I get probably 10-15 scam calls a day. Fake Medicare/medicade, home improvement life alert, extended warranty…pretty much every scam under the sun all from spoofed numbers in my area with someone with a thick accent claiming to be John Smith or some name like that. These people are targeting vulnerable people usually elderly people and that pisses me off as it has affected people I know and care about. I’ve tried not picking up for months but the calls keep coming. I then decided that when I have the time while cooking dinner or doing some monotonous task, I’d work on my voice work as an elderly smoker to keep these (usually) guys on the line for as long as possible giving them a random string of numbers and alpha numeric codes as if they were my credit card#, social security#, Medicare card#…
I’ve been wanting to take a step further and instead of just trying to waste their time…creep them out and make them feel uncomfortable. Maybe even to the point where they’d think about different career paths. Nothing excessive…just things like “hey Johnny boy, tell me what youre wearing…ohh yeah I like that…” But as someone against sexual harassment and the like (yes im such a good person I deserve so much praise) it feels wrong even if they’re in the business of harming people and taking advantage of them.
Anyway, as this isn’t something I’d discuss with my normal circle, I was curious how random people on the internet would weigh in.
I like this idea but it’s never gift cards for me. They just want my medicare/aid#, credit or SSN. If you have any more ethical ways of doing damage in this vein, let me know.
Oh hell yeah, just play super dumb and when they ask for an SSN reply with not knowing where to find it. They’ll say it’s on a special card, then you give a fake credit card number (dummy cards: https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_AU/vhelp/paypalmanager_help/credit_card_numbers.htm) and say it’s issued by the US Department of Amex and you’re not sure if it’s the same thing.
There’s no rules here. If they realize it and disconnect, no worries, just change the approach next time.
Ramble. A lot. Narrate what you’re actually doing (if it’s inconsequential). Ask if you can put them in hold for a minute because you can’t use one hand to get the card out.
Really anything goes.