What a waste of time.

[I @ M]

Like many people, I have received calls in the past from "technicians" offering to fix the "defect" in my computer online.

Today set the record of a call per day for the last 3 days, all are obviously VOIP phones that they are using, when asked where they were calling from, one claimed to be in Melbourne, one simply wouldn't answer and the third admitted to being in India ( coincidentally or not, they all had the same accent ) so if I get a similar call tomorrow I think I will sit down at the pc and pretend to type in the various commands they dictate to me just to see how much of their time I can waste before they figure out that I am having a lend of them. :D

I really can't understand how anyone can even consider the fact that the call / caller has anymore than 0.00001% chance of being anything other than a scammer.

[Kym]

You can play a game... talk to them, keep them on the line as long as possible.
Say ... someone's at the door or i have a call on the other phone etc.
Keep interested but don't give any personal details.
They work off KPIs based on calls per hour etc.
Basically you screw the sales performance of the company.

[William]

:th3: Mind games , Good one one Kym, Like your thinking , Hit E'm in the pocket :D:lol:

[ricktas]

I kept one on the phone the other day for 45 minutes. I said GREAT when he called, cause I had been intermittently getting the blue screen of death, well thats that I told him, and I was hoping he could help. I praised him up, saying how wonderful it was that he called. So we went through starting up the computer etc..chatted, then I said a few things like "sorry I don't understand, you want me to use internet explorer. I don't use that, how do I find it on my pc" etc. After nearly 40 minutes he was getting frustrated and said something about microsoft. To which I replied, Oh, you think I have a PC, I have an Apple Mac..and he hung up...hehehe

[colinbm]

:th3: Mind games , Good one one Kym, Like your thinking , Hit E'm in the pocket :D:lol:

I'd like to kick them between the two front pockets :eek:
Col

[I @ M]

I'd like to kick them between the two front pockets :eek:
Col

The last call I had was from a lady girl female, does that method of retribution still work? :rolleyes:

[Big Pix]

....... I just say someone is at the door and ask them to wait a moment and just put the phone down without hanging up...... I hang up the phone about 10 minutes later........

[Mark L]

....... I just say someone is at the door and ask them to wait a moment and just put the phone down without hanging up...... I hang up the phone about 10 minutes later........

I like that one, 'cause although I'd like to, I can't be bothered taking the time to string them along.

[colinbm]

The last call I had was from a lady girl female, does that method of retribution still work? :rolleyes:

Beauty is in the eyes of the belolder.
If you call beauty watching these people suffer, then go ahead :th3:

[bdparker]

My Mom had someone saying they were form Microsoft the other day, I my view, she did the right thing, and hung up straight away.

I would not trust anybody ring up un-requested to fix my computer. I couldn't think of anything worser than a 'Trojanen Virus', than allowing someone direct to access my computer indirectly.

[ameerat42]

...My Mom had someone saying they were form Microsoft the other day, I my view, she did the right thing, and hung up straight away...

Good move! And DIDN'T waste have her time wasted.

[Xenedis]

I really don't know why people waste time fooling around with pesty callers.

Personally, I'd rather spend my time on better ventures.

Just hang up at the first sign it's a tele-spammer.

[Sammi]

I have had a few of them recently, they even know my full name which makes me think that my telstra or internode details have been sold on, last one after telling me she was from microsoft and i had downloaded a virus hung up on me after i said that my fiance was a computer tech for the vic govt (which he is so i wasnt lying)

[fess67]

I usually get them telling me that I had qualified for an amazing holiday offer. I am excited and ask if I can take my girlfriend along. Of course you can they tell me.

Then I get very concerned and ask if they will tell my wife about my girlfriend, this goes through a few twists and turns before they hang up :) My wife is usually listening in the background and cracking up at some of the rubbish I am spouting off. :D

[ApolloLXII]

These guys are after your personal information so follow the GIGO principle, Garbage In, Garbage Out. Give them all the information they want but just make it all up, account numbers etc. If you really want to hook them, tell them you'll give them your passwords if they will help make things easier and just make them up as you go along. These bozos will sit there thinking it's their lucky day but won't get anywhere. "What's that you say? The password is incorrect? It can't be because it's the one I use every day to log on, like I am now. Are you sure you're a technician from Microsoft or just one in training? Let me speak to your supervisor as you're obviously some kind of idiot" Even better, just say "Computer? What computer? I've never owned one"

[Xenedis]

Why waste the caller's time (and yours)?

Just tell the caller you're not interested and hang up straight away!

[ApolloLXII]

Why waste the caller's time (and yours)?

Just tell the caller you're not interested and hang up straight away!

Because if enough of us do what I suggested, it might make such scam attempts a pointless exercise for those making such calls.

