According to a recent report by Truecaller, around 68.4M Americans (26%) have fallen victim to a phone scam in the past 12 months. While the numbers are rising, so is awareness, as some of the biggest scams in America are continually exposed in the media to prevent people from falling for fraud. In fact, people opt for various ways of dealing with scammers. Most hang up, others download robocall blocker apps, and, well, some give them a taste of their own medicine.
A while back, someone asked the Ask Reddit community, "What is something you say to scammers instead of hanging up?" Over 15K people jumped on the thread to share their experiences replying to scammers. From funny replies to scammers to scammers getting pranked themselves, people shared how to reply to scammers in many original ways. Hanging up is one way of reacting; however, taking time to respond is, in fact, doing a public service. Sure, you might be wasting your time, but at the same time, you are wasting scammers', meaning less time to find more victims to prey on.
Below, we've compiled some of the best replies from the thread featuring people pranking scammers themselves. Make sure to upvote the responses to scammers you enjoyed the most, and let us know whether you reply to scammers!
#1
"My grandfather let them do their whole speech for about 20 minutes. He then told them he didn't have his hearing aid in and asked if they could repeat it all. They hung up immediately."
Image credits: meat_frog
#2
"You've reached the FBI telephone fraud division, how may I help you?"
Image credits: TreePretty
#3
"Had a very pushy insurance salesman want my address so he could meet me in person to better show the value of his products or some nonsense. I gave him the address of a brothel. Got an angry call back a couple of days later saying that I gave him the wrong address. I told him I thought he was looking for someone to screw over and then hung up on him."
Image credits: dirkjently
#4
"Depends on the scam call. Recently I’m getting a lot of “we’re calling in regards to your recent car accident” I relied on “how dare you! I died in that accident!”"
Image credits: Roaming_Pie
#5
"Just start chanting in Latin. Most hang up quickly. One begged me not to curse her family."
Image credits: Ahshalon_Tenisk
#6
"Scammer was Indian, I'm Indian, I put on my Indian accent then accused him of putting on a bad fake Indian accent to make fun of me and told him he should be ashamed of himself. It was a few seconds of fun."
Image credits: atomjohn
#7
"I whisper into the mic to make them turn the volume on their headsets up then suddenly start yelling."
Image credits: tantalizingGarbage
#8
"Me - do you believe in our lord and savior Jesus Christ? Them - yesMe - he wants you to quit calling."
Image credits: IMissTexas
#9
"I once got a scammer to say "I love you too." It was one of those resort/vacation calls and I kept him in the line for his whole spiel. When he asked who else would be vacationing with me, I asked if he would go with me. I was like, ”It will save on airfare because you're already there.” Ended up with him saying he had to end the call and I was like, ”Okay. I love you.” And he reflexively goes ” I love you too". The high point of my life."
Image credits: soupsweats
#10
"I can't talk right now, I'm actually here to rob the place."
Image credits: TheStabbyBrit
#11
"Mr. Smashing Stuff, I'm calling about an accident you were involved in that wasn't your fault.""Oh it wasn't an accident, I meant to hurt those people."
The pause you get before being immediately escalated to a 'manager' is like a crack to me."
Image credits: Smashing_stuff
#12
"I pretend to be the dumbest guy in the world.Them - “You should update your home's security”
Me - “Like how?”
Them - “A camera on the front door is a good st..”
Me (interrupts) - “Front door? My front door is on the side of my house. How will that work? Do you have a side door camera?”
Them - “Yes sir of course. We have many dif...”
Me (interrupts again) - “PHEW! I have looked for so long for a side front door camera salesman. You, sir, are my savior. Are you married?”
Image credits: reddit.com
#13
"Hello, sir. This is the Microsoft Office. We're calling to inform you that your computer is infected with a virus.""My computer?"
"Yes, sir. And if you do not take steps to correct it we will be forced to shut down your system remotely."
"Which one?"
"What?"
