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Here's what I did to stop various scammers calling, I talked to them endlessly. They seem to almost never hang up, they'll just keep going and going. So I was b
by new299 11y ago
Here's what I did to stop various scammers calling, I talked to them endlessly. They seem to almost never hang up, they'll just keep going and going. So I was bored one day and decided to see how the scam played out:
http://41j.com/blog/2015/08/phonecall-from-a-scammer/ http://41j.com/blog/2015/08/phonecall-from-a-scammer/
They did call again, I picked them up on the fact that it was a scam and asked them how they justify their actions to themselves and ask questions about how the scam works. I'll see how it goes but I seem to have got myself on some kind of blacklist as nobody has called in a month (used to get some kind of scam call at least one a week). It's unfortunate that wasting their time is the most effective defense I can think of.
- andyjohnson0 11y agoI once kept a "Microsoft tech support" scammer [1] on the phone for over 30 minutes while I pretended to download and install some bit of malware he was trying to foist on me. When he finally realised what I was doing, I owned-up and politely asked why he was trying to rob me. He gave a loud scream of what sounded like pure frustration and hung up. I was laughing so hard I almost passed-out. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_support_scam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_support_scam
- vijayr 11y agohaha, one of my colleagues used to do it. somehow his phone number ended up on these lists and he used to get 2-3 calls a month, at work. Everytime he got a call he would ask us to be quiet (we have an open office) and then the fun would start - this colleague was so good in playing dumb, it was super entertaining. One day he got tired and asked the scammer if he would like to learn programming and that he was willing to teach if he wanted to learn. Nothing much came out of it but the calls stopped after that. Fun times.
- jmcqk6 11y agoI was under the impression that many times, the "scammer" is not even aware that they are in a scam. They're a contractor following a script. But I just did a search and I can't find the article (maybe from wired) where they talked about that.
- andyjohnson0 11y agoThis one? http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-04/11/malwarebytes http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-04/11/malwarebytes
- kelvin0 11y agoYeah, also got a call from one of these guys telling me me Windows PC was infected. I asked him if I could have his coordinates so I could call the police and confirm if this was a scam or not (obviously I knew this was a scam). So the guy at the other end of the phone tells me: "No problem, I can connect you to the police right now.." and proceeds to pause a bit and starts "Yes, Police chief here..." prentending to be the Police using the same voice and not even trying to disguise his voice ... good times!
- kalleboo 11y agoIf you want to talk to them endlessly without wasting your own time, forward them to Lenny (phone 347-514-7296) https://www.reddit.com/r/itslenny/ https://www.reddit.com/r/itslenny/
- kelvin0 11y agoWell this telemarketer is probably out forever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIVfrBFc5og https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIVfrBFc5og