We've been receiving a larger than normal number of spam telephone calls recently. Sometimes I try telling them we've signed up with the TPS (Telephone Preference Service) - which we have, and sometimes I yell at them that they are jerks preying on the vulnerable.
I did that the other day; I got a call from "Amazon", so I pressed 1 and spoke to a "customer service representative". I suggested that we should both drop the pretence that she was actually an Amazon employee, and she took umbrage at that, asking why, if I knew that it was a spoof call, I would click through to talk to someone?
So today when "Amazon" phoned and told me that there was a large charge on my account, I played along. I expressed shock that someone might have accessed my account; no, I hadn't shared my password for my Amazon account or my wifi. I listened in faux horror as the "representative" explained that they had my best interests at heart and that's why they were calling me - to validate the charge and to stop fraudsters accessing my account.
They wanted me to sign in to my Amazon account on my laptop, although I didn't get that far this time. As we reached the five minute mark, I thanked the representative for spending time looking after me, and I asked if she had spent all her time on the call looking after me. Then I rang off.
I shall keep doing this when I get these spam calls. I'll aim to get up to ten minutes next time. It stops them from bothering other people, and I'm interested to see how long I can string one of these calls out for. I think their aim is to get their victims to download some software so that they can capture sign-on details and passwords. From my side, I'm just pissed off that they keep doing this. I'm sure they must get some hits, otherwise they wouldn't do it, but if I can waste some of their time, I'll feel good about myself and hopefully reduce their hit rate somewhat. If I just shout at them as soon as I pick up the phone, they can hang up and move on. If I can make them think they've found a victim, then good. Wish me luck...
TTFN.
#nowreading: How To Be A Liberal - Ian Dunt
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