Transcript of my call with an Indian Microsoft Support scammer.

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bof

Senior member. Oi! Less of the senior please
Location
The world
An Indian friend of mine has an elderly mum at home who is losing it. When one of these places calls she is delighted to have a long conversation if they speak Punjabi and of course they usually respect older people, so she ties them up for 15-20 minutes. He say he almost feels sorry for them.
 

rich p

ridiculous old lush
Location
Brighton
99p a month with PlusNet. Well worth it, IMO - I only pick up for numbers that I actually recognise.
I never get this. I had 2 phone calls I wanted to answer, from numbers I didn't recognise or previously know. For instance, I wouldn't have received the call from Curry's customer services telling me I was entitled to a new fridge freezer if I adopted your strategy.
 

ASC1951

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
I suppose that works if you haven't got many friends... ;)
Ha! My land line has all my friends' numbers listed, so their names come up. Ditto my mobile, although only the land line seems to get targeted.
The major value of Caller ID is that I know 'number witheld' or 'international' can be ignored.
 
OP
OP
Andrew_Culture

Andrew_Culture

Internet Marketing bod
Ha! My land line has all my friends' numbers listed, so their names come up. Ditto my mobile, although only the land line seems to get targeted.
The major value of Caller ID is that I know 'number witheld' or 'international' can be ignored.

I'm amazed there isn't a DECT phone that can sync with your Google or iPhone contacts. That would be very handy.
 

byegad

Legendary Member
Location
NE England
Our cordless phone allows us to block International and withheld numbers, so I rarely get these nowadays. So far I've got 9 known numbers blocked as they are sales or nuisance calls where they show their number.

If we pick up one of these we have our own 'script'.
1. Ask who's calling.
2. When they introduce themselves ask how they got our number.
3. Tell them they shouldn't be calling us as we are on the telephone preference service. (Which we are.)
4. If they don't offer to take us off their list, or ring off, at this point. Ask for them to remove our number.
5. For the really persistent. Ask them to hold on as there is something in the oven. Mute the phone and do whatever we were doing before they called. So far the longest any muppet held on is nearly 15 minutes!!!
 

Scoosh

Velocouchiste
Moderator
Location
Edinburgh
I had an Indian guy call me last week. He asked if I were Mr Scoosh. I said I might be and who was calling. He just asked to speak to Mr Scoosh. I repeated that I wished to know who was calling. He told me to "give the phone to Mr Scoosh, you f***".

I realised that he was having a bad day :giggle:, so asked him why he wanted to talk to Mr Scoosh. He continued to be abusive and insisted I give the phone to Mr Scoosh.

I changed my voice slightly, said I was Mr S and asked what he wanted and why he wouldn't tell what he wanted. He continued to swear and ended with "We want our money !" :huh:

I was so frightened
smiley-scared003.gif
amused, I hung up just after he did.

It seemed a strange way to get my business ... :thumbsdown:
 

Venod

Eh up
Location
Yorkshire
I too have had fun with these scammers, I usually ask were they are calling from, and ask what the weather is like today, their answers are funny, obviously read straight of the weather forecast mentioning wind speed & precipitation :rolleyes:

This guy decided to see what happened if he played along.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-04/11/malwarebytes
 
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I have had the "Microsoft" one about 10 times now. Plus lots of others on various scams or PPI trolls.

My favourite response - "I charge £25.00 to take unsolicited calls. Who shall I bill this one to?"

It is great fun while they get their head around what you have said.
It then goes quiet quite quickly.
 

ASC1951

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
I don't get this 'having fun with scammers' - the poor sods making the calls are just trying to earn a living. What's wrong with 'Sorry, no thanks' then putting the phone down?

Does no-one here reflect what it is like, keeping your family fed by doing night shifts in a cubicle in a Mumbai call centre?
 

Venod

Eh up
Location
Yorkshire
I don't get this 'having fun with scammers' - the poor sods making the calls are just trying to earn a living. What's wrong with 'Sorry, no thanks' then putting the phone down?

Does no-one here reflect what it is like, keeping your family fed by doing night shifts in a cubicle in a Mumbai call centre?

Yes I feel sorry for them, I also feel sorry for all the burglars who have to make a living by breaking into houses, I might start leaving my doors and windows open.
 

ASC1951

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
Yes I feel sorry for them, I also feel sorry for all the burglars who have to make a living by breaking into houses, I might start leaving my doors and windows open.
:headshake:
Ah well. I'm sure you're not a **** in real life.
 
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ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
I don't get this 'having fun with scammers' - the poor sods making the calls are just trying to earn a living. What's wrong with 'Sorry, no thanks' then putting the phone down?

Does no-one here reflect what it is like, keeping your family fed by doing night shifts in a cubicle in a Mumbai call centre?


These people know exactly what they are doing. They know they are scamming. They know they are preying on the weak and the gullible. They deserve everything they get.
 
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