# What causes the characteristic "poike" sound on scammer's phone calls? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 17, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733 "2025-03-17T17:50:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/1 "2025-03-17T17:50:32Z")
I have observed, for years, that if I get a call from a random phone number, just before a human comes on the line, there is an electronic sound I characterize as “poike” (just say it like it sounds; silent “e”). When that happens, the call is _always_ from an Indian scammer (at least as far as I can determine). This sound may be the first thing I hear, but if the call is made by a robot first, the poike sound comes just before a live human starts to speak. I imagine the sound is generated by the hardware or software that handles the outgoing calls, but I have never heard it during “legitimate” robo calls, like reminding me of a doctor’s appointment or an upcoming bill. Does anyone know what this is? I ask only for curiosity’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/2 "2025-03-17T17:51:40Z")
That is funny-I have always called it “DOIP!”. Again, never happens with a legit call, and almost always the caller ID is totally different from who they claim to be. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/3 "2025-03-17T18:04:42Z")
I had always assumed that noise had to do with international calling and the transfer to the US domestic network when you take the call, but that’s just a wild ass guess. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/4 "2025-03-17T18:06:24Z")
Unfortunately, the international calls I have received from non-scammers and acquaintances shows this not to be true. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/5 "2025-03-17T18:11:19Z")
But the people that called you probably didn’t use an autodialer like scammers do. Perhaps it’s related to how the autodialer works combined with the fact that it’s an international call. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/6 "2025-03-17T18:13:31Z")
Perhaps. It is kind of hard to tell if this is true considering the amount of outright lying going on concerning where the calls come from, but you may be right. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/7 "2025-03-17T18:24:09Z")
I’ve asked callers about that a couple of times. They either didn’t know what I was talking about or were pretending not to know. Really, I guess I shouldn’t expect the people on the phone to have the slightest clue. But I’m surely not going to talk to them about the scam, so whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/8 "2025-03-17T18:30:17Z")
There is usually another bit of software after the auto-dialer that assigns any live call to an agent who is free (i.e. not involved in a call already). That is, I presume there is a pool of scammer agents who take calls from a pool of auto-dialed calls, and when each of those calls get picked up by a person, the call clicks into an available agent. That way, the agents are not sitting through busy signals and no answers; sometimes the software even seems to be able to distinguish when a call is picked up by voicemail vs. a person. Anyway, that noise may be from whatever software switch is putting the call to the available agent. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/9 "2025-03-17T19:46:47Z")
I guess I was curious if the sound was coming from software or hardware at the originator or externally (like from the call transport service). And is there anything significant about the sound; does it mean something or is it just an artifact of the process? ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/10 "2025-03-17T19:55:31Z")
I get what I assume is the sound under discussion, just before it hangs up. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/11 "2025-03-17T22:02:27Z")
I was wondering why I don’t recall hearing this on any of the calls I receive from obvious scammers, but then realized that I haven’t answered a call from a number I don’t recognized in many years. I let them go to voicemail and just read the transcript which, apparently, omits the “poike”. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/12 "2025-03-18T03:30:31Z")
I actually worked (for a very short time) for a company that did software for call centers. This would indeed be the software finding a person to connect you to. Also, probably cheap bad software, as the transfer should have been seamless. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/13 "2025-03-18T14:11:28Z")
What I’ve been hearing lately is “click-sh-sh-sh-sh” over and over. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/14 "2025-03-18T17:10:42Z")
When I worked at a place that ran an auto dialer (a survey company), IIRC we would be alerted that we were being connected with someone with an announcement of the name of the survey we would be giving (you could be in the queue for more than one survey), followed by an alert tone indicating that we were live. Maybe you’re hearing the tail end of that alert tone leaking into their mic? ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/15 "2025-03-18T17:56:44Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > When I worked at a place that ran an auto dialer (a survey company), IIRC we would be alerted that we were being connected with someone with an announcement of the name of the survey we would be giving (you could be in the queue for more than one survey) … Interesting. That would explain why when I get spam or scam calls, when I answer the call I get several seconds of silence at first - a much longer time than the caller of a normal call normally would take to react to my announcing myself. A good thing too, as it gives away that this a spam/scam call. A normal call ::rring:: Mops. _Good morning, this is X-plumber, Y speaking. Are you at home today at 14 o’clock? Our journeyman could fit you in then._ A spam/scam call: ::rring:: Mops. … Hello? … Who is calling? … Hello, can you hear me? … Anyone calling here, I hear nothing. _Good morning, this is Microsoft Technical Support._ ::click:: ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/16 "2025-03-18T18:32:59Z")
Since none of the callers seem to acknowledge that kind of tone, I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/17 "2025-03-18T18:34:45Z")
That doesn’t sound much like “Doip!” or “Poike”. Maybe a language issue? ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/18 "2025-03-18T18:51:27Z")
Or they’ve heard it so often they don’t hear it anymore ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2025, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/19 "2025-03-19T23:35:33Z")
I had never noticed it before I read this thread a few days ago. Then yesterday I got such a call. I was already getting ready to hang up anyway. If there’s nobody there, goodbye. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2025, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/20 "2025-03-27T21:29:53Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > There is usually another bit of software after the auto-dialer that assigns any live call to an agent who is free (i.e. not involved in a call already). That is, I presume there is a pool of scammer agents who take calls from a pool of auto-dialed calls, and when each of those calls get picked up by a person, the call clicks into an available agent. That way, the agents are not sitting through busy signals and no answers; sometimes the software even seems to be able to distinguish when a call is picked up by voicemail vs. a person. Anyway, that noise may be from whatever software switch is putting the call to the available agent. Since I get calls from field techs all the time, I do not have the luxury of letting calls from unknown numbers go to voicemail. However, I wait five seconds after picking up tha call before I say anything. The scammers’ poike _always_ comes after I speak. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733.md?page=2)