AUTHOR R. ANN SIRACUSA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . It isn't the destination that matters -- It's the journey that counts!
Contact me!
  • HOME
  • BLOG
  • BOOKS
    • All For A Dead Man's Leg
    • All For A Fist Full Of Ashes
    • Destruction Of The Great Wall
    • All For Spilled Blood
    • First Date
    • Halloween In The Catacombs
    • All In The Game
    • Family Secrets: A Vengeance of Tears
  • ABOUT ME
    • Resume
  • PHOTO ALBUMS
  • RESOURCES
  • MY ORGANIZATONS
  • BLOGS ABOUT ANN
  • Blog

WORD OF THE YEAR for 2025

1/19/2026

0 Comments

 
Picture
​What could be more appropriate for writers than keeping up with changes to our language and the “creation” of new words?
Words are the tools of our trade, and make up at least half of our human ability to communicate with others. Language is all about engaging more closely with the world around you.

New words, changes to the meanings of words, and the demise of some are our technological and sociological thermometers of what is happening in our physical, social, political, and environmental reality. Keeping up is far more than just trying not to sound stupid to our grandchildren when we don’t know what they are talking about.


WHY A WORD FOR THE YEAR?
The tradition of dictionaries selecting a “Word of the Year” started in Germany in 1971 and has become a cherished ritual for individuals and organizations throughout the world. Dictionaries and lexicographers tend to select words which reflect societal trends while individuals and organizations choose personal words to serve as a guiding light for the year ahead.

The American Dialect Society's (ADS) “Word of the Year”, the oldest English-language version, has been designating one or more words of terms to be their “Word of the Year” since 1990.

ADS is a not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to encourage the study of any aspect of all languages and dialects used or found in North America (as well as associated islands in the Pacific and the Atlantic) and in the Caribbean Basin, and the languages that influence them: spoken, signed, or written, modern or historical, Indigenous or introduced, common or rare.

The ADS selection is made by votes of independent linguists and the decision is not tied to any commercial interests and, unlike most similar competitions, it is the only one announced after the end of the calendar year. The society also selects words in other categories such as "Most Outrageous," "Most Creative," and "Most Likely to Succeed."
​
“Words of the Year” chosen by dictionaries come out before the end of the year and often reflect pivotal moments in language and culture, similar to a linguistic time capsule, reflecting social trends and global events that defined the year.

The ultimate choice of words isn’t just about popular usage, although that plays a big role, but what it reveals about society during that particular year. To nominate words for the competition, lexicographers analyze vast amounts of data to identify trends on social media, search engine results, and more to identify words that made an impact on our conversations, online and in the real world.

AND THE WINNER IS…!
Oxford University Press = Rage Bait
Picture
The phrase “Rage bait” refers to online content that is “deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative or offensive,” with the aim of driving traffic to a particular social media account.

◄Image Source: freepick.com
​
Lexicographer Susie Dent told the BBC, “The person producing it will bask in the millions, quite often, of comments and shares and even likes sometimes… because although we love fluffy cats, we’ll appreciate that we tend to engage more with negative content and content that really provokes us.”’’ This is a result of the algorithms used by social media companies.

Casper Grathwohl, president of Oxford Languages, said that "the fact that the word rage bait exists and has seen such a dramatic surge in usage means we're increasingly aware of the manipulation tactics we can be drawn into online".


Contenders:   aura farming, biohack.

Dictionary.com = 67
Pronounced as two words “six-seven” (and absolutely never as sixty-seven), the term originated with a song called “Doot Doot (6 7)” by Skrilla. The word is written as 6 7, 6-7, or six-seven.   ▼Image Source: Newsweek.com

Picture
It was quickly reinforced by viral TikToks featuring basketball players and a young boy who will forevermore be known as the “67 Kid.” According to Dictionary.com, searches for 67 experienced a dramatic rise beginning in the summer of 2025. Since June, those searches have increased more than sixfold, and so far the surge shows no signs of stopping. Most other two-digit numbers had no meaningful trend over that period, implying that there is something special about 67.

