# Scammers calling to non english speaking countries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 19, 2026, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830 "2026-01-19T22:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/1 "2026-01-19T22:17:58Z")
Got yet another scam call today. Usually I’ll just hang up but this time I decided to waste the guy’s time. Scammer: (Has Indian accent. Says that he is from “TV services” and then asks for my name) Scammer: What is your first name, please? Me: My first name is Terry, T - e - r - r- y Scammer: Ok, and the last name? Me: Boll, B - o - l - l Scammer: Terry Boll, right? Me: That’s right, I’m terrible. Scammer: (hesitates a second or two) Why are you terrible? Me: I’m TerryBoll because l like to waste scammer’s time. Scammer: (Says nothing. There is a long pause before he hangs up) Anyway, it occurred to me the reason that we get a lot of these call is because English is a widely spoken langauge. Do people in non English speaking countries get scam calls? How many scammers would know a language that is spoken in only one or two countries such as Japanese, Swedish or Polish? If you live in such a country does your langauge protect you from getting these scam calls? ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/2 "2026-01-19T22:43:20Z")
I’ve seen many reports of phone scammers in Japan, the same kind of scams we hear of in the US. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/3 "2026-01-19T23:02:26Z")
Plenty of scam calls in Indonesia, from Indonesians targeting other Indonesians. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/4 "2026-01-19T23:03:42Z")
I believe the French-speaking residents of Quebec get their fair share of scam calls. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2026, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/5 "2026-01-19T23:27:19Z")
I never get voice calls of any kind, legitimate or not, but I get lots of scam texts in French (most often) and German (less often), plus Luxembourgish (occasionally) and Dutch (rarely). Never English, interestingly. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/6 "2026-01-20T00:00:15Z")
I’m in the Uk and get a steady stream of scam calls. If I have the time, I like to keep them on the line (to delay them phoning others.) My favourite: Scammer: Are you the home owner? Me: Yes Scammer: I’m calling from Microsoft about your computer. Me: Yes, this is Microsoft Support. Scammer: No, I’m Microsoft Support. Me: Yes, this is Microsoft Support. Scammer: No, I’m Microsoft Support. Me: Yes, this is Microsoft Support. Scammer swears and rings off. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/7 "2026-01-20T00:01:29Z")
I meant to add - there’s a very good BBC program which thwarts scammers: [Scam Interceptors - BBC iPlayer](https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m00164f1/scam-interceptors) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/8 "2026-01-20T04:27:42Z")
> [@ThisOneGuy](#): > > I’ve seen many reports of phone scammers in Japan, the same kind of scams we hear of in the US. Yup. Really common here. The initial kind of scam is called the オレオレ _ore ore_ scam because scammers would call and say オレだ, _It’s me._ using the informal masculine form of I / me. Scammers target the elderly of course (by just dialing zillions of numbers and seeing who falls for it). I get a lot of phishing texts for undelivered packages, utility bills and WhatzApp saying my account is compromised and I need to verify the login credentials with the attached link. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/9 "2026-01-20T11:23:19Z")
Germany with 84 Mio people is big enough of a target to be bombarded with scam calls. They often come from Turkey, Russia or other Eastern European countries where many people speak the language, but also from inside the country. But my mom even once got a call from “Microsoft Support” from someone with the typical Indian accented English. She knows a bit English, but she didn’t fall for it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/10 "2026-01-20T13:11:26Z")
Not quite on point for the OP’s narrow question. But very similar. Here in the English-speaking US there are a lot of spam calls made in Chinese. They tend to target area codes with large Chinese populations, but all area codes get hit at least a little. It seems the spammers are calling and impersonating some form of mainland Chinese police. Who then try to extort money from the Chinese expat living in the USA. To directly tie this back to the OP … [US immigrants from mainland China] are a large enough target “market” to be attacked by spammers. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/11 "2026-01-20T17:13:54Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Here in the English-speaking US there are a lot of spam calls made in Chinese. They tend to target area codes with large Chinese populations, but all area codes get hit at least a little. > > It seems the spammers are calling and impersonating some form of mainland Chinese police. Who then try to extort money from the Chinese expat living in the USA. I live in Toronto and I would estimate 80%+ of audio call scams I get on my voicemail are in Chinese (sometimes I get my wife to translate). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/12 "2026-01-20T18:30:10Z")
