Scam phonecalls and keeping them on the hook
Scam phonecalls and keeping them on the hook
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fiatpower

Original Poster:

3,387 posts

187 months

Thursday 5th June
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In the last year I seem to be getting lots of scam phonecalls, some from the UK and others which say UK on the calling screen but are clearly in India or somewhere similar. At first I just hung up straight away but recently when time allows and I haven't got anything else to do I have been seeing how long I can keep them on the phone for hopefully avoiding them actually scamming someone. Does anyone else partake in this sport?

My personal favourite was a scam alleging to be O2 offering me a dirt cheap contract with a new iPhone. I managed to keep them on the hook for 45 minutes. Told them I wanted a Nokia 3310 as it was better than an iPhone, told them my name was Mr Green Grocer (I was sat next to an M&S bag), when asked for my postcode just started saying random numbers and letters until they said that's not a postcode to which my reply was you're right it's my passport number. Eventually the guy must have called someone over to help as I spelt out "I am a **** " (rude word redacted) as the first line of my address and he just exploded in rage before putting the phone down.

A more recent one was someone trying to sell me life insurance. Ended up telling her my current insurance was 10p a year and that I needed special cover for up to 150 years old as I was a vampire giving Dracula's details. Even then she didn't realise and kept saying I must be incorrect as no one insures that long, completely missing the vampire part. Eventually she passed me onto someone else who got it very quickly and then ended by swearing lots at me.



Mr Roper

13,640 posts

210 months

Thursday 5th June
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fiatpower said:
Does anyone else partake in this sport?
No.

Blib

46,132 posts

213 months

Thursday 5th June
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I have a whistle handy by the landline phone. Only the local doctor's surgery has that number. Everyone else are scammers.


Condi

18,919 posts

187 months

Thursday 5th June
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1) Life is too short for that.

2) If you answer they know it's a real number, and will call more often. If you decline the call or it goes to voicemail they rarely try again and after a while the calls stop.

tribalsurfer

1,206 posts

135 months

Thursday 5th June
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The one I like is when I get a call saying ".... we believe you were involved in a vehicle accident" My response is always "Oh my god, am i ok ?"

I like the OP if have the time play a little. My theory is the more i occupy them the less time they have scamming other more naive people.

jfdi

1,206 posts

191 months

Thursday 5th June
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When the caller says "I'm calling about your recent accident" a colleague used to reply "oh, it wasn't accident. I meant to kill him"
Usually stops the caller in their tracks.

edthefed

797 posts

83 months

Thursday 5th June
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"Have you been involved in an accident recently that was not your fault" ?

3 answers

1) yes it was in a Paris i was driving a little Yellow Fiat,

or

2) ive had lots of accidents that were not my fault. Which one are we talking about

or

3) yes i was drunk, out of my head on Coke and doing 120mph when i crashed in a police chase it was the cops fault not mine

Tends to shut them up

fiatpower

Original Poster:

3,387 posts

187 months

Thursday 5th June
quotequote all
Condi said:
1) Life is too short for that.

2) If you answer they know it's a real number, and will call more often. If you decline the call or it goes to voicemail they rarely try again and after a while the calls stop.
1) I only do it if they call and i'm doing literally nothing else. Wouldn't do it over anything else.

2) I disagree. The first number called me upwards of 10 times in a week until I answered it, messed them around a lot and then have never been called again so have presumably been blacklisted.

zalrak

567 posts

101 months

Thursday 5th June
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There was an article on Radio 4 about scammers making calls just so that they can record your voice and use AI to replicate it in future scams.

Apparently some banks, etc, still use voice recognition to check identities and this is one of the routes they are using. No doubt the scammers will find other ways to use this to their advantage in the future.

Hanging on the line and dragging out a call just to annoy the scammer may not be a great idea.

fiatpower

Original Poster:

3,387 posts

187 months

Thursday 5th June
quotequote all
zalrak said:
There was an article on Radio 4 about scammers making calls just so that they can record your voice and use AI to replicate it in future scams.

Apparently some banks, etc, still use voice recognition to check identities and this is one of the routes they are using. No doubt the scammers will find other ways to use this to their advantage in the future.

Hanging on the line and dragging out a call just to annoy the scammer may not be a great idea.
Ahh, that may put an end to that one then! Just googled and seems a fairly new thing.

Countdown

44,714 posts

212 months

Thursday 5th June
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fiatpower said:
Does anyone else partake in this sport?
I used to, partly because I get bored and partly because the more time they spend on the line with me the less time they have to actually scam somebody.

However I've not had any for a while possibly because they deleted my number from whatever database they use. The challenge for me wa strying to keep them hooked while the conversation slowly edged from overt friendliness to borderline pervert.

"You sound lovely"
"How's the weather over there?"
"It's really hot here....I'm just in tshirt and shorts. What are you wearing?"
"I'm sweating like a pig in a butchers - i think I'll take off my underpants, give the lads some room!"
"ahhh that's better......hello? hello?"

TUS373

4,946 posts

297 months

Thursday 5th June
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Guilty!

I pass them to my teenage son who delights in baiting scammers and is fantastically good at it too. His record was 30 minutes, most of which we videod. Caller was from India claiming to be from EE - new phone upgrade etc.

