Since many scammers also spoof the numbers they appear to be calling from, it's a challenge to figure out which calls might be real. How many times has the doctor's office called from a back line and I've picked up the phone and listened for breathing or the call center noise before finally saying "hello?" - only to be embarrassed that it is the scheduling nurse calling back. So I have resolved to try to be polite; I usually finally say "Hello. Goodbye." with a pause for a second or two between for a real person to start talking. And then I use the spam blocker and report and block that number.

Spoofed numbers usually use your area code and first three number prefix to make it look like the call is someone local. I happen to know that most of the calls that do that with my cell phone are spoofed because I got it in the next town over and I know only one other person who has the same prefix, and he's in my contacts and shows up. A lot of times the name identified with the spoofed number is meaningless because they're another victim. There are times I've called businesses and started to leave a message, only to have someone pick up and say "the caller ID said "spam." so I know my number has been spoofed to other people as well.