Then there are the out and out scam callers such as the man who said he was from the security department of Visa and Mastercard, others saying they are from the ATO (Australian Tax Office) and the robot voice claiming to be from the Department of Home Affairs. As well Australia has been plagued by robot calls from "Nicole at the NBN" ever since that entity came into being before we even get to the supposed security department at Microsoft which has been annoying everyone for years. Usually I just hang up as soon as they begin their spiel but I'm getting more and more fed up with them disrupting my life. Today I was very tired having slept badly and decided on a post lunch nap. We'd already had three scam calls during the morning and to get a period of peace I went as far as unplugging the landline which worked for that line but I was still woken by a call on my mobile. Another scammer.
I'm really fed up with this. Having to race to the phone is challenging for someone like me - and it's not only the phone. I get emails either phishing or threatening me with having various services cut off. I know there's no point in getting upset or appealing to their better nature - these people have no conscience or they wouldn't be doing what they are - but it would be nice if there was something I could do to irritate them as much as they irritate me.
I have had fun at the scammer's expense on a few occasions when I've had plenty of time. My favourite was probably when I let fly a string of abuse - without swearing once - at one man who obviously didn't quite grasp how to be a scam artist because he rang back after I'd hung up to tell me I was a very rude woman. On the other hand it might have been another I've just remembered. I was out watering the garden with the hose and one of the kids took the call allegedly from Microsoft security and brought the phone out to me. I entertained myself at their expense for a full ten minutes as the woman tried to get me to follow her instructions to input some computer code. I pretended that I didn't understand and things were going wrong as for example when I sobbed "Oh no, the screen has gone blank. How do I fix it?" I could practically hear her gritting her teeth as she explained over and over again until I got bored and told her she should be ashamed of herself. She was so stunned that she didn't even hang up, just listened as I ranted at her.
But while this amused me for a time - and prevented them from calling someone else for a little while - it doesn't solve the problem. Even caller ID doesn't stop the phone ringing and that for me at least is the real problem because until you get to the phone you don't know who it is. I guess we're stuck with these inconveniences since there'll always be people who seek to take advantage of others. It's sad, though, isn't it.
4 comments:
We get them too, Helen, far too many of them, but we simply hang up. Like many, I suspect, I have occasionally hung up on a bona fide caller, but they call back right away, and may have done the same thing themselves so there are no hard feelings. The morons who do this keep doing it, so I have to conclude that on balance it works for them. There have always been charlatans and cheats and I suppose that there always will be.
You're right that they must have some success, David, and that there have always been conmen and women like these. I just wish there was a way of stopping them annoying us.
I have read two theories about the phone call when they say nothing. 1. That the automatic calling system they use has called multiple numbers at the same time and you weren't the first to pick up. Lucky you. 2. That they want you to say your name so they can record and use it for another attempted scam. I think Nicole at the NBN should be tracked down and locked in a room where 100's of phones are constantly ringing.
It does seem counter-productive to call and then not speak, doesn't it, Graham - and I agree wholeheartedly about Nicole at the NBN.
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