One good thing about Covid19

is that the "call centres" have been much quieter. There have been far fewer spam calls, calls attempting to get my (non-existent) credit card number, and calls telling me that my NBN will be disconnected and I am  in danger of going to prison for not paying my tax bill. Those calls that have me reaching for the phone in the midst of trying to do something of importance have not ceased but they have been less in number.

But I had one yesterday. It was, as they always seem to be, at an awkward moment. The first time there was nobody at the other end. If anything that infuriates me even more. There is some sort of automatic system involved and we hapless individuals are expected to answer the phone so that someone can talk to us - if they are free to do so. I am always wary if it says "number unavailable" on the screen but there are people I know who need to keep their numbers from appearing so I need to answer. Then there are the calls which appear as local numbers on the screen. They could be anyone.  I answer the phone.

And then there was the "Mrs.... my name is.... " I hung up. They tried again, and again. I said, "If you were genuine you would know I am not Mrs....  You are a scammer, don't ring this number again." I hung up. A little later the phone rang again. It was another voice with a similar message. I hung up. 

I wondered yet again whether there was any technology known to man which could make a "do not call register" work to prevent scammers from calling.

The phone rang again. It was, because of the specific background noise, the same set of scammers. I was then told, 

"You must talk to us. It is important. We will call the police."

I told the voice to call the police. I am still waiting for the police to visit. 

It makes me wonder how desperate some of these people are.