To answer one of those ”Hi Mum, this is my new phone number” texts?

[PuzzledObserver]

I didn’t actually do it - I blocked the number. I know for fact it is not from my child on the grounds that I don’t have any.

But it crossed my mind to reply with “OMG! Hope you’re OK! Is that Johnboy, or Tracey?”

And then mess with them.

My other thought was to reply with “Which of my children are you?” As they would then have to supply a name. Which would probably indicate to them that they’d been rumbled. Much more fun the first way.

Anyone done this?

I admit this isn’t really an AIBU, so I’ve removed the poll. But this struck me as the kind of forum where people might enjoy kicking this idea around.

This makes me sad.
A lot of the low level scamming is by coercion or slave labour.
Ignore ignore ignore and hope someday it just stops paying out for the scammers.

My other thought was to reply with “Which of my children are you?” As they would then have to supply a name. Which would probably indicate to them that they’d been rumbled. Much more fun the first way.

They have a script for this - they reply (with a jokey wink) 'your oldest/youngest and favourite'

I once replied can’t you get a proper job and don’t you feel bad about conning people. Karma will get you 🤣

It takes seconds to reply to a text message - probably about the same as it does to reply to a post on Mumsnet 🤣

Yes, dragged it out for ages, said we'd sent the money! Wasted a lot of their time. Ended up with a tirade of F..., F..., F... when they realised they'd been had.

I tell them ‘Nice try’. Then block the number.

I'm all ready to go should I ever get such a message .

My planned response is along the lines of 'We've talked about this. I thought you were absolutely clear that what you did was beyond the pale, and that I need time to process the hurt. You agreed not to contact me until I contacted you first.'

I'm going to make it into a regular little soap opera if they are foolish enough to respond to me.

Can you tell I enjoy messing with the callers who tell me my Microsoft / Netflix / ISP account is about to be closed unless I renew now?

Remember poor uncle Bryn who got scammed by the couple. Everytime I hear of a scammer I can't help but think of it.

I told one once I also needed to call the media because the name I had given was the name of my cousin’s pet bulldog. Funnily enough, the scammer didn’t want to be part of a news story about the first ever texting dog.

I responded to one by accident once ages ago because I was going on holiday in a few days time, the area code was the same as where I was staying, and in the moment I panicked thinking the missed call was my hotel calling with a problem. Was bloody PPI crap. So my number is probably already on a list.

Just block and report. Do not respond ever, the scammers just know then that it is an active number. You play straight into their hands by responding.

I had a scam call pretending to be EE and that they were going to send me a new sim to upgrade my contract. I was suspicious but not entirely sure until they asked for my email and they would send me a code to get onto my acc. Then i realised it was a scam so i just told them i wasn't interested and got rid.
I rang EE and reported it and the lady explained that they somehow get in your acc and send you a quite expensive phone and then ring you say it's a mistake and should have been a sim and send you a code to return it but to them obviously. And then you are responsible for paying for it because you enabled them to get into your account.

Never responded to a scam text but had quite a few callers. They'd tell me they were from my phone provider and that I was due "an uprade to latest IPhone". If I had no time I'd just hang up, if I had time I'd string them along.
One guy was kept busy for seven or eight minutes by asking him what an IPhone was. He then launched a whole spiel about "mobile phones" which promted a "What, phones can be carried and are not attched to the wall anymore?". He got quite exasparated by my seeming incompetence.

Another time I got a call about having been in an accident. First I asked how he could have possibly known and then proceeded to tell him about this woman who came through my village in a strange carriage that didn't need any hoses, how she'd scared all my chickens to death. Basically the story of the first car journey through the eyes of a villager loosely based on this video

I usually ask to borrow some money as I’m skint

strange but they don’t reply

My mum asked which child (she has five!) and was then totally taken in when the response came ‘your eldest’!? I’m her eldest and I would never reply like that so I can’t believe she was taken in - to the tune of about £3k 😬

My savvy grown up kids say you should never text back or pickup this kind of message. So I follow their advice.