"Which computer? I have a couple."
"The one running Microsoft Windows."
"They all run Microsoft Windows."
"Yes, well, I am showing they are all infected." (you can literally hear him salivate.)
"So you're monitoring my systems right now?"
"Yes."
"Despite the fact that doing so is a violation of multiple federal laws?"
*Click*
Image credits: Casual-Notice
#14
"I have two things I do. 1) I try to sell them WiFi. I personally have nothing to do with internet services. But I can guarantee that my services are the cheapest in town and seeing as how you called me you must be interested. Now before you think “man I’m really not gonna get as good a deal as I’d like.” I can promise no buffers and high-quality streaming at a fraction. Yes, you heard it a fraction of what you currently are paying, if you just give me your first and last name we can get the ball rolling. No one has ever lasted that one.2) in a very heavy southern accent. “Now the lord spoke to me today and he told me that I’d be bringing another one of his lambs that had been led astray back into the flock, I’m gonna open this conversation with a prayer real quick.” Most people hang up. Some and very few last through my 10-minute prayer. After that, I go straight into asking about their addictions and why the lord is telling me about how their browser history is causing demons to enter their home."
Image credits: fooourskin
#15
"You’ve reached your local morgue, you slice ‘em, we dice ‘em. How can we help you?"
Image credits: ohsnap-thats-me
#16
"Is this what you wanted to be when you grew up?"
Image credits: NoOneShallPassHassan
#17
"My new thing is to heavily troll them for as long as possible. If they're going to waste my time with endless calls, well then I'm going to do the same. Here's a good one - I recently encountered a very low-tech health insurance scam that used an actual phone line and not a spoof. I called them back literally over 1000 times for two days straight and eventually got to the main person. He actually pleaded for me to stop calling and apologized profusely, lol it was very satisfying."
Image credits: reddit.com
#18
"I sometimes try to sell them stuff. I once spent 45 minutes on a slow day at work trying to sell a 120 kg vibrator to some dude."
Image credits: J-Sixhoej
#19
"If they are calling about windows and doors, I tell them I live in a tent. "You are calling a tent, did you know this?" If they call about HVAC, I tell them I live in a castle, and we heat it in the wintertime by burning witches."
Image credits: aaronpbentley
#20
“HELLO, caller number two! You’re on with The Sturge at numbitty 902 WA3DFM. What do you have to say about the Lizard Illuminati?”
Image credits: me_vicky
#21
"Shouting in Arabic mostly get them pretty scared."
Image credits: Nursultan_Tulyakbay_
#22
"I usually respond with: "Is it your first day?""On the job?"
"No, on Earth."
Image credits: kazmac19
#23
"I used to get a lot of “home security” calls offering alarm systems and cameras. I would of course ask all the curious questions and then lead them to believe I was using the alarm system and cameras to keep people inside the house."
Image credits: d_hens
#24
"I keep them on the phone for as long as humanly possible. I switch up the conversation, ask questions, stray completely off topic, slip in a few personal questions and just do whatever I can do to waste as much of their time as I can. My personal record is over 15 minutes of useless conversation which ended with me trying to proposition the male caller for sex. (For the record, I am a straight male and I assume that the caller was also straight.) I've been able to get an Indian telemarketer named Allen or Alex to give me his real name and location, and one telemarketer to stray from the script and admit that like me, he's also tried drugs. In one instance I was able to get the caller to admit that she hated her job and was only doing it to put herself through school. As much as I despise getting calls, I also try to remind myself that they are human beings, doing a job that everyone hates them for, and they probably hate themselves. I figure, at least perhaps I'll give them something fun to talk about after they get off of work."
Image credits: Lobo-rojo
#25
"I once saw caller ID (landline days) with a number that I figured was a telemarketer. In a “tough” voice, without saying hello I asked, “Is he dead?” And about a beat and a half later I said, “Because if he ain’t dead, don’t you even think about coming back here.” Then what sounded like a young woman on the other end said, “Um, uh, uh Bye!” Hope she had as much fun telling her friends as I had telling mine."