The definition of 6-7 is somewhat illusive. Some say it means “so-so,” or “maybe this, maybe that,” especially when accompanied with a both-palms-up gesture and move alternately up and down. Some youngsters, sensing an opportunity to reliably frustrate their elders, will use it to stand in for a reply to just about any question.

Perhaps the most defining feature of 67 is that it’s impossible to define. It’s meaningless, ubiquitous, and nonsensical. In other words, it has all the hallmarks of brainrot. It’s the logical endpoint of being perpetually online, scrolling endlessly, consuming content fed to users by algorithms trained by other algorithms.

Contenders: aura farming, agentic, clanker, dynamite emoji, Gen Z Stare, broligarchy, Kiss cam, tariff, tradwife, overtourism.

Cambridge Dictionary = parasocial
“Parasocial” is defined as involving or relating to a connection that someone feels between themselves and a famous person they do not know, a character in a book, film, TV series, etc., or an artificial intelligence.

‘Parasocial’ is not a new word. The term was coined by American sociologists, Donald Horton and Richard Wohl from the University of Chicago, in 1956, when they observed Television viewers engaging in "para-social" relationships with on-screen personalities. They noted how the rapidly expanding medium of television brought the faces of actors directly into viewers' homes, making them fixtures in people's lives.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgmv877746o

Picture
Cambridge Dictionary Chief Editor Colin McIntosh said that “public interest in the term increased massively this year, based on dictionary search data as well as Google searches. Cambridge noted that dictionary searches for the word spiked on June 30, around the time when YouTube streamer IShowSpeed] blocked an obsessive fan who identified                 ▲Image source: Paintxwiki.com
as his number 1 parasocial.”

The pick, in part, stemmed from fans' reactions to one of the year's biggest moments in pop culture, Taylor Swift's engagement with football star Travis Kelce. The singer's fandom, commonly known as the Swifties, has formed a deep interest in her romantic life, despite not knowing her in real life. "Millions of fans related to Taylor Swift’s confessional lyrics about dating, heartbreak, and desire, leading to what psychologists describe as 'parasocial' bonds with stars," the news release stated.

Collins Dictionary = Vibe Coding

Picture
‘Vibe coding’, an emerging software development that turns natural language into computer code using AI, has been named Collins’ Word of the Year 2025. The term was popularized by Andrej Karpathy, former Director of AI at Tesla and founding engineer at OpenAI, to describe how AI enables creative output while he could “forget that the code
 
▲ Image source: logodix.com               even exists”.

Macquarie Dictionary = AI slop
Picture
"AI generated slop, which lacks meaningful content or use,” the committee said in the dictionary’s announcement. “While in recent years we’ve learnt to become search engineers to find meaningful information, we now need to become prompt engineers in order to wade through the AI slop. 
◄ Image Source: www.medium.com

The question is, are the people ingesting and regurgitating this content soon to be called AI sloppers?”

Macquarie Dictionary arrived at “AI slop” as the word of the year after first narrowing down the options to 65 words, before whittling it down further to a shortlist of 15, which contained other modern colloquialisms like “ate (and left no crumbs)”—“an expression used to indicate that someone has performed or executed something perfectly”— which can refer to “any of various events, interests, subjects, etc., that one finds themselves frequently thinking about, especially one considered unusual.”


THE “ALSO RAN” CONTENDERS
These definitions and commentary are quoted, with my minor modifications, directly from https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-year-2025/.
Agentic
Traditionally, agentic has been used in psychology and sociology to describe human capacity to act independently, make choices, and shape one’s environment. However, as AI continues to advance, the word has evolved to describe technologies that can perform tasks autonomously and make independent decisions — so-called agentic AI.

This emerging sense of agentic captures the blurring boundary between human and machine initiative, reflecting society’s growing fascination and concern about the idea of technology possessing a kind of self-directed capability once thought uniquely human.

Aura farming
The term aura farming saw a sharp rise in usage in 2025. Combining aura (in the modern sense of charisma, style, or personal energy) with farming (meaning “cultivation” or “deliberate effort”), the term refers to the practice of intentionally developing one’s presence or vibe. The term crystallized around the viral “boat kid” meme, which showed a young man dancing at the prow of a racing boat in Indonesia. His confident moves, endlessly remixed and celebrated online, became the emblem of the broader phenomenon of curating one’s image and energy for public admiration.

