Having fun with the scammers

I had similar fun the other day with a call from Victor from Sky service payments (never had Sky) He announced himself so I said who a couple of times. He was getting a bit frustrated repeating his name so I said oh Victor from the gardening club, no mam he says and repeats his into, how’s Mary I say, no mam, are her bunions any better. On we go for about 10 minutes then it was bye mam. Really enjoyed myself

Buttonjugs

I speak to them in German, it’s the only time I get to speak it and it’s fun. Amazing how persistent they are despite this though! Talking slowly because they think I’ll be able to understand them ??‍♀️

Brill

I have two friends who still insist on using my landline…..( where most scams come from)….I’ve told them call on my mobile so I can Finially ditch the bloody thing …. but they are hanging onto the past for dear life…… still line up at PO to pay rent and bills and such like. I never answer my landline if it’s not those two friends ….. I must tell them how much money they’re costing me!!!!

CALL GUARD . Used for 10+ years well worth the the extra money for handsets . If number not in your phone book called has to anouce, you then can take call, send to answer machine, or block there and then. When we first got them went from 10-15 cold calls daily to 3 a week . Have found any new cold callers hang up at having to identify themselves

I just say no thank you and hang up as soon as I realise it's a cold call. Since changing energy provider recently there's been an almost weekly call about fitting a smart meter which I don't intend to have.

I used to work in a call centre. We made calls on behalf of various organisations including police surveys for people who had been the victim of crime or a road traffic accident etc. These people had ticked a box to say they were happy to be contacted once their particular case had been dealt with. These calls were heartbreaking sometimes, but they definitely helped improve the way the police dealt with distressed members of the public.

Now to the calls that really worried me. We sometimes had to call on behalf of the local councils to get residents opinions on what was going on in the town. These surveys were actually used to form policy for the future. Younger folk took part mostly without a problem, but nine times out of ten the older people refused. I used to worry that they were missing out in having their say.

If I get a scammer I tend to ask them if their mother knows what they do for a living.

Rather than hanging up I didn’t even pick up in the first place. I’m registered with the TPS too but there are times when I’m bombarded. I see it’s an unknown number and ignore it. However one week the same number called five times in one day, seven the next so I too bought a nice loud football whistle and gave it a good blast down the phone. They haven’t called back!

My landline and mobile block unknown callers. If a call does get through and I don't recognise the number I just don't answer it. These scammers are so technically clever that I refuse to give them any entry to my world. The BBC programme on in the mornings should prove just how dangerous these people are.

If I’m not busy I sometimes string them along, saying that I have had an accident or that I am doing as instructed on my laptop.
When I eventually get bored I say something like “I think you must have a wrong number, this is a police station “. They can’t hang up quickly enough!

I speak to them in German, it’s the only time I get to speak it and it’s fun. Amazing how persistent they are despite this though! Talking slowly because they think I’ll be able to understand them ??‍♀️

What was it I said a few days ago?

Just what they said on the program this morning...

I give up.

I have been watching Rav Wilding's programme, where he has said that these scammers are often run in the same way as bona fide call centres and collect data on callers. People who decline to be drawn into dialogue with them are classified as DNC (do not call) in future so that particular scammer will not phone you again.
Funnily enough yesterday while watching this I got such a call! I just said hello and waited to see what else the caller would say, all I got was 'can you hear me' (sometimes the conversation will give you more info as to whether it is a genuine caller (eg the GP, etc). I think they could probably hear the programme about scammers, as I was sitting close to the TV and they quickly hung up! I then checked the number on Google, and it had been reported as an HMRC scammer.

I watched that programme about scammers this morning , the advice is not to engage with them , fun or not , but to hang up on them .

Scammers are scum. Don't waste any sympathy on them.

Elizabeth27

Why can’t you just say no thank you and hang up. these people are on minimum wage in a call centre and have to put up with constant abuse and time wasters. Keeping them on the line will not stop cold callers but will stop them reaching their targets and mean even less pay. I am sure most of them do not work there by choice.

These people are thieves, preying on the vulnerable and bullying them into parting with their money and/or identity.

Just hang up.

Scammers or cold callers, I treat the same. “No thank you”, put the phone down and immediately block the number. Satisfaction.

I don't get many calls but if I do I just hang up or if they start rattling on straight away they get a short sharp reply of "go away" and I slam the phone down. A friend of mine always engages with them and more often than not if I am round her house her phone will ring and yet again another scammer is at the end of the line.

Brilliant!!! I must tell the next to ring about my (fictional) constipation!

I once ran a call centre. Completely above board, no outward calling, only incoming calls, tech support.

One of the agents was European and had a bit of a foreign accent. The abuse she got was terrible. I mean really terrible, swearing like you wouldn't believe. Frequently told they only wanted to speak to a British person, to p* off back where she came from. We told her to tell them she wasn't going to take it and to put the phone down.

Maybe that makes me nicer to people. Maybe it makes me a snowflake, who knows.

We just don't answer the phone to numbers we don't know. My brother who is a friendly soul will occasionally ask them what the weather is like where they are, which usually gets rid of them.

Thanks Franbern

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuQzNjDMsWM

This is satire.

See if you can spot the difference between this and Wilding's approach. (Hint - there is none)

on at 10am today. Bbc1 watch Scam Interceptors.......Rav wilding and team intercept scam callers.

Volver, just coming on here to say THANK YOU. So good to know that some people are nice people.

Obviously, I detest these scammers phone calls, BUT I really do not understand why people think it is, somehow, clever, to try to find ways of (what they think) is 'playing with them. An, as for blowing a whistle down the 'phone - words escape me as this could damage a persons hearing. And, if anyone is going to try to come back to tell me that these people 'deserve that' - please do not bother!!!

I usually let most landline calls go via answerphone. If, inadvertently, I answer one, and it is a scam, I just disconnect that call immediately.

I have far better things to do with my time, than being nasty to a stranger.

I give them a bit of sport and ask them questions they aren't prepared for. Play them at their game And they go away. Just block the number after.

And he didn't mind tying up his own line for an hour and 35 minutes?

Bet that showed them...