Answering unknown number calls on my cell phone like a receptionist really confuses scammers.
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Excellent!
The last time I had a 'your computer has a virus' call, it was quite easy to drop into 'Busy ops department':
scam: 'yr computer, etc'
JHR, tired: 'right. which one?'
S: 'its running windows'
JHR: 'do you have a service tag?'
S: ' ... '
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I sometimes answer pretending to speak french and saying a couple of phrases I learned at school 40 years ago.
@raymierussell @vees I live in Poland, and I have found just answering with "Hello, how may I help?" Cuts down on human scammers tremendously.
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@vees I never answer my phone with "Hello", but with reciting my phone number. How they respond to that is a good indication of whether they are a legitimate caller or not; the ones following a script tend to get confused. I then repeat my phone number. The more confused they get, the more likely I am to just keep repeating it.
With legitimate callers, reciting my phone number is merely a confirmation that they called the correct phone number (and helps me memorise it, too).
@kerravonsen @vees Try using weird intonation (but the same for the same digit) like a numbers station:
https://archive.org/details/ird059/tcp_d1_03_counting_control_irdial.mp3
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@vfrmedia @acm_redfox @vees
I don't see where this fact is preventing the approach from working?
Do you think the scanner will complain "this is a mobile number, you can't be a receptionist"?The scammers work with a script (and on a tight schedule) on the first level any significant deviation from the script will lead to them hanging up.
It's important to remember that it's quite likely that the people who call you are victims themself in some way. They might be tricked into believing they are doing a valid job, the job might be their only income, or they are even forced to do the job
@realn2s @acm_redfox @vees it may be different across countries, but from monitoring multiple such calls at work, its appears that the scammers who target UK know the difference between fixed and mobile numbers, also business and residential landlines, and target their pitches accordingly. In many cases the ones specifically targeting businesses have at least some basic info about the nature of the business.
That said, there are way fewer such calls than a few years ago, maybe the authorities are getting quicker at disconnecting the phone circuits they misuse..
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@cigitalgem @rasterweb @vees Il have to try that receptionist thing! My way of dealing with known scammers so far was to just leave my phone on mute and continue with my work. Most calls I receive don't connect the scammer until I press a key, so I'm certain it's a scam and every second they wait for an answer is a second they're not trying to scam someone else...
I've found answering the phone "ahoy" tends to end things fairly rapidly.
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@vees
I always answer with “please be advised this is a recorded line, state your full name” in my best Robo voice. After a 5 second pause, I repeat the statement. This usually gets me off their phone lists for a solid six months.On the off chance that it is someone I know with a new phone, they laugh and know that they’re speaking to me!
@grayladywriter @vees "This call is being recorded for quality and training purposes."
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Answering unknown number calls on my cell phone like a receptionist really confuses scammers.
"Good afternoon, thanks for calling!"
"Hello."
"Hi, who's calling please?"
"This is Experian Security Services calling to discuss an urgent issue with your account."
"Who are you trying to reach?"
"I am looking to talk to the owner of this phone number."
"I'm sorry, I'll need a name to help you."
30 seconds of silence.
Call hangs up.
@vees I don’t do that because it confirms the phone number is valid for them to clone etc. if I don’t have the phone number come up with a name or organisation from my contacts, I don’t answer, I just let it play the ringtone I have.
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@kerravonsen @vees Try using weird intonation (but the same for the same digit) like a numbers station:
https://archive.org/details/ird059/tcp_d1_03_counting_control_irdial.mp3
@mbirth @kerravonsen @vees use that intonation to sound out your phone number, but make one of the numbers wrong.
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@vees “setec astronomy”
@glasspusher @vees too many secrets
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Answering unknown number calls on my cell phone like a receptionist really confuses scammers.
"Good afternoon, thanks for calling!"
"Hello."
"Hi, who's calling please?"
"This is Experian Security Services calling to discuss an urgent issue with your account."
"Who are you trying to reach?"
"I am looking to talk to the owner of this phone number."
"I'm sorry, I'll need a name to help you."
30 seconds of silence.
Call hangs up.
@vees "Welcome, caller number five! Please tell the listeners the difficulties YOU have with keeping chlamydia a secret!"
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Answering unknown number calls on my cell phone like a receptionist really confuses scammers.
"Good afternoon, thanks for calling!"
"Hello."
"Hi, who's calling please?"
"This is Experian Security Services calling to discuss an urgent issue with your account."
"Who are you trying to reach?"
"I am looking to talk to the owner of this phone number."
"I'm sorry, I'll need a name to help you."
30 seconds of silence.
Call hangs up.
@vees nice, I gotta try that too.
Currently answering unknown numbers with, "Human, or robot?"
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@vees nice, I gotta try that too.
Currently answering unknown numbers with, "Human, or robot?"
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Answering unknown number calls on my cell phone like a receptionist really confuses scammers.
"Good afternoon, thanks for calling!"
"Hello."
"Hi, who's calling please?"
"This is Experian Security Services calling to discuss an urgent issue with your account."
"Who are you trying to reach?"
"I am looking to talk to the owner of this phone number."
"I'm sorry, I'll need a name to help you."
30 seconds of silence.
Call hangs up.
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Answering unknown number calls on my cell phone like a receptionist really confuses scammers.
"Good afternoon, thanks for calling!"
"Hello."
"Hi, who's calling please?"
"This is Experian Security Services calling to discuss an urgent issue with your account."
"Who are you trying to reach?"
"I am looking to talk to the owner of this phone number."
"I'm sorry, I'll need a name to help you."
30 seconds of silence.
Call hangs up.
@vees some years ago when the calls from "jeff!" At "vindows tech support!" were abundant, these guys would call up:
"This is JEFF, from Vindows Tech Support! Your computa has a virus, sah!"
Jean used to defeat them with a two-word question:
"Which one?"
"Jeff" would splutter for a while, repeating "...but your computa has a virus!" until finally his head spun off and fell on the floor and rolled around like a christmas ornament.
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