Broligarchy
Broligarchy is a combination of bro and oligarchy. In 2025 this word has become one of year’s defining political neologisms. Playful yet pointed, broligarchy captures the public frustration felt in some circles with the concentration of power among a small, culturally homogenous elite. The word exemplifies how language evolves to make sense of power structures, offering both satire and social critique in a single, memorable coinage.

Clanker
Once a niche sci-fi term used to describe literal robots, clanker surged in popularity since mid-2025, emerging as a viral, often mocking label for artificial intelligence.  Clanker has been repurposed for the digital age, and is commonly used to deride AI systems, chatbots, and other nonhuman technologies, and its rise mirrors growing unease over the role of AI in society.

Dynamite emoji
The dynamite emoji, traditionally representing dynamite, a firecracker, or TNT, took on an unexpected new meaning in 2025. Once used to convey excitement, impact, explosive energy, or literal firecrackers, the term began to see a playful reinterpretation following the engagement of singer Taylor Swift and professional footballer Travis Kelce. Across social media, the emoji was rebranded as shorthand for the couple themselves — “T ‘n’ T,” or “T & T” — symbolizing a relationship that fans saw as both powerful and endearing. The rise of the dynamite emoji in this context highlights how digital symbols evolve alongside cultural moments.

Gen Z stare
The term Gen Z stare refers to a blank or expressionless look often attributed to members of Generation Z, particularly in workplace or retail settings. While some commentators have tried to analyze the Gen Z stare as a deeper psychological response to post-pandemic social upheaval, most people use the term playfully as part of an ongoing, lighthearted tug-of-war between generations.
 
Kiss cam
The kiss cam, long a staple of sports arenas and concert venues, found new cultural life in 2025 as shorthand for public exposure and digital schadenfreude. The a viral moment that captured global attention occurred on July 16, when two executives from the data company Astronomer were shown together on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert. Their visibly awkward reaction — ducking, hiding their faces, and refusing to play along — quickly turned into one of the year’s most talked-about viral clips.

Overtourism
Overtourism refers to the overwhelming influx of visitors to popular destinations, leading to environmental strain, cultural disruption, and local frustration. The word has been around since 2010, but experienced new highs in usage globally since the Covid-19 pandemic. The increase in tourism has resulted in things like Venice’s new tourist tax and Japan’s restrictions on access to Mount Fuji. Viral clips of visitors behaving badly all brought overtourism to the forefront of public debate.

Tariff
The word tariff has reemerged as a focal point of political and economic discussion in 2025, marking a resurgence for a powerful mechanism that has shaped global commerce for centuries. This past year tariff has taken on new political weight, reflecting how economic instruments once confined to policy circles are now wielded as tools of diplomacy and national strategy.

Tradwife
The term tradwife, short for “traditional wife,” was originally tied to conservative subcultures that idealize a dutiful, domestic model of femininity. This year the word has since broadened into a label for an aesthetic as much as an ideology. While some embrace the tradwife identity as a personal choice, others critique it as reinforcing outdated gender roles.

PRIOR ADS WINNERS
They issue an annual award Word of the Year but also rate candidate for the honor in relation to:
● Most Outrageous
● Most Euphemistic
● Most Likely to Succeed
● Most Useful
● Political Word of the Year
● Digital Word opf the Year
● Most Creative
● Most Unnecessary
● Least Likely to Succeed.

