topic Re: Strange calls in Community Chat

Strange calls

Catitude — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 19:37:30 GMT

Have any of you received a call from someone who sounds like a live person but it's obviously a recording. I say hello and their is silence and then I say hello again and a man says "Hi, this is ____" (clearly sounds like a recording) then I ask him if he's a real person and not a recording and he says "no I'm real" but then proceeds to sell his product. It's clearly a recording because I get the same call daily with the same taped message just wondering how a recording is able to pause when you interrupt and is able to answer a simple question? I see there's another thread on here about robo-calls. I'll check it out to see if this is being discussed. Thanks.

Re: Strange calls

ahoymate — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 19:42:07 GMT

Caller Id answers my phone!

Re: Strange calls

rarejan — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 19:43:21 GMT

Yes I have and it kind of threw me.

Opurra...interesting name.

Re: Strange calls

Preds — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 19:43:58 GMT

Telemarketers are taught to speak fast and are reading what is to be said so that you don't have time to interrupt them to say you are not interested. It may be a real person that is pushing to get done with you and move on. We were told not to let any time in between our words because that gave people a minute to hang up. I lasted about two weeks at that part time job because I just couldn't be that pushy to people. I feel sorry for them now.

Re: Strange calls

sunshine45 — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 19:47:03 GMT

caller ID and the answering machines are two of the BEST inventions EVER!

Re: Strange calls

Krimpette — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 19:50:22 GMT

I don't ever answer the phone if I don't recognize the number. I have caller ID on my phone and my TV. Saves me tons of grief. Funny though, these callers never seem to leave a voice message!

Re: Strange calls

boby — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 19:51:08 GMT

You're right, it's a machine. No big deal that the machine pauses when it senses sound, and they're even programmed to answer stock questions, like "are you real?" If you need proof that you're talking to a computer ask it a question that it isn't programmed to answer, like "who was the 23rd President of the United States?"

Re: Strange calls

Catitude — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 20:04:52 GMT

On 1/9/2014 boby said:
You're right, it's a machine. No big deal that the machine pauses when it senses sound, and they're even programmed to answer stock questions, like "are you real?" If you need proof that you're talking to a computer ask it a question that it isn't programmed to answer, like "who was the 23rd President of the United States?"

I will do that next time. Great idea.

Thanks for the responses. This type of call is a new one for me!

Re: Strange calls

Catitude — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 20:05:32 GMT

On 1/9/2014 rarejan said:
Yes I have and it kind of threw me.

Opurra...interesting name.

Love it.

Re: Strange calls

Yardlie — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 20:31:17 GMT

On 1/9/2014 rarejan said:
Yes I have and it kind of threw me.

Opurra...interesting name.

Oh...so that kitty is so sweet.

I keep getting a call from some who the caller ID says is ALERT. He says, "Hi, I'm John in the shipping department. I've been trying to get ahold of you to deliver your new medical alert system." (We never had a medical alert system and never ordered one.) I just tell him that he is a scammer and hang up.

Re: Strange calls

Clover29 — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 20:42:51 GMT

On 1/9/2014 Predsfan said:
Telemarketers are taught to speak fast and are reading what is to be said so that you don't have time to interrupt them to say you are not interested. It may be a real person that is pushing to get done with you and move on. We were told not to let any time in between our words because that gave people a minute to hang up. I lasted about two weeks at that part time job because I just couldn't be that pushy to people. I feel sorry for them now.

I don't need the caller to pause for me to hang up. As soon as I know it's not a caller I want to talk to, I just hang up.

Re: Strange calls

Shorty2U — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 06:11:52 GMT

We have caller ID and an answering machine. If we don't know the number we don't answer!

Re: Strange calls

Q_spirit — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 06:14:34 GMT

On 1/9/2014 Shorty2U said:
We have caller ID and an answering machine. If we don't know the number we don't answer!

we do this very same thing. yet are thinking of eliminating our house phone land line. to use cell phones only. we get no telemarketers etc on our cell phones. not sure why. (-:

Re: Strange calls

Writertoo — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 06:23:17 GMT

I got a phone message about two weeks ago from someone who claimed he was with the IRS (he called it the Internal Revenue ServiceS) and that his name was Officer Adam Scott. He spoke with a very strange accent that I couldn't identify. That little mistake about the IRS made me think it was a scam call, but what if it wasn't? What if the IRS is actually trying to call me? He said he needed to hear from me or my attorney. Eeek.

Re: Strange calls

Catitude — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 18:21:03 GMT

Well the annoying calls have stopped for now. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Re: Strange calls

Topaz Gem — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 18:27:50 GMT

On 1/9/2014 Writertoo said:
I got a phone message about two weeks ago from someone who claimed he was with the IRS (he called it the Internal Revenue ServiceS) and that his name was Officer Adam Scott. He spoke with a very strange accent that I couldn't identify. That little mistake about the IRS made me think it was a scam call, but what if it wasn't? What if the IRS is actually trying to call me? He said he needed to hear from me or my attorney. Eeek.

That doesn't sound like the way the real IRS would do business. IMO, I think you would have received a written communication, possibly sent by certified mail. Within the communication, they would give you instructions on how to proceed. The fact that the caller had a weird accent would be a red flag, along with the mispronunciation of the name Service(s).

Re: Strange calls

Lipstickdiva — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 18:29:33 GMT

If I don't recognize the number, I just don't answer the phone.

Re: Strange calls

terrier3 — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 19:19:05 GMT

Now that I work from home, I notice a lot of calls that say there is nothing wrong with my CC, but they need to talk to me...

I hang up...but they call a few times a week.