Image credits: About_Yeah_High
#26
"I usually get the duct cleaning guys calling so I will just yell out to my wife and ask if the ducks need to be cleaned. I will respond back that we are good. They will keep pressing and I will keep playing on them eventually I will be like the ducks are cleaned but if they have any fix for the quacking that would help. The call ends right after."
Image credits: techdude12019
#27
"My son always tells them "I have a belly button". Leaves them speechless."
Image credits: 2112n
#28
"I always screech "welcome to shining dragon buffet you place an order" if they ask anything else I get angrier and go "YOU CALL SHINING DRAGON BUFFET, PLACE ORDER OR GET OFF MY PHONE". I'll probably get into trouble one day but its a lot of fun."
Image credits: demonardvark
#29
"Do you tell your friends and family you steal for a living?"
Image credits: YourMomThinksImFunny
#30
"I tell them my name is Billy Madonna, and I drive a '93 Toyota Paseo. Then I start getting pissed when they tell me they actually CAN'T give me an extended warranty on my car. I mean, why can't you?! YOU called ME, and the machine SAID I could get an extended warranty. THAT IS FALSE ADVERTISING! LET ME SPEAK WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR!"
Image credits: ImTheGreatLeviathan
#31
"Are you touching yourself too?"#32
"Just to let you know, by law I'm required to inform you that this is a premium phone line that will be billed directly to your provider. By calling here you agree to accept all charges. Something like that not only gets them to hang up, but they tend to stop calling me after that."#33
"I was like 8-10 years old and had someone call asking if I was a homeowner. Had them on the phone for 5 minutes straight having them repeatedly explain what a homeowner is. They hung up, I was so proud."#34
"My dad once got a scam call at dinner saying he won a trip to Orlando or something similar. He replied with the biggest, most excited voice: "ORLANDO! I LOVE ORLANDO! THAT'S WHERE MICKEY IS!! I LOVE MICKEY!!" Then he hung up."#35
"I say OH MY GOD THERE IS A SHARK IN MY HOUSE I HAVE TO GO BYE!!!"#36
"I just give the phone to my 7yo and he just curses a blue streak."#37
"Got a call from a lady who said she can save me hundreds on my insurance. My insurance is $167. So you giving me money now that's sick."#38
"My dad used to get a lot of Viagra salesman. So he pleads with them to stop sending free samples because he's too hard all the time and can't live his life."#39
"I ask them to confirm my information for security purposes. Breaks their script and they don't know what to say!"#40
"My brother told me that he sometimes starts to purposely talk in broken English, as soon as he realizes that it’s a scammer. He would pretend to be very interested in whatever they were selling. Then just as it seemed like a sale was certain, he would start asking questions that showed that he really didn’t understand what was being offered for sale or what he has to pay. No matter how much the scammer tries to explain, my brother will at first appear to get it and then will continue not to understand. This goes on until the caller finally hangs up in frustration, sometimes cursing him out first."#41
"I got the IRS call on my day off one day while sitting on the porch. You know the deal. If you don't get X amount of Visa Gift Cards the police will come etc. So I stayed in the line for like an hour playing dumb- like saying which target do I shoot to get the gift cards cuz I'm at the gun range, do I have to drive or can I order online, etc- then since my morning coffee had begun to do its work and it was getting hot outside? So the guy once again told me if I don't comply the cops will come. I say send them. He says oh no, all we need is 2k or whatever it was. I say no again, and this time he tells me the police are on the way. I say where I can see the local station from my house. I'm told they are undercover (why? It's an IRS thing but I digress). I tell him since they aren't here I'll just go turn myself in and that I'm walking there. Cue panic on the other line. Saying everything he can to get me to go to Target (even Walmart works now!), I tell him too late just got to the station (bathroom), and that I'm gonna put him on with the desk clerk so they know how to book me. The dude hung up immediately. Which was a bummer, cuz I was about to pull out a wicked Boston accent and play dirty cop. But instead, I continued with the coffees work.#42
