Any time I’m unsure, I ask about a pet that doesn’t exist. Or sometimes I do it when I am sure and just want to fuck with the scammer.
Unless they’re in a place where they can’t hear, wouldn’t a phone call be quicker for something kind of urgent?
They’re too busy texting other “family” members for help to waste time on a phone call
Never mind.
But it might be harder for a middle-aged Eastern European guy to talk on the phone like an American teenager.
[deep voice/thick accent:]
“Oh Emm Gee, Pops! I am like havink beeg huge problemo, like totes magoats!”
At my parents’ house in Connecticut, we’ve been receiving phone calls almost daily from people who ask if the house is for sale. I have no idea if these are scams or just investors looking for property to buy, but the calls are annoying. Has anyone else here received such calls?
I don’t get phone calls (although there could be ones my phone id’s as spam that I delete), but I get actual snail mail from realtors all the time wanting to know if we want to sell. Property’s hot in our area.
I get those calls pretty frequently. It’s always three questions: “Do you want to sell your house?” “Might you want to sell in the next six months?” “Do you have any other property you might want to sell?” I’ve taken to answering the last two questions along with the answer to the first one, just to save time. If I’m bored, I’ll ask them how much they’re offering. They never have a number, so I tell them to stop wasting my time.
I get texts like this all the time. I don’t reply and report the texts as spam.
I sometimes get calls, but I rarely pick up from numbers I don’t recognize. If they leave a message, I delete it. If they call twice from the same number, the number gets blocked.
Blocking #s doesn’t seem to have much, if any utility. Scammers have the ability to spoof any phone number they want.
Our email is flooded with realtor messages every day. I’ve told REMAX in no uncertain terms to remove us from their database, but it continues unabated. All because we were mildly interested in a lakefront cottage when we first moved here.
Usually, I don’t say anything after the initial “hello.” I’ll just hang up as soon the caller makes their intentions clear. Occasionally, though, I’m in a mood to give 'em a “Did you see a For Sale sign out front?” And after their no, “Then what makes you think I want to sell?”
I use those people as a means to vent and try out new curses. Or I’ll hit on them.
I tried answering, “No, thank you” to the unsolicited calls from people offering to buy the house but that only triggers a follow-up question, “Do you have any other properties for sale?” So then I fuck with them. “Yes, it’s in New York and it’s called the Empire State Building. Do you want to buy that?” Or “Yes, it’s at 1-6-0-0 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.” And on subsequent calls, I’ve taken to saying things like, “Yes, the house is for sale for $500 million cash.”
I’ve heard that, too. That’s why I only do it if I get multiple calls from the same number. Those seem to more often be a “real” number instead of a spoofed one. Especially if they leave a message for me to to call them back at that number.
We used to receive calls on the farm asking if the farm was for sale. I always wanted to tell them that the starting price was $100,000,000 but we would consider bids over that.
True. But if you set the phone to only accept calls in the contact list, the scammers would have to figure out who is in your contact list so that they can contact you.
My mother used to get numerous calls from pump and dump scammers trying to sell her some stock.
One time, in a very little old lady voice, she told the scammer something like, “Sure. I’ll take a million shares. No. Make it ten million shares.” The scammer hung up.
The problem with that is people legitimately calling you from numbers not listed. I get ‘on my way’ or “have to reschedule” calls from various people (plumbers, electricians, cable guy, etc). Either on their personal phone or a company one - in either case I won’t have it in my contacts.
Exactly. I get enough calls from legitimate callers that I don’t block calls from unknown numbers. But unless I’m expecting a call (like a service person is scheduled to come to the house), I won’t pick up an unknown call, but will instead let it go to voicemail.
If I am expecting someone or expecting a call back, then I do actually pick up. Which often turn out to be spam calls that managed in that instance to get through my normal defenses.