New Scam?

[GalaxyBoy]

I got a call from a number I didn't know yesterday and answered it only because the area code was the same as my EX-employer's regional office and thought it could be someone calling me from a cell phone. The spiel started out after a pause with a lady saying something about 'sorry, I had to adjust my headset.' The she started into a pitch for a vacation or some such. I said 'take me off your call list' and hung up, convinced I was talking to a person. Well, after Googling the phone number, I discovered it was a recording. It sounded very much like a live person. These crooks will never stop.

Edit: I posted this without reading Jonat's post three messages above this one. Same recording, it appears.

 

[Live And Learn]

Commonly cited, but apparently bogus.
'Can You Hear Me?' Scam Warning

I owe you BIG TIME for this ! I never thought to check Snopes. A warning to never say "yes" on the phone because it can be a scam was actually printed in our Church bulletin. My mom got a scam call and said yes and then immediately called me nearly hysterical. I can now (honestly) tell her that the warning about the scam may also, in fact, be a scam !

Thank you thank you thank you !!!

 

[Sunset]

I used to return a lot of junk mail solicitations like this (blank of course), sometimes with notes scribbled on top of them, using their business reply/postage paid envelopes, sometimes stuffing extra junk inside. It seems that the last few years the postage paid envelopes have become rare, and I'm not about to pay for a stamp, so haven't been doing it lately.

A few times my brother went even further, cutting a piece of wood or metal to fit the return envelope for maximum weight, and sending that. (The receiver pays for actual postage cost for the weight.)

I have just returned some junk mail for some investment thing. They have been mailing me junk for 8 years now.
So I decided I'd stick their survey with a note on the top to stop mailing to me. Put it in the postage paid envelope and had a nice walk to the post office.

 

[JoeWras]

I owe you BIG TIME for this ! I never thought to check Snopes. A warning to never say "yes" on the phone because it can be a scam was actually printed in our Church bulletin. My mom got a scam call and said yes and then immediately called me nearly hysterical. I can now (honestly) tell her that the warning about the scam may also, in fact, be a scam !

Thank you thank you thank you !!!

"Yes" still matters. Their robots look for this word. It isn't necessarily to feed back to some scam engine, rather, it shows a willingness to engage.

For many of us, when "Suzy" calls up and says, "Hello, can you hear me OK?," we've learned to be cautious. A quick "yes" shows willingness.

And if you are 80 or above and say "yes," believe me, they grade you a 10+.

Just follow this thread about that. There's a few reports of parents having issues. It is a fair warning to all of us as we age. Except the next great thing may be from some other angle we don't understand. Maybe some "fake autonomous car pick up" or something.

 

[target2019]

If you err in picking up a scam call, say no to every question and see how long it lasts.

 

[RunningBum]

I owe you BIG TIME for this ! I never thought to check Snopes. A warning to never say "yes" on the phone because it can be a scam was actually printed in our Church bulletin. My mom got a scam call and said yes and then immediately called me nearly hysterical. I can now (honestly) tell her that the warning about the scam may also, in fact, be a scam !

Thank you thank you thank you !!!

Saying "Yes" may or may not be a problem (again, Snopes rates this as "Unproven", not false), but there is zero evidence that the warnings about saying yes are any kind of a scam. Clearly the telemarketers ploy asking "Can you hear me?" (which has been documented) is to get some kind of positive response, the reason why is not clear.

I think you've concluded what you wanted out of the Snopes article, without reading what they really said. You can honestly tell her there are no confirmed reports of anyone getting scammed out of money due to this, but she's likely to get a lot more calls as she's probably been ID'd as a good candidate to be scammed. I'd also keep a closer eye on all accounts just to be safe.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I got the same one the other day, but as I had recently signed up with the Jolly Roger Telephone Company, she was talking to a bot whose job was to keep the caller on the line as long as possible. It's already grabbed a couple of these calls for me, and I get an email afterward with a recording. Works best with VoIP services that have multiring, or Google Voice. Check it out.

Hey...looks like if you sign up there, you have to PAY MONEY...but the bot number is readily available on another part of the website, and that is FREE.

How to send YOUR telemarketers to this robot – Jolly Roger Telephone

Still trying to figure out how to forward unknown numbers to this bot though...

 

[jonat]

Hey...looks like if you sign up there, you have to PAY MONEY...but the bot number is readily available on another part of the website, and that is FREE.

How to send YOUR telemarketers to this robot – Jolly Roger Telephone

Still trying to figure out how to forward unknown numbers to this bot though...

You get two free calls to try it out. It's a whopping $6/year ($8.88 if you have Google Voice as they have to assign a separate number for you.) Well worth it in my view.

The Use a Robot page explains how to use it. There's also Summon a Pirate for cellphone calls. But for me, I just set Google Voice (which is my main number) to multiring Jolly Roger, and if they think it's a scammer or telemarketer, they pick up.

 

[Live And Learn]

Saying "Yes" may or may not be a problem (again, Snopes rates this as "Unproven", not false), but there is zero evidence that the warnings about saying yes are any kind of a scam. Clearly the telemarketers ploy asking "Can you hear me?" (which has been documented) is to get some kind of positive response, the reason why is not clear.

I think you've concluded what you wanted out of the Snopes article, without reading what they really said. You can honestly tell her there are no confirmed reports of anyone getting scammed out of money due to this, but she's likely to get a lot more calls as she's probably been ID'd as a good candidate to be scammed. I'd also keep a closer eye on all accounts just to be safe.

According to my mother the call went like this:

India guy: Hi, is this Michelle (mom's last name) ?
Mom: There is nobody by that name here
India guy: Michelle doesn't live there ?
Mom: Nope
India guy: So I guess I should take your number off my list ?
Mom: Yep

She normally doesn't answer the phone if she doesn't know the number but since she was expecting a call from someone at that time she answered. If she gets more calls we'll just change her phone number (and then I'll hear about the 300 friends and family that she'll need to notify ....)