Jim
One of the best things I've ever done is convert our home number to Google Voice, which allows you to block
an *unlimited* quantity of numbers. Now when we receive a call like this from an unknown number (which goes
straight to voice mail unless they identify themselves), we mark the number as blocked. If they call again,
they will get that phone-company-ish "The number you have dialed has been disconnected or is no longer in
service" message. Forever. We now have no fear of giving our "home" number out, as only our known contacts
are going to reach us. You can also set up calling rules, so that incoming calls do custom things, depending
on who's calling. I love it.
It is sad that other phone providers (such as Comcast digital voice, which we used to have) don't let you
block an *unlimited* quantity of numbers. We live in the 21st century for crying out loud.