Telemarketing scammers suck

R

randall_nd

New member
I've been getting 3 or 4 calls a day at my unlisted work phone number,
telling me "Congratulations, you have won a $200 gasoline voucher...",
and it varies a little after that point. Sometimes it starts with
"This is your lucky day..." :-(

It's not always the same caller but he always has a thick Indian
accent, and there's a pause between when I pick up and when he come on
the line. They won't give me their phone number, and this phone
doesn't have caller ID, but one of them mentioned "Oasis Travel." Two
of them have said that they got my name and number from a recent
purchase at Walmart. The only things I buy at Walmart are dogfood and
oil filters, and if Walmart does know my name (doubtful) they don't
have this phone number.

I know how this scam works. They are phishing for a credit card
number and/or debit card and PIN, or a check account/routing numbers.
I'm supposed to agree to pay $2 (or maybe it's $3. I hang up on them
before we get that far) for postage and handling for the vouchers that
are good at any gas station in the US (yeah, right.)

I tried to give them my 2nd-line manager's name and phone number
(spread the joy) but they wouldn't take it because this "prize" has
been specially selected for me.

I'm trying to get their phone number from Corporate, but that's not
going so well. Before that, I tried calling the local switchboard
operator right after one of the calls, but "0" has been routed to a
call center in India (gotta love the irony) that didn't know what I
was talking about, and couldn't even understand that I work here and
was making an *inside* call.

Meanwhile, any suggestions on how I can mess with them? :-)

Bob
 
zxcvbob wrote:



I suggest you reread Terry's "Dealing with Crazy People" link.
Most of the suggestions apply here. I think the most important
is "don't".

gloria p
 
"zxcvbob" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

I sometimes just set the phone down and go do something else. That at least
wastes some of their time!

Speaking of Walmart, I just got an e-mail that appeared to be from them.
The subject said something about a shopping spree so I assumed it was an ad
from them. When I clicked on it, I saw that it was not from them at all and
it was just a bunch of gibberish. It was immediately deleted.
 
On Thu, 9 Dec 2010 18:00:39 -0800, "Julie Bove"
wrote:


You do realize that if you have scripting enabled and you open one of
those email scripts, you could have a hell of a problem on your hands.
If you are not expecting an email from them, delete it, never open it.
 
On Dec 9, 6:44?pm, zxcvbob wrote:

The best method of messing with them is to just hang up. Sometimes I
tell them that I am dead and no longer reside at this address. Other
times I tell the truth and let them know that I cannot understand
their version of the English language. It's good fun, but like I said
above, the best thing to do is to hang up.
 
"Stu" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

you could always do the old....'you do know you just called a crime scene,
how well did you know the deceased....after all you did call them by their
first name....' usually freaks them out and they hang up.
-ginny
 
On Dec 9, 9:54?pm, SelfCenteredSnob
wrote:

==
One tele-marketer has an echo on the line and I can hear my voice in
the background when I speak. When I hear that I try and copy the
accent of the creep and I've got pretty good at the East Indian
accent. I think it drives the guy crazy because he broke into a tirade
once which had to have been profanity before he hung up. This guy
phones every week with services that he is trying to sell as cell
phones, long distance phone plans, cable TV and credit cards.
==

==
 
Roy wrote:


I'm not sure I could do an "Apu" accent (The Simpsons) but with a
little practice I might could do that "Boomhauer" (King of the Hill)
fast mumble that is almost unintelligible except for the occasional
"dang ol", man, I tell you what. :-)

Bob
 
Armed with caller id and answering machines, I am never bothered by
this tripe. I get the feeling tho you kinda like this type of
battle.
Life's too short to indulge in 'mess with em' games.
 
Kalmia wrote:


I don't have caller ID or answering machine available because this is
an office phone where I work. "Mess with 'em" games might be a way to
make the situation tolerable, or to get them to stop calling me.

I do see your point tho'. Thanks.

Bob
 
On Dec 10, 2:02?am, "jmcquown" wrote:

--
The calls from India are not covered by the registry as they are
foreign and they don't give a hoot for our laws or rules. Mind you the
companies that they are pushing are Canadian or USian and they use
foreign companies because they work for much less than domestic
spielers.
==
 
On Fri, 10 Dec 2010 04:02:03 -0500, "jmcquown"
wrote:


It does not cover any company that you do business with (eg:bank), nor
does it cover charities.
 
"zxcvbob" wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

Stop them, ask for more information on the company that they are working
for. Explain that you would NEVER, Ever, do business with a company that
couldn't/wouldn't tell you more about who(m) they are.

Keep interrupting their "speech"
I bet they start over from the beginning, because you made them lose track
of where they were in their "script"

If that doesn't work, get a "referee" type whistle and blow it into the
mouthpiece of the phone. Or use that air horn idea.
 
On 12/9/2010 6:44 PM, zxcvbob wrote:

Not much you can do when an arrogant POS decides to do stuff like this.
By the time law enforcement gets involved the original POS is off to
something else and a new POS is running a new scam.

As you may know telemarketing to cell phones is off limits. It is
extremely easy for anyone to verify which number blocks and even which
numbers in the case of ported numbers are cell phones so "we didn't
know" is not an excuse.

So for the past two weeks my work cell rings at ~ 3 PM with a number I
don't recognize so I didn't answer it at first. They leave a voicemail
and the first part is cut off but it involves someone helping us get the
grant money "we deserve" then it advises "press 1 to speak to our
representative or 2 if you received this call in error". I called the
CID # they sent from another line and it reported "this call cannot be
completed as dialed". Expected because CID can be spoofed.

Bottom line is you aren't going to be able to do anything. I was on a
call the next 5 times they called. At the most if I was traveling or
something and had time to waste I would engage the caller and waste 10
minutes of their time with nonsense dialogue.
 
On 12/10/2010 1:14 PM, Roy wrote:

Calls from India are not exempt. But as you noted they simply don't
care. Some sleezeball has hired the cheapest help possible to harass folks.
 
On 12/10/2010 1:32 PM, Stu wrote:

It doesn't cover calls to a business line as in the OPs case but there
is specific language where you can request that a business can only call
you regarding something in the scope of the business relationship.
Essentially businesses are mandated to keep their own DNC list and they
must add your number if you request.

I went through this with allstate insurance maybe 3 years ago. Phone
rings "did you know you can join the allstate motor club blah blah.." I
request they put our number on their internal list per the DNC
requirements. Next week "did you know you can get allstate discount
travel?" I again ask to be put on the list. A few weeks later "did you
know you can get allstate motor club?" I ask to speak to a supervisor
and tell them I am filing a complaint because they won't honor my
request. A few hours later someone from allstate calls and says "we
apologize, please don't file a report we fixed the "problem".
 
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