Well done Chansen! 

When I get those calls I use my tape recorder technicque. 

"If this is about the computer you need to call my guru" - and give the phone number.

Whatever the scamer says gets the same bored sounding response.

Eventually after some ineffective verbal ranting they give up and I laugh.

Sometimes I try to tie them up for as long as possible. I'll tell them I'm very interested, but I need to go to the bathroom, or someone is at the door. Lately, I've given the phone to my 4-year-old daughter, who loooves to talk on the phone. Anything to tie up the line and prevent them from calling people.

I like busting scams. I'm weird like that.

I haven't had one of those for a while. Love your response. I've sometimes strung them along for a bit before dropping that I work in IT and know that they're full of s**t.

Mendalla

They called my Dad.

He had the smarts to say, let me call my daughter.

I was out.  He talked to my husband who told them...you do NOT have a virus. hang up that call....do not let them do it.

thank goodness dad called

chansen -- btw, if i haven't said lately -- you're awesome.

Way to go folks!

As I understand it, these people sell "antivirus" products.  I've prevented quite a few people from being scammed by a "mortgage acceleration" product - debunking that scam became a hobby of mine for a couple of years (it's now all but dead).  The really cool part is always when someone shoots you a line, thanking you for your efforts.

When people fall for this stuff, it's not just the money they're out - they often lose self-confidence.  They get depressed about how "stupid" they were.  Save someone from that, and the thanks you can get are quite rewarding.  At least, they are to me.  As stupid as it sounds, I'll remember the way that woman said, "I believe you. Thank you" for a long time.

Wow, I almost want to answer a 1-800 number call, or an unknown number call, just to have as much fun as you guys are having. :)

LOL @ Northwind! Like you, I always ignore unknown and 1-800 calls - but now I kind of want to answer one - lol!

Chansen - I love the way you reacted! Well done!

I just got that call tonight. I said very loudly 'you guys are a scam and full of shit and don't call here.'

If my toddler were handy I would have handed him the phone.

Excellent, chansen!

I thank you on behalf of all we old gals who are frequently scam bait........

A couple other friends of mine had good ideas. 

1. tell them you'd like to speak to Bill Gates.

2. preach the gospel. They'll hang up real quick. (and this is from a guy from our church, haha)

lol...how about:

Marge answers phone: "Oh, wonderful...we just sat down for dinner! So glad you could join us!" puts phone down on table, dishes clanking.

"Bob, this is Terry from XYZ internet solutions, he's here just in time for dinner.  Isn't that great! " Bob: "Hi Terry! ...Can you please pass the pepper, hon?  So, how was your day today? Terry, how was your day? Mmm-mm, this meal is delicious" 

 Marge: "So, dear, what do you think about setting up a neighbourhood watch program for telephone scams?...What do you think, Terry?"

*However, they're not all scams. They are real jobs for many people who need them. I did call centre work years ago myself. So, I usually listen to their intro and just say, "no thanks". If it's a short survey, I might answer it. However, once, several years ago, someone called me and asked if I would answer a short survey about adult higher education, it's importance, etc. They got a few standard questions in with,  "Do you think it's important...on a scale of 1-10, how important?" Something like that. Then they asked me if I'd heard the Gospel. Seriously. I was not interested in relgion at the time, but I didn't  formally complain to anyone (I'm not sure where I'd complain) . It ruffled my feathers. I thought it was sneaky. 

Kimmio - like you I feel sorry for the people who work at call centres and try to make a living by pursuading people to switch TV servers or up-grade their credit card.  Generally I just thank them and hang up. 

But the scammers - 'I've won a cruise',  or 'bank examiner' or 'something wrong with my computer' - if I have time, I like to string them along:

Oh, where are you calling from?   (company name)

And where are you personally located   (maybe its India)

Oh, I've always wanted to visit India. 

What is the weather like there today?

What time is it there right now?   Well its 6:00 pm here.

It's sometimes surprising how long I can string some of them along, before they get frustrated or get the signal from their supervisor to hang up.   And still, I do feel sorry for the ones doing the calling.  They are probably just trying to scrape up a living, and this is the best job they can find. 

We have gotten them quite a few times.

My wife worked for years at a call centre. I have sympathy for those on genuine calls and act accordingly.

The scammers are fair game for my twisted humour.

One day I told the guy we had no computer and that I knew people had hacked into my sattelite and asked if he could help with that. He got kinda frustrated with me. My wife was crying she was laughing so hard, the only thing missing was my tin foil hat.

The last time I was online and did a look up on the number and just asked why he was calling from a McDonald's in New York State. You would think they would rang up hearing "busted", but no. He said he was between clients and getting lunch. I asked what he was getting. Then I started the phone sex like talk, "what does it look like, tell me about it, take a bite, a big bite.... Oh, yes...." My wife was again rolling.

These stories are too funny! Thanks for the giggles.

I live in an area where we do not do DST. That means when it is standard time, we are on Alberta time since we are really in the mountain time zone. But, we have a BC area code. We often get telemarketer calls at 10:00 at night. I got one call a couple of years ago when I was not in a mood to take nonsense. The young man started with whatever he had to say, and I asked him why he was calling at 10:00. He said it wasn't 10, that it was only 9. I asked him if he thought I didn't know what time it was in my own home, and suggested he do some homework before calling people at night. I was abrupt, and possibly edging on rude. I hope he became more aware, but I suspect he was truly clueless on that.

This year I answered the phone at 10, and asked who this was and why they were calling at 10:00. The man was most apologetic, and said he would take us off the call list. He was very embarrassed and a nice guy.