Their selections over the past several years show a definite biases, although it is claimed that they voters are not making judgements about the “quality” of the words, but more on the frequency of use.  The winners of the Word of the Year are as follows:
● 2024 – “rawdog” = (v) To do something hard or boring without any aid, preparation, or diversions
● 2023 – “enshittification” = (n) When a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits
● 2022 – “-ussy” = suffix from “pussy” (as in “bussy” = “boy pussy,” now humorously attached to many words); also “-ussification”: the process of creating new blended words with the “-ussy”  suffix.
● 2021 – “Insurrection” = (v) violent attempt to take control of the government, applied to the Capitol attack of Jan. 6, 2021
● 2020 – “Covid” = (n) Shorthand for Covid-19, the name given to the disease caused by infection from novel coronavirus; also used more broadly to refer to the pandemic and its impacts. Used to sum up chaotic and despondent feelings inspired by the year’s events
● 2019 - “(My) Pronouns,” Word of the Decade is Singular “They” - introduction for sharing one’s set of personal pronouns (“pronouns: she/her”)
● 2018 – “tender-age shelter/camp/facility = (n) government detention center for asylum-seekers’ children.
● 2017 – “fake news” = (n) Disinformation or falsehoods presented as real news. Actual news that is claimed to be untrue. “alternative facts” = Contrary information that matches one’s preferred narrative or interpretation of events.

TAKE AWAY
Following the “Words of the Year” is less about words to use in your writing and more about social trends and issues that sparked interest among a wide variety of people. The nominees and selected words demonstrate how language adapts to our social and physical environment and ignites debate in this modern digital culture.

Language is a work in progress.

JUST SAYIN'

Sources:
https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/cambridge-dictionary-reveals-word-of-the-year-2025
https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-year-2025/
https://goodthingsaregonnacome.com/125-words-of-the-year-for-2025/
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/woty
https://time.com/7334730/word-of-the-year-2025-cambridge-collins-dictionary-oxford-merriam/
https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/calendar
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/word-year-tradition-reflection-empowerment-anna-msikc/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_the_year
https://www.allaboutai.com/ai-glossary/ai-slop/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/11/18/cambridge-dictionary-word-year-2025-parasocial-meaning/87332931007/
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/rage-bait-oxford-university-press-word-of-year-2025/6424446/
https://news.sky.com/story/oxford-dictionary-publisher-reveals-word-of-the-year-2025-do-you-know-it-13477780
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/oxford-university-press-names-its-2025-word-of-the-year-shouldn-t-that-be-2-words/ar-AA1RuKWO
end

​

0 Comments

TELEMARKETING CALLING RESTRICTIONS: You Do Have Some Rights

1/7/2026

0 Comments

 
Picture
One of the most common annoyances in the 21st century is the infringement on our private lives by telemarketers. No matter what we do, the calls continue to irritate us, and the telemarketers refuse to relent. Such calls can interrupt our daily lives and add to the stress of everyday living.
◄ Image Source: Telestarmarketing.com.au

According to Erica Elson, writing for lifehacker.com/, successful telemarketers have a 96 percent chance of getting turned down. That makes them extremely tenacious. Since the early beginnings of telemarketing in the early 1900s with the Multi-Mailing Company, telemarketers have “perfected the art of being disruptive and persistent enough to make a sale.” newinterestingfacts.com/

Fortunately, there are a few ways the consumer fight back.

Picture
THE FEDS HAVE A REGULATION FOR THAT
There is a difference between telemarketing calls and robo calls. Both types are legal, but there are federal restrictions on their operations.
Image Source: pixabay.com

● Telemarketing Calls are live calls made by sales representatives to promote products or services. Telemarketing involves direct interaction with a salesperson.

● Robocalls are automated calls that deliver pre-recorded messages without a live person on the line and do not allow for real-time conversation.

​Lately it seems that the calls start out with a recording, and if you recipient says much of anything, it transfers to an actual sales person. I didn’t find a name for these in my research, but I experience them daily.

Federal Telemarketing and Robocall Regulations
● Calls can be made between 8 AM and 9 PM local time.
● Calls are prohibited on federal holidays.
● Consumers can register on the National “Do Not Call Registry” to limit calls.
● Telemarketers must honor requests to not be called again.
● Exceptions exist for certain types of calls, such as political or charitable solicitations.

Good luck with the “Don’t call me again” requests. Some states may have additional restrictions on calling hours, holidays, and frequency. Check your state requirements.


