The other day, I mentioned I was honked-off by robocalls from scammers seeking to lighten my wallet – and your family bank account.

My pals and I are old fuddy-duddies who don't want to be bothered by phone calls sent to East Boothbay from an R2D2 robot living somewhere west of Mars.

But, Mr. Old News Guy, the numbers are from 207- 633-XXXX. Could that be from a local phone?

Yes, it could, Grasshopper. And it could be the Mars robot, too.

For more information, I went online seeking the phone number of Verizon, the phone company to which I send a fat check each month for old-fashioned land-line telephone service. There were about a dozen sites called tech support but no phone numbers. The only one I could find was a Verizon Store in Thomaston. I dialed it, and that guy told me to call 611. I asked 611 what? He said just 611.

So, that was what I called, and a Spectrum computer voice answered. After fencing with that robot for about four minutes, it connected me with a real human being who said he knows robocalls are a problem for the customer. They were a problem for them, too, and that is why they put a feature on my phone called “Call Guard” labeling possible robocalls with the tag “Possible Spam.”

What should I do when I see the words possible spam on the phone, I asked. Don't answer it, he said. Write down the number and report it to us.

How would I know it was a fake local call? Sometimes the caller ID says it is local. Well, he said. That is called “Spoofing,” where they put in a fake local call number because that makes people think it is a real call and tend to pick it up.

OK, I said. But how do you know if the number is an actual number? “We don't know,” he said.

I guess this is a problem for most of America. That is why Gail Collins wrote about it in last week's New York Times. She said a call-blocking company called YouMail said Americans got 4.4 billion robocalls in June. She explained that the feds tried to do something about it in 2003 when they unveiled the Do Not Call List. But that was ineffective. So was the 1991 Congressional Telephone Consumer Protection Act. That didn't work either when the Supreme Court said nobody needs your permission to put your phone number on an automatic dialer.

Ironically, Collins said she got two robocalls while writing her piece on robocalls. One was from “Dave,” who wanted money for “veterans,” and another from a robot wanting to know if she had gotten sick from taking Xanax.

Most of those calls ask you to press “1” to be connected to someone who will ask you for your Medicaid number, the routing number for your bank account number, or your credit card number. Don't bite on that one.

In the latest issue of the AARP magazine, Doug Shadel writes about another phone scam where someone calling themselves “Becky from Medicare” calls offering genetic cancer screening. “If you don’t act soon”… blah blah blah. All you have to do is press “1.” That call went out to a million or so folks. And they said not to check with your family doc. He focuses on your health, and we focus on your genes. OK?

Just give us your Medicaid number, she said.

But, I wondered, if it was really “Becky from Medicaid,” wouldn't she already have your Medicaid number on her computer?

The FCC is trying a new tactic. They ordered phone companies to verify as they move through the network on the way to your house. They are supposed to use a technology known as Stir/Shaken. Don't ask what the name represents. It is a bunch of bureaucratic gobbledygook.

Phone companies must comply by Sept. 28. But I wouldn't hold them to that date.

When I can get away with it at our house, I let the calls go to the phone answering machine. They usually hang up.

But after I talked to the Spectrum guy, I got a call labeled “Spam,” and I let it go to the answering machine.

It was a Robocall claiming to be from Spectrum. He wanted to ask me a few questions about my recent chat with their call center tech guy.

FYI – the new Small Mall location of St. Andrews Auxiliary Thrift Shop is scheduled for a grand opening on Saturday, Aug. 7. Don’t miss it.