John)- "That is certainly alright

Op calls Jehovah's Witness that left their card: Op- "Hey, it's me John, you left your card on my front door. Would you guys like to meet me tomorrow at the coffee shop at 3pm, I'm very interested in what your pamphlet said."

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Puceeffoc@reddit

I get calls, texts all the time. I say "All offers can be sent to the home address with a $100 processing fee in the form of a check made out to me, the home owner. Thank you."

I don't get many texts/calls anymore and I don't get any offers either.

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Not_Hunter1307@reddit

spam this number 4069269177

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Cuneus-Maximus@reddit

Ask for 5x what your house is worth, cash, no inspections, no questions, as-is. You f they try to ask you questions cut them off and repeat yourself. Works like a charm.

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SeaUrchinSalad@reddit

Whisper very quietly far away from the phone and keep conversing so they up the volume and jam it to their ear. THEN you hit em with the air horn!

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Radiant-Security-347@reddit

here is how this works. at some point a data integrator got your number. they sell it to brokers - realtors, healthcare, insurance, home services - over and over again.

the message you get from "John" isn't John. it's a made up name. they will use vague names for the company. when you respond they send your number based on the message to some real,business who buys leads. that person has no idea fifty people are calling you.

he nice to them and find out who the lead broker is. but here is the problem. the spam laws are not enforced. there are massive fines up to $1,500 per text or call - they send out tens of thousands- hundreds of thousands of messages. each individual message counts. if they use a false name bigger fine, if they use a false company name , bigger fine.

they spoof numbers so you can't block. the sales person isn't liable unless you can prove they knew that they were participating in illegal activities. the data broker has teams of lawyers because they get sued all the time.

change your phone numbers.

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Boring-Artichoke-373@reddit

My grandma kept a whistle next to the phone for this kind of thing.

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Quirky-Invite7664@reddit

Because you answer, you’re confirming the number is real and correct. Stop answering calls from unknown numbers. Delete and block. It will improve but will take years.

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1jobonthislousyship@reddit

That's not even a little bit unethical.

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Quirky-Invite7664@reddit

I know, I know. I usually make a point of only posting unethical responses, but I’ve been through this. Wound up on headhunter’s lists and received endless calls. I feel OP’s pain. I feel the need to tell OP what helped me.

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i-am-foxymoron@reddit

We'll allow it. @;-)

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Thetormentnexus@reddit

With telemarketers as teen I would just start reading out loud from what ever I was reading or my old Animorph books. Stephen King or Thomas Harris (The dude who wrote Silence of the lambs) works. Or the exorcist. Just start reading sans context, do voice imitations. If you really want to mess with them, get the book on tape versions.

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i-am-foxymoron@reddit

Airhorn

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Truckyou666@reddit

You got a mobile something real quiet first

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Such-Mountain-6316@reddit

I second that. It totally works.

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Aggravating_Act0417@reddit

How TF do people pick up calls from numbers they don't know?!?!

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Aggravating_Act0417@reddit

A neighbor hates u and signed u up?

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JustLookinJustLookin@reddit

Act interested, THEN get the name and NMLS #. Then turn the fuckers in to…someone else can figure that out

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HI-McDunnough@reddit

I tried for two days once to get them to tell me who they were calling on behalf of. They would not say anything other than "a small group of investors".

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LackingUtility@reddit

Tell them that you're open to offers, and your starting price is 3-4 times market rate. I did that and they disappeared overnight.

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w0rx4me@reddit

Fairly regularly, I see people on this sub asking for ways to get back at someone they hate... and fairly regularly, some of the suggestions are signing the person up for spam calls.

Have you pissed anyone off lately?

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TheMammaG@reddit

They look at public records for this stuff. That's how they know you're a homeowner.

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TheMammaG@reddit

I just tell them we've discussed it and are willing to entertain offers starting at $1 Billion. They tell me I'm ridiculous and I remind them THEY called ME.

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Valuable_Log_518@reddit

Reverse search the number and use whatever information you get to sign them up for insurance quotes, car quotes, solar panel quotes, etc

Even better if you can get an address so those places will send a local out to bang on the door.

It won’t stop them from calling you, but hopefully they’ll be just as annoyed as you are

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breakfastbarf@reddit

Many times the number is spoofed

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Euphoric-Hall-715@reddit

I always tell them yes. Yes i will totally sell you my house. For 1 million over the worth of the house. And for every call, the number goes up a million. They lose interest really fast after that

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RiddyReddit333@reddit

Don't pick up the phone. Your voicemail can say, "If you are a realtor, thank you for your call, however, I"ve decided to live with the ghosts in this house since the family was murdered here 20 years ago. They're friendly, really, and only the Dad threatened me with the sledgehammer he killed his family with."

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KingBooRadley@reddit

Say , “hang on, let me ask my wife what she would accept to sell this place. .” Put the phone down and don’t talk to them again.

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Ok-Recognition9876@reddit

Start preaching to them about the wonders of becoming a Mormon/Scientologist. After they hang up, fill out the information to be contacted by the groups with that number.

Answer the phone quietly and say “It isn’t done yet. I told you I will call when everything has been cleanup and there is no evidence!” or “We agreed to no communication after I cleaned up your mess yet again.”

Answer the phone in a little kids voice and be annoying. Bonus points is you randomly say “mommy/daddy, there’s a lady/man on the phone and they asked what I’m wearing.”

Back when we still used ground lines, I would answer my phone as a business if I didn’t recognize the number. It stopped the calls for some time.

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dnalloheoj@reddit

If you happen to have a Pixel phone, their Google Assistant call screening feature has essentially eliminated all my spam calls completely. Any unrecognized numbers get sent to an AI Assistant that asks who they are, what they're calling about, etc. Initially I don't even get notified of the call, unless they go through with answering the assistant's questions, and then it just gets sent to me as a notification - XYZ called referring to your ABC that is still pending. Callback number 1234567890. Since turning it on I went from maybe 5-10 calls a day to one notification every week, tops.

And the thing is, if anyone is actually calling from any unrecognized number about something truly important, they'll go through with answering the prompts or find another way to contact you, so I don't feel one bit like I'm potentially missing calls that I should have answered.

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coopunitsmooth@reddit

Don't answer the phone

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gunsforevery1@reddit

It’s normal. Tell them you’re interested but only if you’re compensated for your time.

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senditloud@reddit

And that you want triple the value, you pay 1% fees and you expect them to be available to you 24/7 to discuss the process

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senditloud@reddit

This will take some patience but… take down their name and number and act interested. Then give them a number that you WOULD sell for. Like $1 million for a $300k house. Like why wouldn’t you? Also tell them you pay 1%, and you consider that generous.

Now after gathering all these names and numbers see if you can find a correlation. Same company maybe?

They do one of two things: 1) report them, call them out publicly, whatever.

OR

2) call them back repeatedly: “hi! Have you found a buyer yet? I’m really excited to make triple my value. I’m thinking we need open houses like every other day. Does that work for you? I only want a realtor who is 100% available to me!” Call them at like 11pm to “discuss what the arrangement might be.”

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