Scammers call anyway; have fun with it

Remember the days when, if the phone rang, we immediately dropped everything and ran to the wall or telephone table and talked to the person on the other end of the line?

I’m really pining for those days lately.

When this cell phone business started our phone numbers were pretty protected. Sure, by that time telemarketers had become pesky and we had been forced to create the national “Do-not-call” list for our landlines but cellular was pest free. Not anymore.

It was already ramping up before I abandoned my landline so I don’t believe that has anything to do with it. Somehow those slimy rascals got my number and I bet they have yours too.

The calls have probably at least quadrupled over the last year. Right now I’m at the point where some weeks the scam and telemarketing calls number as many as the real calls.

Press the number for the do-not-call list on robo-calls doesn’t seem to do a thing, neither does blocking the call on your cell phone. I got where I just ignored those calls coming in on caller ID with out of town cities. Now that doesn’t work because the slime balls have figured out how to make their call look local on caller ID.

One of those calls came in the other morning and I recognized the number. It turned out to be the scam that is perpetrated by a very obvious, but live foreign operator. The operator told me I had an outstanding debt and a warrant would be issued soon and local law enforcement would be sent to my address unless I made payment now over the phone.

I exclaimed, “Oh no that’s terrible. Give me more details of the debt.” They continued the bluff and I continued pressing until the operator hung up on me. Anymore I nearly always redial missed calls just for fun and games. Very rarely does the number actually work. This time it rang and I told my wife, “watch this.”

When the operator answered I told her I’d thought it over and I was just ready to turn myself into law enforcement, “Please go ahead and send an officer out.”

Click, she hung up.

I immediately called back and amazingly got the same operator. I repeated my request to give myself up and she hung up.

Having nothing better to do I kept calling back, “Hook me up, I surrender!” Finally she got frustrated about the time I was really starting to have fun and switched me to a male voice. He proceeded to tell me to do something that was geographically impossible and anatomically unappealing. After that they blocked my calls and quit answering.

I haven’t had a call back since then from that number. Wish I could say the same for all the other numbers. I fear it’s only going to get worse so I urge you to have some fun too when you get a chance and have time.

I think I’m starting to understand why actually calling a millennial these days doesn’t work.

Karl Terry writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at: [email protected]