Never before has it been so unsafe to answer a call from an unknown number. The worldwide pandemic has made phone scammers and robocalls more desperate and proactive. They target the most vulnerable of us, all hit by the financial and emotional burdens brought by an unprecedented crisis. Three out of 4 Americans said they were targeted by phone scammers over the past year, reported this survey.
In addition to staying alert at all times when your phone rings, some people are arming themselves with humor and see it as a sort of entertainment. Like the comedian Joe Heenan, who recently tweeted, probably sarcastically, how much he “loves spam calls.”
“I pretend I'm an old Scottish woman desperate to pay them. My record's an hour,” Joe wrote in a post which went viral with 39.3K likes. More people joined the thread to share their own tips and tricks on dealing with scammers, which are honestly quite funny.
That doesn’t mean, though, that phone scams should be viewed lightheartedly. Whenever you’re unsure about the caller, you’re likely to be much safer not answering it than regretting getting into a robocall bonanza.
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I had a guy call from somewhere in Eastern Europe and do the This Is Windows Support OMG You're Infected We Can Save You! thing. Had him online for a half hour, I put on an outrageously bad accent and acted way too terrified to figure out how to type in the info he wanted but refusing to let him go. Finally I yelled for my wife to help but when I said she couldn't come to the phone because she was making love to our german shepherd the guy cursed me out in Russian and hung up. Taped the whole thing so I could play it for my friends. Good stuff.
I did actually have someone call me about life insurance. I pretended to be upset about losing my brother the day before. They asked me if he had life insurance. LOL
accident meant car accident, and the son basically said "yes, but it wasn't an accident because i meant to hit him". the caller did NOT want to deal with that
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I'd love to have the foresight to have a few props close by, so it would start out ok, but I would keep getting interrupted by my wife, then just say to them, "hang on a moment, I can't think", play a few tinkering noises, then a lot of serious shouting between my wife and I, followed by a bit of screaming and then six gunshot noises. Go back to the phone, and say, "It's ok now, I've dealt with it, no more noise. But you're going to have to be quick, I've a bit of cleaning up to do in the hallway before the children get home".
I had a call that my auto warranty was about to expire, and I told him that"I'm glad that you notified me. Can you help me with an extension? I kept telling him that his warranty plan sounds great, and it's exactly what I need. I kept talking with him for almost a half hour asking him about transmission coverage, engine coverage, cooling system, brakes, etc. His cost was $195.00 per month for 24 months and I get an extra two years of coverage for free. I thanked him and asked him if I could owe him the money. He wanted my credit card for an initial down payment, and I told him that I'm in my car driving right now and talking on Blue Tooth. He promised to call me back later, and I thanked him profusely. I had to do everything to not laugh while we were talking.
Phone scams and robocalls show no signs of slowing down, with more than 4 billion robocalls targeting phones across the US in January. According to YouMail, an Irvine, CA-based developer of visual voicemail and robocall-blocking software, there was a 3.7% increase over the month of December.
And while most of us have run into scammers both on the phone and online, it’s not always entirely clear to us what we should do when we get one. So to find out, Bored Panda reached out to Alex Quilici, a CEO at YouMail who shared a handful of useful advice.
“People should not answer calls from unknown numbers, and let them roll to voicemail—so that they can see what the call was all about from the message that was left,” Alex said. He also explained that harmful phone calls are often imposter scams—“for example, someone pretending to be the IRS and telling you that you owe money that needs to be settled right away. These scams take away billions of dollars from people each year.”
When it comes to robocalls, Alex said that they, in fact, have dropped since the pandemic started. It’s “because call centers are closed—and the whole point of a robocall is usually for you to press 1 and talk to someone (or call back).” But at this point “they are now fully back to levels before the pandemic as call centers have generally reopened,” he added.
I’m a little confused. I saw some other examples talking about post accident scammers. Is that a thing?