[Xenedis]

Because if enough of us do what I suggested, it might make such scam attempts a pointless exercise for those making such calls.

Unlikely.

[fess67]

Unlikely.

Hmmm Imagine this. If every call these people make costs them 20 minutes of time for no result how long can they financially exist? infrastructure, wages, on costs (super etc) phone charges......If you hang up they lose little. If you can afford your time to engage them for 20 mins and they get nothing..well, not long before they close.

I am here for photography not politics but my opinion is tie them up for as long as possible for no reward and they will cease to exist. IMHO.

[abitfishy]

Maybe I'm too soft but from my point of view a lot of the bottom dweller staff that make the calls aren't the ones who run the show. They are usually poor as hell and its a job in a country where jobs are hard to find. They are just trying to survive. Same reason there is a lot more street crime etc in developing countries than there is on the streets of Double Bay. Not saying its right, but put yourselves in their shoes for a minute - you'd probably be willing to make these calls too if you lived over there and the commissions you earn were going to feed your family and give them a decent future. Just hang up on them and get on with your day. :th3:

[Xenedis]

Hmmm Imagine this. If every call these people make costs them 20 minutes of time for no result how long can they financially exist? infrastructure, wages, on costs (super etc) phone charges......If you hang up they lose little. If you can afford your time to engage them for 20 mins and they get nothing..well, not long before they close.

It doesn't work that way in the real world.


I am here for photography not politics

Neither am I, but when I see people encouraging others to exhibit childish, ineffective and completely wrong behaviour, I will call it for the utter BS it is.


but my opinion is tie them up for as long as possible for no reward and they will cease to exist. IMHO.

If that had any semblance of truth, marketing call centres would already be extinct.

You're not the first person to think that annoying one caller (of many) for 20 minutes (and encouraging others to do the same) is the silver bullet that will surely put a stop to it.

And you won't be the last.

Has it occurred to you that some call centre operators might flag you as someone who wasted their time and call you more frequently?

Seriously, just say you're not interested, and hang up.

As awful a job as it is, those people are doing a job -- probably one they'd prefer not to be doing.

[Analog6]

Maybe I'm too soft but from my point of view a lot of the bottom dweller staff that make the calls aren't the ones who run the show. They are usually poor as hell and its a job in a country where jobs are hard to find. They are just trying to survive. Same reason there is a lot more street crime etc in developing countries than there is on the streets of Double Bay. Not saying its right, but put yourselves in their shoes for a minute - you'd probably be willing to make these calls too if you lived over there and the commissions you earn were going to feed your family and give them a decent future. Just hang up on them and get on with your day. :th3:

Exactly fishy, I feel very very sorry for them. These poor folk are probably lower caste Indians who live in slums and can get no other work. That said, I do let the answer machine filter mine, these callers always hang up.

[ricktas]

Neither am I, but when I see people encouraging others to exhibit childish, ineffective and completely wrong behaviour, I will call it for the utter BS it is.



My view is that when I am on the phone to one of them (whilst cooking dinner or doing something else) If I tie them up for 20-30 minutes, that person cannot be calling someone else during that time. That is one less elderly lady etc, who doesnt realise it is a scam, being called during the time I have them on the phone. So if that is childish, ineffective and completely wrong behaviour, so be it, I can live with that. You have no place telling me what to do in my own home. You do what you want to do, but how dare you tell others they are childish and it being completely wrong behaviour, simply because you disagree with our approaches.

And it might just get my number put on their 'blocking' list of people not to call, cause I just waste their time.

[peterb666]

Why waste the caller's time (and yours)?

Just tell the caller you're not interested and hang up straight away!

If you have the time to kill, waste their time because they are idiots and are probably getting paid for results. Tie them up and prevent them doing their nasty deeds and it stuffs them. BTW, anyone developed a phone robot to respond with plausable rubbish to these idiots?

[ameerat42]

If you have the time to kill, waste their time because they are idiots and are probably getting paid for results. Tie them up and prevent them doing their nasty deeds and it stuffs them. BTW, anyone developed a phone robot to respond with plausable rubbish to these idiots?

And this is just begging the question. How fortunate that we don't do that job! Or are we?
Gl:(m

[FallingHorse]

I had one ring me back 3 times and abuse me for hanging up on him so now I either ask them to hold while I get something of the stove (half an hour) or engage them in BS as Rick said - while they are the phone to me, some little old lady isn't being screwed out of her life savings. If that's childish behaviour, I can live with it.
Maybe I am not soft at all because I really don't care who they are or what their background is when it comes to telemarketing and scams, I have zero tolerance :confused013

[Xenedis]

Rick,

If you're the sort of person who takes delight in deliberately making someone else's job difficult, then you surely won't be very surprised if some of those people decide to send more annoying calls your way.

