Dammit, Scammers, keep the relay services for the people who need it!

[KiaKat]

Got my first IP Relay scam yesterday. I probably would have recognized it anyway, but thanks to Smiley and the other Relay operators on here, I picked up on it before the scammer even started in on the questions!

Srsly, though. If the "order" is three *very* well known and expensive wines, and you say you're not local and can't come in to verify the card, but have local people who can pick up the wine, then I'm gonna assume you're a scammer and treat you as such.

In the future, what can I do when I'm on the phone with the operator, if I think it's a scam? Is there some way to ask the operator to report it as such, without alerting the relay user?

(Side note - I don't speak quickly, and the operator asked me to speak slowly, so I did. Is it normal for a relay operator to have to ask the hearing party to slow down multiple times in a conversation, or repeat what they've said? I'd get three-quarters of the way through my sentence, with multiple pauses between words, and he'd keep asking me to repeat what I said, starting with the third or fourth word in the sentence. It sounded like he was having to hunt-and-pick the letters...)

[Ironclad Alibi]

Could that have been a fake relay operator? I think they would get training to perform better than that.

[KiaKat]

The thought did cross my mind. More than once. There was a slight accent, as well, which I wouldn't normally notice, but I was on such high alert that it was obvious.

[starsinthesky]

I haven't had a relay call in forever, but the ones I have had, the agent was curt, and slow to type. It was very annoying.

[Teskeria]

Most relay operators I've dealt with are reasonably quick, but I did have one that I had to go on a 4 words at a time basis. very irritating.

[EricKei]

In the future, what can I do when I'm on the phone with the operator, if I think it's a scam? Is there some way to ask the operator to report it as such, without alerting the relay user?

Send a PM to our active Relay ops. It would not surprise me if there's some special code for that.

[klhanson]

See this is why i liked my old job.. it was similar to relay but we didn't communicate with the hearing user at all.. we had a stop pedal and were able to stop the conversation catch up and then start it back up where it left off until it got back up to speed.. it was nice

[ZumZum]

I, too, was saved from a scam because of this board.
Had a guy calling wanting $1000 worth of food.
Would send a truck for it.
Oh, add $100 tip for myself

Oh yeah, can you add on $1000 to pay the driver?

I knew it was a scam when it started. I did string him along for a bit, I confess.

[Iseeyouthere]

Forgive me for asking, but how do these type of scams work? I'm not familiar with them and I'm a little confused.

[Andara Bledin]

Forgive me for asking, but how do these type of scams work? I'm not familiar with them and I'm a little confused.

Generally, it's a stolen credit card or counterfeit cashiers check or money order for payment. Then they request a lot of expensive things (or even something not-so-expensive), and by the time you get to the point where you find that the money is no good, it's too late, and you can't track them down because they use the relay service to hide where they came from.

This is why many of those services now require that their users register prior to being able to use them.

^-.-^

[MoonCat]

We get scam calls this way, too. Usually it's to place an ad for a dog...almost always an English Bulldog, for which the caller is asking a ridiculously low price. They try to rush you to run the credit card, too, because they use stolen cards. The scam is that there is no dog .... they will get someone to send them money to pay for the dog & sometimes a shipping fee, but the dog never arrives.

Here's the sticky bit: A U.S. company cannot refuse to accept relay calls, under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But....you CAN tell them that you can't take their order. I tell them ads for pets must be faxed to us and offer to give them the fax number. They usually hang up then. I've taken the call, so no violation, but we can set our own rules about whether or how we can take their order.

[Redbeard]

(Side note - I don't speak quickly, and the operator asked me to speak slowly, so I did. Is it normal for a relay operator to have to ask the hearing party to slow down multiple times in a conversation, or repeat what they've said? I'd get three-quarters of the way through my sentence, with multiple pauses between words, and he'd keep asking me to repeat what I said, starting with the third or fourth word in the sentence. It sounded like he was having to hunt-and-pick the letters...)

I used to supervise at a relay center, and sometimes you'll get a new person on the phone. They generally have to type 65+ words a minute, but may be having a bad day, fat fingering a lot, etc. I was up to 90+ wpm, and I had days like that, too

Forgive me for asking, but how do these type of scams work? I'm not familiar with them and I'm a little confused.

You have the ad placers as exampled above, the "loney hearts" who respond to singles ads, start an online relationship and then ask for money so that they can come visit you and be happy forever.
The cold callers will call businesses, arrange for massive sales to be sent to a predetermined address in the U.S., where the shipment is intercepted and sent overseas. All with a stolen credit card.

If you ever have someone offer to send you a check for something, and then "accidentally" make it for over the amount, they may contact you asking you to Western Union them the difference. It's fun to hear them go nuts through the relay operator when you tell them that you're going to wait for the check to clear

[smileyeagle1021]

In the future, what can I do when I'm on the phone with the operator, if I think it's a scam? Is there some way to ask the operator to report it as such, without alerting the relay user?

(Side note - I don't speak quickly, and the operator asked me to speak slowly, so I did. Is it normal for a relay operator to have to ask the hearing party to slow down multiple times in a conversation, or repeat what they've said? I'd get three-quarters of the way through my sentence, with multiple pauses between words, and he'd keep asking me to repeat what I said, starting with the third or fourth word in the sentence. It sounded like he was having to hunt-and-pick the letters...)

To answer your first question, best thing to do is ask the operator nothing, but drop subtle clues to the "deaf" user. We catch fraud not by what the hearing user says but by what the deaf user says, so if you suspect fraud start asking questions to get them to expose themselves.
As far as the relay operator who kept asking you to slow down and repeat, if the caller was fraudulent, the operator may very well have been stalling. It's not uncommon to intentionally slow the call down so a manager can review it to determine if it is legit before the deaf user disconnects and we lose them. Granted we can block users even after they disconnect, but it is harder and more time consuming and runs the risk that they will have connected to another operator by the time we are able to block them.
... granted I normally slow the call down by taking longer to read what the deaf user has sent and pretending it's taking them longer to type than it is...
Alternatively, calls where we have to block someone for fraud are scrutinized very closely, and I don't blame an operator who would normally be willing to say "eh, if I get the FCC minimum of 94% accuracy I'm good" wanting to make sure that they are at 100% accuracy.

Double alternatively, most relay companies have moved over to using dictation software, and if that went down, many operators actually lose typing speed after starting because they've gotten so used to the dictation software (when I first started I was at 77 words per minute, now I'm down to only 73). The dictation software helps at two levels, one it is faster than typing, second it is cheaper than typing, microphones last a lot longer than keyboards.

eta- this who discussion is reminding me of a funny at work yesterday, I was on a call that was a little suspicious, but not that far out of the ordinary, but the floor manager recognized the IP address for the guy and traced it out of country so walked over to my cubicle "Smiley, I'm not sure if you're aware, but we've been having technical difficulties all day, I foresee in about 3 minutes your softphone crashing, please see to it that happens"
Oh yeah, we are not above faking technical difficulties if we find out you are on our blocked list and you have found a way around our filter.

[MoonCat]

Smiley, I didn't know that relay operators may try to stall the caller when they suspect a scam, so thanks for that info. I'll keep that in mind for the next one I get.

And slightly off-topic: You type 73 wpm? You are AWESOME.

My youngest sister is looking for a new job and recently tested at 63 wpm. The tester was all because these days, offices seem to think 45 wpm is really speedy.

[Mytical]

73 is rocking. Last I was tested I was around 65..my sister makes me look like I am doing the one finger typing though, think she was mid 80's.