Bulletproof Advice On Dealing With Phone Scammers
I saw the best advice from a reader today named Randy Dreese on how to handle crooked telemarketers… so good that I wanted to pass it along tonight.
In case you missed it, many veterans are reporting calls and voice messages from a shady company going by “Veterans Services” supposedly pushing financial services connected with the VA Home Loan.
READ: New Telemarking ‘Scam’ Targets Veterans In Home Loan Refi Scheme
For the past week, I have been investigating the company trying to figure out where it is and what the real name might be of the firm.
Today, I saw the funniest piece of great advice from a reader, Randy Dreese, telling other folks on Facebook how to best handle robocallers. And like I said above, the advice was so good, I wanted to pass it along for a chuckle:
Try answering the Phone with this message, it has worked for me with telemarketer calls.
Sheriff Department, Fraud Division. – How can I help you?
They hang up all the sudden, guess their call dropped.
How about that? I can imagine most crooked telemarketers would drop that call like a hot potato. What is your best line to telemarketers?
Now, it is likely unlawful to impersonate law enforcement for any purpose, even to make a joke on telemarketers, so do not try this at home. I am certain Randy passed this along as a joke as well, in case any law enforcement personnel are reading this (it is a joke).
Personally, I have a story, but it is not quite ready for prime time if you know what I mean. But pranking telemarketers is a hell of a lot of fun when you are young.
When someone calls you, you can tell them you are NSA, FBI, Police or whatever, it falls under free speech. If you call anyone and tell them you are Police or Federal Agents or another law enforcement body, then you are impersonating and will get a knock on your door with the foot or battering ram of some very perturbed professionals in black and blue. I’ve been answering, County Morgue, you stab em we slab em for years.
It’s effective and you’re not breaking the law yourself.
One thing I read about? Just do anything you can think of to slow the call down. “wait, let me find a pencil>>>now I gotta find something to write on…who did you say you’re calling for…What was your name again…Can you spell that for me…YADA YADA YADA.”
I use this tactic and will continue to do so on occasion when the spirit hits me to do so. Illegal or not. If cops, judges, politicians, media, others can legally lie, then so can I since this is urban warfare. Funny part of this is when phony state cops keep calling after I have already spoken with the real ones and was removed from their daily and frequent calling list which can get old fast too. I use area code searches and mapping from the net to locate where some of these calls originated from. Then report them and list them. Ah ha! Some from the same area and code I was getting the nasty phone calls from the big city VA. Which never started until I had problems with the VA there and their activist ilk. Same things I’ve done to prove calls were coming from the local hospital and their agents of retribution or retaliation too. Which all increased the more I tried to contact officials over VA issues and more came after speaking with the states medical board people, reps, media, and others.
I talked to a state cop doing the telemarketing stuff and he reported that no legal or approved calls coming from them were made in the area of the VA, the VA buildings, location, nor in that county. Some having different area codes, some not, and some coming clear from Texas.
Example:
“https://findwhocallsyou.com/812-238-4351?CallerInfo#Done”
Today’s calls in part are/were “Invalid Numbers.” 812-144-8328 or those whose numbers are hidden or not shown on caller ID. Others like 812-238-7945 are damn easy to know where they come from and not ‘spoofed.’ Ie “Union hospital’s Residency Program” info line. How cute.
We deal with “Spoofing” numbers. That is what the secretary of Union hospitals CEO was trying to tell was going on with harassment calls from them. Which I proved her to be a liar and it all being over VA and Identity politics crap.
Then the telemarketers who are mostly legal and have been told so many times over. Getting their info from companies selling our info, from state records showing our info about age, from clubs, organizations, insurance companies, online phishing, etc., for like Medicare type calls.
Then the scammers say like from 876 selling something or claiming you hit a million. Ahem… that’s from Jamaica. Had a stupid neighbor fall for that after she sent in her SS check to them thinking she was going to get a million from $600.00?!!
Then the activist and harassers with intentions to do harm, hassle, or threaten. Oh, which so far legal to do too and the burden of their “intent” or why they are doing such things is placed on us. And while phone companies to legal authorities claim there is nothing to be done about it and no way to block it all or to keep our info and numbers private in today’s world.
I got the blockers but have to figure out how to hook it up and use or get able enough to do so. Am paying extra to the phone company so I can dial a few digits to block 12 most recent calls. Which is a drop in the bucket. So welcome to the high tech information age where it seems all is fair play against some scum’s target or for retaliation purposes or to try and silence us over some threats while living in a happy happy happy global village of “Progressive” living under three college campus and Dem controlled, corrupt, both parties… state rule.