Don't know if it's shilly but I got nailed for a ToS violation for just this type of post. It's your kitty nose smelling something icky out there. Trust your nose, B. :-)
"Scammer" is an opinion, not a call category. This website cannot afford to be seen with an editorial slant. The moment the drop menu includes a "scammer" or "spammer" choice, every call which is neither will be misidentified as such by everyone who reports "didn't answer", "blocked it", "hung up", or otherwise did nothing to actually identify the caller .... which is exactly the goal of these database sites.
} telemarketing is no longer a problem in the US
... except for the torrential flood of calls hawking credit card repricing, credit score fixers, back and knee braces, diabetic supplies, medical panic buttons, alarm systems, solar panel installation, overpriced light bulbs, overpriced magazines, overpriced government posters, gypsy house maintenance services, usurious payday loans, advance fee lending, advance fee grants, fake computer repair, vehicle service contracts, retail gift cards, and maybe a few more categories I've forgotten.
The etymology of "telemarketer" gives us "selling at a distance".
tele-: far off, operating over distance
market: (v.tr.)
1. To offer for sale
2. To try to make (a product or service) appealing to particular groups of consumers; promote by marketing
We tacitly understand the telephone to be the tool for this endeavor. Whether the seller has pure or fraudulent intent does not affect the term's meaning. The FCC and FTC see it the same way, on the presumption that sales by phone can be conducted fairly and politely. They've written rules to regulate all telemarketing. They have written different rules for other non-sales nuisance callers. They do not write separate rules for "scamming". Why? The American justice system does not punish scofflaws by vague accusation. We have to define what they want and what harm they caused to obtain it.
In the same vein, users of this site are encouraged toward specific and articulate descriptions. It's harder to combat a mystery caller until that mystery is dissolved by facts: Who is calling, from where, and why, and what are the consequences of doing what the caller wants? If all I get is "scam", I don't have facts, I have some stranger's opinion, and cannot judge for myself what to do with a given caller.