Annoying advertising calls are not only annoying, but can also cost a lot of money in case of doubt. The Federal Network Agency offers a free solution to stop the telephone terror!
For many services or orders, a cell phone or landline number is mandatory. Sometimes this even makes sense, but in many cases data is simply hoarded diligently. Later, don’t be surprised if you get plagued by annoying spam calls.
Of course, you can then do something against the spammers, but a good strategy is to use your own cell phone number as sparingly as possible. Since storing a phone number is often mandatory, fake numbers are a good idea, and they also serve well in real life.
Drama Numbers of the Federal Network Agency
If you sometimes see phone numbers in films or series, they are usually fake numbers. The reason is simple, many people have too much time and nothing else to do but call these numbers and see who is answering. The Federal Network Agency has therefore built up a small pool of fake phone numbers for this purpose, also known as “drama numbers”.
You can also use this to protect yourself from unwanted callbacks. In a separate PDF file you will find several phone numbers for different local networks, such as Berlin, Hamburg or Munich. There are also numerous cell phone numbers that you can use. Examples:
- 0152 28817386
- 0172 9980752
- 0174 9091317
These phone numbers will not be assigned permanently. Whoever calls them only receives a brief announcement that the number has not been assigned.
Frank answers and switches the repellent hotline
The Frank geht ran service on the website of the same name is also interesting in this context. The service has been operated by the Digitalcourage eV association for several months. Two phone numbers are provided, the normal call costs to the Telefonica mobile network cause:
Unlike the Drama Numbers, Frank actually answers. The recorded announcement lasts 24 seconds and informs the caller in a friendly but firm manner that telephone contact is not desired. So spam calls go nowhere.
Tip: Sometimes web forms don’t accept Frank’s numbers. In this case, simply append any two digits to the numbers above. There are separate phone numbers for Austrian users.