[US] Relentless loan offers - Solved

I was getting a minimum of 5 calls and voicemails per day. Usually around 8, and thank goodness for sleep mode on my phone because they would sometimes come after 10pm when I’m sleeping. I have dealt with this for at least 6 months maybe longer.

The voicemails would all be very similar “This is Allan calling about your loan offer. You’ve been approved for $75,000 with payments as low as $400 a month”.

I looked for a solution on Reddit, I read not to answer, not to say anything just block and report spam. If you answer you’ll go on a “good” number list and get more calls. I have over 400 numbers in my blocked list. It did nothing. Still 5-10 calls and voicemails a day every day.

But I found a few people that had success with the counterintuitive approach. I figured I had nothing to lose. Here’s what I did, and since doing this I have received only 3 calls total over the last 2 weeks.

Each number that would call, I would call back and place my phone on mute. Over and over and over again. If it was a menu, I’d select the option for a live representative and then put my phone on mute and leave it on mute until they hung up. It was very satisfying and cathartic to hear the frustration with some of them - hello? Hello? Did you need help with a loan? Hello?

The first few numbers where people would answer I absolutely spammed them with 50-60 times of doing this one after another. Only because I was mad. Then I would do it about 5 times per number. I only did this to the last maybe 8-10 numbers that called and the number of these scam loan offer calls has reduced like 95%+.

We’ll see if this lasts but for two weeks now it’s been such a reduction.

If you’re at your wits end with these calls and have tried ignoring and blocking to no avail, maybe give this a try