The fact your wife can translate such calls and they’re so numerous strongly suggests that your (and her) phone numbers are on some dark web list of phones known to belong to Chinese expats. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/13 "2026-01-20T18:31:44Z")
Maybe, but possibly English language scam calls don’t bother leaving messages or maybe they prefer text message scams instead. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/14 "2026-01-20T20:40:09Z")
I’ve gotten a lot of spam calls on my cellphone in Chinese. (I assume Mandarin). I’m in Canada. I have zero connection with Chinese. The only possible connection is that we applied for visas for a tourist visit well over a decade ago. I’m also inclined to believe that this is simply random spam because there is a moderately high number of Chinese immigrants and students in Canada, so they call everyone. I have no idea what’s being said. It is obviously a recording, a woman’s voice. Some online things I’ve read suggest the interpretation is that the caller is warning that the authorities - Canadian or Chinese - are after them and that they must do X or Y to avoid legal issues. Presumably, this involves money. I don’t live in Quebec, and I have _never_ gotten a French spam call. I get a very much larger number of spam calls and texts compared to my wife, since her number is mixed in with regular land-line numbers allocated from the time when cell phones were rarer, and mine in in a block allocated to one of the cellular providers. Spam on the land-line has pretty much dropped to zero the last two years. Typically if I get a call with no caller ID or from my buddy “Likely” (Call ID says “Likely Fraud”), then I answer and wait, say nothing. Almost always, it’s an autodialer and if no response, does not connect to the call center human. After 3 or 4 second it beeps twice and hangs up. Humans, a real call, will go “Hello? Hello?” (I found this out, the doctor’s office has a blocked ID.) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/15 "2026-01-21T00:57:15Z")
I don’t answer my phone unless I recognise the number. I occasionally get a scam voice message, but it’s rare. I assume that by never answering unrecognised numbers that means I don’t get on a “potential sucker list”? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/16 "2026-01-21T13:41:55Z")
I’ve got plenty of scam calls in English on my German landline number. Usually of the “Microsoft support” variety. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/17 "2026-01-21T14:31:04Z")
This is exactly my strategy as well, and it seems to work. If you pick-up, they some how note it as there is a live person at the number, and then the number lives forever on the dark web. If I did somehow mistakenly pick up a scammer call, I’d waste as much of their time as I could, so they have less time to bother others… Me: Hello. Scammer: Hello, this is Microsoft Support, may I speak with snowthx? Me: One moment, please (put phone on mute, set phone down, walk away). I suspected scammers work in any language where there is a big enough chance of snagging people, and comments here support that. It must work sometimes if they keep doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/18 "2026-01-21T17:27:31Z")
I have a Chinese last name. I get a lot of spam texts in Chinese (I assume, it looks like Chinese but since I have zero Chinese language skills I’m not sure). I used to get spam calls in Chinese as well, until I learned years ago to let unknown numbers go to voicemail. I’ve always assumed that my name and number is in some database (funny, such a thing was common in olden days - it was called the White Pages) that got mined for Chinese sounding names. I also get a lot of likely catfishing invitations on LinkedIn from what appear to be young Asian women (going by the profile picture). No pretense of working in a field remotely connected to mine. Ignore. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/19 "2026-01-21T19:00:34Z")
I wish there was an easy way to make the phone answer with a fax machine response. Maybe some day I’ll record a fax machine and make that the voicemail message. 😃 (I never use voicemail, I never set it up on my phone… but apparently there’s one there.) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830/20 "2026-01-21T19:54:48Z")
There were plenty of scam calls in Taiwan. My father, when told he’d “won” a large sum of money, would annoy the scammers by promptly asking them to donate the money to such-and-such a charity for him. Another time, a scammer called a friend’s mother and told her that her son had just been kidnapped and that ransom needed to be paid….when her son was in fact in the room right there with her. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scammers-calling-to-non-english-speaking-countries/1026830.md?page=2)