I wrote about this subject a number of years ago, but I thought I would cover it again since it’s an ongoing and frustrating issue to so many people these days.
The office of Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway recently released a list of the top 10 consumer complaints from 2025, and it depicts that Missouri residents lack an understanding about the subject of unwanted phone calls.
Of more than 104,000 total consumer complaints the AG’s office reportedly received last year, more than 33,600 were regarding “illegal telemarketing calls” and “No-Call violations.” That figure was the most by far, as the second highest was 2,400 complaints regarding automobiles, automotive dealers and automotive repair shops.
Obviously, Missourians are significantly bothered by undesired phone calls, because close to well over 33,000 of them made the effort to file a complaint about them last year – about 14 times as many as the next-biggest objection. And that sort of makes sense, because nobody likes having that kind of intrusion interrupt a busy day or a period of relaxation.
But the reality of the situation is that no amount of complaining could ever stop unwanted calls from existing, and “No Call” lists are nice, but largely ineffective. That’s because businesses and organizations responsible for the calls aren’t working from material produced in a way most people think they are.
Basically, nobody is thumbing through phone books to find numbers to call, and they’re not using lists clandestinely compiled by some sleazy organization and then unethically sold without anyone’s permission.
What they’re doing is rather simple and easy to understand in today’s world dominated by technology: They’re using numbers randomly generated by a computer.
The way it works is pretty simple: After a given three-digit prefix is targeted (like 967 in these parts), the computer generates a bunch of four-digit suffixes to go with it, and presto, there’s your call list.
And that’s not even close to a new concept. I have firsthand experience with it, because for almost two years in the late 1980s, I worked for a Seattle-based company that surveyed peoples’ radio listening tendencies. Sitting in an unfancy, no-frills office, myself and a few cohorts would place calls to far-away places like Alaska, North Dakota, California and more, and even back then when computers were still pretty new, we worked off of lists that were created electronically.
I can recall on numerous occasions hearing someone on the other end of the line angrily say, “How did you get my number? It’s unlisted!”
Sometimes they would quickly hang up, but other times they would listen to my explanation of how numbers were computer-generated. At that point, some would grunt and hang up, but others would say, “Oh, how interesting. That kind of sucks. OK, what can I do for you?”
So what exactly can be done to deal with this annoyance? Really, there’s no good solution, other than choosing the option to not answer the call.
Sure, that might sound like an over-simplification, but it’s about all there is.
I don’t like unwanted calls any more than the next person, so I’ve trained myself to utilize caller ID (which is now a standard feature of pretty much all landline or cell phone numbers) and to not answer if I don’t recognize the number displayed.
Of course, even that isn’t 100% effective these days. Something I’ve had happen more than once (and has perhaps happened to you) is seeing a number on the caller ID that I do recognize and still ending up with an unwanted call.
Yep, it’s like you see your friend Johnny Smith’s name, answer and say, “Hi Johnny,” only to have a robo-call voice begin its would-be pitch. The first time I had that happen, I couldn’t believe it. Now I’ve come to accept it as a constant possibility in this strange day and age.
That happened to my wife just last week. She saw a Summersville number and said, “hi Mark,” and a bot answered and pretended to be Mark before going into its spiel.
And keep in mind that there’s probably no need to worry if you don’t answer, because if a call you receive is indeed from someone you know or is otherwise legitimate, the caller will more than likely leave a voicemail message.
Anyway, I’m sure Hanaway and other AG’s around the U.S. exercise patience when fielding unwanted call complaints, because they understand the tactics and frustration involved. But given the chance, they might provide a similar explanation of how not much can be done to curb the regularity of such calls.
It’s just something we have to deal with ourselves.
