Anyone else being bombarded with nuisance calls again?
They seemed to go quiet at the end of last year, but this week has been dire - Just had our eighth so far today! 
I never answer the landline so they dropped off I think (hardly register it is ringing now) but I have had a few on the mobile recently, but mainly texts.
Yup, both from 097 and 045 numbers.
I let the answerphone deal with them and then add to the blocked callers list so those numbers never get through again.
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I’ve been getting large quantities of 04 numbers, mainly different plus 09s and 06s of course (which could be from anywhere) They never leave a message …
had another today on my mobile… reminding me of the deadline for claiming my Free Training (?)… it’s paid by the State apparently. 
Go on Liste Rouge - it works. We’ve been on it for years & get no cold calls.
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If I don’t recognise the number, either on landline or mobile, then I pick up the call but remain silent until the person at the other end speaks. If the call is automated as spam calls often seem to be then after a second or 2 of silence it cuts off. Not foolproof, but it does reduce the number of spam calls after a little while.
I always just say “Hello” rather than 'allo and, if they’re cold calling, they usually hang up, but when I lived in the UK, I did the reverse…
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Normally respond with ‘can I sell you something?’ Normally works 
You could respond in German, which is likely to be effective in both countries. 
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I either sing Happy Birthday or recite my fake call centre script in a bored voice: “Thanks for calling the support line. I’m sorry that our tech specialists are all busy but perhaps you can give me an outline of your problem…”
One of my women colleagues in London used to do a gushing, girly recital about “last night’s fabulous party…” before hanging up.
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To repeat my previous post…use LISTE ROUGE.
Having some jokey response to a cold caller still involves reacting unecessarily to a ringing telephone. Why bother when the fix is easy (& free)?
Because not everyone wants to be ex-directory! Yes of course the spam people find you but it also means that genuine people who want/need to contact you can find you as well…
I found an old friend in the Lot that way…
In which case you can go for the Liste Anti-Prospection (used to be called Liste Orange). You get to stay in the directory & can be found via a reverse lookup.
I much prefer being ex-directory. Years ago we found that we got calls from people who would trawl through the phone directory & target British sounding surnames & then cold call to offer their services. Nowadays it’s relatively easy to find people by other means…
The very occasional call that we do get ends very abruptly when we ask if the caller realises that we are on Liste Rouge, as it’s actually illegal to cold call anyone that is on said list.
Such as? It’s the only place I found this particular person and also a (very elderly) relative…
Since December on my landline I’ve had about three a day, starting 0730! Been ex directory for decades. I take phone off hook overnight. They’re 01, 02, 04 nos. Even if I answer no one’s there except once: SFR!
I wish govt would make them illegal.
It might be worth checking that you are actually signed up to Liste Rouge. As I’ve previously said, we are on it & very, very rarely get a cold call (& those tend to be autodiallers from outside of France).
Thanks Badger.
I reckon these companies get ones no thru the internet apart from sfr.
Unless you have given out your number to be contacted on by a commercial organisation then it doesn’t matter how they’ve got hold of it, it is still an offence to cold call you.
Reputable organisations are horrified if you tell them that they shoud not have called you because you’re on Liste Rouge. Sadly there are some that deny that they are trying to sell you something by posing as a poll or survey & are not in breach of the law (but they are trying to sell you stuff, whatever they say).