Yes, this. It won't thwart or annoy them, as they fully know that many of their texts will be senseless to the recipients: sending "Hi Mum" to millions of people in a scattergun approach will inevitably mean that many go to men, women without children, women with children who are too young to be away from them, women who are mothers, but whose children only ever call them Mom, Mam, Mama, Mummy or whatever.

They won't be remotely impressed or feel sore that you've 'beaten' them; you're just one of the vast, vast majority of recipients who didn't prove profitable for them, as they fully expected all along.

At best, they'll ignore you; at worst, you've confirmed to them that the number is live and you are willing to engage, so although this particular attempt didn't hit the target, it may well be worth their and/or all of their associates efforts in trying again with lots more different fake scenarios that might fool you.

The thing is it's not just one person texting one number at a time hoping to trick people. It's someone writing a script and a robot sends out thousands of texts at the same time. The ones who respond get their numbers added to a list and sold on to other scammers. Not worth it.

I got called by a scammer and knew straight away what it was as they tried the same details one of their colleagues had used the day before. Told them it was disappointing not to even try a different script and that they should be ashamed of themselves. This rather horrible man then called me a miserable cunt and said that if it had been him the day before he would have taken me for every fucking penny i had! I just laughed until he slammed the phone down but he was really nasty.

I often think this when the topic of phone/online scams comes up. Whilst they're obviously doing a very bad thing, a great many of them will have been trafficked into it and have no choice at all, or otherwise feel forced into it if the scam factory is the only employer in their area, so they can either earn enough money to feed and house their families by trying to scam rich westerners (as they see it) or otherwise starve and be destitute.

It's vanishingly rare that the person who contacts you will be the bigshot mastermind who concocted and ultimately benefits richly from this.

Always remember that you aren't bantering with people in an equal position of privilege; but rather, if you waste their time, you're likely earning an exploited person in a poor country a punishment, beating, sanction, sacking, public shaming or whatever if they fail to meet their targets.

I hate the fact that this evil global industry exists in the first place; but you're not going to solve anything by making a very poor person suffer even more abuse and poverty by 'having a laugh' at their expense.

@PuzzledObserver i do this and they block me 😂

They only get ‘added to a sucker list’ if someone has managed to con money out of someone. If they know they’ve been rumbled they move on and don’t bother you again.

Last year I got the ‘hi Mum’ text ‘can I ask you a favour’. Son had only told me the day before his phone was playing up and he couldn’t access his bank account. I was on the phone at work ie multi tasking and I replied ‘which one are you’? Scammer said ‘guess’ and without thinking I put in the name of the son most likely to be asking a favour. At this point I suspected it was a scam. They then said they needed to pay a bill and could I send some money. Of course because they’re having problems with their bank can I send it directly to the person he owes. I say ok and they send me some bank details and ask me to tell them when I’ve sent the money. A few minutes later I say I have (obviously I hadn’t) and they say it’s not arrived and to try again. I then tell, them ‘no’ because he’s not my son and to ‘fuck off’. I then send the thread to 7726 at Action Fraud. Obviously they then have the bank account details of the scammer as well as the number they’re using.

I consider it a moral duty to keep them strung along and engaged as long as possible. I particularly enjoy their increasing rage as they repeatedly build up to nearly getting their money, only for it to fail at the last moment.

But have a lot of time to spare and a personal grudge (elderly family member was scammed). And I figure every moment I waste, someone else isn't getting scammed. Of course in the grand scheme of things it's a useless drop in the ocean, but it makes me feel a little better none the less.

I get a lot of scam calls, texts and emails. My number must be marked as someone who will respond. When I can't be bothered to be inventive one week I'll just get chat GPT to do it for me amd copy/paste.

This.

You can block or report but why no free app to hit the number with our reverse charges, so we bombard the number by pressing a button and they get hit by a huge charge. It can be done, wonder why it is not a defence we are given?