"Tell them you don't have this common thing they're calling about. For example, calling about windows checking? Sorry, I live in a basement, and I have no windows. My child got in a car crash and I need to pay? It's a miracle, my child has died a few weeks ago and suddenly they're alive and in a car crash! Are you a wizard who can revive the dead? Amazing! Just confuse them and waste as much time as you can, bonus points if you make them feel like sh*t."#43
"Ask them for their personal phone number so I can call them on there when I’m off work. Gets hung up pretty quick."#44
"My favorite one is to just go along with whatever they want, using fake names, then when they ask for my credit card number I tell them it's out in my car in the parking garage, and tell them I'll go grab it, then just put them on hold until they hang up. My longest-ever holder was almost a half hour."#45
"Grab a metal skillet, place it on the phone, and bang the thing with a metal spoon. Perfect response."#46
"I usually have to answer the phone because I need to figure out if it's a potential job calling. If it ends up being a telemarketer, then I usually have some funny excuse on why I can't buy what they're selling. My funniest one was as follows:ME: [Pausing a video game I'm playing] Hello?
TM: Hello! I'm here to present a great internet offer for you today, let me start first by asking how much do you pay for internet?
ME: Uhhh Nah, I don't pay anything. I just steal my neighbor's internet.
TM: [pauses to stifle laughter] ah okay well would you be interested in Spectrum internet?
ME: Not unless you can beat free!
TM: [muffled discussion; TM says "I'm not being disrespectful] Okay thank you for your time! Have a good day!"
#47
"Hi there, and thanks for calling Cardiff Aquarium. Please be aware your call may be recorded for training purposes."#48
"Flip the script on them. Hello, thank you for returning our call. We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty."#49
"If I catch they’re telemarketers or scammers I usually try to take their order. “Domino’s pizza, can I take your order?” If they catch me off guard and I have the time, I try to weird them out. “What are you wearing?” “Have you washed your teeth today?” They hang up before I do. It’s fun."#50
"Start talking about how miserable your life is. Make crap up about how your dog died, and your wife left you, and you lost everything and you just got fired and you just lost your job and now you owe the IRS 20000 too! Keep talking for a bit until you start talking about how “My life is terrible, nothing could ever go right for me again, I’m just gonna end it all.” Then google the sound of a gunshot and play it at max volume right next to the phone. Just listen to the chaos that is happening on the other end of the line then hang up after a minute."#51
"Would you like to try out a three-day trial of our adult diapers?"#52
"So, what is your password?" "Kyarewthu. Big K, small cyrylic Ya, Polish ew, Icelandic eth, Turkish dotless i. No bot will ever brute force this."#53
"I usually go for "The person you are calling is deceased and their death is currently part of an ongoing investigation. Please stay on the line as we may need to jot down your personal information." My grandmother picks up every call even when she knows it's a scammer, but she usually just says "Not interested." And hangs up. Showed her my way of doing it one time and she thought I was a crazy person."#54
"I wait 15-20 seconds in complete silence then let out the loudest god-awful screech I can manage and listen to them scramble to take off their headset in complete panic."#55
"I usually start with "Just so you are aware this conversation is being recorded for your and my safety." I usually either get cussed out or they hang up right away."#56
"When I'm not feeling creative, I just tell the truth.SCAMMER: You bought tech support from us last year.
ME: No, I didn't.
SCAMMER: Yes, you bought our tech support package. It's about to expire.
ME: There isn't anything to expire.
Etc. They're not supposed to hang up, so they try for a long time before finally giving up. I regard wasting their time as a minor public service."
