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Original poster

Just got told to F Off by cold caller.

205 replies

mummmy2017 · 06/04/2019 12:44

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..

OP posts:
MulticolourMophead · 07/04/2019 02:18

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).

I've had my details registered with the TPS for quite a while. Hasn't stopped these calls.

I blocked them, that stopped most of them. Hadn't had any calls for a good while, so it was strange to receive a call earlier this week about an accident that wasn't my fault. Even stranger that the call took place just a couple of days after I'd called out the breakdown people for my car (just needed a jump start in the end).

Seahorseshoe · 07/04/2019 02:43

That's great. I'd consider that a win for consumers everywhere 👏 👏 the vulnerable get sucked in.

woollyheart · 07/04/2019 09:36

@dadwhostaysathome You are right - the sheer volume of these fraudulent calls has had a very strong impact on how polite and courteous people are prepared to be on calls.

I remember when I would greet calls with a sunny hello and tell them who I was. That was years ago, when the likelihood was that it was a friend or someone who had real acceptable reason to speak to me.

Now I wait and see if there is silence (just been queued on a call system?), I never offer any information until I know who is calling, and there is a snarl in my voice until I know they are not criminals or unwanted callers.

I feel sorry for people who have to call, but that is the result of allowing our telephone system to be abused so widely. I really don't expect anything good to come from a telephone call any more.

I feel sorrier for everyone who uses the phone a lot to speak to their family and friends. It is an unpleasant experience these days trying to overcome the anxiety and fear that a phone call induces.

FrancisCrawford · 07/04/2019 11:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Repetitivestraininjury · 07/04/2019 11:57

have a friend, who, around Xmas time, had a recording he would play next to the phone, the door bell would ring and he says, "hold on I've got to answer that but I will be back, very interested" caller hears the door answer, the sound of carol singers then gun fire, he would come back to the phone very calm and matter of fact, "so, you were saying you can do me a deal on a new Kitchen then".

I was sure a PPI call was probably a scam but went along without giving vital information, they rang a few weeks later to ask for my bank details to pay the money in, obviously, I said no post a check which arrived a few days later, £8k.

azulmariposa · 07/04/2019 12:35

Often tempted to string these along as if I'm taking up their time its less likely that they are scamming a vulnerable person.
There are loads of funny stuff that people have managed to get the scammers to do on 419 eater!

TalkinPaece · 07/04/2019 18:01

we are not selling anything, its a free offer
cool, send it through and get off my phone

PCohle · 07/04/2019 21:28

Speaking as someone else who misunderstood the OP, I don't think it's that clear the thread isn't about normal cold callers Grin

BrightYellowDaffodil · 08/04/2019 07:55

I worked in a call centre.
Impossible to tell on these threads if people are talking about call centre staff or genuine fraudsters - you can't lump them together however much you might want to.

I honestly don’t care where you’re calling me from. Unsolicited calls that waste my time and interrupt my day get the same response.

Don’t like it? Get a job that doesn’t involve being a parasite.

MaroonFlame · 08/04/2019 07:59

Only on MN could you get flamed for ‘being rude’ to someone who is literally committing a criminal act and trying to scam you. I’ll never get bored of this siteGrin As I’m seriously ill I don’t have any patience anymore so I just say ‘fuck off and don’t call again unless you want to be sued’. Well done for having the guts to say it OP, it took me a while!

Original poster
mummmy2017 · 08/04/2019 08:07

A cold caller is someone who has your number and name, info from a list about people with intent to call you as a cold lead....

If you didn't ask them to call then they are trying to sell you something, and take money you did not intend to use, a scam...

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 08/04/2019 09:27

I don't think it's that clear the thread isn't about normal cold callers

This is pretty clear isn't it?

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

PCohle · 08/04/2019 11:22

The OP seems to think all cold callers are scams though, hence the confusion.

And of course the thread title "I just got told to F off by cold caller".

I mean whether or not you think it's blindingly it clearly, it patently wasn't to some people - because I was one of them Grin

woollyheart · 08/04/2019 11:34

It doesn't matter whether it is a cold caller or a scam, it is an unwanted call and they swore at @mummmy2017

If you make an unsolicited call to someone, it is par for the course that they might be annoyed. If you can't deal with that, the job is not for you.

Original poster
mummmy2017 · 08/04/2019 11:37

@PCohle
How many times have you bought something off a person who you never asked to call ....
If not why not....

OP posts:
PCohle · 08/04/2019 11:52

Because I don't want double glazing mostly Grin

I get plenty of cold calls from fairly reputable companies - sky etc. I'm not particularly interested in their services but I don't think they're criminal scams.

Personally I do there is a difference between cold calls and scams. I respect that you don't but I do think it has contributed to some confusion on this thread. Asking the nice man from BT how he can face his family at night is a fairly different thing...

Original poster
mummmy2017 · 08/04/2019 11:56

I did say who was calling, and have had many calls from them.
But a cold call is from someone you are not doing business with.. Not a company you are already dealing with.

OP posts:
FrancisCrawford · 08/04/2019 12:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PCohle · 08/04/2019 12:01

Yes I know, I'm not with Sky or BT. I still don't think their calls are akin to scams. They just really want me to consider line rental.

FrancisCrawford · 08/04/2019 12:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PCohle · 08/04/2019 12:07

Yes, and as you've quoted I'm aware that I misunderstood the OP's original post.

My point was just that I don't think sneering at the PP who had also misunderstood the apparently "perfectly clear" thread was very fair because I for one had also misunderstood.

There certainly seems to be fairly different views here on whether there even is a difference between cold calls and scams.

FrancisCrawford · 08/04/2019 12:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PCohle · 08/04/2019 12:09

I agree.

The fact that it can be hard to tell the difference is why I err on the side of politeness and just hang up rather than asking callers how they can face their family etc. They might be a criminal scammer or they might just be a kid from BT who is offering me line rental. Clearly to some on this thread though that is one and the same.

woollyheart · 08/04/2019 12:15

I don't trust anyone that calls me. How do I know they are from the company that they claim to be. Most of them aren't.

Bigearringsbigsmile · 08/04/2019 12:17

i was told tto ''fuck off bitch' by a copld caller once because he couldn't tell me who he wanted to speak to. he asked to speak 'mr smith'-well there are 3 mr smiths in my house. i asked which mr smith he wanted to speak to and he just said 'mr smith'

i said that if he didn't know who it was he wanted to speak to, then he didn't really need to speak to them.
at which he said 'fuck off bitch' and hung up.
charming!