Stupid Scammers

GreatDanish

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2005
6,079
0
0
TN
I have gotten about 10-15 calls per day for the last two weeks from random numbers. I never answer them. They always come from different numbers so I cannot block them. I have googled some of them and all of them are scams, but not the same one. A few have left voice mails. Apparently I'm a finalist in some million dollar sweepstakes. I've also been pre-approved on a $10,000 loan (which, according to one site, I would have to give them my bank account number for the loan to go through).

They all started at the same time - not sure how my number reached them in the first place.

Any creative ideas as to how to get rid of them?
 

jthomas666

Hall of Fame
Aug 14, 2002
22,587
9,640
287
60
Birmingham & Warner Robins
My favorite are the guys who call telling me that my computer has a virus and that they can help me get rid of it.

Answer. Listen to the pitch, act like an easy mark, all the way up until they ask for the credit card. Basically try to waste as much of their time as possible.

Then at the last minute, tell them that you'll have to pass, and when they ask why, tell them that it's because you're not as stupid as they think you are. Feel free to use colorful language, and then hang up.

I've got a blacklist app for my phone that I use to block each number as it calls; sometimes they do call from the same number.
 

ValuJet

Moderator
Sep 28, 2000
22,626
19
0
Tell them you're a Nigerian prince and you have an even better offer for them.
 

GreatDanish

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2005
6,079
0
0
TN
My favorite are the guys who call telling me that my computer has a virus and that they can help me get rid of it.

Answer. Listen to the pitch, act like an easy mark, all the way up until they ask for the credit card. Basically try to waste as much of their time as possible.

Then at the last minute, tell them that you'll have to pass, and when they ask why, tell them that it's because you're not as stupid as they think you are. Feel free to use colorful language, and then hang up.

I've got a blacklist app for my phone that I use to block each number as it calls; sometimes they do call from the same number.
I've thought about engaging them, but I don't know anything about them. Do I want to get entangled with them?
 

92tide

TideFans Legend
May 9, 2000
58,146
44,863
287
54
East Point, Ga, USA
My favorite are the guys who call telling me that my computer has a virus and that they can help me get rid of it.

Answer. Listen to the pitch, act like an easy mark, all the way up until they ask for the credit card. Basically try to waste as much of their time as possible.

Then at the last minute, tell them that you'll have to pass, and when they ask why, tell them that it's because you're not as stupid as they think you are. Feel free to use colorful language, and then hang up.

I've got a blacklist app for my phone that I use to block each number as it calls; sometimes they do call from the same number.
or you could read them the number from your kroger plus card, then argue with them that its a valid card
 

seebell

Hall of Fame
Mar 12, 2012
11,919
5,105
187
Gurley, Al
I've thought about engaging them, but I don't know anything about them. Do I want to get entangled with them?
No you don't. Once they know there is a real live person on the other end of the line the calls will increase. Don't know what you can do. I hate it.
 

Bamaro

TideFans Legend
Oct 19, 2001
26,555
10,616
287
Jacksonville, Md USA
My favorite are the guys who call telling me that my computer has a virus and that they can help me get rid of it.

Answer. Listen to the pitch, act like an easy mark, all the way up until they ask for the credit card. Basically try to waste as much of their time as possible.

Then at the last minute, tell them that you'll have to pass, and when they ask why, tell them that it's because you're not as stupid as they think you are. Feel free to use colorful language, and then hang up.

I've got a blacklist app for my phone that I use to block each number as it calls; sometimes they do call from the same number.
Or ask them to hold for a second, set the phone down, come back in a few minutes and hang it up. They will be gone but you will have wasted even more of their time while they waited for you.
 

Jessica4Bama

Hall of Fame
Nov 7, 2009
7,307
12
57
Alabama
We got one today calling about our printer. My dad told them we didn't have a printer that he didn't know where they got that information. That phone call didn't last long. Haha.
 

RammerJammer14

Hall of Fame
Aug 18, 2007
14,511
6,521
187
UA
I have gotten about 10-15 calls per day for the last two weeks from random numbers. I never answer them. They always come from different numbers so I cannot block them. I have googled some of them and all of them are scams, but not the same one. A few have left voice mails. Apparently I'm a finalist in some million dollar sweepstakes. I've also been pre-approved on a $10,000 loan (which, according to one site, I would have to give them my bank account number for the loan to go through).