I've gotten many of those calls . . . they stopped for a bit . . . and then I got one the other day.

I just respond with "I will have someone local look at my computer" . . . their response to that varies.  One time the man who had called got really irate with me.  I think next time I will ask for their name and business license number as my local RCMP have warned me about this scam.

There used to be a large call centre in Victoria and I knew some people who had worked there. They used words like dehumanizing and soul-sucking to describe their jobs there. I feel badly for people who work at those types of jobs and treat them with the same level of respect that they treat me with - if they're polite, I'm polite and if they're rude, I'm rude. Usually I'll end the call with a simple, "I'm not interested thank you." I don't think I've ever answered a call from a spammer before but if I did, I wouldn't feel bad about stringing them along for awhile - in fact, I'd probably quite enjoy it.

These jobs are the only ones some people can get, and I try not to completely abuse the operators.  But the answer to employment problems can not be to scam mostly seniors.  I fault the scam companies first, and the government for being so slow to react.  Even Rogers and Bell should have some protections in place, or at least assist the government.  This particular scam has been going on for over a year, and has been in the papers.

I understand the call centre I dealt with was probably in India, where conditions may be bad enough to put aside any ethical dilemma, but surely after literally millions of these calls, somebody in Canada can put an end to them?  There has to be some form of repercussion for the companies that provide the connection, for example.  There has to be something that can be done.

somegalfromcan,

They can be dehumanising and soul-sucking jobs. My wife started in a call centre, on the phones, as technology phased out her chosen profession. She worked her way up to program manager, but it was still soul-sucking. She celebrates daily that she no longer has that job.

It is like assembly line work except people are the machines. How much can you do in how little time? Every minute, every second, of your day monitored for productivity. They time average talk time (resolution time) and you have to be within specs (if they are ISO)
"That call took too long"
"That call was too quick"

The calls are listened to for coaching purposes, performances reviews, quality assurance, etc.

It however means my wife is great with genuine calls and has taught me to be also.
She uses their name and says "good evening/afternoon", she lets them start briefly and then says "no, thank you"
they go on, she says quickly "I understand and no thank you"
they go on and she says "__ As a former call centre manager I know you are told to keep trying, but I have said no thank you three times and you are free to end the call now if you use ISO standards.  Is your supervisor handy? You could transfer me and I will put in a good word for you"
If the answer is no, she says "if this call is being monitored, let me say what a pleasure...."

If they do not end the call she repeats "you can end the call and if you do not and the call is monitored for coaching purposes or quality purposes, I about to say something you would not like me to say to your supervisors..."

They end the call..... usually both of them polite with each other.

If they are ever disrespectful, she calls back and reports it.

Scammers are another thing.

Once it was ME who called Dell Support. I reached southern India.  While waiting for the computer to reboot to see if our ministrations did anything, I asked him stuff.

So...what time is it there?  2am ma'am. 

What is the temperature like?  It is rather cool, about 15 degrees (Celcius)

I laughed and told him it was MINUS 15 here and a snowstorm. which it was. We both got a good giggle out of it.

This is too funny - I have only had this happen once - early this spring - told the guy I was an IT dude and that my computer was fine and thanked him for his concern.

It is amazing how many people do allow people access to their computer.....

On a side note - we are currently dealing with Microsoft Tech support on a server issue - due to our time zone (I think) all the techs we have been talking to (over a week now) have an east indian accent - I love it - I am assuming the English is their second language - whish my French or Spanish was that good.....

Anyway, we put in an VOIP phone system at home - like the ones at business where the system answers the call - we no longer have these type of calls - our friends know to hit zero to make our phone ring.....its cheaper than ma Bell and free long distance. 

The reality is that most people that are doing calls are good people who are working to make a living and/or get key skills.

In India, progression in work in IT is often based on the ability for osmeone to speak English in a way that we in North America can understand.  So, the guys who I interview are often those who have made it through some lower entry level job at a calling centre, or an i|T area which only supports Indian facilities.  They may good technical,but we can't understand their English or...they have good English but aren't as technical.  They then stay with us for a year or two ..improve their skills, and get a job elsewhere doubling their salary.  Some stay, and that is because of items that we do to improve their rate of pay or workng conditions.  So...yes, they are humans and enjoy chatting if allowed to do so.

I share that, as my frustration with the scammers is the companies that drive them, not the people....though, knowing you are working for a scammer puts you in a pretty low group of people

Mom was taken in by this scam and she is usually very wary of being scammed.  It took them 1/2 hour to actually convince her that they were working in her best interests and she didn't want to bother her kids with  "another" computer issue. 

She did give them her credit card number but felt uncomfortable enough to call my brother, afterward.   Thank goodness!  They got it straightened out but she had to take her computer in to clean it and cancel her credit card.  She has a list of things from the R.C.M.P. that she has to monitor.  She feels foolish and she is not at all a foolish woman. 

Had another call today. I asked him for my IP, and he rhymed off some random digits. I laughed, and we kinda hit it off.

He's from India, but he wouldn't tell me who he worked for. He claims he makes $15,000 US every month, which is a lie, of course. But we talked for almost 9 minutes. A lot of that was me trying to understand him, but he talked openly of the scam. He kept trying to convince me how much money he made at it, and I kept laughing.

He said that these companies get their info from Canada411.ca. I believe him. He told me to get unlisted there, and the calls would stop.

Eventually, he said he had to end the conversation, but I kept him away from potential victims for a while.