Am I just plain stupid, or what?

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Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 5:13 pm

Tonight I got this weird telephone call.
An English voice mail message telling me that my telephone number had been randomly picked to receive a cruise of some sort.
If I were interested in any more info, please press 9.

Confused

There's no way I'd ever be stupid enough to do just that.
Now, English might not be my native language but I do know enough to realize that this smells fishy ... big time.

Unfortunately there are enough people around here who would press 9, just to see what would happen (just thinking of my grandparents, all near 90's and a good friend who's English is almost non-existent).

What do you think I should do? Contact anyone? Or just let it go?

Somehow I think this is some sort of telephone scam or telephone phishing attempt.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

It is just telemarketing, Margory . Ignore it.

Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 5:28 pm

Maybe not a scam as such, but you'd have to go and attend a timeshare or holiday hard sell, then still pay fees to go on your 'free' holiday, or ring an expensive phone line for details.

I had a lot saying 'Congratulations! you've won a...' I never did find out what, because I'd slammed the phone down by then.

Really these marketers work in the same way as 419 scammers, by offering you something for (apparently) nothing. Of course it never turns out that way.

Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 5:34 pm

Thanks for the quick reply.
I did slam the phone down, but I was so tired from work that I wasn't really able to think straight for a minute.
Go figure.
At least there are some nice / decent / awake people out there who are willing to help out with good comments.
Wink

Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 6:02 pm

The latest one seems to start off "Have you ever taken out personal loan insurance..................." Twisted Evil

No, now F**K OFF is my usual reply. Unfortunately 8 times out of 10 it is an automated machine. But the 2 times makes it worthwhile Laughing

Tags fixed - RC

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

Quote:

But the 2 times makes it worthwhile

It does, indeed.

Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 6:51 pm

Try this...

"Have you ever taken out personal loan insurance..................." Why yes I have, are you offering personal loans?...oh...can you hold one minute there's someone at my door...set the phone down and go back to whatever you were doing....next time you walk by the phone hang it up. In true "eater" tradition this method slows the live telemarketers down...from making their next harassing call... Laughing

Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:35 pm

I like that a lot GoNadsGo Laughing

I report them here http://whocalled.us/lookup/8666297707 and here http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-514-876-1307 hoping to warn one or two with it. Plus they have sometimes nice tips how to report a claim against that number Twisted Evil

Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:37 pm

GoNadsGo wrote:

set the phone down and go back to whatever you were doing....next time you walk by the phone hang it up

Unfortunately, my Mum does this when I ring her from abroad, assuming that when her caller ID says 'International', it's Clive of India, trying to sell her electricity or something.

Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:38 pm

Margory,
I don't know what country you live in, but where I am, this kind of telephone calls is not necessarily telemarketing.
If someone asks you to "push 9", it is a way to break into your phone data, a sort of skimming operation. Don't ask me how they do it though !

So maybe this could be a scam after all !

Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 9:40 pm

Here it is kids...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_slamming

There's more out there when you google it. I use being a victim of slamming as a reason not to be able to call out of country. Keeps the international calls from being made or so I want the lads to believe.

Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 9:44 pm

I constantly receive calls from people spruiking Wyndham Vacation Resorts or some such. Sometimes I cut them short; sometimes I let them ramble. Last week one of them asked me, "Have you ever taken advantage of our offer before?" So I answered, "Oh yeah - you people ring me all the time." She muttered something and hung up.

Back in July I had a call from two strongly accented individuals who tried to tell me that they had confirmed information that my computer had been infected with viruses and malware. I told the first one (a man) that I'd received no error messages or virus warnings, and after a while he handed me over to a second one (a woman) who told me they had fifteen or more error messages logged from my computer. I asked for details of when and what. She went away, and not long after the line went dead.

I've been told that they would have asked to remote-access my computer, at which point they'd have spun me a yarn about virus infestation, and charged me hundreds to "fix the problem".

Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 1:13 pm

I always tell them that I'm the Mistress and should not be here. Razz

Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 1:42 pm

I once knew a woman in her 70's who kept a very loud, high pitched whistle in a basket next to her phone...

Most telemarketers did not call her house twice.

As far as the cruise goes, the VAST majority of those are timeshares, or simply "free" cruises with a zillion fees attached that ultimately cost more than one you book through a travel agent.

Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:37 pm

If it is a female on the other end, I listen attentively for as long as I can, (about 30secs) then ask if she is wearing Vic Secrets Lingerie. I rarely get to ask any further than that.

If it is a male, I do a very good impersonation of Frankenfurter and ask him if he prefers to be on top or underneath.

I get the same reaction and they never call back Crying or Very sad

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