The behaviour you encourage in this instance IS childish and ineffective. Too bad if you don't want to hear that.

If you really care about preventing others from being victims of scams, why not contact the appropriate authorities instead?

[Kym]

Maybe I'm too soft but from my point of view a lot of the bottom dweller staff that make the calls aren't the ones who run the show. They are usually poor as hell and its a job in a country where jobs are hard to find. They are just trying to survive.

Not quite correct.
Per the OP these people calling to 'fix' your computer are in fact trying to gain access to you PC for criminal activities, including finding your banking passwords etc. by installing keyloggers etc.
On that basis I don't give a toss about their circumstances.

Normal marketing calls are different, BUT the OS call centres don't honour the do not call register.
So they can go jump as well.


If you're the sort of person who takes delight in deliberately making someone else's job difficult, then you surely won't be very surprised if some of those people decide to send more annoying calls your way.

Given these turds are overseas and we are talking their illegal activity making their life difficult is no drama.

[mikew09]

Ha, I had my first call the other day. Indian acsent was so strong I could hardly understand him. He was telling me that it was possible some data or such had been placed on my computer and asked if I was on the net as part of a free service he could check my PC. I immediatley thought it was a scam and started asking about this and that, how would it get past my dual FW setup and my melware and virus software that is always up to date. Then we spot about mail security - so unintentionally I kept him going for about 10 mins and then said, no thanks mate - I reckon I am ok.

First time I have had one of these calls - very odd.

[Kym]

Just to make it clear...

WARNING: These types of calls are criminal!

They are a scam after access to your PC and your data with a view to stealing from you
and/or adding your machine to a botnet.

[old dog]

we were getting them all the time...at least 2 a week. My wife Julie answered the last couple and informed the caller that he/she should be ashamed of themselves and what would your mother think about what you were doing...trying to steal peoples money/information etc. No calls since........My tack was asking them for a call back number and where they were, what is their name etc.

[Art Vandelay]

I'm happy to put my hand up for playing childish games with telemarketers at times. :D

And they're not all Indian call centres either, there's plenty from right here in Aus.

[Xenedis]

Just to make it clear...

WARNING: These types of calls are criminal!

They are a scam after access to your PC and your data with a view to stealing from you
and/or adding your machine to a botnet.

Which means they need to be reported to the appropriate authorities.

Wasting the time of an individual caller isn't effective at dealing with what is a bigger problem.

[FallingHorse]

OMG - they aren't even on the phone and we are still wasting out time on them :eek: I'm going over to see if I can add any valuable CC to someones photos instead lol ... anyone care to join me ;)

[fess67]

Neither am I, but when I see people encouraging others to exhibit childish, ineffective and completely wrong behaviour, I will call it for the utter BS it is.





That's ok, you have your opinion I have mine. We can agree on that and move on.


OMG - they aren't even on the phone and we are still wasting out time on them :eek: I'm going over to see if I can add any valuable CC to someones photos instead lol ... anyone care to join me ;)

Now that is some sensible talking. :)

[Kym]

Which means they need to be reported to the appropriate authorities.
Wasting the time of an individual caller isn't effective at dealing with what is a bigger problem.

1. The Authorities can't do a lot due to jurisdictional issues etc. Plus they have limited resources and are chasing bigger fish/issues
2. But it's fun :p http://forum.419eater.com/forum/album.php

[ving]

anyone here ever actually been caught out by them? what were they actually after and what happened?


personally i just hang up, cheryl likes to play games with them tho. :)

[JohnRA]

Don't often get a call from them but a week or so ago I received two about 30 mins apart.
First was a woman & I let her get a few sentences into her spiel just to determine what it was all about, said not interested & hung up.
Next was a fellow who was difficult to understand & I let him get to the point where he was starting to ask questions & that's when I informed him I use a Mac ...... No lie as I have both ..... He lost interest immediately so that was that.
I subscribed to the No Call Register, it stops some but not all.

[geedee]

Andrew
sounds like you are a candidate for the DO NOT CALL REGISTER. that will get rid of most of these
Regards
Graham

[I @ M]

Andrew
sounds like you are a candidate for the DO NOT CALL REGISTER. that will get rid of most of these
Regards
Graham

Nah Graham, we are on the DNCR and it in no way stops people in far away lands using VOIP connections from ringing us and trying to pretend that they are more than just a scammer.

As for the DNCR, it does stop the likes of Tel$tra and the various blood sucking banks from ringing but I would really love to see it extended to stop the begging calls from 56 billion registered charities.