#57
"My dad's classic line is: I can't talk right now, my house is on fire."#58
"Heavily flirt."#59
"I just say, "My Mommy is not home right now!"... "I said my Mommy is not home right now!!!" Throw a tantrum."#60
"I take a deep breath and let out a continuous raspberry. (fart noise with your tongue) for as long as I can. When I stop to take a breath I usually hear "..uh.. hello?" And then I take a big breath again and continue. No one has made it to two full raspberries before hanging up on me."#61
"I give them a phone number one digit at a time and ask them to repeat it as a whole after each one. Then tell them they got it wrong when I'm done and start over."#62
"Hi sorry this is my work line, so I don’t take personal calls on here! Here’s my home phone: insert the phone number of another known scammer/other prank call number here call me there later and we can talk! Works better for texting-based scams, but would probably work for calls too."#63
"I will let Jim Browning know about what is going on here, thanks! If you don't know, Jim Browning is what scammers check under their beds for at night."#64
"My mom had one last week and she started hitting on him! " your voice is so sexy are u single?" He asked to be her sugar baby. She laughed hysterically and hung up."#65
"When they start asking for information, I ask... You called me... You should know all of that already... They hang up..."#66
"As a kid, it was my mom/dad dead then fake crying and screaming till they hung up. In college "DeeDees used ammunition if we can't kill it, it's immortal." As an adult, I give the phone to my 8-year-old and ask him to tell them everything he wants to about animals..."#67
"I act like I'm really glad they called. I tell them I've been hoping they would call. I'm effusive in my excitement. They usually hang up immediately."#68
"Respond to every question with, "And then?" until they hang up."#69
"I only do this if I'm at home... I scream. They stop talking..when they start talking again I scream again. "Sir are you okay?!" "I'm taking a sh*t and I swear it's coming out sideways! Oh god please keep talking it helps!" Then repeat steps one and two until they hang up."#70
"I learned the Hindi phrases: "He aakaash, yah bos hai. kya aapane is saptaah pahale hee 30 logon ko dhokha diya hai? apana anubandh yaad rakhen. yadi aap nahin karate hain, to aap parinaam jaanate hain" Which translates to: "Hey Akesh, this is boss. Have you already scammed 30 people this week? Remember your contract. If you don't, you know the consequences."#71
"I get a lot of scam calls about accidents. I go along with it but pretend the accident involved hitting my head. I fake amnesia and make the conversation go around in circles until they get frustrated and hang up."#72
"Not quite a scammer, but during the last election, I repeatedly got calls and texts from the local Democrat party branch. On one particularly egregious day where I received multiple calls within just a few hours, I picked up, and instead of just hanging up I told them that if they ever called me again I would vote for Trump. Call volume vastly decreased after that point; not sure if it was actually what I said or not, but I like to think it helped."#73
"Talk to them normally for a few seconds and then just scream bloody murder. Try to sound panicky and tell them to call 911 repeatedly, no other info just "Call 911, please! I'm being murdered." It helps if you have applesauce you can mush around for effect."#74
"Hello, how are you, I'm under the water, please help me, here too much raining ughughgurhaughraughihaugh."#75
"I tell them my mother said to me not to talk to strangers and ask them to call me on FaceTime."#76
"I kept a "SS Administration agent" on the phone for well over 2 hours (we were in prime covid lockdown so I had the time). He wanted me to prove my innocence of a crime that my SS# was tied to (murder, kilos of Cochise, and money laundering). The only way to show I was a victim of identity theft was to use all my money and buy Amazon gift cards. Even got in the truck and turned it on to drive around the block. I got back in the house and the scammer wanted the codes off the back. I told him I bought Nike cards bc they were out of Amazon (Jerry Parker was not pleased, but that he could still verify my identity using Nike). So here I am with "my life savings of $375 in Nike gift cards" and I start having reservations about scratching the cards. At this point, he starts threatening an arresting agent will be sent to my house and getting hostile. Told me to go F myself and when I asked what I should do with the Nike cards, he said to shove them up my ass. Despite that, he would not hang up. I kept asking for supervisors and ways to call him back or verifiable contact info for his friend in the FBI, but it wasn't until I overheard his supervisor come by and give him the ok to hang up. Wasting their time is a great way to get removed from their call list!"#77
