More and more lately it seems that my phone is ringing, but the caller ID does not register a family or friend, but rather a set of digits that I likely have never seen before, or the phrase "unknown number." Every once in a rare blue moon, it is actually a valid call and it just happens to be from a number I don't have saved in my phone, but the great majority of the time, its a scam.

Sometimes the robo dial voice is telling me I have won a cruise, and while no doubt a few days spent soaking up sunshine and enjoying myself would be a welcome reprieve from the gloomy weather we've had lately, I never registered to win a cruise. In fact, I never register for anything, and try to place my phone number only on forms where it is needed. But yet, I get the calls.

I also get calls that claim to want to survey me, yet amazingly, each time the time window for that specific survey has ended. Often, I am unable to, or don't answer because it's not a number I know, and I am never left a message, which tells me not to bother calling back because more than likely, it's a scam. I've placed my number on the do not call list, yet somehow they are still getting it.

Even here at the radio station, every single day the studio line gets several calls that tend to be about optimizing our search engine standing, or a recorded voice saying that they are calling in regards to a credit card, and while the account is currently fine, they urgently need to speak to the card holder. How is it that in this day and age of technology, we have yet to find the solution to scam calls?

I know I am not the only one dealing with this either. In a recent conversation with a coworker, they commented that because some of the fake numbers have even been able to use local area codes, they feel compelled to answer, just in case it is their child's school calling. But it never is.

I also know that while I ignore it, and it's mostly just an irritant, unfortunately, some of the time they are successful. Each year we hear stories about someone's account information being compromised, or a new ploy targeting the older generation. I'm not sure what the solution is, but in the meantime, I'll be avoiding unknown numbers, so if you call, leave a message.

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