For anyone who’s worrying about keeping themselves safe from suspicious calls, Alex suggests “getting a robocall-blocking app like YouMail so that the unwanted calls are filtered (and your ringer is protected).” The second step would be to make sure you “don’t answer the unknown calls that might get through—let them roll to voicemail.”
“If you have YouMail, we can automatically examine the voicemail that’s left and let you know if it’s harmful (a scam or spam vs. something real),” Alex explained. Moreover, he warned everyone to make sure you “don’t just call back numbers that call you—go to the web site of whoever the caller claims to be (e.g., Chase bank) and call a number you find there.”
Bored Panda also talked to Mike Ferris, the head of communications at Hiya, a Seattle-based company that sells caller profile information to identify incoming calls and block suggested unwanted ones. Mike said that the most common thing that people do when they receive a call from an unknown number is not pick up.
“In Hiya’s recent State of the Call report, they analyzed more than 150 billion calls made on the Hiya network in 2020 and found that a staggering 94% of unknown calls went unanswered. And that’s because most people think that unknown calls might be fraud.”
“But as a result of not answering these unknown calls, people miss important calls,” Mike said and added that “sometimes calls from doctors, banks, and delivery people are unidentified, so opting to not answer these calls can cause real problems—both for the caller and the recipient.”
Mike said that for these reasons, instead of ignoring unknown callers, a better option is to take advantage of an intelligent call protection and caller identification service. “Hiya blocks fraud calls, flags nuisance calls, and provides caller identity so that people know who’s calling.”
It turns out that “this significantly reduces the risk of falling victim to a fraud call and also gives people more information to decide whether or not to pick up a call.”
I am very old, but I have a young voice (luckily I kept something of my youth) and one guy ended up proposing to me because I sounded so nice and kind. Aww...
I usually hum an annoying song while I 'boot up my computer'. Several times. Last time I sang Baby Shark until they hung up.
"i want to talk to you about the accident you've been in" "yes, blue killed me in shields" "wait not that one the other one" "oh that one wasn't an accident i meant to shoot pink" *hangs up*
Note: this post originally had 76 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
'Hello sir,I'm calling about your recent accident' 'How could you know? It's only just happened' 'Can you give us some details sir?' 'Well ....thought it was a fart but I followed through....hello.....hello'
My husband like to answer the phone like he's a spy in a bad movie with a random and weird coded message like "The octopus is in the glovebox". When the caller responds back he'll say something like "Nope sorry that's incorrect but thanks for playing here's a special gift" and hang up.
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Depends on what mood I'm in. "Trees don't like me, do they like you?" is usually a good opener, then just wander off in a vague, pretending, patronizing way.
BAHAHAHAHA i would've gone with "I like trains" then a whooshing noise and screams tho. LOL.
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Never been so lucky to be called by an actual scammer. But I do find joy in messing with sales and retention calls. This one time someone from a company I used to work for and had just ended an internet subscription with, wanted to tell me about how they now offered fiber to the home. So I corrected her and told her it's at most fiber to the curb and how the signal quickly disintegrates during the final 100 meters of which fifty will be over a very old copper phoneline and how it will not get over 100 mbit so being the exact same speed as I already had. The long version of that. To end the story with a plain and simple statement how I'm moving and they don't serve that area. I like the silence on the other line it comes with.
My son likes to get all excited about the extended car warranty scams and ask them if they're going to get his 69 VW Beetle back that went up in flames on his way to work one day. He'll even shout "Hallelujah!! I'm gettin' muh car back!! MA, I'm gettin' muh car back!!" XD
I will time it if I can :-) ... We're over due for the "help our veterans/police/firemen" calls that are not associated with any legit such organizations whatsoever. What should I say? "Hmm, what a great idea! you know, if they sell Amway, they can make a lot of money and work from home!"....
