Thread: Phoney baloney phone calls.

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If this has been covered, forgive me, I don't get out much any more. I've been receiving some phone calls for the past month or so from numbers I don't recognize. I don't answer them once I see they are unfamiliar, but I put them into google and lo and behold lots of people are getting these calls. The numbers are:

877-531-8807

904-863-0201

877-257-9174

Somehow these seem to be tied into Icelandic Health, who run a scam operation selling fish oil pills on a no charge trial offer, then they start sending you tons of pills every month and billing you at ridiculously high rates. You can put them on your no call list but they are using so many phone numbers you never can keep up with them.

Just thought I would pass this along as it looks like they are blanketing the country with calls, and in some cases getting credit card numbers.

Don

I have found that most spam calls are computer generated so there is a pause after you pick up while it transfers the call to a live operator. My method is that, if there is a pause, I immediately hang up. I figure that if someone I know has called they will call back. Sure cuts down on having to listen to some sales spiel.

There was a guy that had that problem a few years back and it was hillarious.
He acted like they had just called in to a crime scean where a murder had taken place.
Anyway buy the time it's all said and done that operator was probably to scared to call anyone again. Kurt

Originally Posted by vara4

There was a guy that had that problem a few years back and it was hillarious.
He acted like they had just called in to a crime sean where a murder had taken place.
Anyway buy the time it's all said and done that operator was probably scared to call anyone again. Kurt

Kurt,thats a good idea..gotta try that.
We get inundated with Asians trying to sell a holiday to you,or wanting to get ya e mail address,or website so they can send stuff,or phone to tell you that your website has got 450 hits in the last 90 days,and they want a payment of $150 for having the website on their listing..etc,etc..Its almost a daily occurence,,and yes,those computer generated calls too...I ask for their number,so I can ring them back when I am not as busy..that makes them hang up..

Thats great. I hadn't thought of that one, (murder scene). When I have time or am bored I like to mess with them. I have done the phone sex operator. And I have this voice I do. It's not PC, it's Bob, spelled BooB. Cause he can spell it. You see boob a little slow. I have had them ask for my mother or father, but usually the hang up about the time they start laughing. Or you just ask for their home number so you can call back at dinner time to discuss it.

Don, as the economy and unemployment rate continue to crash, this problem will only get worse. You even have to be careful when advertising your Hot Rod on a reputable Car Forum anymore. I don't see any hope for improvement in this problem but I do see that "we" as honest citizens now have to be so much more careful.

If I don't recognize the number then I let the answering machine pick it up and the spammers don't leave messages.

When I have the time, and I usually do have all the time in the universe, I go along with the spiel on the computer generated calls, when they start asking for information about you and your bank accounts I just say, "Well, if you are my bank you already know all these details" and that is enough for them to disconnect the call, A lot of times of I use a word like f*** or sh**, they say they don't have to sit there and listen to you swear or they will cancel the call if you do not refrain from using that language! Then I just swear again and they hang up.. I like the other ones that ask if you are the personal buyer of your Diabetes Meds and then when I say yes, they tell me that I can get them at a discounted rate from them and they go on talking about their low rates, after they have finished their spiel I ask them if I can get them cheaper elsewhere would they refund me the difference and most times they will lie and say yes, to which I tell them that I get them for free from the VAMC near where I live so send me a check for 35 dollars and I'll be happy. BY that time they are hanging up the phone.. IF you let them run their spiel for about 10 lines and then interrupt them with a silly type question they have to start all over again on their sales pitch because they haven't memorized it yet and don't remember where they left off and just hang up on ya after a few more interupts..
Then there are the times when I excuse myself and say I have to answer the front door, set the phone down and walk away, back to my TV station or where ever I wanna go to screw off and kill time, the real dumb marketers will still be waiting 5 minutes later when you pick up the phone just long enough to ask if they are still there and then hang up on them.. I don't have caller ID anyway and their number wouldn't show up either so I sometimes just ask them what their number is so I could call them back and then if its a toll free number, I call up and start my own spiel trying to sell my 1932 Henway automobile for el cheapo bucks.. Most of them have an IQ they can show you on just 1 hand
It is more fun to screw with them and I usually don't have anything else to do anyway so I just play the role of Mr. John Dough..

