Why scammers call you and say nothing - and how to respond safely

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ZDNET's key takeaways

• There's a reason scam callers don't respond when you answer.
• The goal is simply to confirm that your number is active and spammable.
• To deal with a call, hang up and use spam filtering to block them.

Have you ever answered a call from an unknown number only to be greeted with silence? Sometimes, no one responds at all. Other times, there's a short delay before someone finally greets you. You may think the person on the other end is just confused or distracted, or possibly got the wrong number. But that's not the case, at least not with a scam call.

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Yes, there is a ...