# What's the point (with insulting Indian phone calls)? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 11, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927 "2019-07-11T21:23:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/61 "2019-07-12T20:13:25Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > When I say it in the Pit, it means Regards. > > Bless your heart, > Shodan [Conservative humor, ladies and gentlemen!](https://giphy.com/gifs/chloe-concerned-kaq6GnxDlJaBq) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/62 "2019-07-12T20:21:41Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Can I just say that it is quite jarring to see you close a post with what everyone else is thinking? Why is it jarring? That’s what he means with how he ends \*every \*post. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2019, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/63 "2019-07-12T21:33:33Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Why is it jarring? That’s what he means with how he ends \*every \*post. I’m not accustomed to him having any self-awareness. It’s disturbing when he displays any; like if your cat wanted to talk about his childhood trauma. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2019, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/64 "2019-07-13T08:13:46Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > OP, the truth is, you’ve brought this on yourself. When you answer the phone and stay on the line, you give scammers two important pieces of info: 1) It’s a working phone number. 2) You answer the phone. That automatically shunts you from a robo-call to a live scammer AND switches you to an active number list, so you get MORE calls. This is a common myth. It may have been true at one time, but current call schemes do not distinguish between active and inactive phone numbers. Since the name of the game is volume, the scammers absolutely don’t care if people are inconvenienced by frequent calls, and phones which may have been inactive once might become active at any time (perhaps a different party is at home), they call every possible number in an area code repeatedly. It’s much easier to _not_ keep any kind of phone number database. Answer or not, it won’t change the blanket calling pattern. How do I know? Besides intuition and log analysis, I have one phone number that is never answered and one that is always answered. Over time, both numbers are called at about the same rate. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/65 "2019-07-13T11:32:56Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I’m not accustomed to him having any self-awareness. In my experience, he’s very self-aware. Racist trolls often are. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2019, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/66 "2019-07-13T11:39:38Z")
It’s funny how the OP now parses differently than intended. Now I see it as best meaning “what’s the point in _my_ insulting Indians who make phone calls?”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/67 "2019-07-13T15:56:28Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > 1.6 billion people. I’m sure there are a couple of nice ones somewhere. Yeah, but NOT the assholes the OP is mad at. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/68 "2019-07-13T19:11:18Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > This is a common myth. It may have been true at one time, but current call schemes do not distinguish between active and inactive phone numbers. Since the name of the game is volume, the scammers absolutely don’t care if people are inconvenienced by frequent calls, and phones which may have been inactive once might become active at any time (perhaps a different party is at home), they call every possible number in an area code repeatedly. It’s much easier to _not_ keep any kind of phone number database. Answer or not, it won’t change the blanket calling pattern. > > How do I know? Besides intuition and log analysis, I have one phone number that is never answered and one that is always answered. Over time, both numbers are called at about the same rate. So you think you’re getting fewer calls because you stay on the line? :rolleyes: Well, I’ve logged all the scammer calls I’VE had over the past six months: zero. I quit answering unknown numbers a year ago. Does that mean not answering makes all calls stop? Nope. But my log proves just as much as yours does. I’d say you’re misinformed, but you haven’t done any research to back your claims. And clearly, you don’t understand how the system works. You have a theory you’ve built up in your head, probably backed up by social media claims (SO reliable). I did not say scammers won’t try your number again if you don’t answer: I said answering switches you to live (and in your case, apparently abusive) scammers. If you didn’t answer the damned phone, you wouldn’t be subjecting yourself to the abuse. Also, the FCC still advises not answering calls from unknown numbers. Or did you think wasting your time theirs stops scammers from calling you, costs them significant money, or keeps them from calling others? In which case, by all means, keep deluding yourself. Hey, if you want to sit there listening to filth and feeding your own racist rage, go right ahead. Just don’t kid yourself you’re doing something altruistic or effective. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/69 "2019-07-13T19:50:17Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > How do I know? Besides intuition and log analysis… Would this be the same flawless intuition that generated the syllogism: All phone scammers are Indian; all phone scammers are scumbags; therefore all Indians are scumbags. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/70 "2019-07-13T22:57:07Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Oh, I missed this part earlier. You’re deliberately trying to waste as much of their time as possible just for shits ‘n’ giggles and pretending that you’re somehow being altruistic by doing so? Yeah, no wonder they’re swearing at you. > > I have no love for spam callers and don’t think they should be shouting obscenities over the phone even at time-wasting giggleshits, but that doesn’t mean it’s ethical to be a time-wasting giggleshit. Behave like a grown-up and just immediately say “No thank you, not interested” and hang up as soon as you realize it’s a spam call. When my bank calls, or a local business trying to clean my ducts calls, I’m polite and nice to them. But these assholes are criminals. They are trying to steal money from the innocent. Do you hold the door open for bank robbers to speed them on their way? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/71 "2019-07-13T22:59:51Z")
