Its a variation on an old favorite. You get a call from some stranger who gets you to reply in the affirmative to a question, like, “can you hear me?,” and then hangs up. You are then charged for a service you didn’t want and they use you’re recorded voice to declare that you agreed to the offer. Now the scammers are using communication equipment that mimics the human voice to a near perfect degree to make mass calls with auto dialers.
A bigger scam is that LA Times website you’ve linked to. Holy pop up, scroll prevention, video advert, low horizontal pop overs and content that started to overheat my computer after switching off adblock since the article can’t be read with it on. Piece of shit site I’ll never go there again.
I only answer when I can see the number of the calling party.
@eternal cracker p: Amen to that. But then it’s probably run by Cacafornia Libs, so no big surprise.
@Everybody: Regarding the phone scams:
1)Use caller ID to screen your calls and answer only the ones you know are legit. Everybody else can leave a message and you can call them back if you’re interested.
(2) Sign up for NOMOROBO (stands for NO MOre ROBOcalls), a free (for landlines) service that can eliminate up to 95% of spam callers, because of the massive data base of numbers they maintain and constantly update. You can Google “NOMOROBO” for more info.
Taking those two steps have eliminated any dealings with spammers, human or machine, for me.
🙂
LA Times website is a scam-bot.
I can’t read the article unless I sign up, screw them.
Like Vet, I don’t answer numbers I don’t recognize. I will then google the number. Nine out of ten times, the number is associated with a scam.
if i get nomorobo, then i will never know if my computer has a virus.
I have a lot of fun with “sam” or “miranda” from india when they call and alert me to the many viruses i have on my windows computer. The fun is almost orgasmic. The climax is when they hang up on me.
@cfm990: I do the same thing for the occasional call that gets through NOMOROBO (which I still don’t answer if I don’t recognize the #). They can’t possibly block all spam numbers, because spammers are constantly adding new ones. Then, if I find comments indicating the number is unsafe, I log on to NOMOROBO and report the number as spam. They will then review the number and add it to their data base if it is. Easy peasy, and one more bad number bites the dust.
🙂
@Charlie WalksonWater: I also used to do that, because it made them waste their time.
Then I realized that I was wasting my time, too.
The FBI has time to hunt down a football jersey but can’t put these low life’s out of business?
Oh, stupid me, from the headline, I thought this was about congress.
I always get the one that sounds like people talking quietly in the background and while you’re saying, “Hello? Hello?” the chick comes on and says, “Oh! Hi! I’m sorry” and then she just keeps on talking nonstop about a resort area in Orlando that I inquired about… which I never did.
You block that number and it takes them a few days to realize that and then they call you with another number.
@MJA: You can only block so many calls, and most spammers have hundreds of numbers to choose from. You need a data base full of numbers to have any chance off stopping them.
Try the free Hiya App. https://hiya.com/
They ARE getting better, though. I used to never answer calls from area codes I did not recognize. Now they can call from numbers in my area code.
@VietVet, you wouldnt want to deny an old man his (almost only) pleasure now would you?
I can’t worry about this now.
I just got a call that I’m being sued by the IRS.
The smart thing to do (other than not answer or hang up w/o saying anything) would be to answer “no”. Think about how that would tie them up in knots – you must be able to hear them otherwise how would you know to say “no”? But it would drive them crazy because all they get are negative responses.
A buddy of mine picks up the phone, says hello, then when he realizes it’s a soliciting call, asks in Portuguese if they would please continue the call in Portuguese.
I’ve done it myself, and it’s very entertaining.
Then when they finally give up, say, ‘OK, thank you for calling’, in perfect English.
@Charlie WalksonWater (at 3:54 PM): Never! You go right on doing whatever blows your dress up, even if having your dress blown up is literally what makes you happy.
I mean, who am I to judge?
😉
^ How did you know about that? Its a lie. The IRS guy made that up.
@Charlie WalksonWater: Just a lucky guess. But It’s nothing to be ashamed of, unless you’re not wearing any panties, of course.
🙂
I’ll answer numbers I don’t know with ‘Hello, Office of the Prosecutor, Please state you case number for assistance.’
Burner,
May I?
I’ve had caller ID show it was me calling myself.
@Alan: That’s when you know you’ve gone over to the Dark Side.
🙂
i’ve got one of those caller ids that talks…..makes me giggle whenever i get a call from un ASS ig ned…… 🙂