Called at 4:30PM. It instantly started with a message about furnace cleaning special. Not even a hello or announcement of the company. I called back and get telephone company recording that says the call cannot be completed as dialed. I tried other combinations with a 1, area code, as a local number. Still get the phone company recording. Therefore bogus number, scam outfit.
Robocall. Cold call. (I have no prior connection with this phone number and no furnace.) In my case this was the sole call from this number so far.
Received yesterday at what would be morning Pacific time but was early afternoon where I happened to be. Not sure how to classify this: telemarketing, prank, or actual scam:
At least crafted well enough that the beginning of the message about furnace cleaning is all audible, as opposed to being truncated because it starts right when the phone company voicemail message starts. From a 253 (Tacoma-area) area code to a cell phone that is on the do-not-call list, but was/is a Seattle area code, so perhaps a really clumsy, overzealous business tactic. (Perhaps like the email list that was started by a (non-native, but legitimate and well meaning) dry cleaner in that area once - that at first cluelessly showed all the individual email addresses of those who signed up for discounts via email!) If so, let's hope they finally figure out that they are futzed up and looking like a scammer, and fix their communications.
Or perhaps a cracker (or student of white hat hacking) who is experimenting with a robocall routine to see what it does....
If a scammer and not just a student, clueless new business owner or a prankster, then still pretty clueless, unless testing to see how many calls are completed to what number or how many of those called complain about it and what channels they choose? I'm beginning to wonder about that.