"Yes, I want to extend my warranty. My 2010 Ram 1500 has 350k miles on it. Ok, thank you."#78
"I once repeated "uh huh, go on.." over and over until they got really irritated and then just hung up on me."#79
"This is 91.7 KSCM The Bridge, you are the seventh caller and YOU WON! Are you excited? ARE YOU EXCITED????"#80
"I usually pretend to be an answering machine."#81
"They ask if we want to sign up for solar panels. I always say I live in an igloo. There’s no room up there for anything. They usually hang up after that."#82
"I always answer scam likely calls in Kermit's voice, they always laugh and hang up laughing."#83
"Not me, but my boss will play along with the scammer until it gets to the point where they want to send him a check. At that point, he gives a fake name (usually Hugh Jass or Hugh Janus) for them to make a check out to, then when the check arrives he displays it proudly in the office."#84
"Hi scammer, bye scammer."#85
"When it is a social security scam, I pretend I am really old, so so scared, and can’t hear very well. When they ask for my name, I spell it very loud and slowly every time. My go-to name is Ethel Beavers. I tell them “my social”—not really— but forget the middle and start over again and again so I never really tell them a whole number... or I leave off two digits and get very confused when they tell me they need more numbers. They usually hang up around the second spelling of Ethel Beavers."#86
"My teacher got a call from the AA in the middle of one of one her lessons, and she answered the call, and left it open for the rest of the lesson, telling the woman on the other side to “let her finish taking attendance” etc. When the lesson ended, she made the class shout “she’s not interested!” And then she hung up."#87
"I always ask them where they're calling from. It usually trips them up to some degree. If they say they're local, I ask them follow-up questions. Sometimes they play along, but usually not. Another thing I like to do is just answer the call but not say anything."#88
"Oh hang on, let me get the, they'll be able to help you! Then just turn the microphone off and go about my day."#89
"Tip for Canadians. If you get scammers calling about whatever credit card, car, anything the like. Just answer in real brutal French. I use “alló, bonjour. Comma cest va?” ( sorry native French speakers, I haven’t written any French down since grade 9). They’ll get right pissed and hang up quickly."#90
"Hi, We have been trying to reach you about your car's warranty. Thats great, what plans can you offer me on my 97 geo metro? I've only been in 6 wrecks. they usually just give up."#91
"Play along for as long as possible, just giving them fake details. You can tell the frustration slowly builds but they're still trying to be all nice and helpful."#92
"I once had one yell, cuss at me, and hang up. Do you know those ones where a scammer pretends to be an “IRS agent” and needs your Social Security information? In this case, the guy introduced himself as “Officer Daniel Bryan”. Anyway, I strung him along for a good 20 minutes or so, then got bored with it. So I told him to knock it off, and he threatened to come to arrest me. I asked if he showed up to arrest me, and I asked if he was Daniel Bryan, would he respond by going “yes. Yes. Yes! YES! YES! YES!”. And then he swore at me and hung up."#93
"Talk to them then ask them to hold on for a second, grab a pot and something metal or wooden, check to make sure they are still on the phone and tell them just one more second, then place the phone under the pot and proceed to bang the sh*t out of it... yep."#94
"Lead them as far as you can go without giving any details and then hang up, or better still say you just need to get your bank card and leave them hanging."#95
"In an Indian accent, I say wanna play pubG mobile?"#96
"Play them a song. My choice is Freaxx by Brokencyde."#97
"I've put them on hold before. As if I'm working in a call center. Had a guy on hold for 5 or so minutes it was quite ridiculous that he stayed on the line."#98
"I blast earrape music."#99
"I just sing the one-winged angel lyrics."from Bored Panda https://ift.tt/KOAwoSj
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