When I call Frontier Telephone to ask about my bill, and I get a sweet sounding young woman to help me, I turn on my charm and ask where she is located and if it is close by I ask her to have dinner with me, That has worked 9 times so far and 6 of them I scored with and 3 of them got me a weekend get-a-way at the Marriott Hotel..
Love talking to people on the telephone..

I value my caller ID more than my Call Waiting feature !

I was told a while back to answer the call and after about 15 seconds say "there is someone at the door, let me get rid of them and I'll be right back". Then set the phone down and just walk away while they are just setting there waiting for you to come back.

I did this once and after about 2 min I came back and the guy was still on the line. I told him that I was having trouble getting rid of a pushy sales person and that I would be right back "again". After another couple of min I came back to the phone and he had hung up. I guess he got the message.

Oh yea, while they are waiting for you to come back, you could also just start talking loud about chickensh!t salesman that keep calling you.

That's pretty much my approach also. I say "ya... please tell me about your product", then I gently set the phone down and go back to what I was doing. I figure it's a public service to tie them up talking to air as long as possible

Russ

Originally Posted by vara4

There was a guy that had that problem a few years back and it was hillarious.
He acted like they had just called in to a crime scean where a murder had taken place.
Anyway, by the time it's all said and done that operator was probably to scared to call anyone again. Kurt

I just read about this phone prank in the April, 2010 issue of Reader's Digest. His name is Tom Mabe and he's one of the biggest pranksters on the planet.
Here's a link to the prank....apparently Tom is on a talk show of some kind, that's why there are people laughing at the prank and it's kind of hard to hear, but there is text to help sort it out. Funny stuff.

http://www.digyourowngrave.com/tom-m...e-scene-prank/

Little known facts.....

*Telemarketing is a $400 billion a year business.

*Americans lose $40 billion a year to fraudulent telemarketers.

*56% of the people targeted by telemarketers are 50 or older.

*Telemarketers have the fire power to make 560 calls per second (24 million per day).

*Charities make more money from selling your name and number to the other telemarketing companies than from the donations they collect from calling.

*On average, only 24% of what you donate as a result of a telemarketing call will actually get to the charity on whose behalf the solicitation is made. The telemarketing company hired to make the call gets the rest.

*The average American gets called 2 to 3 times per day by a telemarketer.

*The FBI estimates that there are 14,000 illegal sales operations bilking consumers in the United States every day.

*The same telemarketer will often call an elderly person day after day, building a relationship with the target, until he/she thinks a friend, not a stranger is trying to sell them something.

*92% of the adults in the United States have reported receiving fraudulent telephone offers.

*The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, ostensibly passed to protect consumers from telemarketers, has proven ineffective due to numerous loopholes.

wow i will bet that guy will never call there again,

Oh My Goodness - That's funny beyond belief..

Now you see, I have my own special way of dealing with telemarketers. I give them about 90 seconds of "spiel time" to let them get their hopes up, and then I cut in saying I need to ask them a few questions so I understand better.

Have you worked for the telemarkerting firm very long?

Do you believe in the product you're selling?

What are you wearing right now?

Do you ever date the clients you call?

What's the best way to remove bloodstains from carpeting?

Are you busy tonight? I don't mind a long drive.

Do you like tacos?
---

It doesn't matter what they say, just keep asking unrelated questions.

[QUOTE=geezer gasser88] "A lot of times of I use a word like ---- or ----"

Say, Geezer, With the realization that you are fairly new to this site, you may not have noticed that some things are a little different here. For example, look through all the postings that you have access to and see whether you can find A SINGLE ONE containing language such as this.

We're definitely not prudes and please don't get me wrong. I don't want to imply in any way that you are not welcome here. It's just that the Administrator and Coordinator(s) work to ensure that a few standards are maintained on this site that don't apply on a lot of others.

What I'm trying to say is, a little editing of your post might be in order.


Jim