RANT CORNER

[Derek27]

Wow, scumbags or no that's a shit thing to say, and after claiming how you spent years on antidepressants the other day. Lucky there's not many zoomers on here.

I was in two minds before posting that and I apologise to anyone who is offended by it.

In my defence though, nobody cared about Hitler turning a gun on himself. Nobody would care if Putin did it. I just feel the same way about fraudsters.

But are the people you talk to the fraudsters or just poor saps looking for a job and are exploited by a ruthless *******? We can never know. Abuse won't stop them, but it would harden the individual. Politeness even when confronted by this bad behaviour is still the best way, I think .

If you tell somebody that child pornography has been downloaded through your internet connection and the police are on to you, you are without doubt a fraudster. Being at the bottom of the chain doesn't change that.

Next time I might play along and see what they're after.

[firlandsfarm]

I know you can still see warm days deep into October but for me September 1st always marks the end of the summer. and that is happening very soon.

31st August is the end of the meteorological summer season

[firlandsfarm]

Scammers are scum and a bit thick/lazy, but slightly less thick than anyone that falls for their twaddle.
I'm getting a daily phish from a company providing "Solar Panel Fuding".

I received another one since posting that. She asked how I am, I didn't want to frighten her off before I could abuse her so I just said, can you get on with it, I'm busy. But I must have raised my voice without realising because she hung up.

I think they must get a lot of abuse so unless you express fear that the police will be knocking on your door they just hang up.

My sister just says "No thankyou" and hangs up. She says she doesn't want the bitterness of the aftermath of abusng someone she doesn't know nor knows the circumstances they are in. My strategy is to hang up. Least time wasted for us both.

We need a vocal chatbot we can link their calls to!

[Kai]

I know you can still see warm days deep into October but for me September 1st always marks the end of the summer. and that is happening very soon.

31st August is the end of the meteorological summer season

Felt cold overnight for the first time in months

Usually well over 30° on average so multiple AC's are a must

[greenmark]

I received another one since posting that. She asked how I am, I didn't want to frighten her off before I could abuse her so I just said, can you get on with it, I'm busy. But I must have raised my voice without realising because she hung up.

I think they must get a lot of abuse so unless you express fear that the police will be knocking on your door they just hang up.

My sister just says "No thankyou" and hangs up. She says she doesn't want the bitterness of the aftermath of abusng someone she doesn't know nor knows the circumstances they are in. My strategy is to hang up. Least time wasted for us both.

We need a vocal chatbot we can link their calls to!

That made me chuckle. But I still think it's impossible to fathom who these people are or what their circumstances are.
It's taken me a long time to come to this view. Previously, I abused them and/or strung the conversation out, but that's all pointless. Hang up as soon as you know it's a scam, be polite if you feel the need.

[firlandsfarm]

Either I don't get the scammers calling or I don't give them enough time for me to form an opinion. What I seem to get is the cold calling sales people. What annoys me the most about them is not those making the calls but the equipment they use. They have an app. that will make say 10 calls simultaneously and the first to answer is connected to the 'caller'. You are at home happily doing something and you stop what you are doing to get you phone and answer it only to find the line is dead. Usually they withhold their number so a way to apply a small filter is to filter out all incoming calls where the caller has withheld their number.

[jimibt]

Either I don't get the scammers calling or I don't give them enough time for me to form an opinion. What I seem to get is the cold calling sales people. What annoys me the most about them is not those making the calls but the equipment they use. They have an app. that will make say 10 calls simultaneously and the first to answer is connected to the 'caller'. You are at home happily doing something and you stop what you are doing to get you phone and answer it only to find the line is dead. Usually they withhold their number so a way to apply a small filter is to filter out all incoming calls where the caller has withheld their number.

i get quite the opposite. the cold callers/scammers use numbers that display the local exchange code, i.e. 01671 ..... so as to appear to be a local number. you then answer and find that it's not a local sounding dialect (no issue in that), but when you ask where their business premises are, they say that they can't divulge that due to data protection.

i've kinda given up indulging them in any games and just ask "can you describe what you are selling and 3 ways that it will benefit me". if they come out with the line "i'm not trying to sell you anything", i reply with, "sorry - i only speak with folk that are trying to sell me something"... lol

[Derek27]

I've purchased Windows 11 Pro, formatted my hard drive and then installed Windows 11 Home by mistake!

[Derek27]

Either I don't get the scammers calling or I don't give them enough time for me to form an opinion. What I seem to get is the cold calling sales people. What annoys me the most about them is not those making the calls but the equipment they use. They have an app. that will make say 10 calls simultaneously and the first to answer is connected to the 'caller'. You are at home happily doing something and you stop what you are doing to get you phone and answer it only to find the line is dead. Usually they withhold their number so a way to apply a small filter is to filter out all incoming calls where the caller has withheld their number.

i get quite the opposite. the cold callers/scammers use numbers that display the local exchange code, i.e. 01671 ..... so as to appear to be a local number. you then answer and find that it's not a local sounding dialect (no issue in that), but when you ask where their business premises are, they say that they can't divulge that due to data protection.

i've kinda given up indulging them in any games and just ask "can you describe what you are selling and 3 ways that it will benefit me". if they come out with the line "i'm not trying to sell you anything", i reply with, "sorry - i only speak with folk that are trying to sell me something"... lol

When they say, "please feel comfortable, I'm not trying to sell you anything", I usually shout back, "just tell me what you are flipping calling for".

[ShaunWhite]

the cold callers/scammers use numbers that display the local exchange code

I never answer my landline, or my mobile if its from an unknown number, anyone who needs to contact me can leave a message, email, text or write a letter. That's more than enough ways, bells are for summoning staff, not me

[jamesedwards]

the cold callers/scammers use numbers that display the local exchange code

I never answer my landline, or my mobile if its from an unknown number, anyone who needs to contact me can leave a message, email, text or write a letter. That's more than enough ways, bells are for summoning staff, not me

The trouble is many public sector services can use unknown/withheld numbers. You never know if that call could be from a hospital, doctor, care home, school, police etc.

[foxwood]

I find easiest is to answer the call but not say anything - unknown mobiles withheld or out of area are left to go to voice mail.

Automatic call centre / spam feeders hang up if they hear nothing - real callers are confused and tentatively say "Hello" so you know it's probably a proper call

[Kai]

the cold callers/scammers use numbers that display the local exchange code

I never answer my landline, or my mobile if its from an unknown number, anyone who needs to contact me can leave a message, email, text or write a letter.

Yeah, not even pranksters use the landline anymore so not much point answering : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRRsXxE1KVY

For the more important stuff always best to leave your mobile as contact number

[ShaunWhite]

[. You never know if that call could be from a hospital, doctor, care home, school, police etc.

School or care home would be a surprise , but I guess you mean accidents etc well there's only my son to worry about, everyone else is gone or I don't care about them . Hospital would leave a message and I'd pick up while they were doing it. If its a worst case situation then the police would come round. But yeah its not a hard and fast rule obviously, if I'm waiting for something I'd pick up.

Reminds me, when mum was alive I'd let her phone ring 3 times, hang up and call again straight away, so she knew it was me otherwise she didn't answer it. Maybe genuine callers need to adopt the 3-ring system too

[Derek27]

FFS, we're in the 21st Century, cost of living crisis, war in Ukraine, FA president wanting to shag players on the pitch, and Sky News still has five minutes to spend on whether a photo of what looks like a pair of bin bags is the Loch Ness monster!