Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When I have some free time and I get one of these.
I listen, listen, listen
I ask questions, listen
Ask who to make the check out to
Ask for advantages of their product/service.
then excuse myself, "I will be right back"
and leave phone off hook and watch TV
They eventually hang up.
Keep one guy on the line for 25 min, then said "Sorry, I have another call" and hung up.
If you make them waste their time, they will stop wasting yours.
The last time "John" (very heavy Indian accent) called I asked him to hold a moment.
He then asked for me and I said that Mr. ___________ was unable to come to the phone as he was surrounded by crime scene tape. I then asked "John" what his relationship to ____________ was and that I would like to talk to him face to face.
There was no response and dead air.
I give out my landline # as friends call me on my cell. I then let it ring & if it goes to vm I review & return call if it's someone I know, usually my lawyer.
I've been getting calls from Nikki Johnson daily for the past week, sometimes twice a day. Nikki is from the IRS, and each time she gives me a phone number it's different... I swear, she once gave me my old phone number that's 30 years old.
The worst part -- she's completely a computer generated voice... and it's done badly, so it took me a few times to understand it -- how does a computer generate run on words? She talked like a 20 year old (who I frequently have to tell -- slow down, I can't hear that fast!)
What I don't get is how ANYONE getting a call done this badly even thinks this is real and reacts....I did look it up on the internet and people were reporting that within seconds the guy who answers is screaming and cussing....and the IRS isn't going to act like that -- although I bet they wish they could!
I'm not saying I can't be fooled, I'm just having a hard time believing this particular scam works
I've been getting calls from Nikki Johnson daily for the past week, sometimes twice a day. Nikki is from the IRS, and each time she gives me a phone number it's different... I swear, she once gave me my old phone number that's 30 years old.
The worst part -- she's completely a computer generated voice... and it's done badly, so it took me a few times to understand it -- how does a computer generate run on words? She talked like a 20 year old (who I frequently have to tell -- slow down, I can't hear that fast!)
What I don't get is how ANYONE getting a call done this badly even thinks this is real and reacts....I did look it up on the internet and people were reporting that within seconds the guy who answers is screaming and cussing....and the IRS isn't going to act like that -- although I bet they wish they could!
I'm not saying I can't be fooled, I'm just having a hard time believing this particular scam works
I would say yes, it's a scam. Not only the run on words, but also the accent. I have to be careful though. One customer support from Amazon had an accent & if I wouldn't have answered, I wouldn't have gotten a refund on my order that was incorrect.
Simple solution -- an answering machine on my landline. If I don't recognize the number, I let the message play. I don't get many spam calls on the cell, but I also don't pick them up if I don't recognize the number.
I've found that, for anything important, legitimate callers leave a message.
Exactly what I do. I let the machine pick it up and if it's someone I know, I'll pick up when they start leaving a message on the machine.
It may be a very 1990 solution but it still works!
I don't answer the phone unless I recognize the number.
... This has to be the easiest way to handle these types of calls ... DW has had the Home phone number for years, from the time when she & her ex- lived in the house. She never saw any reason to change it. Consequently, we get all sorts of calls - and almost every one of them is a "spoofed" call.
But, like 'PhxBarb', if we don't recognize the incoming number, neither of us will pick up the call - unless we don't have our glasses on and can't clearly see the number or description.
She'll (DW) sometimes pick it up without her glasses on; I always let it roll-over to voice-mail. If there's a message, then we'll consider its importance. "Spoofers" usually don't leave a message - at least that's been our experience.
I have been telling everybody since I found out about it because it works great for me (and my parents) on FIOS. I get no less than 5 unsolicited calls a day and if you apply this service (free) to your line, it stops after 1 ring. All calls that are not on a blacklist will get through, which includes your local schools, doctors, etc. in case you're wondering about missing important calls. The only time it hasn't worked so far is some IRS scam which calls from a number longer than 10 digits. I even got a call today from my own number and that was correctly blocked, probably a result of someone spoofing it to avoid filters. DENIED.
Anyway, it's easy to set up and you can log on and tell them about numbers that still get through (which hasn't been too many in the last year or so).
I once had someone call and I told them "This sounds like a scam" but I did not hang up.
They kept on talking and I repeated "This sounds like a scam" but I did not hang up.
They kept on talking and I repeated "This sounds like a scam" but I did not hang up.
They kept on talking and I repeated "This sounds like a scam" but I did not hang up.
The guy finally said "Yes, this is a scam" and he hung up on me. I laughed and laughed.
I once had someone call and I told them "This sounds like a scam" but I did not hang up.
They kept on talking and I repeated "This sounds like a scam" but I did not hang up.
They kept on talking and I repeated "This sounds like a scam" but I did not hang up.
They kept on talking and I repeated "This sounds like a scam" but I did not hang up.
The guy finally said "Yes, this is a scam" and he hung up on me. I laughed and laughed.
Lol, you made me smile. Reminds me of a call I got years ago. Can't remember now what company they said they were from, but they wanted me to upgrade & they needed my social security number. I told him to mail me the info & I would review it. He insisted it had to be done over the phone. I insisted I needed to review it. He finally hung up, exasperated that I wouldn't cooperate. I had a good time 'spoofing' him.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've got to type that up & post it by my phone