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Great guy on Youtube you should check out if you enjoy stuff like this (scambaiting and scambusting) his name is Jim Browning and he is amazing at it! He hacks into the scammers computers and exposes them. 10/10 would reccomend :))
And there's this funny guy called kitboga, there's been a few BP articles about him but his videos are always funny
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For those in the US, here's some knowledge and a tip. If it's a telemarketer, just hang up. But if it's a market researcher, let them finish their whole spiel and then ask to be put on their do not call list. They are required by law to do so. Market research and telemarketers are two different things.
I once got called by an astrologer, in French - I live in Belgium. In my best French I told her that in my opinion astrology is a crock and she started arguing with me. So I firmly told her that 'l'astrology est une connerie' a few times (she kept talking over me) so she hung up wit a resounding 'MERDE'. Made my day, that!
My daughter says "Lucifer's Strip Club and Church. You got the horn's, we got the porns" in an accent of some sort
I haer taht pause before there's a human voice and yell out (usually to an empty house), "Honey! Start the tracker!" It's utter nonsense, but OMG, so worth it for the peace and quiet for up to *weeks* :-)
If someone comes to our door (ie later day saints etc). I tell them I’m Buddhist and it ends the conversation. It’s true and works well. Although I do love the shocked look on their faces ..
My mother used to keep an old Scout whistle by the phone for spam or abusive callers, and those things are crazy loud. One blast of that in their ear and guaranteed they never call back!
I acted stupid ( not a stretch for me it seems ) and when the caller told me my Windows was broken and he would help me fix it.. I replied .. I"m sorry but I don't think so, but I'll check, please hang on... After a minute I then said.. no all the windows in the house are fine, you must be mistaken.. Caller then spent a couple of minutes going back a forth try to explain he was talking about my computer windows.. not the house ones.. I said ok. .I'll check .. After another minute..I said Well you are definitley mistaken as my computer tower has no windows on either side... Another back and forth.. the caller then yelled at me to F off.. and hung up Haven't heard back from them..
The problem is that the scammers are getting more sophisticated. I got a call and the ID came up as Apple, Inc, saying there was an issue with my account. I called the number back and it was indeed Apple. They told me this is a major problem they have been dealing with and that they would never call if there was an issue with an account. Same with the IRS, they don't call you. Some are just ridiculous: I got a call from a UK number claiming to be the FBI.
All great fun and games, maybe when I'm retired... Now I just don't have the time. On YouTube (and live, if you remember such things pre-corona!) my favourite is James Veitch, who takes them on surreal trips.
I love these!!! Fortunately I haven't received any scam calls but oh the telemarketers... I think I'll start with engaging the next telemarketer in a conversation about my lord and saviour!
I can speak pretty good spanish, so I usually answer the phone in Spanish and scream "NO HABLO ÍNGLES" until they hang up or talk to me in Spanish"
the one i use is offering them everything. "i've been in an accident? oh no! do you want my credit card? the date on it? my social security number? what do you need?" they usually hang up
My dad once got scam called while home with me. He said, "Alright, please talk to my granddaughter about that" and gave me the phone. I led them on for 15 minutes talking about donuts in a fake British accent LMAOOOO
That's not even my best story. Once me and my sis were home alone, we got scam called and she put on Baby Shark and got them to sing along. I was in the next room laughing my butt off, when they got impatient she handed the phone to me and left. I made horrible moaning noises and heavy breathing and screamed "HARDER DADDY" multiple times...In the end it was 30 minutes of Baby Shark and 10 minutes of listening to fake sex noises. We laugh about it to this day...musta been interesting for that poor caller.
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I'm obviously missing a great opportunity. I usually just lecture them on how they are despicable, scamming innocent old people out of their money, and that their mothers would be deeply ashamed of them. Obviously I need to do some acting first.
"Hello sir, are you interested in shares?" me - " quite possibly. Go on im listening..." I then proceed to leave the phone on the side and leave them chatting for so long before they realize that im not listening!
