I have received e-mails sent evidently from my e-mail name, but I don't recall receiving a phone call from myself.
However, I have one rule for phone calls from numbers I do not know: I don't answer it. To help with that, I have a general ring tone (tune) I use for everybody, but I assign a special tune to each of my friends, family, and certain groups, like doctors, dentists, car rental agencies I use, and such.
Sometimes, I advertise to sell something, either on a local network classified section, on Facebook marketplace, or neighborhood Web site. While my ad is up, I sometimes violate my no-answer rule. These days, I actually get more text message responses than phone calls on such ads, though.
My action plan on a number I don't know and one who does not leave a message is that I check the number in a search on line. If I cannot find a reasonable link to something or someone I feel is legitimate, which is almost all the time, I do these steps:
- Record a complaint about the call on https://donotcall.gov/
- Block the number on my phone.
- Remove the record of that number from my call history.
If the call just says Unknown or the like, I can't do much about that. I could block all unknown callers, but I can't know ahead of time if somebody I know must use a borrowed phone.
Because of doing this, I usually get less than a half-dozen such calls a week.
As for picking up the call and remaining silent: Just about any ambient noise can let the caller know it is a live number - somebody coughing in the other room, a car driving by the house, a radio or television on in the background, clickety clack on a computer keyboard, a meow from a pet cat, or a woof from a vigilant dog, even a neighbor's dog! I prefer not to take that chance.
Enjoy!
