Is this possible or is it my imagination?

monitorsit

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

...the 35 minutes of his time I wasted.

Time he couldn't spend scamming someone else

I like it when these scammers ring me. It's a challenge to see how long you can keep them on the phone - without doing anything they suggest or telling them anything at all, of course.

Ask them about the company they work for, where they are, what the weather is like where they are, etc. Hang on, the postman just rang the doorbell. Got to turn the cooker off, just a second. Etc.

At the end tell them you've had fun wasting their time, tell them they should be ashamed of themselves (don't say why).

If you were on a list of potential victims, you soon get taken off as word spreads you're a waste of time trying to scam. I don't ever get these calls these days.

Strider590

monitorsit wrote: »

I like it when these scammers ring me. It's a challenge to see how long you can keep them on the phone - without doing anything they suggest or telling them anything at all, of course.

Ask them about the company they work for, where they are, what the weather is like where they are, etc. Hang on, the postman just rang the doorbell. Got to turn the cooker off, just a second. Etc.

At the end tell them you've had fun wasting their time, tell them they should be ashamed of themselves (don't say why).

If you were on a list of potential victims, you soon get taken off as word spreads you're a waste of time trying to scam. I don't ever get these calls these days.

That's all very well, but it doesn't harm the people behind the scam, it only harms somebody who was desperate for a job to feed their family.

fenlander_uk

Strider590 wrote: »

...somebody who was desperate for a job to feed their family.

Silly comment. Presumably the same applies to hungry muggers and bank robbers...

Strider590

fenlander_uk wrote: »

Silly comment. Presumably the same applies to hungry muggers and bank robbers...

They're not criminals though, they're just normal people who've been tricked into doing a job. They're usually based in Indian call centres, they've been told they are calling rich/greedy British people who earn £3000+ per month, from their point of view they're not actually hurting anyone.

Wasting their time only gets someone fired, it doesn't shut down the call centre, it doesn't solve the problem, it's just a knee jerk reaction to attack the first person you see.

If you really want to stop them, you need to spread the word until there's nobody left to believe their sh*t.
People quite happily spread hoaxes via social media, but rarely to they tell each other about these genuine scams.

fenlander_uk

I really don't believe that these people don't know what they're peddling.

As one who regularly visits tech forums, I'm well aware of these scams. It's easy to forget just how little most people know about the tech they use. Even when details of these scams reach the mainstream press, it's usually months after the event.

RumRat

There are plenty of warnings on line about these scams. They don't come from ordinary Indian call centers manned by poor innocents. The way you are treated if it doesn't go their way is evidence of that.
The problem is that there is a never ending supply of clueless individuals that will believe anything they are told down a telephone. No matter how much it's put out there, people will always revert to type. Banks send out endless emails explaining what they would and wouldn't ask you, but, hundreds get caught out every year.

billn

Got my first ever call yesterday telling me I had a fault, it was from an Asian sounding bloke called Ricky Ponting which I thought was a bit strange as he is Australian (still they're all good at cricket).

He hung up when I sounded very upset and I said I didn't have a computer.:D

Marvqn1

Strider590 wrote: »

They're not criminals though, they're just normal people who've been tricked into doing a job. They're usually based in Indian call centres, they've been told they are calling rich/greedy British people who earn £3000+ per month, from their point of view they're not actually hurting anyone.

Wasting their time only gets someone fired, it doesn't shut down the call centre, it doesn't solve the problem, it's just a knee jerk reaction to attack the first person you see.

If you really want to stop them, you need to spread the word until there's nobody left to believe their sh*t.
People quite happily spread hoaxes via social media, but rarely to they tell each other about these genuine scams.

If that is the case then from their end how do they make a link between the person who they are phoning and knowing what is going on with their computer?

If they believed what they were saying is true then they would have information on screen telling them what computer problems people have, but obviously no such information exists.

Stop trying to defend pond life.

maas

billn wrote: »

Got my first ever call yesterday telling me I had a fault, it was from an Asian sounding bloke called Ricky Ponting

Many of the indian call centre staff use western aliases. I still find it odd when you hear a strong indian accent and upon asking their name.

Answer: My name is Dave
Me: Dave?
a pause
Answer: Yes ....... Dave
another pause

Its like we're both laughing!

Geodark

Strider590 wrote: »

They're not criminals though, they're just normal people who've been tricked into doing a job. They're usually based in Indian call centres, they've been told they are calling rich/greedy British people who earn £3000+ per month, from their point of view they're not actually hurting anyone.

Wasting their time only gets someone fired, it doesn't shut down the call centre, it doesn't solve the problem, it's just a knee jerk reaction to attack the first person you see.

If you really want to stop them, you need to spread the word until there's nobody left to believe their sh*t.
People quite happily spread hoaxes via social media, but rarely to they tell each other about these genuine scams.

Please give your head a shake and stop being so patronising, these people know exactly what they are doing.