I love to be utterly dumb to scammers. I have nooooo clue whatsoever. About anything. You see, my husband used to do it all, but he recently left me for some smart bitca.. and I am ever so greatful for them calling to help me. Also I can't keep focus on any subject for more than five minutes. My record is over one hour with a microsoft-scammer. He was very helpful and patient but could not understand why I es unable to even find the windows-button on my (Apple) device.
On Linux following the windows scammers instructions to the letter...
Sometimes I hang up, Sometimes I let them start their pitch then ask if they "know how to get blood out of carpet. There's so much blood...I didn't expect that much." I also like to casually flip my balisong (butterfly knife) while talking to door-to-door scammers and Mormons. (Never Girl Scouts, though, they get full access to my bank account in excange for thin mints)
lmao i love this, i definitely recommend everyone to check out Mark Rober's videos on scammers (spoiler: glitter bombs!)
I just read aloud Harry Potter books till they leave (most don’t) dunno why
All the ones I ever get are robocalls so I don't get to have fun like these folks do... /sadface
Really?!? Crass humor is acceptable but calling people out for suggesting people do something illegal or hurtful to the innocent is grounds for meanness and censoring?!? Not cool BoredPandas. Think before you post.
I like to 'convert' scammers... I ask them what country they are calling from. I tell them I love their country and its people. I tell them their people are honourable and kind and have a proud history. I tell them that they have a great telephone manner and could easily work for a legitimate company... I ask them if they like the people they work for and if they would like someone like them calling their, mother, grandfather, daughter etc. I encourage them to leave and work somewhere they can be proud to work... I have managed to convert two so far (I think) and am still in touch with one lovely guy in India who now has a real job!
I enjoy trying to convert scammers... So, I ask them what country they're calling from. Tell them I love their country and their people. Tell them that I've heard they are a special country, full of people of honour, kindness and spirituality. I tell them they have a great telephone manner and could easily work in a legitimate company... I ask them if they would like someone like them calling their mother, or grandfather or daughter. Then I ask them if they like the people they work for... I have converted two people and am still in touch with one of them. A lovely guy, who left his scam job and now has a real job in India.
I pretended to be an old lady Indian farmer from the village and kept giving them the wrong card number. Then said I had mixed it up with my Adhaar card (ID) number. Then put them on hold for 10 mins as I needed to feed my cow first. Then came back and continued on for another 15 minutes rattling off random numbers I couldn't read due to my bad eyesight.
I love phone scammers because I get to try out 'The Next Big Idea'. This involves me finding some way to either confuse, scare, upset or worry the scammer. Sometimes I score all states. Here are 4 of my favourite methods. 1- Pick up the phones and give a 2 second whistle and wait until some one starts talking then I play this video. It' scares them as they are not sure if they have accessed some government secret code and that they might get 'a visit' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnXPqUU6fI0&t=1s 2-Talk random chinese gibberish (make it sound as authentic as possible) 3-Slam my flat hand on a packet of crisps hard then drop a large empty cardboard box. Tested it on my brother (it was arranged) and he said it sounded like someone had commited suicide with a gun and the body dropped on the floor. Give 'em a go! It's so much fun! I'm waiting on another call so I can put the phone next to a marshall amp and rest an electric guitar against it at full volume. 4- Just keep asking "Why?"
I love the Russian Special Intelligence Branch: I’m going to use that one :)
Next time I get a scam call, I’m gonna yell at the wall, “Dad! There’s some weirdo on the phone! I think he wants to talk to you about your police record!” Pause. “No I won’t tell them your drowning someone in the bathtub!” Goes back to phone. “Sorry, what did you say you were here for?” Either that out if they ask about phones, computers, cars, bank accounts etc, I’m just gonna tell them I don’t have whatever they’re asking about.
I acted stupid ( not a stretch for me it seems ) and when the caller told me my Windows was broken and he would help me fix it.. I replied .. I"m sorry but I don't think so, but I'll check, please hang on... After a minute I then said.. no all the windows in the house are fine, you must be mistaken.. Caller then spent a couple of minutes going back a forth try to explain he was talking about my computer windows.. not the house ones.. I said ok. .I'll check .. After another minute..I said Well you are definitley mistaken as my computer tower has not windows on either side... Another back and forth.. the caller then yelled at me to F off.. and hung up Haven't heard back from them..
