# What causes the characteristic "poike" sound on scammer's phone calls?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733>\
**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:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**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 27, 2025, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/21 "2025-03-27T21:52:46Z")

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> [@Maus\_Magill](#):
>
> …  
> 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.

Do you have exceptionally laid back people calling you? If I waited five seconds from picking up to speaking I’d always hear “… Hello? Anybody listening? Hello? …” from the caller.

(an aside: I always wonder how _anybody_ can realistically afford not taking calls from unknown numbers. I very often leave my mobile number as a contact for businesses, etc and do not enter their number into my contacts. I also leave my number with the master of a building business for necessary repairs, and get called days later by a journeyman of theirs, from his mobile number. The vast majority of calls that I get from unknown numbers are legitimate, and in my interest to answer)

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**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2025, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/22 "2025-03-28T03:02:58Z")

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A legitimate caller will usually leave a voicemail. A scammer almost never will.

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**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 28, 2025, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-causes-the-characteristic-poike-sound-on-scammers-phone-calls/1015733/23 "2025-03-28T04:13:18Z")

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Somewhat, I get scam callers that still leave a message, but they’re easy to delete and ignore. If you actually have a good reason to talk to me and you get my voicemail, you’ll leave a message telling me why I should call you back. Otherwise, you can eat it.

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