Have you every strung a scammer along on purpose?

[Shefliesonherownwings]

Just been binge watching scam interceptors on the BBC and the episode I just finished showed a couple of people deliberately stringing scammers along to waste their time and stop them contacting anyone else. These were phone and online scammers. I got a lot of satisfaction out of listening to the scammers getting annoyed and knowing they were wasting their time.

I normally hang up the phone straight away if I get one of these calls and ignore messages about ‘fraudulent’ activity in on my account but I wondered if anyone had deliberately strung these scumbags along just to waste their time deliberately?

I've been talking to DD about this thread and she told me about her DP's response when he had the "slow broadband" scammer last week. I shall call DD's P "John" for ease.

John to scammer " do you need my password as well?"
Scammer " Oh yes we need that as well"
John "Ok it's a bit of a long one so maybe you'd better write it down, do you have a pen and paper?"
Scammer, now positively salivating at reaching someone so easy "Oh yes sir I have a pen and some paper, please give me your password"
John "ok but I'll spell it to make it easier ok"
S: "Oh yes, yes thankyou"
J: "Ok here goes I.A.M.A.F.U.C.K.I.N.G.C.U.N.T, got that?"
S: with absolute glee "Oh Yes I have your password"
J: " Just to make sure can you read it back to me, I wouldn't want you to get it wrong"
S : "Ok I am a fucking......no you are, you are how dare you" Hangs up.

I love my "SiL".

Yes if I have the time and in the right mood I do with the cash for crash companies.

I tell them it was awful it was so bad I died so surely that's worth a lot of cash. Sometimes they go along with it! 🤯

My dh does " yes I had a terrible accident last week how do you know? I had stomach cramps and hayfever. I sneezed and shat myself! I need the cash for dry cleaning and valeting the car" they dont like that one 😂

I used to but now have a bt phone that blocks all calls unless I've marked the number as safe.

[quote violetbunny]Apparently in NZ we developed chat bots designed exactly for this purpose:

www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/10/new-zealand-chatbots-artificial-intelligence-scam-conversations[/quote]
This is awesome!

Very funny in an Indian accent

Why is an Indian accent amusing? That’s pretty racist

@Gilesgoesformiles It wasn't the Indian accent that was amusing, if you read the actual post properly.

I've made a half hearted attempt to string along the Microsoft ones. I have a Mac. I wasn't very good at it really so just ended it with "I can see a picture of an Apple logo... is that right?" And hung up.

Yes. I get a lot of these at work. I play them along and then pass them on to my assistant, receptionist and other colleagues (it is my business and we do like a good laugh). We see how long we can keep them on. My fav was a boiler room scam selling bloke who we kept on the phone for over 2 hours. At one point the receptionists Grandma popped in for a chat and she sang "white cliffs of dover" to him - in full! Every time there was a pause he started talking then she sang again!! Then at the end of the song grandma did a "thank you very much goodnight everyone" Elvis impression and I don't think my pelvic floor has ever recovered from the laughter!! Ahhhh so so funny.

My mum used to put my three year old sibling on the phone to scammers when we were kids. At three she talked ALL THE TIME and did not even pause for breath, ever. Scammers used to get bored quite quickly and hang up!

Had one about car accident she said you were in accident I not your fault “you’ll have a job I’m registered blind” (as I am) laughed ages about it wish I could have seen her face.

I like to do this and have used the conservatory in an upstairs flat before.
I've also asked window companies how they got our number, if its because they fitted the windows that are currently installed.
I then say fabulous, they are still under guarantee, when can you come and fix them?

Ds1 was about 14 when he walked into his bedroom in time to see the mouse icon moving around the screen.
Someone had used his gaming account to spend £10.
He's pretty good with tech, managed to backtrace the link and found an email address, tel number and from that information about the thief including address, photo and place of work.

Using an email address he set up, think brucewayne125@gmail he told them he knew who they were and that he'd sent it all to the police (which he did).

I thought that was pretty awesome.

I ask them what they’re wearing, they hang up too quick though so sometimes I’ll say hang on I’m just letting the dog in…

I used to string along the ones where they say they are calling you from "Windows" and try to get you to log onto their dodgy website.

Some of them were hilarious but they all got pretty annoyed by the end.

My ds used to answer the phone and quote movie lines at them and then hang up.

Sometimes I would answer and then put the phone down on the side (but not hang up) and leave them talking to themselves.