List of Federal Holidays
● New Year's Day                                            ● Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
● Washington's Birthday/Presidents Day        ● Memorial Day
● Juneteenth Independence Day                    ● Independence Day
● Labor Day                                                    ● Columbus Day
● Veterans Day                                               ● Thanksgiving Day
● Christmas Day


Application of Regulations
● When you answer a call, the telemarketer must promptly tell you:
1) That it is a sales call or a call on behalf of a charity
2) The name of the seller or charity.
3) What the caller is selling or that it is asking for a donation.
4) The telemarketer must tell you the total cost of the product or service before asking for payment, and can’t charge your account until you have agreed to make a purchase or donation and to have that account charged for it.

● The telemarketing regulations do apply if you call in response to a recorded message and a sales pitch is made. If you call a company for your own purposes, for instance, to ask about a bill or to buy a particular product or service, and during the call the company tries to sell you something that you weren’t calling about. 

● The telemarketing regulations do apply even when you make the call to the company in response to an advertisement or mailing if it’s about:
1) Credit card loss protection services.
2) Credit repair services
3) Services to recover money you’ve lost to fraud.
4) Offers to help you get a loan, for a fee upfront.
5) Investment opportunities.
6) Debt relief services.
7) Certain types of franchises and other business opportunities


Needless to say, there are no regulations requiring that the caller be “understandable” when they give you this information.

Picture
THE NATIONAL “DO NOT CALL” REGISTRY
Primary Sources: legalclarity.org/do-not-call-implementation-act/ and : legalclarity.org/do-not-call-implementation-act/
◄Image Source: Freebies2deals.com


Your “Do-Not-Call” Rights
The federal Do-Not-Call Implementation Act, signed into law on March 11, 2003 to protect consumers from unwanted telemarketing calls, established the National Do Not Call Registry, a database where consumers can list their phone numbers to avoid most commercial telemarketing solicitations. Its purpose is to give individuals greater control over their privacy and reduce unsolicited sales calls.

How To Register
Registering a phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry is a free process.

● Consumers may register by calling 1-888-382-1222 directly from the phone they wish to register, but only that phone number can be registered during that call.

● On the website http://www.donotcall.gov., consumers can register more than one phone number at the same time, allowing you to list all your landlines and cell phone numbers

Once a number is registered, it typically appears on the registry the following day, though it can take up to 31 days for telemarketing calls to cease. Registration is permanent unless the consumer removes the number.

In addition to making sure that they don’t call numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, companies must keep their own “no call” lists. Whether you register or not, it is your right to tell a telemarketer to put your number on the company’s no call list.” www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0052- stopping-unwanted-sales-calls


Picture
When “Do Not Call” Rights Do Not Apply
Some types of calls you may receive are not covered by the above regulations.

● Political calls
● Calls to take surveys
● Calls made in response to a letter, email or catalogue.

● Calls made by charities
However, if a telemarketer is hired by a charity to call seeking donations, the telemarketer must keep a “no call list”, and you can ask for your number to be put on that list to stop further calls on behalf of that charity. You can also ask if the caller is employed by a telemarketing company.
● Calls made in response to ads
Calls you receive as the result of your responding to an ad on TV, Internet, radio, magazine or other publication are generally not covered.


Picture
YOUR ROBCALL RIGHTS
A robocall trying to sell you something is illegal unless the company calling has received written permission, directly from you,  to call you that way. To get your permission, the company has to be clear it is asking to call you with robocalls. But beware; many companies trick you into giving this permission. Read the small print.

According to consumerreports.org/ “most irritating robocalls are done by scam artists or fly-by-night businesses that don’t really care whether or not you asked to not be called. Consumer complaints about unwanted calls dominate gripes filed with the Federal Trade Commission every year…The FTC estimates that $350 million a year is lost to phone scams.”

Picture
Robocall Regulations
Primary Source: consumerfed.org/Understanding_Telemarketing_Rights

These regulations do not apply to prerecorded calls from healthcare providers as long as they are related to your health benefits, emergencies, and weather or hazard warnings.

