# Scammer calls. Does anyone actually fall for them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018 "2021-06-25T19:45:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/121 "2021-09-15T13:29:17Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Calls from my provider sound _exactly like_ scam calls. Scam calls sound _exactly like_ calls from my provider. My employer wants us to all be on guard against scam emails, but they persist in sending emails that frequently have many hallmarks of scams. It’s very hard to tell sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/122 "2021-09-15T13:42:26Z")
This happens all the time to me too. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/123 "2021-09-15T17:49:24Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Calls from my provider sound _exactly like_ scam calls. Scam calls sound _exactly like_ calls from my provider. > [@Andy\_L](#): > > This happens all the time to me too. There’s a huge difference between two different types of scam: One type is legitimate-sounding business fraud, and I can see how a reasonable person (like me!) may fall for it. (examples from this thread: a fake renewal of your existing phone service, or a fake notification to send your payment to a different bank account, for your existing bills. The other type is stupid beyond comprehension, and I refuse to believe that I or anyone I know could fall for it. A Nigerian prince wants to give me a million dollars, or the IRS tells me to pay my taxes with thousands of dollars in gift cards. Two very different kinds of fraud. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/124 "2021-09-15T21:30:41Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I refuse to believe that I or anyone I know could fall for it. A Nigerian prince wants to give me a million dollars, or the IRS tells me to pay my taxes with thousands of dollars in gift cards. Put the way you type it, no one would fall for it. Wrap it all in some plausible story, and catch you at a time when maybe you are not thinking so clearly, then… Maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/125 "2021-09-15T22:44:55Z")
Does anyone in the US get the ‘little’ scams? One I have received a few times here in Aus is a recorded voice message purporting to be from either the Tax Office, a Toill Road company or the Local council, saying I owe a small amount of money- say $40-50, ansd instructions as to how to pay over the phone. My guess is a lot of people will pay this thinking ‘Well, I do use that Toll road a bit, and I don’t want to get into any trouble with the Tax Office, so I’ll just pay this small debt off and avoid any hassle’. And then the scammer has won: a) He has your $40-50 (and probably has bots running that can make thousands of robot calls per day) b) He has your credit card details c) He knows you can be a fruitful target ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/126 "2021-09-16T02:39:07Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Two very different kinds of fraud. True, but I think the Microsoft/Windows fraud is of a third, more ambiguous category. It’s about something you actually use — that you’re a customer of, like your first category — but it exploits how few of us really know how we are tied to that company, in terms of payments and services. Same goes for the Social Security or IRS scams. These scammers have identified certain things we all use, and tried to make us think they are just like companies we are regular customers for, with simple monthly payments or fees for service. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/127 "2021-09-16T07:37:15Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > True, but I think the Microsoft/Windows fraud is of a third, more ambiguous category. It’s about something you actually use — that you’re a customer of, like your first category — but it exploits how few of us really know how we are tied to that company, in terms of payments and services. I disagree. It really depends on the fact that we all use technology that most of us know very little about. We press a button or click a picture on a screen and something happens. And we know (or think) that it’s Microsoft that makes it all work. So, when some helpful chap phones us and says that he is from Microsoft and it seems we have a problem - easily fixed if you follow these instructions, or better yet, just let me take over your computer for a few minutes, why would we not believe him. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/128 "2021-09-16T09:30:35Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > when some helpful chap phones us and says that he is from Microsoft and it seems we have a problem…why not believe him Because we all know from experience that there is NEVER a helpful chap on the line when we call a big company. There is always a telephone tree with confusing options, and then a 30 minute wait, and even then you rarely succeed in finding a real human being. If a random “helpful chap” approaches me on the street, I get suspicious. And on an anonymous unsolicitated phone call, It is even more suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/129 "2021-09-16T10:25:45Z")
I agree — I think we’re describing complementary aspects of the same phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/130 "2021-09-16T10:56:47Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > So, when some helpful chap phones us and says that he is from Microsoft and it seems we have a problem - easily fixed if you follow these instructions, or better yet, just let me take over your computer for a few minutes, why would we not believe him. - Ever call a(mega-corp) support line/customer service? There’s _NEVER_ someone free to take the call immediately. Let alone sitting around calling customers about problems on their computer/account, etc. Plus, since when does a company call you to say a service has been auto-renewed and paid for and want you to cancel it so they can refund the money? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/131 "2021-09-16T11:52:28Z")
