I’ve heard these wrong number scams are used to probe for an active phone number
Basically they’re fishing for a “sorry I think you have the wrong number” to confirm or deny that there is a human on the other side so they don’t waste resources spamming inactive phone numbers
Anyways this is still really funny tho
Exactly why you shouldn’t press the hang up button when unknown caller happens. Just mute the call and let it ring out in silence. Don’t press the voicemail button either to send them straight there. It’s like social media, any interaction is a positive for their bot system and the only way to avoid making things worse is to not interact at all.
All of them are to probe for active numbers. Calls and texts. The best thing you can do is ignore them. For calls, don't pick up, don't hang up. Even ending the call early let's them know your line is live.
Just ignore them and their system will mark your line as dead. I get maybe one or two calls a month now.
Sometimes when I have to answer a call from an unknown number, I'll pick up but won't say anything. A human will say something when they hear it stop ringing, but most bots listen for voice activity before they start their recording so they'll just stay silent as long as you do.
It's too bad. Back in the day, you could let somebody know they had the wrong number, and that could help them out. They could go ask a friend, "Hey, do I have the right number?“ or whatever. Now? Nope... Just perma-ghosted.
In a similar vein, there is unsolicited calls from call center that dial your number automatically. If you picked up and say "Hello?" they register the sound and connect you with an agent. So I picked up my phone and stay silent every time I got a call from a unknown number. Quite enough that ends up by being hang up after 5 or 10 seconds. Actual people say "hello?" first when we don't.
Right, but why pick up the phone at all? Simply answering marks you down on their list as an active number even if you don't say anything. Even turning down the call is enough to let them know there's a human on the other end. I've heard the best thing to do is let it ring so they think its dead.
At least that's my assumption. So maybe I'm wrong (though the part about letting it ring out is true, I believe)
I say hello all the time and I hardly get real scammers on the line anymore. I assume I've been blacklisted from call centers for the verbal harassment.
Good to know. I’ll just go back to ignoring them
Or channel your inner kitboga and waste their time.
That happens mostly with phone calls, doesn't it? They call you and if you pick up, they know it's and active number. I've picket up a phone call or two that immediately hung up on me and I immediately realised I had to expect a couple scam calls or texts I'm the coming weeks.
Yeah this is why I don't respond. Immediately marked as spam and number blocked.
Now there was a (very brief lol) period of time where I got a few Trump fundraising texts (my guess is someone put in my number as a joke or out of malice). They stopped coming after I replied with dick pics lol
I copied the og goatze pics 256 times into a separate folder. I attach all 256 and reply to scam numbers.
I did this for years against a series of scam emails that kept getting through my spam filter somehow.
Then I found out there's a guy with the same first and last name as me, with an extremely similar email address. So "real" people had been getting his email address wrong, and I was trolling his would-be clients. 💀
I’ve had someone repeatedly put my email as their spouse’s email in important situations. I’ve replied multiple times asking them to stop but they keep doing it.
I have the same name as their spouse, but you’d think you’d know your spouse’s email, or at least talk to them about it when you get a reply saying it was the wrong email!
I have a fairly unusual, albeit not unheard of, first name. As far as I can tell, I'm sharing my first and last name with 5 or so people in the US. Back in 2008 or so I nabbed first.last@gmail.com (I also own www.firstlast.com haha). Every so often one of my brethren will use my email at dicks sporting goods or something. I always finish activating the account for them and sign them up for text alerts or something. Nothing evil. I figure they can just reply "stop" to opt out.
Oh my... I had a slightly similar incident. New phone number, had a bunch of random strangers texting me (some even calling!) asking for Ethan. My name is not Ethan, I didn't know who Ethan is
No idea what was on my mind back then, but I somehow got the contact info of this mysterious Ethan, called him (hilarity ensued since he got a call from someone on his contact list named "Me"), confirmed his up-to-date number, and promptly referred everyone looking for Ethan to the real person for over a year...
Life is strange sometimes
Somehow that's even funnier 😂
An exchange with a scam texter and my kid.
On one hand, I don't want to believe any 8 year old has a phone and has that colorful of language.
On the other hand, "chuck e cheese will eat you man" with a tenor gif of chuck e cheese is 100% a statement an 8 year old would come up with
This isn't your kid bro, this is a pretty popular internet meme
Wut. I screenshot the text exchange myself. He could have copied the phrase from somewhere, like YouTube, but a quick search did not generate a meme or gif. A family member posted it in another community a few weeks ago, so you could have seen it there.
And everyone knows that only children without parents can make memes.
I used to fuck with these people until I saw that John Oliver about them and found out many are doing this against their will
The segment was good but you fucking with them still wastes their time so they don't scam someone else who would be less diligent. It's still good to waste their time. It just sucks that late stage capitalism is forcing them to do the job.
I’d like to hope maybe the scammer at least had a laugh. I’m sure they get much worse replies.
Nobody replied. If I’m wrong, I apologize Joanne, wherever you are.
She'll never ask for horseback riding ever again.
Poor Joanne, she probably now experiences night-mares from the screams.
Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming?
How does this scam work?
Wrong number scam. Which will turn into a romance or pig butchering scam.
Inetersting, so this is the base for other types of scams.
John Oliver did a nice explanation
Basically they pretend to have the wrong number, but then start chatting with you, gain your trust over a period of months, and then ask you for money or similar.
Man, finding friends as an adult really sucks nowadays.
No one really likes Joanne so they just pretend to be nice to her to get access to her horses. Oh how the tables have turned
Do horses scream?
Nay.
Everything screams if you try hard enough
Sort of?
Welp, those other horses should've stayed out of her shed.
James Veitch Scamalot vibes
I once got a wrong text from someone identifying themselves as a person named Sky. I proceeded to try to act like I thought they were Sky Tate from Power Rangers S.P.D.
I’ve heard a lot of these people are slaves in unstable countries making money for mafia. It is doubly tragic that when people try and troll “pig butchering” scammers, they are often also bullying a victim.
This wasn’t bullying though. Maybe I brought that poor soul a laugh.