Omg these are so funny that I wish some scammer would call me, 'cause I got some ideas! It reminded me of a sales call about 20 years ago. I was working hard for shitty money and life hadn't been easy for a while. Anyway, my phone rang and a very polite gentleman started selling me a series of fancy cookbooks. I let him talk and talk. Apparently you become a master chef with these magical books. 15 mins of sales pitch later he tells the price of the book series. It's worth my 3 months paycheck. That's when I lose it totally. I start to chuckle, giggle, howl and snort. I fall off the couch an am literally rolling on the floor chortling. This man - like I said he was vvveeerrryyy polite - is waiting and trying to say something calming. In the middle of my laughing fit I manage to say something like: "I'm just really happy I'm not so bad at cooking that I would need these books because then I'd be really screwed.".
I've never experienced a scam phone call so I am curious... How do you recognise when it's a scammer and when it's a legit call or so???
You hit that nail on the head...hard! Because that is exactly the crux of the matter!!! Knowing if it's a scam. It's so much worse since covid-19 hit. Basically, if you don't know the person and are not expecting a call back from a business or something... it's probably a scam. Places like the Social Security Office DO NOT CALL YOU. Especially not to threaten you into sending money. But many claim to be from there because people are afraid of losing their income and rush to comply. Better to let them leave a message if you don't recognize the number. Then look up and call the number listed in the phone book for the business they claim to be calling from instead of any number they give you. Every time I've done this, the business had not tried to contact me. It was scammers.
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I'm not someone who usually gets scam calls but I think my response would be either: 1) incoherent screaming into my phone, 2) listing off random things. "The heart of a fetus! Nokea! Tampons! A nuke!"
Recently, the scammers had left a few v-m messages saying that if I didn't respond in 2r hours, they would send the police to arrest me. Next time they called, I decided to answer. When they started in on their script, I excitedly asked if they were going to take me to prison. They hung up.
But reading these others, I feel inspired to try this one next, regardless of their purpose, I think I'll just go ahead and use my own script as follows: I keep 30 cows in my home and their farms are more than enough to keep my home warm. The heat from their farts even heats the garage and the 10 metre radius around my home. I mean, I have to shovel about 100 kilos of cow manure from my home every day, but I've started bagging it and selling it to neighbours who use it to fertilise their gardens. So everyone wins. Also, my cows like to sleep next to me so I've removed all the walls in my home so that I can sleep with them...and my 18 dogs and 46 cats and 12 bunnies and 68 chickens and 8 sheep and 3 goats and 2 horses. I mean, I pretty much spend my waking hours shovelling all their s**t, but it's worth it because I never have to pay to heat my home!
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Messing with scam callers are so darn fun, as long as you have a brain
'Hello sir,I'm calling about your recent accident' 'How could you know? It's only just happened' 'Can you give us some details sir?' 'Well ....thought it was a fart but I followed through....hello.....hello'
My husband like to answer the phone like he's a spy in a bad movie with a random and weird coded message like "The octopus is in the glovebox". When the caller responds back he'll say something like "Nope sorry that's incorrect but thanks for playing here's a special gift" and hang up.
Load More Replies... Depends on what mood I'm in. "Trees don't like me, do they like you?" is usually a good opener, then just wander off in a vague, pretending, patronizing way.
BAHAHAHAHA i would've gone with "I like trains" then a whooshing noise and screams tho. LOL.
Load More Replies... Never been so lucky to be called by an actual scammer. But I do find joy in messing with sales and retention calls. This one time someone from a company I used to work for and had just ended an internet subscription with, wanted to tell me about how they now offered fiber to the home. So I corrected her and told her it's at most fiber to the curb and how the signal quickly disintegrates during the final 100 meters of which fifty will be over a very old copper phoneline and how it will not get over 100 mbit so being the exact same speed as I already had. The long version of that. To end the story with a plain and simple statement how I'm moving and they don't serve that area. I like the silence on the other line it comes with.
