Sep 14, 2012
If you have Caller ID, use it! This call ID's as nothing more than Madison, WI, which should be reason enough not to pick up the phone. If you do pick it up, even if you immediately disconnect you have already shown your number is a "live" number. In fact, if you've done that a few times before, your number is already on lists sold and distributed as lists of live numbers, so you may have unknowingly screwed yourself. If you have an answering machine or voice mail, use them! If it's a call you really need to hear, there should be a legitimate message left. Resist that urge to pick up the phone if you don't know who it is in advance!