“● A telemarketer can only call your landline or cell phone using a prerecorded message to try to sell you something if you gave the company prior written consent to make such calls.” consumerfed.org/

● Calls utilizing prerecorded messages cannot be made to emergency lines and to people’s rooms in hospitals, nursing homes, and similar places except for emergencies or with prior consent.

● At the beginning of the prerecorded message, it must tell you on whose behalf it is being made.

● The company making the call is not allowed to make you agree to the robocalls as a prerequisite to obtaining the product or service.

● Prior written consent is required for a telemarketer hired by a charity to call your landline or cell phone, using a prerecorded message, to ask for a donation, unless you have given to that charity before.

● Prerecorded calls to your cell phone for other purposes (except for emergencies) also require prior consent, which can be written or verbal.

● Any prerecorded message to try to sell you something or to ask for a donation, must provide an automated way for you to stop continuing to receive such calls, even if you had previously agreed to get them."

Information about how to use the automated system must be provided early on during the call. Ha,ha! How often does that happen?

OUTWITTING THE TELEMARKETER MIND SET
Primary Source: lifehacker.com/im-a-telemarketer

Telemarketers use a “lead profile” to target potential customers. It may include data such as age, gender, location, interest, lifestyle and other personal information that helps the telemarketing company identify potential customers. Often this information is purchased from other companies. A “lead” is then assigned to an individual telemarketer to make the calls. These are facts you need to know in order to get inside the telemarketer’s head.

● Each telemarketer has their own username and password, so all the information they gather during their shift stays linked to them. Depending on the company calling you, the lead profile will display a little or a lot of information.

● Anything relevant you mention will be added to your lead profile. Don’t say anything to the telemarketer unless you want it written down on your profile.

● If there is no answer to the call, your lead is recorded as “no answer,” and you will be called again, sometimes within a few hours or several days later. If you hang up immediately, your lead is indicated as a “no answer” and you will be called back.

● Telemarketer often uses the “Three NOs” rule: don’t let the customer go until they have said “no” three times during the phone call.

● Telemarketers try to keep you on the phone as long as possible because they can eventually wear you down and get money out of you.

● Telemarketers literally have a script that tells them how to respond to every objection, so the less you engage with them, the better.

A FEW NO-NO’S IF YOU ANSWER A CALL
Primary Source: lifehacker.com/im-a-telemarketer

Picture
● Do not engage with the telemarketer
This gives them the idea that you may just need some convincing and are actually interested in their product. Do not ask questions. Do not explain why you are not interested in the product. Do not show empathy or other human characteristics.


Picture
● Do not get irrationally angry.
A computer chooses who the telemarketer calls. These people are just trying to make a living. If you scream at them, this will not make them sympathetic. If the telemarketer is being rude, you can ask to speak to a manager – there is always a supervisor in the call room.

● Do not give up hang up in mid-conversation without an explanation.
This will most likely result in the telemarketer calling back, claiming you got “disconnected.” If you don’t answer then, they will keep calling.

● Do not let the telemarketer call you back at another time.
Anything but a hard “no” will be interpreted as an opportunity to call you back.


Picture
“WHO ‘YA GONNA CALL?”
Well, it isn’t Ghostbusters!

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)   are the government agencies who regulate telemarketing. They face the onerous task of assuring that telemarketers follow the rules. When they receive many complaints about the same telemarketer, they can take legal action to stop illegal practices. They also maintain a data base of complaints about telemarketing which is available to other federal, state, and local agencies.

FTC’s jurisdiction does not cover, such as telephone companies, airlines, banks and credit unions, and insurance companies

● Report Do Not Call violations to the FTC at 1-888-382-1222, TTY (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf), 1-866-290-4236, or go to www.donotcall.gov.

● Report general telemarketing, robocall and Caller ID rights violations to the FTC by calling 1-877-382-4357, TTY 1-866-653-4261, or go to www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov.

● Report violations of your “do not call”, general telemarketing, robocall and Caller ID rights by phone to the FCC at 1-888-225-5322, TTY 1-888-835-5322. You can also use the online form at www.fcc.gov/complaints or fax the information to 1-866-418-0232.