Other times I'd ask them to "hold the line" and pretend I was going to get the "right person" and again just leave them hanging.

We don't get those sorts of calls any more since we got caller ID, block scam calls and also don't pick up calls from countries that I don't expect to receive a call from.

My mum strung one along accidentally. In theory, she was their ideal target but she didn't have a clue what they were on about; she didn't understand what the invented "problem" was or why she should be concerned about it. And she kept telling them she always gets her neighbour to sort that sort of thing out for her. I imagine they got increasingly frustrated with her.
In the end, she hung up when he told her his name was "Charlie Brown"

I always ask them to hold on for a few minutes (at least 5) while I go and find a pen (whistle) and if they are still there when I get back I blow it very loud

I'm not even ashamed to admit that this is one of my hobbies! I absolutely relish in it.

The car crash ones and the download this software because you have a virus are my favourites. I have told them that I shot the baby in the other car, that I was way above the drink/drive limit so it was my fault.

Some of them have become so annoyed with me they asked me why I was 'wasting' their time.

@DuggeeHugPlease

Not scammers but I did talk to a salesperson for ages who was trying to sell me a conservatory. He went in to loads of detail about the specifications and what they could offer. After about 20 minutes I said this all sounds great and I just had one more question which was how would they fit it to my second floor flat.

Yes it’s really good and presented by the lovely Rav Wilding too.

I do this when I have time. My colleagues think it's hilarious. I often get called 'a very naughty lady'.

Sometimes I try out my multitude of foreign language swear words on them. Benefits of a multi cultural secondary school.

The funniest one I ever witnessed was an elderly couple in their 90s. I'm a carer and used to attend with a colleague to the gentleman multiple times a day. He and his wife were both as sharp as they come 😂
It was fab!! She answered the phone as we were starting care and I offered to take the call and give them a piece of my mind but he told me to leave her to it with a twinkle in his eye! She went off into another room and I could vaguely here her talking and sounding confused. Eventually she came in sounding flustered and past the phone to her husband who carried on the act. They really had the scammer going and we're on the phone nearly an hour. By the end of it none of us could look each other in the eye for fear of cracking up!

Eventually the scammer figured he'd been had and hung up cursing. I don't think I have ever cried with laughter so much at work ever!!! I will never ever forget the pair of them and think of them often!!!

"Hello, yes? You're calling from where? Oh....... And where did you get this number? Oh......... well I don't know how that's happened then, because your call has been diverted to Stevenage Police Station. How can I help you?".

This was a few years ago whilst we were on a long drive and the scammer was talking about an accident I had supposed to be involved in. We strung him along for around 25 minutes, only because we had nothing else to do, and in the end he caught on to the kids laughing in the background.
He became very offensive and starting swearing black and blue before he finally hung up.
For a few weeks after that I continuously got some calls where all the caller did was swear down the line. I blocked each of the numbers but they'd call back from a new one each time.
Honestly it was no trouble for me because I knew of an elderly wdowed neighbour who had been scammed out of all her savings by someone similar so the longer I kept them on the phone meant one less elderly and vulnerable person getting scammed

The latest scam starts with ' can I just say madam, that you are the most polite person I have spoken to today' when they've only just introduced themselves so we've not actually spoken yet!
I replied with something like 'well don't be too quick to judge' and the guy went haha!
I have one fake name and address that I use for scammers so when they say to confirm the address as xyz I always know it's time wasters and chancers.
I quite enjoy stringing them along if I have time

I had a guy ringing me about investments. Apparently they were absolutely guaranteed to make loads of money. So I listened to this bullshit for quite a while, how they made their magic money, how much I could make if I gave them thousands, how it was a no fail scheme.
At the end of his talk I said ‘brilliant, that sounds amazing. You should put your money into it, get guaranteed profit and stop ringing people up’. He told me to go fuck myself.

I’m flabbergasted by the amount of people on here boasting that they spend hours of their life leading on sales people.

And thinking they’re rather clever of them rather than wasting their life.

And, on top of that, thinking others listening find it hilarious…. Imagine!

I had this happen to me on Fitbit
Some bloke started chatting to me
Oil rig , widowed , horrific accident, single child desperate for a mum .. tragic but strangely very common on Fitbit

Once I had heard enough I started to ask him if he knew much about elbow bunions as mine were shockingly painful, especially in the rain
He offered some herbal ointment that only his family could make for me at a very small cost .. could I send Gift cards ?