A man with an Indian sounding voice called and asked for me by my first name.
I told him he had the wrong number and hung up. Then I did a Google search and found this forum. Glad I found this.
I suspected a scam because the phone he called was a PRE-PAID TRACFONE that I keep specifically for business related calls. Rather than give any place of business my personal home or cell phone numbers, I always give them the number of this prepaid Tracfone. And there I only answer calls from businesses I specifically expect a phone call from (like service calls when I am having something repaired.)
I never give my personal numbers to any store clerk when they ask for them when I am checking out, I never give my personal numbers on any application (credit,loan or anything) nor do I give my personal numbers to credit card accounts, banks, insurance companies, or even my employer. I only give my tracfone number. And it is the only phone that gets these type of calls. so when someone calls from an out of town number I am very careful. I sometimes program business numbers into my phone so I can tell who is calling.
I almost never answer voice mails on this phone unless I am expecting a call from a local business I am dealing with that day.
This does mean I sometimes carry two cell phones, but only when I am expecting a return call from a business. 95% of the time this phone sits in a desk drawer turned off.
This has been my best way to prevent unwanted calls. By having an alternate phone althogether. The TracFone cost me $30 at Wal-Mart and I buy a $20 60 minute prepaid card for it every 90 days. So this is less than $10 a month. The minutes add up as I add a new card as unused minutes rollover from month to month. (This is not a sales pitch) but I recommend anyone looking into a prepaid cell phone to use for business purposes.