My son likes to get all excited about the extended car warranty scams and ask them if they're going to get his 69 VW Beetle back that went up in flames on his way to work one day. He'll even shout "Hallelujah!! I'm gettin' muh car back!! MA, I'm gettin' muh car back!!" XD
I will time it if I can :-) ... We're over due for the "help our veterans/police/firemen" calls that are not associated with any legit such organizations whatsoever. What should I say? "Hmm, what a great idea! you know, if they sell Amway, they can make a lot of money and work from home!"....
Load More Replies... Great guy on Youtube you should check out if you enjoy stuff like this (scambaiting and scambusting) his name is Jim Browning and he is amazing at it! He hacks into the scammers computers and exposes them. 10/10 would reccomend :))
And there's this funny guy called kitboga, there's been a few BP articles about him but his videos are always funny
Load More Replies... For those in the US, here's some knowledge and a tip. If it's a telemarketer, just hang up. But if it's a market researcher, let them finish their whole spiel and then ask to be put on their do not call list. They are required by law to do so. Market research and telemarketers are two different things.
I once got called by an astrologer, in French - I live in Belgium. In my best French I told her that in my opinion astrology is a crock and she started arguing with me. So I firmly told her that 'l'astrology est une connerie' a few times (she kept talking over me) so she hung up wit a resounding 'MERDE'. Made my day, that!
My daughter says "Lucifer's Strip Club and Church. You got the horn's, we got the porns" in an accent of some sort
I haer taht pause before there's a human voice and yell out (usually to an empty house), "Honey! Start the tracker!" It's utter nonsense, but OMG, so worth it for the peace and quiet for up to *weeks* :-)
If someone comes to our door (ie later day saints etc). I tell them I’m Buddhist and it ends the conversation. It’s true and works well. Although I do love the shocked look on their faces ..
My mother used to keep an old Scout whistle by the phone for spam or abusive callers, and those things are crazy loud. One blast of that in their ear and guaranteed they never call back!
I acted stupid ( not a stretch for me it seems ) and when the caller told me my Windows was broken and he would help me fix it.. I replied .. I"m sorry but I don't think so, but I'll check, please hang on... After a minute I then said.. no all the windows in the house are fine, you must be mistaken.. Caller then spent a couple of minutes going back a forth try to explain he was talking about my computer windows.. not the house ones.. I said ok. .I'll check .. After another minute..I said Well you are definitley mistaken as my computer tower has no windows on either side... Another back and forth.. the caller then yelled at me to F off.. and hung up Haven't heard back from them..
The problem is that the scammers are getting more sophisticated. I got a call and the ID came up as Apple, Inc, saying there was an issue with my account. I called the number back and it was indeed Apple. They told me this is a major problem they have been dealing with and that they would never call if there was an issue with an account. Same with the IRS, they don't call you. Some are just ridiculous: I got a call from a UK number claiming to be the FBI.
All great fun and games, maybe when I'm retired... Now I just don't have the time. On YouTube (and live, if you remember such things pre-corona!) my favourite is James Veitch, who takes them on surreal trips.
I love these!!! Fortunately I haven't received any scam calls but oh the telemarketers... I think I'll start with engaging the next telemarketer in a conversation about my lord and saviour!
I can speak pretty good spanish, so I usually answer the phone in Spanish and scream "NO HABLO ÍNGLES" until they hang up or talk to me in Spanish"
the one i use is offering them everything. "i've been in an accident? oh no! do you want my credit card? the date on it? my social security number? what do you need?" they usually hang up
My dad once got scam called while home with me. He said, "Alright, please talk to my granddaughter about that" and gave me the phone. I led them on for 15 minutes talking about donuts in a fake British accent LMAOOOO
That's not even my best story. Once me and my sis were home alone, we got scam called and she put on Baby Shark and got them to sing along. I was in the next room laughing my butt off, when they got impatient she handed the phone to me and left. I made horrible moaning noises and heavy breathing and screamed "HARDER DADDY" multiple times...In the end it was 30 minutes of Baby Shark and 10 minutes of listening to fake sex noises. We laugh about it to this day...musta been interesting for that poor caller.
