just got a call from "social security"...

[josephr]

my mom is 83 and she refuses to get rid of her home because she's had that phone number since 1961. Everytime I visit, the phone rings and she yells out "don't answer it, its a scam!"

the worst scam is when she says 'hello' and this young dude's voice starts in, feigning injury, 'Grandma....I've been in an accident grandma...I'm at the hospital" and the scam just goes downhill from there. Its horrible.

[eddief]

caller id said scam likely but i was curious. so i answered it. this was about my healthcare plan and these guys wanted to arrange to do an in my house DNA test. OMFG.

[Peter P.]

I had a scammer call last week, claiming my computer was compromised and they needed to fix it ASAP.

I faked like we had a bad connection, "chopping" up my words into inaudible gibberish, then clearly saying "I think we have a bad connection". They hung up.

For tormenting this poor scammer, does it mean I'm going to hell?

[Dekonick]

I just was offered 10 TRILLION dollars! I am RICH! https://outrunchange.files.wordpress...06/10t-zim.jpg

[William]

I guess a lot of people missed out....

[bikinchris]

Had a call today saying it was PayPal and they had taken $399 out of my debit card. New scam to me.

[metalheart]

I mostly hang up on the scam callers, but every so often I will put on my best Forest Gump imitation and play along just because. I did this a few weeks ago when a caller was trying to sell from funeral costs program and the conversation went something like this:

Caller: Hello Sir, I want to inform you about an important program that will save you money on your end of life costs.

Me: But I am still alive.

Caller: We all need to think about what to do after we are gone and our program will save your family money.

Me: I don’t have any family and I am still alive, so I don’t need your program.

Caller: But sir, if you buy this program before you pass-on, you will save money.

Me: How can I save money when I have passed on, please call me back when I have died.

He hung up.

[kohagen]

I have a friend who actually fell for the IRS scam for a while. He's at least a semi-intelligent guy, a banker, but overtrusting. He said the caller seemed to know enough about him and his taxes, at least in a general way. He was ready to arrange to send him some money until I heard him talking on his phone. I took the phone out of his hand and told the caller to **** off. My friend was convinced he was going to be arrested for tax fraud, but was finally convinced that the IRS never called people for tax issues, but only sent letters to leave a paper trail.

[paredown]

we still maintain a landline, since it is tied to my wife's business-but it it mainly junk calls.

A small improvement was switching to a VOIP account when we went internet only using an Obi device, With our service--Callcentric, you can effectively block calls--and my personal favorite is to set it to 'number disconnected' after receiving a call.

It takes a while, but it seems to be like crabgrass prevention, since the lists get passed around...eventually the phone only rings with real calls.

Oh, and don't give out your cell number to random web sites who claim to be interested in your "security"...

[kohagen]

I didn't actually type **** off. I typed the actual colloquial word, but it was magically changed to ****. The wonders of modern technology.

[kohagen]

My whole family uses Apple products. Phones, pads, laptops. I used to screw with the callers from the Windows help desk who told me to press the Windows key and some other one to bring up a message about problems on my computer. I'd play along, and when they asked me to read the message to them I'd say, "It says get a real job, asshole, and stop scamming people." This often pissed them off, and they'd start cursing at me. I'd just laugh.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Ozz

we don't answer the phone either....

I blame the phone companies for handing out phone numbers like crack....getting a phone number should be like opening a bank account...for a legitimate purpose only, and verified by the phone company, with criminal penalties for non compliance.

I don't answer any phone number that my phone doesn't recognize..then wait for voicemail..if none, then I block the number..

The 'phone companies' don't hand out phone numbers..these companies have random phone number generators..that are just called..to see if one is attached to a phone. There really isn't any 'phone companies' anymore, really..

https://www.searchnewworld.com/searc...&subid=446null

[Ozz]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

I don't answer any phone number that my phone doesn't recognize..then wait for voicemail..if none, then I block the number..

The 'phone companies' don't hand out phone numbers..these companies have random phone number generators..that are just called..to see if one is attached to a phone. There really isn't any 'phone companies' anymore, really..

https://www.searchnewworld.com/searc...&subid=446null

I was talking about the caller phone number that gives them access to the phone system....I am sure I don't know how it all works, but you should not be able to make a call (to randomly generated numbers) without verified access to the phone system...something must be done! (cue outrage music).

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Ozz

I was talking about the caller phone number that gives them access to the phone system....I am sure I don't know how it all works, but you should not be able to make a call (to randomly generated numbers) without verified access to the phone system...something must be done! (cue outrage music).

Agree but that's not how it works..some beanbag scumbag sits in a cube, with 5-6 numbers percolating to see which is an actual number..

Take yer phone, make up any random phone number...and chances are, it will connect to somebody..unless the prefix is '555'...

[Jeff N.]

We get bogus "robo-calls" of all types, all day long, on the land line. I just end up leaving it off the hook.