Fascinating Scam Call

I just had a call just now from an 'Energy Advisor' telling me my old fibreglass loft insulation is causing damp and mould and will need to be replaced and I needed an energy survey...  - blah, blah.   so I thought, ok, I'm in the mood - let's dance.... Smiley
 
It sounded like a real person on the line - so I was getting comfy for the long haul - until I asked some random (confusing) questions and it reset to a different point in it's presentation and exactly repeated a couple of its previous lines - it was a semi-intelligent AI system based on snippet recordings done by a real person which it then assembled into plausible sounding conversation - so it is an 'automated con-man'.     Once it decided I wasn't good prey, it cut off.     Shame - I would love to have tested the limits of its programming for much longer.

 I'm impressed!   Smiley    Turing test 2/10 - fail.    The number that comes up is 0113 509 7141

I wonder how many people get signed up for a new insulation scam....? 

  • Best part of being deaf I don't have to put up with such calls Slight smile

  • Good work plastic!

    I went through a phase of telling cold callers (with a tremble in my voice) that "no you can't talk to her, she's dead"! I'd essentially describe a crime of passion which had lead to me answering her phone, at which point most cold callers would have hung up.

    But not this indian guy, oh no, he advised me to run before the police arrive. He was quite keen to motivate me to escape the scene...

  • It would be funny ... except that some poor folks will fall for it.  

  • I always get those calls, I used to just hang up the phone, But I like to mess with them, They waste my time now I will wast there time, I had one where I was entitled to compensation after a car crash I was in, So first off I don't drive and never will drive, Also if I was in a crash I would have had it done and dealt with. So I was like, "omg yes that car crash that was last month, I lost my arm, I am interested in compensation", The woman on the other end of the line was confused and thought she had me and she went away, and the line was silent for about 5 minutes, She was probably telling her boss that we have someone, But I just hung up the phone, So they got happy for no reason, 

  • i'm simply infuriated that these punks keep calling - at least in the us... they do this in the uk? the clincher is getting called, and a machine puts you on hold. look, i sort of no these punks (the flunkie on the other end) are generally just making a living, so i try not to be a total jerk-whad. but if they are actually scamming a real honest to gawd scam, yeah, i need to get a rise out of them.

    i ask them to excrete certain bodily fluids on their keyboards. fun fluids. all over their keyboards. fun, ye gawds!

    like i said, they infuriate me.

    anyone else? i'm figuring aspies might be particularly sensitive to receiving a phone call, and it's just someone scamming, tricking, selling or otherwise prostituting themself. 

    in your own home.

    aspies seem pretty reclusive and private, or some of them. anyone else? 

  • Hackers, more likely.

  • Hate mail?   Smiley

  • Yeah - I already had a cup of tea next to me so I was hoping to mess with them for ages.  Smiley

  • I've been getting a lit of those recently 

  • I get scam texts claiming to be from HMRC saying, "Press 1 NOW! Or you will be arrested!" This is from a call.

  • I always liked telling people to hold the line - then popping off for cup of tea and a snack, then a movie. Perhaps fitting in a walk too.

  • That's impressive yet disappointing that you didn't get to mess with a real person.