They keep calling. Recorded message "This is your final notice 
blahblahblah reduce interest rate on your credit card bill"

I managed to get a good enough rapport to get their real phone number. 
:) I'll play along and let them do their spiel, all along the way making 
up my own fictitious credit card sob story. They surely think they're 
talking to a real victim^H^H^H^H^H^Hcustomer. Then they get down to the 
nitty gritty. Banks, account numbers, the like. At this point I make up 
some reason I can't get to my details. You know, "I'm detained on some 
small island somewhere in the south pacific", or "I'm currently near the 
summit of Mt Everest, my credit cards are at Base Camp" or "I'm 
currently indisposed" (lame, but it works best to be skimpy on the 
details here) Go over the phone number a couple times, and your name? 
and what's the name of the company? I just want to make sure I'm getting 
the right number.

Of course, I have a reason to get them to regurgitate their actual phone 
number :)

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Good! Job!
I wish I had the nerve to the same.
Be sure and tell them that your recording the conversation so you don't 
forget anything. :)
Have Fun!

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Mike Raiford wrote:
> They keep calling. Recorded message "This is your final notice 
> blahblahblah reduce interest rate on your credit card bill"
> 
> I managed to get a good enough rapport to get their real phone number. 
> :)

...uh-huh...and you say it's wasting *their* time? ;-)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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The call, (and follow-up junk mail), that I've been getting is
a warning that my vehicle warranty is going to expire. Of
course I don't actually have a vehicle warranty in the first
place. I hope that too many people don't fall for this, it'd
be a rip-off for sure, they'd never fix a car, they probably
want your credit card number.

I like to hit the # key repeatedly when an automated call
comes in: in some cases it fools the equipment,
or at least someone gets an earful of beeps.

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Tim Attwood wrote:
> The call, (and follow-up junk mail), that I've been getting is
> a warning that my vehicle warranty is going to expire. Of
> course I don't actually have a vehicle warranty in the first
> place. I hope that too many people don't fall for this, it'd
> be a rip-off for sure, they'd never fix a car, they probably
> want your credit card number.
> 
> I like to hit the # key repeatedly when an automated call
> comes in: in some cases it fools the equipment,
> or at least someone gets an earful of beeps.
> 
> 

I've gotten my share of those, too ... I'm pretty fed up with 
"companies" spoofing caller ID to get around being fined for violating 
the Do Not Call list.

There's a reason people are on that list. Do they really think they're 
going to make someone who does not want to be bothered by direct 
marketing any more likely to listen to their pitch? Especially given 
that they're already proving themselves to be less than honest by faking 
their caller-id data.

I reported the warranty one to the FTC for fraud, as well as the credit 
card one. Doubt it will do any good. Telco says it looks like the call 
originated in the UK.. probably more nasty tricks with the phone system 
to keep themselves from being tracked down.

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Mike Raiford wrote:
> There's a reason people are on that list. Do they really think they're 
> going to make someone who does not want to be bothered by direct 
> marketing any more likely to listen to their pitch?

I always wondered that about spammers who try to get you to buy stuff 
from them by including all sorts of things to bypass spam filters. Like 
the only think that keeps you from buying a penis pump is that you 
hadn't heard of one yet.

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
  Ever notice how people in a zombie movie never already know how to
  kill zombies? Ask 100 random people in America how to kill someone
  who has reanimated from the dead in a secret viral weapons lab,
  and how many do you think already know you need a head-shot?

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Mike Raiford <mra### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> There's a reason people are on that list. Do they really think they're
> going to make someone who does not want to be bothered by direct
> marketing any more likely to listen to their pitch? Especially given
> that they're already proving themselves to be less than honest by faking
> their caller-id data.

Spoofers (and spammers) must have no concept of good-will equity--or common
sense for that matter.  Why would you do *extra work* to piss off people who
have demonstrated, by their actions, that they are not in your market?  This is
puzzling for people who it would seem are too lazy to build a customer base the
honest way.

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Darren New wrote:
> Mike Raiford wrote:
>> There's a reason people are on that list. Do they really think they're
>> going to make someone who does not want to be bothered by direct
>> marketing any more likely to listen to their pitch?
> 
> I always wondered that about spammers who try to get you to buy stuff
> from them by including all sorts of things to bypass spam filters. Like
> the only think that keeps you from buying a penis pump is that you
> hadn't heard of one yet.
> 

True. If somebody has a spam filter, and you do all that fancy stuff to
bypass the filter, what is the chance of him buying from you?! Most
probably he'll delete your message unread.

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