to be hoping to be blacklisted soon

[hopingnothopping]

Despite being registered with the TPS, I have had a spate of cold callers lately: people saying they are from Microsoft and want to repair my Windows computer (a common fraud), and others telling me that they have £x with my name on it due to mis-selling of PPI. I have never taken out PPI.

I have adopted a new approach which has produced interesting results.

I ask if they have a degree (so far they all have), then what they had hoped to do with their lives when they were younger, whether their mother knows what they do for a job and whether she is proud of them? I then calmly and politely suggest that they look for a job where they can do good and be proud of their work, and hold their heads up high with their families.

I have had the following responses:

Edward: Gosh, yes, I feel dreadful, I need to get another job. (I liked Edward)
William: I am doing this because my country didn't invade your country and take all your wealth 35 years ago but your lot did that to us. I hate the British for what they have done to us (he was full of vitriol that came spewing out)
Sammy: shouted at me to stay out of her life (poor Sammy seemed very stressed but her logic was remarkable when you consider that SHE phoned ME whilst I was in my own kitchen minding my own business).

So AIBU to hope I will soon be blacklisted from these fraudsters' phone lists on the basis that I upset their staff? It seems quite effective.

BTW I wouldn't be this mean to an "honest" cold caller just trying to sell me something but these guys were all working for criminal gangs and must have known it.

[Judezx]

Gee whizz!! I can't believe people have time in their lives to report scam phone calls, which I don't even have time to answer or hang up on never mind be sarky with or psychoanalyse. To report it you have to have time to find who to report it to in the first place. Plus where does all the time come from to have a massive scrap over who's right to judge who in the scam or not so scam phone call arena? In fact who has time to read posts correctly, or even how to read in the first place? A massively huge part of me actually thinks that none of you give a proper shite about this in the first place...and if you do, you really, really do, I would like to know where you get the time to care about it from?

[olgaga]

Judezx I think perhaps you'd feel differently if you were getting these calls every night, or regularly all through the day.

How do you get the time to care about what people are saying here?

[SchroSawMargeryDaw]

I don't think you can report them if they are abroad, that's why I didn't and TPS didn't work.

For the windows guys, they had been asking for my Gran "Mrs xxxx" and I came out with a load of crap about her no longer being known a "Mrs" as she has had a sex change and is now "Mr xxx", he got very confused, annoyed and seemed very against the idea. That got rid of him for about a month and a half.

[Judezx]

Olgaga on page 3 of this thread I wrote

Another time I received another overseas scam phone call. She asked to speak to my husband and I told her he wasn't in. He wasn't. She chose to disbelieve me, went crazy, I hung up and after that she kept ringing me all night and then several times a day. She would just ring and not speak. I ended up having to change my number. I wasn't actually rude to her but now I am super keen to be polite in case it's another deranged, grudge bearing nutter.

I was with TPS not that it did any good. I wasn't aware I could report overseas. I'd had a glass or so of wine last night, and a little peruse of this thread. Must admit it read more like a tit for tat, pointless bicker and point scoring rather than anyone really giving a true damn, which was why I wrote what I wrote. Obviously now I'm sober as a judge I can see people care very deeply. On reflection I should have reported my overseas crazy lady as not only would it have stopped her in her tracks, it would have brought her company down and undoubtedly stopped global warming too.

Actually, now I write this I can see where people get the time from. I'm being drawn into it. My god, I'm weak!

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

Judezx - I cannot speak for other people on this thread, but I find the time for the psychoanalysing etc etc by neglecting my children and my domestic duties!

[NetworkGuy]

SolomanDaisy - "PPI firms aren't criminal gangs, they have to be licensed by the moj."

Noorny - "For the record B2C telesales for PPI is not a criminal activity."