My son convinced the scammer to send a SIM card to 10 Downing Street, London. When asked for previous address (saying he had only been at #10 for a short while), he gave the address for the White House, Washington DC. The scammer did not twig even in the end - it was the howls of laughter at our end that made him hang up.

I should mention, my son is not Keir Starmer, and I am not a tool maker.

bloomen

8,503 posts

175 months

Thursday 5th June
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zalrak said:
There was an article on Radio 4 about scammers making calls just so that they can record your voice and use AI to replicate it in future scams.
Interesting.

I rarely answer the phone to people I know. No one or nothing else stands a hope in hell of getting in touch.

If it's that important then it's on them to find out a way to make themselves known. Until then, I'm closed for business.

As Peter Cook once said, strangers rarely write to you with good news. Same goes for most other forms of communication.

paul.deitch

2,210 posts

273 months

Thursday 5th June
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Had a few here in Germany from "the Brussels' prosecutor" telling me that "my daughter", I don't have one, had run over and killed a child. For 30k Euros they would release her on bail.
I've had a lot of fun with them until they become irate and threaten me in English, German and Turkish. We know where you live.... "Good, I say, my Rhodesian Ridgebacks look forward to welcoming you here".
I mentioned these calls to a friend who was then head of CID in our city and she asked me if I would help them with an awareness campaign.
I am now on posters and video shown on street corners, buses etc - haha. My friends take the p out of me regularly. I've been asked a few times if I have a double who is an actor.

Here is a sample, you can laugh about me here! smile
https://paderborn.polizei.nrw/sites/default/files/...
https://paderborn.polizei.nrw/medien/kampagne-tele...

Oh yeah and when friends tell me that they've seen my video on the buses I tell that I get 10 Euros every time it's shown. I lie!



dandarez

13,672 posts

299 months

Thursday 5th June
quotequote all
Countdown said:
fiatpower said:
Does anyone else partake in this sport?
I used to, partly because I get bored and partly because the more time they spend on the line with me the less time they have to actually scam somebody.

However I've not had any for a while possibly because they deleted my number from whatever database they use. The challenge for me wa strying to keep them hooked while the conversation slowly edged from overt friendliness to borderline pervert.

"You sound lovely"
"How's the weather over there?"
"It's really hot here....I'm just in tshirt and shorts. What are you wearing?"
"I'm sweating like a pig in a butchers - i think I'll take off my underpants, give the lads some room!"
"ahhh that's better......hello? hello?"
Ha ha ha. Very good!

I usually just tell them to f off! But like you not had many of late on home phone, used to have loads (won't now as we've just got rid of it).
For some reason I rarely get any on my mobile.
HOWEVER... when we did get them, if I had time on my hands, yes, I'd keep 'em talking. It can be hilarious
Best one was probably 15 yrs ago working from home. I'd been suffering prostate problems and just returned from having a scan at hospital to give all clear.
'Hello, is that Dan *****' says this woman with tones of a voice from India or thereabouts.
She was calling from some health company flogging a concoction of pomegranate juice but emphasised that they used only the outer 'skins', proven to cure 'every' prostate problem.
Really?

Hang on a mo, I'm thinking how the hell did you get my number?
Is the NHS flogging private personal tel no.'s? Nobody else knew apart from my wife.
So I let her continue.
'Yeah, that sounds incredible', I said, 'is it available in shops?'
Oh noo, ve sell direct only.'
On and on she went...
I looked at the hall clock, blimey it was nearing 15 mins since I picked up the phone!

Then the crunch... 98 quid ... but post free!
'I just need your credit card details sir...'
'Oh sorry, I don't have a credit card.'
'You have credit card, everyone has credit card!'
'Not this guy love.'
She went ballistic!
'You mus go to bank open credit card account, I will ring in 2 days.'
'I have cash, can post cash in brown envelope if you like?' whilst giggling.
She then slammed the phone down.

My other fave was this.
(I'd always start with 'Who's calling please?' to keep things pleasant. Never know, even if unknown tel no., it may not be a scammer!)
Rarely do they say who they are, if they're dumb enough to say who they are, you realise quick enough that it's a scammer, just hang up)
'Hello, is that Dan *****' at (giving my correct address).'
I just say 'I'm sorry, you must have the wrong number, this is Mr Bill Green, and this is not (my real address) this is No. 11 Rack and Ruin Lane.
'Oh, so sorry to have bothered you.'
hehe

some bloke

1,369 posts

83 months

Thursday 5th June
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jimmytheone

1,729 posts

234 months

Thursday 5th June
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Another classic, Mr Ben Chode
!! Contains coarse language !!



lauda

3,943 posts

223 months

Thursday 5th June
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Not a call, but I received a text message from an unknown number yesterday which read 'Text here, phone broke dad'.

We had my dad's funeral last Tuesday.

I replied 'Wow Dad, that's amazing. I thought you were dead.'

They haven't replied.

Mr Penguin

3,456 posts

55 months

Thursday 5th June
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Yes, I once said my name was Hubert Hubert and after five minutes of telling him that both my first and last names were Hubert he cottoned on, called me a mother fker and told me to stop wasting his time.

My record is well over an hour at which point I had to give up to actually get on with my day.

TwigtheWonderkid

46,404 posts

166 months

Thursday 5th June
quotequote all
edthefed said:
"Have you been involved in an accident recently that was not your fault" ?

3 answers

1) yes it was in a Paris i was driving a little Yellow Fiat,
It was a white Uno.