digital currency...?

sherpley · 30 August 2017 at 9:15AM

Hello world

I had a phone call a few days ago( country of origin was Spain).

The stranger on the other end was persuasive, confident, and totally incomprehensible, talking about virtual money, bit coins, and a form of artificial cash that doubles in value every ten days... what put my back up was his apparent surprise that I knew nothing about what he was talking about, my seeming lack of interest in investing in this 'new spectacularly powerful tool' and the fact that he did not want to waste his time on anyone who was not committed.

I am familiar with 'scarcity selling,' and 'missing the boat' optioning, so I thanked him politely(if firmly) for wasting his time with me and put the phone down.

I found out later he rang back within a few minutes, but don't know if this was a continuation of the same sell, or just a mistake. I get calls every week; energy suppliers, debt collectors, new furniture, people claiming to be county court sheriff officials, even the odd double glazing salesman, all determined to get me to pay them money, and emails galore in a similar vein.

But I know nothing about digital currency. Have looked it up on the interlink but discovered I now know even less. Don't consider myself closed minded, just frequently ignorant.

Is this some sort of gag or am I missing something here?

Malthusian · 30 August 2017 at 9:20AM

Obvious scam.

The phone call, not digital currency (although some would say the latter is up for debate - anyway, that is a subject for several other threads on this forum).

Consider changing your phone number or buying a call blocker if you are frequently targeted by scammers.

Gadfium · 30 August 2017 at 10:31AM

sherpley wrote: »

I get calls every week; energy suppliers, debt collectors, new furniture, people claiming to be county court sheriff officials, even the odd double glazing salesman, all determined to get me to pay them money, and emails galore in a similar vein.

Don't consider myself closed minded, just frequently ignorant.

You're on a sucker's list.
Change your phone number and, possibly, your habits.

sherpley · 30 August 2017 at 5:27PM

Point taken. I don't tend to buy into what I don't understand; there is always the wildcard chance that I am missing something, and I still don't understand what a bit coin actually is but at least I think that you are both correct in what you say, and thanks for the advice.

Reaper · 31 August 2017 at 11:39AM

Sign up to the Telephone Preference Service.
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/index.html

That says you don't want to receive any cold calls which prevents legitimate companies contacting you. Then you know everybody who continues to call you is a scam.

Shashy · 31 August 2017 at 1:28PM

sherpley wrote: »

I don't tend to buy into what I don't understand; there is always the wildcard chance that I am missing something.

You're not missing anything. Get-rich-quick schemes don't exist.

Gambler101 · 31 August 2017 at 3:07PM

No one ever cold calls for your benefit, it will always be either a rip-off or a scam 100% of the time.

dividendhero · 31 August 2017 at 3:55PM

Shashy wrote: »

. Get-rich-quick schemes don't exist.

If I knew of a sure fire get rich scheme, last thing I'd do is tell anyone else - why people who receive these calls don't simply ask "if it's that good why aren't you buying it?" is beyond me

Malthusian · 31 August 2017 at 5:15PM

dividendhero wrote: »

If I knew of a sure fire get rich scheme, last thing I'd do is tell anyone else - why people who receive these calls don't simply ask "if it's that good why aren't you buying it?" is beyond me

Because the scammer will say "I am buying it, I've even got my dear old ma's money invested in it, it's that much of a sure thing". Half the time it's probably true.

Every single question you can come up with, scammers will have an answer for. That's one of the advantages of living outside the realm of objective reality. (Or they will if they're any good. Their answer may be to put down the phone, but that's because you obviously aren't worth wasting time on.)

Reaper · 31 August 2017 at 5:31PM

As Malthusian says they will have answers. That's because all cold call sales people (scam and legitimate) have scripts with all the common objections and how to answer them. The answers will sound reasonable because a lot of time has been spent perfecting them.

ozaz · 31 August 2017 at 7:21PM

sherpley wrote: »

But I know nothing about digital currency. Have looked it up on the interlink but discovered I now know even less. Don't consider myself closed minded, just frequently ignorant.

Is this some sort of gag or am I missing something here?

The guy on the phone was obviously running a scam (probably assuming you would be excited at an opportunity to get in on the digital currency hype) but digital currencies are a big deal and worth learning about, even if just out of curiosity.

I'd recommend this page to get a quick intro to Bitcoin (the most valuable and most well known digital currency, although there are hundreds of them now)
https://www.coindesk.com/information/what-is-bitcoin/

The big deal and whats fueling a lot of interest is arguably the technology behind Bitcoin rather than Bitcoin itself - Blockchain technology. Bitcoin was just the first application of it, but it can and is being applied to other digital currencies and much more than currency.
https://www.coindesk.com/information/

You can actually see 100% gains in obscure digital currencies in 10 days (actually in a matter of hours). You can also lose your investment in a flash. The markets are very volatile with a lot of pump-and-dump action.

digital currency...?

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