If someone has their number registered with the TPS (Telephone Preference Service) not to receive calls, and a PPI firm is using the services of some agency (possibly outside the UK), then while it may not be a "crime" in the sense of having the full weight of PC Plod in size 12s on their doorstep, it is a form of MARKETING (offering a product or SERVICE) and against the TPS code of conduct. Reputable marketing firms use the TPS database of numbers (I have 20 registered, some landline, some mobile) and DO NOT CALL any numbers which are listed.

A PPI firm might employ an agency which ignores the TPS, rings from abroad, and are, for me (and hundreds of thousands of others) a bloody nuisance. Feel free to defend those who abide by TPS and don't make unwarranted and unwanted calls, but for every 1 of those I bet there are a load of firms not sticking to the terms of TPS, and I will seriously consider invoicing the PPI firms who use these agencies for the calls.

[NetworkGuy]

Junk mail by comparison has declined significantly, probably because even with alternatives to Royal Mail and the discounts applied for bulk mail, the cost of printing and delivery must make a hole in 40p per item, and is seen as too costly, when tens of millions of text messages can be sent very cheaply (I know, I get plenty, and report them {with the sender's number, to 7726 [spells 'SPAM]' which is available for most if not all networks}).

Some years ago (when internet access was still via dial-up modem), one morning, I got 44,000 unsolicited e-mail messages, 4000 from each of 11 firms. It was time consuming to get rid of them, and I also ran the risk of losing my internet account (because Freeserve had a limit on how much e-mail you were allowed to store... luckily they must have arrived after the nightly check on space used).

I wrote back to each firm, warning them to remove me, and if further mail messages arrived, I would charge an admin fee of 5 GBP per message for reading and deleting it. I received some pretty humble apologies, but these firms were victims of fraud, because they had bought mail lists from some person/firm which had generated 4000 e-mail addresses on one of my domains, and were making money out of them by fraudulently claiming they had 'opted in' to receive marketing...

The 11 firms sold all sorts of different products so I assume the fraudsters were selling junk data to anyone who was dumb enough to pay... I mentioned something to that effect in my e-mail, so they would not be tempted to buy lists in future.

[SolomanDaisy]

The people who run PPI firms can best be described as scum. I wouldn't defend them at all. But in general the people who work for them, UK or abroad, are not actively choosing to participate in criminal activity. It's a shit job.

[teacherwith2kids]

Mine always ask for 'Mrs TW2K'. As my 'official' name - I don't use it for work, but I do for all banks, bills etc - is 'Dr TW2K', I reply - with exact truth - that sadly Mrs TW2K [my MiL, the only Mrs TW2K in the family] died nearly 10 yars ago.

For the only other repeat offender - an ink cartridges manufacturer - I got hold of the real company e-mail and number via some scam-reporting Google site, and gave them merry hell.

It's stopped.

[ZiaMaria]

I had one of those Microsoft callers, asking 'how my computer is running at present'. Being forewarned about the scam, I told her that I don't have a computer. She was astonished and didn't know what to do...

[cory]

Dh was very nearly taken in by one of the Microsoft scammers because they caught him at a time when he was run down and vulnerable; he wasn't thinking straight and nearly believed them. Once they realised he was wavering they rang back in the middle of the night to catch him off-guard. They got me instead....

Do I feel concerned about the scammers? Well, quite frankly I felt more concerned about dh who was nearly in tears at the thought that he might have laid the family finances at the mercy of a bunch of scammers at a time when we were already struggling with other problems.

[NetworkGuy]

TheCutOfYourJib - piprabbit you couldn't make a call to your bank if the original caller hadn't hung up, impossible.

It would not work on a mobile, but it would be relatively simple in terms of electronics for someone to connect a unit to give you the sound of a dialtone, and stop once you had sent the first tone.

Only a few people (using loop disconnect, ie "pulse dial") would know it wasn't from the exchange.

Most would assume that having dialled the number and had a half ring or short period of ringing that it was their bank. Obviously you expect your bank to give its name, but a recording (eg about a high volume of calls because of a systems crash) might distract you enough from guessing, especially if (like me) you have not talked to them on the phone for 10 to 15 years.

