Telephone Fraud

For the last two weeks, I received local calls, which I didn't recognize, so I didn't answer. A voice mail was soon left, which I would delete.

Yesterday, the recorded message was alerting me to a problem with my credit card, and the request of pressing "1" to find out the details. I erased the voice mail, as usual, and then thought about what I needed to do.

I called the number on caller identification. A nice woman answered, who had no idea her number was being used by the telemarketer. This led me to some investigation into what is happening.

Apparently, caller id can be manipulated to use your own area code, the first three digits of you phone number, and the last four digits randomly picked. It looks like a local call, which usually leads to an answer, since it doesn't seem like a telemarketing call.

Within an hour, I had another call, with the same number, so I answered, waited for the "press 1" option, and soon had someone to talk to.

The voice on the other end was male, with a noticeably Indian, or Pakistani accent. I didn't wait for him to start his spill, and immediately asked "Who the $#%@ are you? He tried to go on, but I continued by telling him the were breaking the law, and wanted to speak to his supervisor. He tried to continue. I raised my voice and continued: "Who the $#%@ are you? He hung up.

I told my sister-in-law about it, and she explained she too had the same types of calls, and used up the telemarketer's time with inane questions, or ridiculous remarks. It sounded like fun, so I have a new strategy. It looks like I might have some fun with the telemarketers, and I need to see how long I can waste their time.