[Art Vandelay]

2. But it's fun :p http://forum.419eater.com/forum/album.php

That brings back memories. Was a member over there some time back. Had some fun. Still have a collection of trophies of my own out there in cyberspace. :D

[ricktas]

Rick,

If you're the sort of person who takes delight in deliberately making someone else's job difficult, then you surely won't be very surprised if some of those people decide to send more annoying calls your way.

The behaviour you encourage in this instance IS childish and ineffective. Too bad if you don't want to hear that.

If you really care about preventing others from being victims of scams, why not contact the appropriate authorities instead?

And maybe you should read the site rules, cause calling members childish could see you banned for a while. Keep this about the topic and not about members

[Xenedis]

Rick,

Just to clarify, I called the behaviour childish.

Anyway, I've nothing more to say about this topic.

[ricktas]

Neither am I, but when I see people encouraging others to exhibit childish, ineffective and completely wrong behaviour, I will call it for the utter BS it is.


When you make statements like this, about other members comments, it is personal, and not the standard we expect on AP. You are entitled to an opinion and comment, but not at the expense of making statements like this one, about others points of view, to which they are also entitled.

[Lani]

Scam calls are dangerous for the unwary, they aren't demonstrating any morality, so I can't see how it is a problem for someone who has the time to mess with them a bit. :D
I have more of a problem with the various religious door to door salespeople, they are so sneaky with trying to engage you in conversation if you try not to be rude to them. Sometimes there is no option other than being abrupt. I thought having three dogs on the verandah would be a deterrent...apparently not!

[ApolloLXII]

I thought having three dogs on the verandah would be a deterrent...apparently not!

Perhaps they believe that divine intervention will prevent your dogs from chewing them up :D

[I @ M]

I have more of a problem with the various religious door to door salespeople, they are so sneaky with trying to engage you in conversation if you try not to be rude to them. Sometimes there is no option other than being abrupt.

Seeing as they are so easy to spot approaching the door here it gives me plenty of time to get my welcome routine enacted. I have never had to listen to anything they have to say, I have never had to utter a stern word ( or any words for that matter ) and I certainly haven never had to be abrupt.

Answering the door naked seems to make them all want to leave quite suddenly, can't for the life of me imagine why though. :rolleyes:

[Lani]

ROFL @ Andrew......might work here but the only problem is it is getting a bit nippy to be whipping the gear off! :D
Now to remove that mental picture......

[ricstew]

Hahaha just reading thru this........we used to have a little blue heeler bitch that would jump onto the bonnet of unknown vehicles and growl thru the window........the godbotherer's only ever made one visit and didn't get out of the car......they did a quick u turn and sped off when I called the dog off.........way before the days of phone scams.

[Harrier]

An old friend got caught! $ 425 later! Bastards!

[rafikicat]

This is a fairly wild thread isn't it. I've never had trouble with people at the door. I just don't let them get into their spiel - whether it's an electricity co. or a religious evangelist - say I'm not interested and wish them a nice day. They go away. You can usually tell when it's a "cold call" on the phone, there is always a pause before the person starts talking. I hang up.

[I @ M]

Sorry for dragging up an oldie but today I had a laugh.

A rather heavily accented lady told me how I could save $1,000.00 a year on our electricity bill by "investing" in their proven, money back guaranteed, originally priced at $400.00 but today reduced to $250.00, professionally installed energy saving device.

I went along for the ride with plenty of positive oohs and aahs and agreed to buy the device, that was a definite positive to her, I almost heard her heart beat increase over the phone. Due to her insistence that I spell out the correct name street address for the device to be installed at I proceeded to sound out each and every letter to facilitate delivery.

Strangely enough, she didn't really twig when she had the requested info in front of her ---

Peter Iamnotafool
27 Youareascammer Street
Calcutta
Vitoria

All was seemingly good, all she needed now was my credit card number to finalise my "investment" but with much regret I told her I didn't own a credit card and even that didn't prove to be a stumbling block because I could do a direct deposit to their bank account.

Cooool, just let me get a pen and write down the details, ok, got the bsb, account name and number.
Thanks for that, I will transfer the money shortly.

Kerlunk, end of conversation. :D

A quick google of a phone number and a call to the bank of QLD was met with many thanks, within a minute of my call that account was "frozen" and the activity reported to the police according to them. :D

[Longshots]

Nah Graham, we are on the DNCR and it in no way stops people in far away lands using VOIP connections from ringing us and trying to pretend that they are more than just a scammer.

As for the DNCR, it does stop the likes of Tel$tra and the various blood sucking banks from ringing but I would really love to see it extended to stop the begging calls from 56 billion registered charities.

So, so true. And if you're a business, DNCR register only protects my home number.