{I opened my HSBC [Midland then] account in 1984, and they have not seen me at 'my' branch for over 20 years... my account with Barclays was opened in 1979 and that branch has not seen me in at least 27 years. I've lived 200++ miles away since August 1989.}

[NetworkGuy]

are not actively choosing to participate in criminal activity. It's a shit job.

I acknowledge the people are not active criminals, and while it's a rotten job, if the people they work for (an agency, getting commission or some other regular payment) from a PPI firm is flouting the TPS then I don't care how rotten the job is, the call should not reach me, and I will do my damndest to get them stopped.

If that also means finding the name of the person in that grotty job and they need to change job, so be it, as they must surely {however bad the situation is} know that the calls are annoying (by the reaction of recipients). Really is no good trying to defend them, when the TPS was set up because marketing firms know the hatred such calls generate. And some {no doubt British} bosses have set up overseas operations to get round the rules.

If there was some way to force BT to pass the caller's number I would (the reason they show only "INTERNATIONAL" is because someone in BT has to decide if they 'trust' the numbers sent from each overseas country. If they do, they could show the number. If they don't they hide it).

I'd be happy for EU regulation on forcing telecom firms to pass the correct number, which would effectively shut down 'boiler room' operations in Spain, etc, as those nuisance callers would/could be blocked, not just at subscriber level (WTF should a recipient have to buy a box to help limit the calls!), but for all incoming calls to the UK, in the same way that ICSTIS and OFCOM/ICO can close down and/or fine services.

[NetworkGuy]

Hope problems are behind you cory, and your DH is getting over it, and glad you were alert when the scammers called back.

[Borntobeamum]

We get Indian or Pakistani callers saying Hello my name is Norman/jack/Susan/Roger.
I ask to speak to their supervisor as they are clearly masquerading as someone else and that is NOT their real name.
I then hang up and carry on with my life.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

...are not actively choosing to participate in criminal activity. It's a shit job...^

I am sorry but I have to disagree, to some extent, with this statement. If a telesales operative is being told to lie to the people they are calling, then they must realise that there is something dodgy going on. If they are telling someone that there is a PPI refund of £XXX owed to them, when that information is not in front of them, then they know they are lying, and this must ring alarm bells.

If they are asking over the phone for people's bank account details, they must realise this is dodgy.

People who are doing this are not just in a shit job, they are actively participating in scamming innocent people, and that is wrong.

[EatenByZombies]

YAB a bit U. Take the higher road and hang up or screen calls, there's no need to be rude no matter who it is calling.

[SolomanDaisy]

I suppose you might be right SDTG. Though I think they're probably told that they will help people to get back money they wouldn't otherwise have. The ones who are taking payments upfront are breaking the rules, so I guess they must have more idea that they're doing something wrong. There are probably a mix of people doing it, some who don't care whether they are scamming others and some who have taken an awful job because they are desperate. The economic situation and benefits changes are making people do things they wouldn't ordinarily choose.

[FasterStronger]

hoping what you have done is absolutely fine.

[greenformica]

we have had the same dodgy scam calls and i wish I'd thought of something

[sweetestcup]

Ethel I said the OP hadnt been particuarly clear about what kind of 'cold caller' she was talking about

The OP wrote this BTW I wouldn't be this mean to an "honest" cold caller just trying to sell me something but these guys were all working for criminal gangs and must have known it - seems pretty clear to me!

[Fairylea]

You have WAY too much time on your hands op.

[NetworkGuy]

But, Fairylea, some could argue that most people who post here (excepting the lovely staff at MNHQ, of course) have far too much time on their hands, just as easily :)

[JenaiMorris]

It's my precious time being wasted by random scammers that makes me sympathetic to the OP.

Several calls a day, from people who are insistent at best, abusive at worst... That is something I don't have enough time for.