I’ve only gotten abuse from them when I gave it to them first. Asking one shit if his mother knew he was a criminal seemed to set him off. When I asked one guy what OS I was running he hung right up. NoMoRobo blocks them pretty good, but the next time someone from the Windows company gets through I’m going to ask if they carry double pane windows. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/72 "2019-07-13T23:19:09Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > If I may guess: perhaps they are annoyed at you for not just hanging up and for stringing them along? . In my experience, the one thing that really annoys cold-call call centres, is hanging up on them. The only time I get people calling back to abuse me is when I hang up on them. They also don’t like it when I’m clear that I know what the game is: they’ll hang up in disgust with some obscene comment. But they won’t call back to abuse me unless I’ve cut them off. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/73 "2019-07-14T01:36:01Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > When my bank calls, or a local business trying to clean my ducts calls, I’m polite and nice to them. But these assholes are criminals. They are trying to steal money from the innocent. That doesn’t make your giggleshitting them with insincere and ultimately useless delaying tactics either ethical or effective. Like I said, if you really want to do something useful in preventing spam callers from stealing money from the innocent, get out there and help the innocent learn how to recognize and counter their tactics. That, of course, would require more thought and effort than just maliciously misleading spam callers on your phone and pretending that it’s an altruistic service to the community. > [@Melbourne](#): > > In my experience, the one thing that really annoys cold-call call centres, is hanging up on them. The only time I get people calling back to abuse me is when I hang up on them. I just say “No thank you, not interested” and immediately hang up. No abuse, no callbacks, no wasting my time with maliciously stringing the caller along or thinking up self-righteous rationalizations for my malicious behavior. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/74 "2019-07-14T03:17:37Z")
I get the same kind of calls. Many of them. Probably 15 a week. I ask them how the weather is in Calcutta. For months they used to just hang up at that point. But about two weeks ago they started getting testy about it. They are having a miserable hot summer and drought there. Last week a cousin of mine posted an experience on Facebook. He said he asked the Indian guy his age and then asked if he was straight or gay. And added there was nothing wrong with being gay. The guy went ballistic on him swearing in both English and apparently in his native tongue. I suspect the technology of preventing spoofed CIDs exists but the telephone providers simply don’t want to cut off a revenue stream. I miss Rachel from card holder services. Haven’t had a call from her in months. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/75 "2019-07-14T12:54:19Z")
Guessing it’s a very last ditch effort to get you to stay on the line and take the bait. Sort of a road rage thing perhaps. “Oh yeah? Well guess what you sonaofabitch, I’ll take your offer and prove that it’s a scam! Then I’ll call my friend at the FBI, AND THEN I’m gonna call your boss1!!!111!” Yes, there are people that stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/76 "2019-07-14T15:34:36Z")
Just as long as the calls are being monitored or recorded for quality assurance and training purposes, I’m good. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/77 "2019-07-14T17:16:19Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Oh, I missed this part earlier. You’re deliberately trying to waste as much of their time as possible just for shits ‘n’ giggles and pretending that you’re somehow being altruistic by doing so? Yeah, no wonder they’re swearing at you. > > I have no love for spam callers and don’t think they should be shouting obscenities over the phone even at time-wasting giggleshits, but that doesn’t mean it’s ethical to be a time-wasting giggleshit. Behave like a grown-up and just immediately say “No thank you, not interested” and hang up as soon as you realize it’s a spam call. I disagree. There’s a difference between \*\*sPam \*\*calls and \*\*sCam \*\*calls. The contractor cold-calling me about potential home repairs is a \*\*sPam \*\*caller, and is deserving of a polite, “No, thanks, not interested–please take me off your call list,” and he gets one from me. He’s annoying, but he’s just trying to make a living. The scumbag who’s trying to convince me the IRS is after me unless I pay a fee, or my computer is full of viruses and I need to give them access so they can “fix” them, is a \*\*sCam \*\*caller. They’re trying to injure me. They’re trying to steal from me. They are criminals. Therefore, I owe them absolutely no civility, kindness, or understanding. They’re lucky I don’t blow an air horn into the phone, instead of just laughing at what idiot scammers they are and hanging up. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/78 "2019-07-15T16:14:20Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > So the secret to harmony and world peace lies within fajitas? And maybe margaritas? Yes. Sometimes it takes two margaritas. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/79 "2019-07-15T16:26:56Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I disagree. There’s a difference between \*\*sPam \*\*calls and \*\*sCam \*\*calls. The contractor cold-calling me about potential home repairs is a \*\*sPam \*\*caller, and is deserving of a polite, “No, thanks, not interested–please take me off your call list,” and he gets one from me. He’s annoying, but he’s just trying to make a living. He’s also violating the law. I am on the Do Not Call list. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927/80 "2019-07-15T16:38:18Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > I miss Rachel from card holder services. Haven’t had a call from her in months. I remember her! I think she had a thing for me because she kept calling. Did she ever fix her headset? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-point-with-insulting-indian-phone-calls/836927.md?page=5)