Load More Replies... I'm obviously missing a great opportunity. I usually just lecture them on how they are despicable, scamming innocent old people out of their money, and that their mothers would be deeply ashamed of them. Obviously I need to do some acting first.
"Hello sir, are you interested in shares?" me - " quite possibly. Go on im listening..." I then proceed to leave the phone on the side and leave them chatting for so long before they realize that im not listening!
I love to be utterly dumb to scammers. I have nooooo clue whatsoever. About anything. You see, my husband used to do it all, but he recently left me for some smart bitca.. and I am ever so greatful for them calling to help me. Also I can't keep focus on any subject for more than five minutes. My record is over one hour with a microsoft-scammer. He was very helpful and patient but could not understand why I es unable to even find the windows-button on my (Apple) device.
On Linux following the windows scammers instructions to the letter...
Sometimes I hang up, Sometimes I let them start their pitch then ask if they "know how to get blood out of carpet. There's so much blood...I didn't expect that much." I also like to casually flip my balisong (butterfly knife) while talking to door-to-door scammers and Mormons. (Never Girl Scouts, though, they get full access to my bank account in excange for thin mints)
lmao i love this, i definitely recommend everyone to check out Mark Rober's videos on scammers (spoiler: glitter bombs!)
I just read aloud Harry Potter books till they leave (most don’t) dunno why
All the ones I ever get are robocalls so I don't get to have fun like these folks do... /sadface
Really?!? Crass humor is acceptable but calling people out for suggesting people do something illegal or hurtful to the innocent is grounds for meanness and censoring?!? Not cool BoredPandas. Think before you post.
I like to 'convert' scammers... I ask them what country they are calling from. I tell them I love their country and its people. I tell them their people are honourable and kind and have a proud history. I tell them that they have a great telephone manner and could easily work for a legitimate company... I ask them if they like the people they work for and if they would like someone like them calling their, mother, grandfather, daughter etc. I encourage them to leave and work somewhere they can be proud to work... I have managed to convert two so far (I think) and am still in touch with one lovely guy in India who now has a real job!
I enjoy trying to convert scammers... So, I ask them what country they're calling from. Tell them I love their country and their people. Tell them that I've heard they are a special country, full of people of honour, kindness and spirituality. I tell them they have a great telephone manner and could easily work in a legitimate company... I ask them if they would like someone like them calling their mother, or grandfather or daughter. Then I ask them if they like the people they work for... I have converted two people and am still in touch with one of them. A lovely guy, who left his scam job and now has a real job in India.
I pretended to be an old lady Indian farmer from the village and kept giving them the wrong card number. Then said I had mixed it up with my Adhaar card (ID) number. Then put them on hold for 10 mins as I needed to feed my cow first. Then came back and continued on for another 15 minutes rattling off random numbers I couldn't read due to my bad eyesight.
I love phone scammers because I get to try out 'The Next Big Idea'. This involves me finding some way to either confuse, scare, upset or worry the scammer. Sometimes I score all states. Here are 4 of my favourite methods. 1- Pick up the phones and give a 2 second whistle and wait until some one starts talking then I play this video. It' scares them as they are not sure if they have accessed some government secret code and that they might get 'a visit' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnXPqUU6fI0&t=1s 2-Talk random chinese gibberish (make it sound as authentic as possible) 3-Slam my flat hand on a packet of crisps hard then drop a large empty cardboard box. Tested it on my brother (it was arranged) and he said it sounded like someone had commited suicide with a gun and the body dropped on the floor. Give 'em a go! It's so much fun! I'm waiting on another call so I can put the phone next to a marshall amp and rest an electric guitar against it at full volume. 4- Just keep asking "Why?"
