To hope the scammers call me?

[AlternativePerspective]

I had the automated HMRC one yesterday. The grammar etc was so bad that in theory someone should be able to see straight through it, but . “This is to let you know that a tax fraud has been committed against your tax account. You need to press one to speak one of our advisers straight away or the fraud case will be proceeded against you and you will get arrested shortly.”

I actually did laugh out loud at that, but part of me was disappointed that it wasn’t a real person so I could play them along for a bit (it’s boring in lockdown.... )

But this morning I’ve read a post elsewhere about the latest COVID scam where they call you to tell you you’ve been identified as part of the track and trace process and that in order to be tested you need to part with £500 for the testing kit and results... Obviously this is a scam, but people will fall for it unfortunately.

So I want them to call me. I want to toy with them for a while, and maybe while I’m doing that it’ll keep them away from someone who is more likely to fall for it. And besides which it will keep me entertained. .

Be careful about playing along. I used to do that when I was bored, and on one occasion the man on the other end of the phone got really angry and abusive when he realised what was happening. He kept calling me back and telling me to fuck myself with a cucumber

My DC once were horrified to hear my side of a conversation where I was playing with 'Microsoft' scammer, with the sole aim of tying up as much of their time as possible. They couldn't understand why I was lying ('you're not a switchboard, why are you pretending to be one?') but got it once I explained that the more time on a call to me, the less time for calling someone else. And it led to a nice chat about security and cold callers, and why they must always take a name/reference number and call back on a published, verified number before giving out any information whatsoever

MIL fell for one, and although the credit card company put it right very quickly and sympathetically, I was furious and she was shaken.

There used to be a website where you could read and take part in stringing along these scammers - some of them were hilarious!
I think it was 419 eater.

Do bear in mind though, that no matter how unprofessional or incompetent they appear to be, these are career criminals.

Don't string them along. Why do it, is it a bit like showing off? They won't stop what they're doing because you tried to mock them. It won't significantly eat into time spent calling others, because they make 100s of calls a day, every day. Won't make a difference. But if you really want someone to turn nasty on a phone and give you abuse .. then yeah. Ok.

Gindaddy - I disagree. If we double their time on the call, that's one less person they'll reach to potentially scam that day. I only wish we could do more to stop them.

@DianaT1969

It's not a strategy. I worked in a call centre before when I was a student. It won't make the blindest bit of difference. It's a justification people use to make them feel heroic when taking on the evil bad guy at the end of the phone.

If you really wanted to do something, you could pass on the details of the number that called you, the firm's name to Action Fraud. Won't give you a fun story or a warm fuzzy feeling. But it's much more useful.

The bad grammar/spelling in emails is intentional . If people dont notice the bad grammar they are see as the type that are easy prey

Had the Covid one yesterday. Asked me how many in my household needed kits. He went quiet when I said 17 lived in my house!

Had him on the line for almost an hour before he twigged. Much enjoyed that, think he will call back?

If you really wanted to do something, you could pass on the details of the number that called you, the firm's name to Action Fraud.
These are not legitimate firms, they are sitting in a call centre overseas and using a spoofed phone number

Try not to make it too obvious. Pretend to be a bit dim.

My dad had a phone call about 2 weeks ago from an actual person saying that they needed to speak to my mum urgently regarding large transactions from her bank account that day. Dad told them she wasn't "available" to speak to them. They insisted and said that if she didn't co-operate then they would shut down her account within the hour and she would be arrested. They got really aggressive when dad laughed at them saying that was "never going to happen but nice try".

They hung up on him when dad told them the reason....mum died in March and her bank account was closed in mid-April.

I feel crestfallen and quite sad to realise that what I do is useless. I knew that one or two fewer calls was drop in the ocean, but it was my drop and I never knew it was really nothing whatsoever.

When I've checked numbers, they've always been all over the Internet already as 'known scam'. Do further reports actually make a difference?

I once had one of those "I'm calling about the recent traffic accident you've had" and was being particularly forceful. I don't have a car (never have) so I eventually acted surprised and thankful for their call because the accident had slipped my mind.

He asked for personal details and I gave them to him about my totalled car due to significant front end damage- only when they asked for the details of the accident did I say "well Saxon was driving along the junction as described, and no oncoming cars on the road, but he veered off and crashed into a tree because he's a dog and had suddenly remembered he can't drive!"

Took him a feel seconds to let it sink in, then he hung up on me

Ah no I like to string the fuckers along , holding the phone in one hand while I clean to loo .

Especially extra points if I say I don't know what keys to press and do I need upper/lower case Control R.

When I get the Blue Screen of Death and wail and demand to speak to the manager because "everything was fine till you called me and now my PC is broken..." they usually hang up.
My record is 14 minutes . You can clean a lot in 14 minutes.

Should add - I'm nowhere near the computer let alone pressing any keys

I like the BT scammers that try to tell you your internet has been hacked.
I usually string them along and get passed on to their supervisor. Told to go to TeamViewer and such. I put one on hold once and told them I had to answer the door. They get awfully annoyed when they realise I'm taking the piss.

@MonkeyToesOfDoom

I like the BT scammers that try to tell you your internet has been hacked. I usually string them along and get passed on to their supervisor. Told to go to TeamViewer and such. I put one on hold once and told them I had to answer the door. They get awfully annoyed when they realise I'm taking the piss.

OH had a field day with them one day. He asked them to explain what the error was and then told them how it could be fixed and he'd happily do it for a modest fee of £1500 ...they told him to fuck off before they slammed the phone down.

There was an item on You and Yours, Radio 4 this lunchtime about the Contact and Trace scammers. Apparently it’s VERY difficult to establish if the caller is genuine or not, the number they call on will appear to be the genuine number.

They don’t ask for bank details but will get enough personal information to hack into your computer and thence into your bank accounts.

These people are the worst of the worst and no punishment is sufficiently strong for these horrible crimes.

I just hang up.

I like stringing them along too. I do it for the comedy value for my work colleagues - the time I spent discussing with a car crash one how I'd managed to decapitate myself and describing just how serious an accident it was livened up the morning!

The BT scammers are usually in SE Asia. Sometimes I try out all of my swear worlds from those languages- one of the benefits of a multi cultural schooling!

I used to love getting the windows scam calls. Every time they’d tell me to press the keys and click on things then I’d say ‘when should I plug the computer in?’

With the accident scam calls I say ‘oh yes, I had a terrible accident. It’s left me with a condition that means I can’t stop singing. There were 10 greenbottles....’ I never get through more than 2 verses before they hang up!

I must try this next time I get a call

www.engadget.com/2018-07-30-scamming-tech-support-scammers.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIu80ZTgP0OnBD-FIUi6PZ7zX4-8WDXP_2tgZoedaxqK9Keq4wds5UoiuttktPLWgJSmKQmKBV4yBMDbuB1yJ5V16Xeuv8ThNmNji2jTeZ2Ue_UqOHJhPv9547AVwFfYNhF8ERazbPFg13wATrihGTyCXiF-4viYvQmMG1odT7i8

I clucked like a chicken at one scammer. Pointless, but it made me feel better.

I have never gotten over a friend who answered a scam/cold call with "it's done but there's blood everywhere. I'll collect payment in the usual manner" and hung up.