I lived in Chicago for years but moved away a while ago. I still have my 312 number.
A couple years ago I started getting about 10 calls a day from 312 area codes that immediately hangup when I answer. I tried remaining silent, speaking, anything, doesn’t matter… same result.
I have a Google Pixel and often it will send it straight to voicemail and I always get a 4 second blank voicemail. On occasion the calls will pass the filter and ring, no one or nothing ever says anything though.
I’m guessing these are bots with spoofed ID checking to see what numbers are active. Hell, in the 90s I used to wardial to check for active carriers with my dial up modem.
For now all I can do is mark each call as spam and block and delete the voicemail.
Changing numbers isn’t an option so maybe I have to just live with it.
Any ideas Lemmy?
I also second this action. There is an app you can get called Call Blocker - Phone. It allows you to easily direct anyone not in your contact list directly to voicemail.