How can people be this stupid?
By John Welford
@indexer (4852)
Leicester, England
April 25, 2019 5:36am CST
There is a phone scam doing the rounds in the UK at present that really makes me wonder how people can be stupid enough to fall for it.
A voice with a strong American accent says that they are from the "BT (i.e. British Telecom) Technical Department" and they wish to point out that "your Internet connection will be lost from today onward" unless you take certain steps.
I have never allowed the (recorded) caller to tell me what those steps are, but one can guess they involve making a payment to a fake account that has nothing to do with BT. It may also involve revealing one's own bank account number, which is never a wise thing to do.
The fact that these people persist with this scam means that it must be paying dividends. If nobody fell for it, they just wouldn't bother.
But there are two things about it that make me wonder why people are daft enough to be taken in. The first is the fact that this is supposed to be British Telecom. There are many authentic British accents, but broad American isn't one of them! Do you really imagine that the "BT Technical Department" (whatever that might be) is staffed by Americans?
The second problem is that these people keep trying the scam time and time again. I must have had the call a dozen times this year already. But didn't the caller say that my Internet connection would be lost on the day of the call? Given that this didn't happen, why on Earth should anyone believe this lie when it is repeated?
Surely only a complete idiot would believe it the second time if they hadn't believed it the first? But the fact that the scammers don't give up must suggest that it is worth the effort and there really are some incredibly stupid people out there!
8 people like this
6 responses
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
25 Apr 19
The world is full of fools and idiots.
3 people like this
@FourWalls (86713)
• United States
25 Apr 19
They keep trying, simply because if one person falls for it they're rewarded. 

2 people like this
@DocAndersen (54399)
• United States
25 Apr 19
Why would BT hire an American helpdesk to call!
Thanks John, these scams are terrible!
1 person likes this








