WTH, Phone Scammer? What part of "F**k Off!" is hard to understand?

[dalesys]

...And then, the fun would begin as I try to navigate XFCE based on a Windows scammer's instructions.

Bet you get pooched because "One-in-a-million chances happen nine times out of ten."
[/PTerry]
Define Function OneInA(In) double
Do Until X is FerShur

Local X = In
OneInA(X)

End Do Do

[Ironclad Alibi]

Next time he calls, conference him in with us: 1-347-514-7296

This is what will happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_iSOEkQt8Y

Well there goes a few hours of my day listening to Lenny.

I have received telemarketing calls from Lenny's sister. This is a computer that responds to my answers. The linked article says someone on the other end is selecting recordings to play. If only I could get them to call Lenny.

I'm going to start having some fun with them.

[Mango]

Well there goes a few hours of my day listening to Lenny.

Sorry about that.

EDIT: I see someone in the 315 area code is testing Lenny. I hope he met your expectations!

[raudf]

I now have a toddler who loves to talk on the phone! To anyone! And he'll gladly throw in "real words" as he happily babbles and even respond to questions. I wonder how long they'd take to figure out they're talking to a two year old?

Bonus for me? Said toddler would be entertained for a while and I can get housework done

[Seanette]

I now have a toddler who loves to talk on the phone! To anyone! And he'll gladly throw in "real words" as he happily babbles and even respond to questions. I wonder how long they'd take to figure out they're talking to a two year old?

Bonus for me? Said toddler would be entertained for a while and I can get housework done

I love this idea!

[Talon]

Damn why can't I ever get one of those? I'd love to mess with them by pretending to be the dumbest pebak user ever, and waste as much of their time as possible.

For amusement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m5U...fnijWJjfUE9xzQ

Longer, but funnier:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UE_Q1pprEg

[Silent-Hunter]

"I'm a tech, and I'm not running COBOL. Go scam someone else."

I've written in COBOL, I'm pretty sure you can use four digits for the year. Smart companies would have done so.

[BPFH]

I've written in COBOL, I'm pretty sure you can use four digits for the year. Smart companies would have done so.

Given that lots of Y2K remediation efforts were focused on old programs written in COBOL, I'd say that's pretty likely.

Not sure I agree with the "smart companies" bit, though. Storing two-dight years was a space optimization. I'd agree it makes no sense to do that now, but at the time those COBOL programs were written, storage was horrendously expensive compared to today (hard drives in 2014: $0.03/GB; hard drives in 1980: $437,500/GB), so if you had to deal with thousands or millions of records of data, any space you could save would save you real money.

[Silent-Hunter]

I suppose, but two extra digits doesn't take up that much space. They could have put all records from the same year under one entry, and then left out the year on each individual record.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I've written in COBOL, I'm pretty sure you can use four digits for the year. Smart companies would have done so.

Mrs. IA programmed in Cobol way back when for the Navy. She wrote programs for Navy housing, which had housing built in the 19th century so they had to use 4 digits for the year. The choice of number of digits for the year was a programming choice, not a programming language limitation.

[Beowulf]

My BF and I loved pranking, them before they finally got the message. I got one of them going, by pretending that he was asking about an attachment for a microwave. He was trying to direct me to something, when I asked my BF's mom to go check the fridge, and that's when he hung up. Ahh, good times.

[notalwaysright]

My mom messes with pushy telemarketers. If they were selling say, windows, she would claim not to have any. If a scammer called saying her computer had a virus she would say she didn't have a computer.

I don't answer my phone if I don't recognize the number (and often even if I do...) so I haven't dealt with these. I have repeatedly gotten messages which seem to be scams. One was a very vague "attempt to collect a debt." Another was even more vague and just said that it was urgent that I call back to "confirm information."

[protege]

At least while he was wasting your time, you were wasting his time that he could have been using to scam others.

...and this is *exactly* why I go out of my way to fuck with them I hate scammers, I really do. We get them every now and then at work. So far, I've gotten the Yellow Pages scam, the copier toner scam, various "improvements" ones, moving services, and others. Nearly all of them hang up when you ask what firm they're calling from.

16 years on, and I can spot a scam a mile away. Of course, it helps that I once worked in the auditing department of a bank...plus I've taken several continuing-learning type classes regarding regulations and frauds.

[wolfie]

My mom messes with pushy telemarketers. If they were selling say, windows, she would claim not to have any. If a scammer called saying her computer had a virus she would say she didn't have a computer.

And if they were trying to sell long-distance service, would she tell them she didn't have a phone?

[Evannah]

I get the computer scams a lot. I just tell them, "I think you've got the wrong number. I don't even HAVE a computer." That used to shut them up pretty sharpish until they started asking me if I have a laptop. To which I say no. Then they ask if I have a tablet. And I'll say "What's a tablet? Do you mean a pill?" Usually they'll just put the phone down there and then. Acting like you're clueless usually works lol.