Someone from the number I searched called me 8 times yesterday. Sometimes they left a message and sometimes they didn't. They keep telling me I have applied for a loan. I answered a couple of times and called back to tell them I haven't applied for a loan and don't want one and to remove my phone number from their list. They keep hanging up on me and won't listen to me. Now they have started calling back again today!

Unfortunately, now that you have talked to them, which validated your phone number, they'll keep calling until they give up. When that will happen is up to you: Don't answer calls from this number any more, and NEVER call them back.

One step further: Don't answer calls from ANY number you don't recognize. The phone-scam business is booming in the US, with all kinds of scams going on. It's up to us as the individuals to try to stop them. The Do Not Call registry can't do anything about these because they're probably coming from untraceable numbers from overseas and the caller ID info is fake.

I was in the same boat a couple of years ago; I got a call blocking phone (Panasonic) when I still had a land line, and just kept adding unknown numbers to the BLOCKED list. I now do the same with my cell phone (gave up the land line) and life is much more peaceful. Look into getting a call blocker.