Just got told to F Off by cold caller.

[mummmy2017]

I do laugh about this.
I get a man saying from credit investigations calling.
So I ask him if he got up this morning and is proud of how he was going to scam people, how he can face his family knowing what his job involved..
He told me to F off and hung up...

My child is laughing at me..

I've had this from one of those people who claim to be from Microsoft. When I said I thought it was a scam, he got really angry that I was accusing him of dishonesty and then said "fuck off and stop wasting my time" before hanging up. I wished I could have made him see the irony of the situation. I do have sympathy for people working in cold calling jobs (not the scamming ones), but I also get fed up with endless unwanted calls when I'm trying to work. If I'm not busy I leave the phone on speaker and hope to hear signs of their frustration at having their time wasted.

Blimey Aprillygirl what had you said????

I really don't understand why people are bothered by this, as soon as I hear that delay and click on the line, I just hang up.

In fact, since no-one has my landline number I rarely bother to answer it anyway.

Life's too short to bait scammers, it's not going to change what they do.

I actually feel a bit sorry for them, it's the big organisations they work for who are scamming, not the individuals, I doubt many of them get up and think 'great, can't wait to scam someone today' - some possibly don't even know it's a scam, especially if they are outside the UK, but even those that do probably most of them don't feel great about themselves and have not many other options for work.
Despite this, I still don't want to waste my time talking to them, so I hang up.

I actually feel a bit sorry for them, it's the big organisations they work for who are scamming, not the individuals

They are the ones doing the actual scamming. They know what they are doing, I don't feel sorry for the wankers at all.

DonQuixote I've already explained that I misunderstood based on the thread title. No need for the sarcasm.

Cold calling is when you call someone who has not asked you to call.
The window sales man who sells unwanted windows to someone by pressurising then to buy is still scaming the person they call.

When scammers only scam people who can afford to lose the money, I'll feel sorry for them

This.

Blimey Aprillygirl what had you said????

It was one of those con merchants who pretend that there's something wrong with your computer. My daughter had quite recently been ripped off to the tune of 90 quid by one of these barstewards so I told him he was a fucking conman who should be ashamed of myself and never to phone me again. He phoned straight back with his threats and then a few times after until I blocked his number.

A scammer once told me I had been involved in a car accident that wasn't my fault. I shouted down the phone that he had to speak up because I'd lost hearing in one ear after being involved in a car accident but reassured him it was not my fault.

Bloody hell!

Good for you for finding it funny and not intimidating. I'd be really shocked, I think. Esp if he kept calling.

My favourites are the accident hotline ones. I exclaim at how good they are - I'm actually sitting in the car having just had the accident five minutes ago. I go on and on and on about how impressed I am with their efficiency and how do I sign up for my compo? I've got to brighten up my day somehow, after all 😬

Here in the US they are all recorded messages, often in Chinese. My favourite is the one threatening to have my social security number revoked and/or have me arrested by US Marshals for tax fraud. I don’t have a SS number and I don’t pay tax here, because I don’t have an income.

Back in the U.K. I just say ask them to hang on for a second than put the phone aside until they hang up. Some of them will wait for ages not scamming anyone else.

I keep a whistle by the phone.

He was calling from India RedHats so I knew we were quite safe. To be honest I felt quite a sense of achievement that I'd got to him so much. I really detest cold callers at the best of times,but when someone you know is actually scammed by them that disdain obviously intensifies 100 fold.

I must be doing something wrong, I never get any cold callers on my landline or mobile!

These people fuck me off. They know exactly what they're doing, even if they are 'only' working for a "We believe you've had an accident" referral scheme.

How I deal with them depends on how much time I have and what mood I'm in - some times I just hang up with a brisk "Fuck off" and block, sometimes I like to play with them. I had one who told me I'd had an accident, and I asked if it was the Ferrari, the Lambo or or the Aston she was talking about. I ran through all of the many and varied accidents I'd had in them ("...and the Lambo I drove off a mountain pass in Tibet, swerving to avoid a family of tapirs"), and all the personal items that had been damaged. This included several tiaras of varying precious stones and a stuffed Sumatran tiger.

Other times I've just parroted back to them what they say in a silly singsong voice "We believe you've been in an accident", "We believe you've been in an accident!", "Hello?" "Hellooooo!", "Erm, Mrs Daffodil?", "Erm Mrs Daaaaafffoooooddiiiiiiiiiiillll!" That unnerves them quite quickly.

Or I just ask them why they do this job and tell to remember that they are being a shitty person in harassing people when they have no right to, and that they are hated for what they do. Mean, yes, but if they need money that badly they could go and stack shelves in a supermarket.

I had one call me a MtherFcker because I pretended not to know what a computer was. lol.

This reminds me of my mother whose number was a digit different from a taxi company and she would get lots drunks calling. She always promised that the taxi would be there in ten minutes then pray for rain.

That's so evil and wicked of your mother and very funny too.

They must think we are stupid. Open your computer er why

Just as an FYI to everyone, because I don't think this is publicised enough, but if you get plagued by cold callers then you can register your number with the Telephone Preferences Service.

Companies in the UK are legally required to not make unsolicited sales and marketing calls to TPS registered numbers.

It might not stop outright criminal scammers calling, since they obviously don't care about breaking the law, but it does stop calls from the other ones who aren't technically doing anything illegal per se but who can be quite predatory (PPI, ambulance chasers etc). And it means that your number is less likely to be on the lists that scammers use.

You can register online. I did it years ago and went from about 30 unsolicited calls a day to about one or two a month.

Answer machine on, screen all my calls, don't answer unknown numbers on my mobile. If its important they'll leave a message, if not then block them - problem solved!

@mummmy2017 be VERY carful with these people, I had a car crash one ring me multiple times after I told him to fuck of the second time he started saying sexual things and swearing at me ringing once a week! Really creeped me out