This evening, my phone rang and the caller ID was 016235663702. Now, apart from it being way too long for an Australian phone number, 016 was the number range for the old pocket pagers that we used to use to contact on-call staff back in the day when I worked in the public hospital system, so I figured it was probably not going to be legit. All the same, I answered the phone. There was the usual delay, a hiss and a click, followed by call centre background noise, then a girl with a foreign accent told me she was making a service call from Microsoft. Yeah, right. So I said, "CONGRATULATIONS! You are the five hundredth scammer to call this number! You're a winner!" Sadly, the girl hung up before I could tell her that she had won the internets and invite her to claim her prize by sending me $200 in iTunes vouchers. Never mind. I'll try harder next time.

LOL, I must remember that one! Whatever works, eh, GGO?

That's great! You could also have said, "Wait a minute, Making those calls is my job!" In the States, I find "FBI Telecommunications Fraud Division" works pretty well.

I had one on Monday claiming to be from Telstra (which used to be Telecom Australia - the national, government owned telephone company). When I innocently replied with "Really? On a public holiday?" he hung up. (Monday was a public holiday in some Australian states for the Queen's birthday)

Originally posted by Katblu42 I had one on Monday claiming to be from Telstra (which used to be Telecom Australia - the national, government owned telephone company). When I innocently replied with "Really? On a public holiday?" he hung up. (Monday was a public holiday in some Australian states for the Queen's birthday)

Yeah, that person wasn't very bright.

Originally posted by Becky Rock

Originally posted by Katblu42 I had one on Monday claiming to be from Telstra (which used to be Telecom Australia - the national, government owned telephone company). When I innocently replied with "Really? On a public holiday?" he hung up. (Monday was a public holiday in some Australian states for the Queen's birthday)

Yeah, that person wasn't very bright.

As far as the dimwitted department goes, I think I could top that...just before the Do Not Call List was created, I got a call from somebody trying to sell me prostrate cancer insurance! Yes, he knew he was directing his pitch to a woman ("Now, Miss White, we all like to think we're safe, but you never know when this cancer will strike... "I'm sure I'm safe from prostrate cancer, dude!")

Originally posted by ElectricWhite

Originally posted by Becky Rock

Originally posted by Katblu42 I had one on Monday claiming to be from Telstra (which used to be Telecom Australia - the national, government owned telephone company). When I innocently replied with "Really? On a public holiday?" he hung up. (Monday was a public holiday in some Australian states for the Queen's birthday)

Yeah, that person wasn't very bright.

As far as the dimwitted department goes, I think I could top that...just before the Do Not Call List was created, I got a call from somebody trying to sell me prostrate cancer insurance! Yes, he knew he was directing his pitch to a woman ("Now, Miss White, we all like to think we're safe, but you never know when this cancer will strike... "I'm sure I'm safe from prostrate cancer, dude!")

Well, you never know. There could be some kind of cancer that only strikes when you're lying down... maybe... I mean, everyone who gets cancer has been prostrate at some point in their life.

hehehhehehe It's like making old men married to old women buy insurance to pay for birth control pills.

posted in duplicate error

I have to remember some of these great replies to telemarketers! I used to get harassed a lot... I'd get calls from places like the bank at early hours of the morning when I'd told them repeatedly that I worked graveyard shift and I slept until afternoon, call after 3PM. People would call every day at the exact same time (11AM) for my hubby and no matter how often I told them he was at work and what time to call, they'd always call at 11. I even tried the, "I told you, he's at f**king work! You have a job, so does he!!!" We even got harassed on Sundays. Now, I'm not a religious person at all, but I thought that was too much. Give me ONE day I don't need to deal with this! One day I flipped on a Sunday caller so bad, we never got calls on that day ever again! Now we have cell phones and I have an app that keep the majority of those calls from coming through. Thank heavens!

I don't answer my cell phone unless I know the number calling. If its important, they can leave me a message.

It's a shame I can't upload pictures to this forum because I have a neat little game I invented called, "Scam Bingo." It's basically a bingo card, but instead of numbers, it has the names of scams on it, like, Overseas Lottery Win Warrant for your Arrest Tax Office Owes you Money Microsoft pop-up window We've Detected a Problem with your Computer Compensation for a Car Accident you Didn't Actually Have Friend in Trouble Overseas ...and so on. When you get the call that allows you to check off a full row, across, down or diagonally on the page, you jump up out of your seat and yell, "BINGO!" down the telephone, then thank the scammer for their call because you've now won Scam Bingo. At this point, the confused scammer usually hangs up.

Originally posted by GrumpyGhostOwl When you get the call that allows you to check off a full row, across, down or diagonally on the page, you jump up out of your seat and yell, "BINGO!" down the telephone, then thank the scammer for their call because you've now won Scam Bingo.

BINGO! Ka-thud! Damn, I forgot people in wheelchairs usually can't jump up like that...

That's a great game, GGO! But it means I have to answer their calls...