I love the Russian Special Intelligence Branch: I’m going to use that one :)
Next time I get a scam call, I’m gonna yell at the wall, “Dad! There’s some weirdo on the phone! I think he wants to talk to you about your police record!” Pause. “No I won’t tell them your drowning someone in the bathtub!” Goes back to phone. “Sorry, what did you say you were here for?” Either that out if they ask about phones, computers, cars, bank accounts etc, I’m just gonna tell them I don’t have whatever they’re asking about.
I acted stupid ( not a stretch for me it seems ) and when the caller told me my Windows was broken and he would help me fix it.. I replied .. I"m sorry but I don't think so, but I'll check, please hang on... After a minute I then said.. no all the windows in the house are fine, you must be mistaken.. Caller then spent a couple of minutes going back a forth try to explain he was talking about my computer windows.. not the house ones.. I said ok. .I'll check .. After another minute..I said Well you are definitley mistaken as my computer tower has not windows on either side... Another back and forth.. the caller then yelled at me to F off.. and hung up Haven't heard back from them..
Omg these are so funny that I wish some scammer would call me, 'cause I got some ideas! It reminded me of a sales call about 20 years ago. I was working hard for shitty money and life hadn't been easy for a while. Anyway, my phone rang and a very polite gentleman started selling me a series of fancy cookbooks. I let him talk and talk. Apparently you become a master chef with these magical books. 15 mins of sales pitch later he tells the price of the book series. It's worth my 3 months paycheck. That's when I lose it totally. I start to chuckle, giggle, howl and snort. I fall off the couch an am literally rolling on the floor chortling. This man - like I said he was vvveeerrryyy polite - is waiting and trying to say something calming. In the middle of my laughing fit I manage to say something like: "I'm just really happy I'm not so bad at cooking that I would need these books because then I'd be really screwed.".
I've never experienced a scam phone call so I am curious... How do you recognise when it's a scammer and when it's a legit call or so???
You hit that nail on the head...hard! Because that is exactly the crux of the matter!!! Knowing if it's a scam. It's so much worse since covid-19 hit. Basically, if you don't know the person and are not expecting a call back from a business or something... it's probably a scam. Places like the Social Security Office DO NOT CALL YOU. Especially not to threaten you into sending money. But many claim to be from there because people are afraid of losing their income and rush to comply. Better to let them leave a message if you don't recognize the number. Then look up and call the number listed in the phone book for the business they claim to be calling from instead of any number they give you. Every time I've done this, the business had not tried to contact me. It was scammers.
Load More Replies... I'm not someone who usually gets scam calls but I think my response would be either: 1) incoherent screaming into my phone, 2) listing off random things. "The heart of a fetus! Nokea! Tampons! A nuke!"
Recently, the scammers had left a few v-m messages saying that if I didn't respond in 2r hours, they would send the police to arrest me. Next time they called, I decided to answer. When they started in on their script, I excitedly asked if they were going to take me to prison. They hung up.
But reading these others, I feel inspired to try this one next, regardless of their purpose, I think I'll just go ahead and use my own script as follows: I keep 30 cows in my home and their farms are more than enough to keep my home warm. The heat from their farts even heats the garage and the 10 metre radius around my home. I mean, I have to shovel about 100 kilos of cow manure from my home every day, but I've started bagging it and selling it to neighbours who use it to fertilise their gardens. So everyone wins. Also, my cows like to sleep next to me so I've removed all the walls in my home so that I can sleep with them...and my 18 dogs and 46 cats and 12 bunnies and 68 chickens and 8 sheep and 3 goats and 2 horses. I mean, I pretty much spend my waking hours shovelling all their s**t, but it's worth it because I never have to pay to heat my home!
Load More Replies... Messing with scam callers are so darn fun, as long as you have a brain
