New telemarketing scam: Answering "Yes" to "Can you hear me?" used to illegally sign people up for stuff

[nightmarefish]

Who the hell answers a call from a number they don’t know nowadays? What’s the point? If it’s a real call from someone you know they will leave a message and you can instantly call them back.

[Dan Druff]

Also: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ca...oHvvsp8lspgsGE

[Dan Druff]

Who the hell answers a call from a number they don’t know nowadays? What’s the point? If it’s a real call from someone you know they will leave a message and you can instantly call them back.

I admit I answer them all. I'm curious about the angle of scam calls. Sometimes I want to mess with them back and record it for radio, but it seems whenever I try, it turns out to be a boring one.

[JeffDime]

Who the hell answers a call from a number they don’t know nowadays? What’s the point? If it’s a real call from someone you know they will leave a message and you can instantly call them back.

Under normal circumstances you are totally correct and it has been like this for a while now. However, during the pandemic when dealing with things ranging from state vaccine hotlines, doctor’s offices, grocery delivery etc, many of these services are overwhelmed. I have been waiting on EZ Pass to call me back regarding a bullshit fine I received when the malfunction was clearly on their end for weeks.

A lot of these services have you leave a message or fill out a form online and then you wait for a call. It forces you to answer numbers that may very well be spoofed. I have picked up more scam calls than usual because when you don’t answer a lot of these calls you go to the back of the queue. I think this is one of the reasons why scam calls seem to be increasing. You can’t screen calls like you used to.

[Dan Druff]

I have answered numbers before from other area codes which look fishy, but turn out being legit calls from businesses I'd want to talk to.

I'm not afraid of scam calls, so I answer everything.

[Bilbodoggins]

Who the hell answers a call from a number they don’t know nowadays? What’s the point? If it’s a real call from someone you know they will leave a message and you can instantly call them back.

I admit I answer them all. I'm curious about the angle of scam calls. Sometimes I want to mess with them back and record it for radio, but it seems whenever I try, it turns out to be a boring one.

I sometimes answer when I'm driving around and not listening to PFA radio. Last summer I started getting this version:

"We see you recently visited our job listing website and would like to tell you about some openings."

"OK"

Well, what kind of job are you looking for?"

I knew at that point that it was a scam because the job I was looking for was very specific, but I didn't realize it was a recording until the 3rd time I got the call. So I answered, "I want a job in telemarketing where I convince people to pay me for something they don't really want."
After a pause they hung up. I haven't received that call again...