You know that and I know that but… To quote George Carlin: _“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/132 "2021-09-16T16:06:48Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > The elderly are frequent targets, as noted. My in-laws - who are not generally stupid about stuff - have tried to fall for scams on several occasions. I think it’s a combination of a certain credulousness and willingness to believe that most people are honest, and the new techniques are not familiar to that generation so they don’t get suspicious as easily. > [@chappachula](#): > > Because we all know from experience that there is NEVER a helpful chap on the line when we call a big company. > > There is always a telephone tree with confusing options, and then a 30 minute wait, and even then you rarely succeed in finding a real human being. This is part of why the scammers target older people, and why older people are more likely to fall for the scam. For a lot of them, using the telephone is still a Big Deal. My mother is largely incapable of just hanging up on scam calls, because she has the ingrained attitude that hanging up on someone is extremely rude. For most of her life, phone calls were rare, and up until the 90s at least, quite expensive if it was long distance. Even after the last 20 years of scam calls becoming more frequent, she still can’t overcome the previous 50 years of habits. Plus, it’s been a long, long time since she had to deal with the phone tree BS we see these days. Before he passed away, my Dad dealt with all of that, and since then, my sister or I have been dealing with it. So she really doesn’t know how unhelpful real companies are these days. She still remembers when, if you called a company, there was a real person to talk to you, so she doesn’t automatically question the “helpful” person who called her about her computer or credit card, because that’s what used to happen 30 years ago. And the scammers all know this. It’s what they base their whole scheme on. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/133 "2021-09-16T22:44:25Z")
Dementia doesn’t help, either. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/134 "2021-09-16T23:06:17Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > For most of her life, phone calls were rare, and up until the 90s at least, quite expensive if it was long distance. Even after the last 20 years of scam calls becoming more frequent, she still can’t overcome the previous 50 years of habits. […] > because that’s what used to happen 30 years ago. ?? Telephone companies and banks and … were _not_ helpful 30 years years ago. The were already _notoriously_ unhelpful 60 years ago, and it wasn’t any better in the 1990’s. And phone calls were ‘rare’? That leads me to wonder what country you are from? Phones were used much less in Australia in the 1970’s than they were in the USA at the same time, but even here, the difference would be that older people were _more_ used to using the phone (and less used to using the internet). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/135 "2021-09-16T23:48:40Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > ?? Telephone companies and banks and … were _not_ helpful 30 years years ago. The were already _notoriously_ unhelpful 60 years ago, and it wasn’t any better in the 1990’s. Lets not forget the outsourcing of “customer support” overseas so customers became accustomed to foreign accents, poor knowledge and worse English while claiming to have Anglo names. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/136 "2021-09-17T14:32:10Z")
I can’t remember if I’ve posted this before, but it seems a handy resource for threads like this one: > **[Hindi Bad Words | PDF | Profanity | Connotation](https://www.scribd.com/document/256110319/Hindi-Bad-Words)** > > uyduyfhyjfhyj WRT communication, I’m partial to meeting people where they are – talking with them in language that’s easily understood. And once in a while, it’s just great for shits and giggles to choose a few delicacies from this list 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/137 "2021-09-17T21:49:36Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > This is part of why the scammers target older people, and why older people are more likely to fall for the scam. Just the other day, MIL send a rather proud email about how she figured out that the guy calling from “Publisher’s Clearinghouse” was a scammer. She got pretty excited, but the guy kept pushing her to pay a fee to a tax specialist, about 4,000 dollars. So she gamed him a bit. She said she didn’t have that much. “How much CAN you pay?” he asks. “I only have about 100 dollars”. She kept him tied up for an hour or more. He had finally told her that they could manage with a fee of just 300 bucks. In CVS gift cards. Now, at least she’d long since figured it was a scam and was just playing along - and she did waste his time. But it was worrisome that she spent even 90 seconds on the phone with him. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/138 "2021-09-19T22:31:11Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Now, at least she’d long since figured it was a scam and was just playing along - and she did waste his time. But it was worrisome that she spent even 90 seconds on the phone with him. For me that would not be worrisome at all. My father used to lead on actual phone solicitations for a half hour or so when those were common. We knew he wasn’t going to buy whatever they were selling, but he kept politely asking questions until he would finally tell them he was no interested. So staying on the phone a long time means he is having his fun. Me, I never had the patience for that and simply hung up after the second try of saying I am not interested. I only once actually engaged a scammer for few minutes and with the result of being insulted when I told them I knew they were a scam. I didn’t care and I thought it was amusing, but not amusing enough to do it again. These days I hang up within the first 30 seconds or so of whatever spiel is being made. `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/139 "2021-10-04T20:57:21Z")
Heh. Anyone see the 10/03/21 episode of the Simpsons? [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PRtXCqWAos) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2021, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018/140 "2021-10-04T21:17:52Z")
My neighbor’s brother is/was the victim of a romance scam. The total damage is still unknown, but they are still trying to unfuck the mess. The guy actually gave the “woman” his bank account information. By the time they caught it a few weeks ago, he was down $3,000 and counting and still reluctant to admit that he’d been conned. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammer-calls-does-anyone-actually-fall-for-them/945018.md?page=8)