We pick up so you don't have to.
Forward your scam calls to cyfr.tel and a cast of chatty, slow, hard-of-hearing neighbors answers for you. They lose their glasses, fight with the toilet, read out fake card numbers one digit at a time, and keep scammers busy for as long as they can stand it.
No charge until we launch. We open the doors at 200 sign-ups.
Answered by Grandpa EarlAn example call, with lines from our test calls
Three steps. Zero scammers on your line.
Get your cyfr.tel number
When you join, you get your own cyfr.tel phone number, set up to answer for you.
Forward the calls you don't want
Set your phone to send declined and unanswered calls to it. Most US carriers support it, and we'll walk you through yours.
We pick up
Likely scams get one of our neighbors. Everyone else gets your voicemail, transcribed and texted to you.
The best calls become cartoons. With every caller's personal details bleeped and their face swapped for a silhouette, of course.
Ten neighbors. Endless patience. Zero real information.
Everybody in Plumb Hollow, Missouri, is home, bored, and delighted you called.
Grandpa Earl Tibbets
Retired dairy farmer. Hard of hearing. In no hurry at all.
Nana Mabel Kowalczyk
Bingo, gossip, and a neighbor who wants her casserole dish back.
Merle Fensterwald
Records every call. Every single one. Wants to know who you really work for.
Professor Thaddeus Fumble
Thinks every caller is the Patent Office. Something is always smoking.
Uncle Chester Pruitt
Lives in a trailer with Duchess, a raccoon who steals the phone.
Dottie Sizemore
Sure you're her grandson Ricky. Did you get the haircut?
Roz Viggiano
Ninety-four, deaf when it suits her, and a lot sharper than you think.
Walt Hennessey
Follows every instruction, word for word, on a computer from 1998.
Doreen Fisk
On a ladder, hunting a smoke alarm that chirps every forty seconds.
Gerald Plunkett
Fifty-eight. Lives with Mother. Mother is on the extension.
All characters are fictional, with original designed voices. Any resemblance to your actual grandparents is purely their fault.
Ridiculous on the phone. Careful everywhere else.
Nothing real, ever
Our neighbors don't know anything about you. Every card or Social Security number they read out is fake, built so it can never work.
Callers are told
Every call is recorded, and every character says so near the start of the call.
Real calls get waved through
Emergencies, doctors, schools and deliveries get a polite "wrong number" and a goodbye, never a bit.
Shared calls are scrubbed
Anything we publish has the caller's personal details bleeped and their face replaced with a silhouette.
Cheaper than one scam.
Reserve your plan now. Nothing is charged until your number is ready.
Monthly
- Your own cyfr.tel number
- 30 minutes a month of live neighbors, then classic recorded stalling keeps them on the line
- Voicemail for real callers, transcribed and texted to you
- Every call recorded, with the best moments clipped
- Cancel anytime
Yearly
- Everything in Monthly
- About $4.92 a month, paid once a year
- First in line for new characters
Save your spot in line.
Tell us a little about your phone and your plan. We'll email you the moment your number is ready. No card needed now.
Questions, answered (eventually).
Will my real callers get a character?
They shouldn't. cyfr.tel checks each forwarded call's reputation and how the caller's carrier signed it. Likely scams go to a neighbor; everyone else gets your voicemail, transcribed and texted to you.
Do the characters ever give out my information?
Never. They don't know anything about you. When a scammer asks for a card, bank or Social Security number, the character reads out fake ones that are built to fail, very, very slowly.
Is it legal to record the calls?
Every call is recorded, and every character tells the caller so near the start, which is what states requiring everyone's consent expect. Our characters never pretend to be a real company, a government agency or the police.
What happens after my 30 live minutes?
Live neighbors run on AI that costs us by the minute. After your monthly 30 minutes, classic recorded stalling, in the spirit of Lenny, the legendary telemarketer-trolling bot, takes over and keeps scammers on the line.
Which phones and carriers work?
Any phone that can forward calls. Most US carriers support forwarding declined, busy or unanswered calls, and we'll send you the exact steps for yours.
Can I listen to my calls?
Yes. Every call is recorded for you. The funniest ones, with all personal details bleeped, might end up on our channel.
When do you launch?
When 200 people have joined the waitlist. Join now and you'll be among the first to get a number.