Yet Another To Forward... (Phishing)

@supersnipe Oh, the scammers never miss a chance, do they?

I've found with some, particularly the telephone calls, that once they realise you will not co-operate they will leave you alone for a while. That might mean the gangs exchange information, and if one finds you non-compliant will tell the rest of these cowardly parasites.

By the way, don't you have the £ sign on whatever you use for this? I've noticed quite a few people use "GBP"- and come to that, even in newspapers, "percent" - instead of "£" and "%".

@ArishMell I have a pound sign but it comes up as a #.

I do not pick up my landline unless it is a number I recognise. As a result, nuisance calls have gone down from being a significant distraction to negligible.

@supersnipe I see. I wonder why some systems do that. I use a forum dedicated to one of my hobbies, and certain symbols posted on that often come out as other characters. It also creates annoying emojis if you type certain punctuation marks next to each other.

My landline 'phone does not display numbers, but that is the one that attracts the scammers. Some calls are from real people, some are recordings (easy to spot), others are those worrying silent calls.

My portable one does show the number, but not name; so not much help if I don't recognise or remember it. Luckily I don't use that 'phone enough to attract wrongful attention..

@ArishMell The first time I had a silent call twenty odd years ago it really spooked me. I didn't know about auto-diallers, but guessed at their existence when it happened again.

@supersnipe They are eerie. At one time potential burglars were said to use silent calls to determine if anyone was at home; but I don't know what these auto-dialling systems are for. They don't appear to be followed by actual calls. They might simply be verifying the continued existence of the called number.

The recorded messages are easy to spot. Just try speaking to it in mid-flow: a human caller will react to the interruption while a recording waffles imperturbably on.

@ArishMell The autodial works pretty much as follows: the operators sit in booths, the autodial does its business and when someone picks up, a light goes on signalling the operators to attend to the call. When they don't do this immediately, you get that spooky 'dead' time.

@supersnipe I see! My experience is that if you let the silence run its course, it ends with a 'click', and that's it. No follow-up call; at least nowhere near the time or even date.

@supersnipe i never pick up mobile calls from unknown numbers either, but the landline is different. I love messing with people doing "surveys" or who know my name and "understand" I'm the home owner.

@damselfly I use various ways to shake them off.

One evening though, maybe 15 years ago now, I had a call from someone trying to sell me a portable 'phone contract that would cost me more than my normal PAYG use. This seemed a genuine sales attempt, not a scam.

After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing he with the Far Eastern accent excused himself, and a young lady came on the phone.

"Oh aye?" thinks I, "The charm offensive."

I didn't work. I managed to turn the conversation away from telephones and contracts; and we had a very pleasant chat for about twenty minutes or so. It was quite easy really, because she said that I was one of the few cold-called people not to slam the phone down or swear at her.

A couple of weeks later Angel, as she had introduced herself, rang again, for another chat without trying to sell me anything. I warned her to be careful not to be caught doing this.

I heard once more from Angel and again warned her.

I never heard from her again; and I do hope she'd not been dismissed for telephoning strange blokes in foreign countries just for a friendly chat! I should add that there was never anything sexual in our talks.

@ArishMell i said, "Do you, indeed?" to the chap who told me he understood I was the home owner, and HE put the phone down. Other times Ive asked cold callers if they've let Jesus into their lives (once got stuck on that, but have learned from it) and they usually hang up. Other times ive let them try to sell me something then had to answer the door, sometimes to "the bailiffs.". It's all fun

@damselfly Oh, they soon realise you don't believe them.

Ones I spot as actually criminal, I sometimes call them that outright and put the phone down before they can. Or been slightly less blunt with ones claiming to be from Microsoft or "The Windows Corporation", and instead say I work in IT security...

Oddest perhaps was a man with an English accent asking politely, "Is that Mrs. [Mell]?"

"No, I'm Mr. [Me -] " Bang! He hung up immediately. No idea what he wanted to sell or con my non-existent wife out of.