What scam calls have taught me
By AmberLynn
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
United States
March 11, 2021 8:32am CST
It's difficult to imagine how scam callers can teach us things, isn't it?
Well
They
Can.
For instance, every time I get a scam call it's from a place in North Carolina. Many I know - Swananoa, Burlington, Troy - but there are still many more I don't know.
I never answer these calls, but I do make note of where they're calling from. The first thing I look for is the area code. Most of the scam calls come from the same area code, but there are others, like Swanananoa, that come from a different area code. Today's was Saxapahaw,NC
Thank You, Mr/Miss/Mrs/Ms Scam Caller Person for giving me geography lessons every day. 
25 people like this
24 responses
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
11 Mar 21
Nice... I wish the scammers would all call me from the same area codes. I get calls from Texas, Missouri (I mostly get the calls saying they have shut off my social security number from Missouri. 
), Illinois (And I think those are from @JJ 
) and North Carolina.
), Illinois (And I think those are from @JJ ) and North Carolina.2 people like this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
I will occasionally get them from Texas, but most of them have been NC recently. Oh I got one from NJ not too long ago too.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137142)
• United States
11 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum Normally, my phone doesn't ring for calls not in my contact list, but I've had to change that since I'm taking calls from prospective employers right now. I get tired of answering the phone when I don't know if it is a real call or a scam call.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
@DaddyEvil I understand that. I really could change mine not to ring for people I don't know, but I hadn't thought of that.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (129625)
• Israel
12 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum
Do you get a lot of them that you know them so well?
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
12 Mar 21
I get at least three a week, but sometimes daily.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
13 Mar 21
@Hannihar Yes, it's quite annoying. Most people I know also know to text me instead.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (129625)
• Israel
13 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum
That must be no fun. I would not want to answer my phone if that happened wondering if it was a regular call or a scam call.
1 person likes this
@RachelleDD (823)
• Canada
11 Mar 21
I got a call a while back, said the IRS were on their way to my home to arrest me for tax evasion, said I owed $1600 bucks, to buy amazon cards, cash cards, to repay the debt. Of course I recognized it as a scam right away, first red flag was IRS is American, and I'm Canadian.
1 person likes this
@RachelleDD (823)
• Canada
11 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum when trying to scam someone I guess they probably didn't notice or didn't care.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
@RachelleDD Probably a mix of both with a dash of hope that you would believe them.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
Yeah, I was actually surprised to hear you got a all like that. Did they not notice the country prefix was different?
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
@LadyDuck Oh yes, we can block on our phone too. I just don't bother because they seem to come every day regardless.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
I wish we did not. We need another "do not call" list like we had years ago.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (459735)
• Switzerland
11 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum We can block series of numbers, but our phone company is pretty good in blocking the scammers.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118664)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Mar 21
Scam calls have taught me that we can have fun with those callers at their expense. For example, when my kids were little and a scammer would call, I would had the phone to my littlest and tell them it was Santa Claus on the line. That was pretty hilarious.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
I've heard people doing that before.
I've also answered the phone speaking gibberish. They usually hang up pretty quickly once they realize it's not a language I'm speaking at all.1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
12 Mar 21
@moffittjc This is true, but then there's no real fun because you don't get to hear their reactions.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118664)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum Sometimes I'll answer the phone, then set the phone down on the kitchen counter and just walk away. Worse than speaking gibberish is when no one speaks at all.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
I am not in any phone book that I know of. I think it may be because I switched mobile phones. I have the same number and use the same carrier, but I have a different brand of phone now.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
12 Mar 21
@thelme55 It's smarter to do this. Scammers can be very clever now and I also worry that accepting the call could do something to my phone. That might seem silly, but technology is ever improving so the possibilities are endless.
1 person likes this
@thelme55 (76480)
• Germany
12 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum I see. I don’t accept a call on my cellphone which number I don’t know of.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157735)
• United States
12 Mar 21
Excellent. I think we should all be ready to learn. I seldom look mine up. Just once in a while.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
12 Mar 21
Learning is definitely important, even if it's just trivial knowledge.
@toniganzon (72279)
• Philippines
12 Mar 21
I hate scam calls but in this country, we all have the same area code.
1 person likes this
@toniganzon (72279)
• Philippines
13 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum Our country is small. so our country’s code is only 63
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
12 Mar 21
I just looked and my state of North Carolina has 9 area codes in total. We used to have just one.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
12 Mar 21
Absolutely! It's the best way to look at it. There are some towns I have never heard of.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
Oh wow! I've never received a call from out of country, but I would have done the same thing.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (157726)
• United States
12 Mar 21
In about 90% of the time, the phone number that is showing is not where the call is actually coming from. You can use any number you please to show up on the call log. Scammers do this all the time. I have many calls that come from "local" numbers; but they aren't local at all.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
12 Mar 21
Yes, I believe it's called spoofing. I wish they wouldn't do it.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (157726)
• United States
12 Mar 21
@ScribbledAdNauseum Yes, that's it.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
That hasn't happened to me yet, but I am sure it eventually will.
1 person likes this
@sharonelton (25278)
• Lichfield, England
12 Mar 21
My Dad sometimes gets scam calls. One of them says you're Wi-Fi is going to be switched off at such and such a time. He puts the phone down before it finishes. Sometimes they are recorded messages.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
12 Mar 21
A lot of time over here it is an recorded message. I never answer the phone, but the times I have it's been a recorded message.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (170796)
• United States
11 Mar 21
My scam calls seem to come from far and wide.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
The past month or so it's just been NC, but I've gotten them from TX and NJ too.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
Ours come on our cellphone, but I don't get a lot of scam text messages thankfully.
1 person likes this
@Tina30219 (81549)
• Onaway, Michigan
11 Mar 21
I never answer a number I don’t recognize heck spam callers even call from local numbers. Lately I get these calls every day at about dinner time makes me mad these people don’t have nothing better to do
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
Yeah, mine have all been from the same (my) area code lately. It's annoying and especally during dinner.
@RebeccasFarm (86905)
• United States
11 Mar 21
That is cute and funny you learned that1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
Trying to turn a daily nuisance into a learning experience.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
yeah, my Iphone does the same. I just hit the ignore button.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
11 Mar 21
I bet that's exactly what they use. Those machines that do everything automated.
