Nuisance Cold Calls

[Squawk]

Originally Posted by Carruthers

Just after 0800, and half way through my second mug of tea, the phone rang.
Calls at that time tend to be from a neighbour in need of some sort of help.
Today, however, the caller was supposedly from my ISP.
I am slow to anger, but I confess that a certain immoderacy of language ensued.
Does this make me a bad person?

[NSFW] you'd have to go some to beat this guy.

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by Squawk

[NSFW] you'd have to go some to beat this guy.

If a Nobel prize was awarded for high dudgeon he'd win hands down!

Seriously though, although I can understand the chap's frustration, and heaven knows what other pressures he might have been under, I do worry about the anger that lurks just beneath the surface of so many people.

[tw]

They don't make money if you play dumb. My record was to keep one on the line for 40 minutes. It is quite entertaining to say to "Microsoft Support" that the computer says "Command not Valid". They try and try to get one to load their (actually a third party) software.

Lately I have noticed profanity from many of these scammer. But the same boiler rooms keep calling back.

Apparently they have no way of telling the computer that this number is not a useful target. So the computer keeps calling the same numbers (maybe once every three or four weeks). And the same dumb scammers keep trying to push the same low interest rates.

Just a few simple rules. The know who you are, what your address is, and what your phone number is. They do not know other facts (ie account numbers, credit card providers, etc). So never give that information. Play them forever with questions like which one are you calling about. Play them for the fools that they are. Make them get angry. Make them so emotional that they will not be on their game - and not easily scam others. Manipulate and play on their frustrations. It is both fun and entertaining.