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Jan. 8th, 2013
I love answering my phone !!!
Jan. 8th, 2013 10:29 amIt is a well known fact that I love spam, especially bank scam spam. I have a new appreciation for phone scams now too. I think I had the best one yesterday.
A number I didn't know came up on my phone. It was a local number, so it could have been one of the kids calling from wherever so I answered it.
I got this fast talking guy from some "travel agency" who told me that I had accumulated a lot of "travel miles". There must be a chip in my car ...
I let him spew for a moment and then asked him a simple question ... "What is my name?" He stopped for a moment so I asked him again "What is my name?"
He hung up on me, I don't think he loves me anymore.
Remind me later to tell you about "Steve".
A number I didn't know came up on my phone. It was a local number, so it could have been one of the kids calling from wherever so I answered it.
I got this fast talking guy from some "travel agency" who told me that I had accumulated a lot of "travel miles". There must be a chip in my car ...
I let him spew for a moment and then asked him a simple question ... "What is my name?" He stopped for a moment so I asked him again "What is my name?"
He hung up on me, I don't think he loves me anymore.
Remind me later to tell you about "Steve".
More scam calls
Jan. 8th, 2013 02:04 pmThis, according to the ID, from Bryan Russell in Miami. The person on the phone has the disconnect that sounds like they are from the other side of the world.
He says that my boss has called and wants to cancel our Online Yellow Pages listing and he needs to give me the confirmation number.
How this scam works, they give the person on the phone the confirmation number and then they use that and bill you 500 bucks. Looking at others online who have dealt with this group, if you refuse they threaten you with a 1200 dollar charge.
I messed with this one for awhile, and it ended up with him repeating everything I said. Kinda sad really, I expect better from such scammers.
Next time I think I may go completely psychotic on them. Tell them that the last time I got a call from this number, I woke up the next morning in a bathtub full of ice and my spleen was missing. Then ask the guy over and over what he has done with my spleen.
He says that my boss has called and wants to cancel our Online Yellow Pages listing and he needs to give me the confirmation number.
How this scam works, they give the person on the phone the confirmation number and then they use that and bill you 500 bucks. Looking at others online who have dealt with this group, if you refuse they threaten you with a 1200 dollar charge.
I messed with this one for awhile, and it ended up with him repeating everything I said. Kinda sad really, I expect better from such scammers.
Next time I think I may go completely psychotic on them. Tell them that the last time I got a call from this number, I woke up the next morning in a bathtub full of ice and my spleen was missing. Then ask the guy over and over what he has done with my spleen.
My altered ego ...
Jan. 8th, 2013 05:02 pmWe don't get these calls anymore, but we used to get calls from a company who wanted to give us "a pre-approved $10,000 limit small business credit card". It's a phishing scam, a pretty typical one.
I found out on the first call that the person on the other end didn't know the number they had called. This means free fun. (also, I tried to get off their list on that first call, they kept calling, more free fun).
The auto dialer calls, you have the choice to talk to an operator or opt out. Since the opt out didn't do anything the second or so time I pressed 0.
The person on the other end would talk real fast and ended up asking my name.
"My name is Steve"
The voice is important. I based Steve's on a friend who used to live in Ames. He was from New Orleans and spoke very slowly. I slowed it down even more. To the point where it would take me a very, very long time to finish a sentence.
The rest of the conversation would go like this.
POTOE - "What is your last name Steve?"
Steve - "I don't think I have one of those?"
If they didn't hang up then, I knew that Steve got to talk to them for awhile.
What I would work towards was the final bit. I would answer the questions in as slow and vague a way as possible.
What I was working towards was my chance to say "I have to go, my mother is back and she locked me in the basement almost a week the last time I answered the phone."
I found out on the first call that the person on the other end didn't know the number they had called. This means free fun. (also, I tried to get off their list on that first call, they kept calling, more free fun).
The auto dialer calls, you have the choice to talk to an operator or opt out. Since the opt out didn't do anything the second or so time I pressed 0.
The person on the other end would talk real fast and ended up asking my name.
"My name is Steve"
The voice is important. I based Steve's on a friend who used to live in Ames. He was from New Orleans and spoke very slowly. I slowed it down even more. To the point where it would take me a very, very long time to finish a sentence.
The rest of the conversation would go like this.
POTOE - "What is your last name Steve?"
Steve - "I don't think I have one of those?"
If they didn't hang up then, I knew that Steve got to talk to them for awhile.
What I would work towards was the final bit. I would answer the questions in as slow and vague a way as possible.
What I was working towards was my chance to say "I have to go, my mother is back and she locked me in the basement almost a week the last time I answered the phone."