They all started at the same time - not sure how my number reached them in the first place.

Any creative ideas as to how to get rid of them?
I've had the same problem the last few weeks. I guess since pretty much everyone relies entirely on cell phones now, the scamming business on landlines has really gone downhill.


Heh. Literally just got a call.
 
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GreatDanish

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2005
6,079
0
0
TN
No you don't. Once they know there is a real live person on the other end of the line the calls will increase. Don't know what you can do. I hate it.
I do have voice mail. I can't shut that down because of business. But that has to let them know I'm real.
 

Bama Reb

Suspended
Nov 2, 2005
14,446
0
0
On the lake and in the woods, AL
My favorite are the guys who call telling me that my computer has a virus and that they can help me get rid of it.

Answer. Listen to the pitch, act like an easy mark, all the way up until they ask for the credit card. Basically try to waste as much of their time as possible.

Then at the last minute, tell them that you'll have to pass, and when they ask why, tell them that it's because you're not as stupid as they think you are. Feel free to use colorful language, and then hang up.

I've got a blacklist app for my phone that I use to block each number as it calls; sometimes they do call from the same number.
Yeah. When they tell me that my "Windows computer" has a problem, I ask them "Which One"? I tell them if they know it has a problem then they also must know what type it is, the OS I'm running in it and everything, so I keep asking them the details of it, all while not volunteering anything about it myself.

On some afternoons I can walk out my back door and listen to my neighbor cursing one of them out on his phone. Man, can he use some "colorful" language! :biggrin:
 

Gr8hope

All-American
Nov 10, 2010
3,408
1
60
My children used to have a lot of fun with these types of calls. They would tell them Dad was in the shower with Mom or that one or the other died yesterday. This always left the callers speechless and the kids laughing.
 

GreatDanish

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2005
6,079
0
0
TN
Here's a good post I read in a forum.
You can pretend you're an agent, fart loudly into the phone, cuss them out, flush toilets or whatever. But that will only amuse the "caller," if it's not just a recording. The object of those assinine calls is identify who's naive enough to actually surrender names, bank/credit info, SSNs (even just the last 4), addresses, etc. All pieces that can be used to assemble a fake identity based on tiny snippets of your personal data. Sadly, our aging parents are prime targets for stuff like this.

Another nice bit of info gets collected when you simply answer a call from an autodialer. You're confirming that it's a live number with a human at your end. Then your working phone number is added to a list of thousands and sold - to be further exploited by offshore (and domestic) operators who're completely immune to the impotent US Do-Not-Call registry.

**removed political rant**

If I don't know a caller, I don't answer.
 

ValuJet

Moderator
Sep 28, 2000
22,626
19
0
My children used to have a lot of fun with these types of calls. They would tell them Dad was in the shower with Mom or that one or the other died yesterday. This always left the callers speechless and the kids laughing.
Back before you could put your number on the Do Not Call Registry, I'd tell them that now is not a good time, that my grandmother just passed away and I was trying to make funeral arrangements.
 

GreatDanish

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2005
6,079
0
0
TN
Google "Tom Mabe Murder Scene" for a really great response to a telemarketer. Unfortunately, it's got a few choice words so I can't link it.
 

Catfish

Hall of Fame
Oct 11, 2005
6,566
2
45
60
Birmingham
No you don't. Once they know there is a real live person on the other end of the line the calls will increase. Don't know what you can do. I hate it.
Absolutely right. They're more likely than not to hook your number up with every scam operation known to man as revenge. As satisfying as it might be to make fools of them, the best ting to do is to say "no, thank you" and tell them to remove you from their list.
 

Catfish

Hall of Fame
Oct 11, 2005
6,566
2
45
60
Birmingham
You can pretend you're an agent, fart loudly into the phone, cuss them out, flush toilets or whatever. But that will only amuse the "caller," if it's not just a recording. The object of those assinine calls is identify who's naive enough to actually surrender names, bank/credit info, SSNs (even just the last 4), addresses, etc.
Once, about twenty years ago, a guy called to offer me a credit card and aboslutely wouldn't take no for an answer. Finally I agreed and gave him a fake name and address. When he asked for my social security number, I told him, "6". After a few seconds, he said "6 what?" I said, "Just 6. I'm old." He hung up on me. Jerk.
 

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