If telemarketing calls bother you, you should take the time to report it. Regardless of how you make a report, provide as much detail as you can, such as:
● Date of the call,
● Name of the telemarketer,
● Name of any company or a charity on whose behalf the call was made, if different),
● Phone number that appeared on Caller ID or that was left in a message, and
● A description of the “pitch, what happened after that and how much you paid, if anything.

Picture
SCAMS: “HEY GRAMMA, I’M IN TROUBLE!”
Primary Source: aarp.org/scams-fraud/phone/
​

Unfortunately, many of the obnoxious “telemarketing calls” are actually Scams. While the issue of Scams is a complex topic which I am not addressing here, the following are few scam calls to watch out for.

● A government agent has an urgent issue
You owe back taxes. There is a problem with your Social Security Account or Medicare card, etc. Government agencies rarely call people unless they have first communicated by other means.

● A public utility or major tech firm has an issue
Legitimate businesses (such as Microsoft or Apple), utilities and institutions rarely call people unless they have first communicated by other means.

● Caller claims they can help you with your debt
They will claim they can help you resolve student loans, fix your credit, or help you qualify for a government grant.

● There’s a problem with your account
Caller may say you have strange charges on your Amazon account or a problem with your bank account, and ask you to provide sensitive information. They might even say you're suspected of criminal activity. Then, they connect you with someone claiming to be an FBI agent who wants to help you move your money for “safekeeping.”

● Donate to this worthy cause
The caller may pose as a legitimate charity or use a name for their bogus charity that sounds legitimate.


● You’ve won the lottery or a big prize
● Your car warranty has expired

​● Your children or grandchildren are in trouble

Scammers pose as a family member who has been in an accident or is under arrest and needs money fast. (I almost got taken with the one.)

Picture
● You missed jury duty
An arrest warrant has been issued for you as you failed to show up for your jury duty and you have to pay a fee to avoid jail time.

In all cases, Hang Up and Report The Call!

JUST SAYIN’

Sources:

https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/advertising-marketing/telemarketing
https://www.fcc.gov/general/telemarketing-and-robocalls
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64#47:3.0.1.1.11.12
https://consumerfed.org/pdfs/Understanding_Telemarketing_Rights.pdf
https://consumer.ftc.gov/topics/telemarketer
https://blog.clickpointsoftware.com/telemarketing-calling-hours-by-state
https://search.yahoo.com/ - ​AI Summary
https://consumer.ftc.gov/topics/telemarketer
https://www.donotcall.gov/report.html
http://www.ftc.gov/robocallshttps://www.wikihow.life/Deal-With-Telemarketers
https://www.wikihow.life/Deal-With-Telemarketers
https://www.rd.com/list/how-to-get-rid-of-telemarketers/
https://www.newinterestingfacts.com/ways-to-get-rid-of-telemarketers/
https://medium.com/@chloed_85285/it-wasnt-always-a-piece-of-cake-the-history-of-telemarketing-0edcbbf2b1f6
https://www.consumerreports.org/consumerist/phone-companies-can-filter-out-robocalls-they-just-arent-doing-it/
https://legalclarity.org/what-is-the-do-not-call-implementation-act/#google_vignette
https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/phone/?cmp=KNC-DMP-FRD-Fraud-Seasonal-PhoneScams

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/11/reports-unwanted-telemarketing-calls-down-more-50-percent-2021

https://fastercapital.com/content/Training--How-to-Train-Your-Telemarketing-Team-and-Equip-Them-with-the-Skills-They-Need.html

0 Comments

    Author R. Ann Siracusa

    Novelist, retired architect and urban planner, world traveler, quilter, owl collector, devoted wife-mother-grandmother, great-grandmother, and, according to some, wild-assed liberal (but a registered Republican). 

    Archives

    January 2026
    December 2025
    November 2025
    October 2025
    September 2025
    August 2025
    July 2025
    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    February 2025
    November 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    November 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013

    Categories

    All
    Africa
    Baboons
    Bagpipes
    Halloween
    Mopanemopani Worms2cfd13747f
    Saint Patrick
    Samhain
    Shamrock
    Snakes
    Travel
    Veterans Day

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly