Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/07/24/vacation-scammer-telemarketer.html
…
7 Likes
I feels like she is trying to get him to say YES that can be used to indicate agreement with being signed up for something later down the road
5 Likes
I lost it with the ant farm. I used to pull something similar in HS when I wanted to get off the phone with someone. just say:
Annoying friend: “Hi! What did you think about blah, blah, blah” (15 minutes pass) “blah, blah, blah, blah. And did you know that blah, blah, blah! Also…”
Me: (interrupting) “Wait, hold on a sec…YEAH, MOM?” (wait a few seconds) “NO NOT RIGHT NOW! I’M ON THE PHONE!” (wait a few seconds) “FINE! WHATEVER!..okay, look. I have to go. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
Annoying friend: “Okay. Good luck with your mom!”
(click)
12 Likes
Doesn’t answering the calls “let them know your number works” so they call more frequently? Using caller ID I have not answered a single call (I think) from someone i didn’t know (screen those through voicemail) since I got this number years ago. I have gotten a few robocalls still, but I’ve blocked maybe 5 spam numbers with my smartphone settings and now I honestly can’t remember the last time one got through (maybe a year ago.)
Honestly this Jolly Roger thing sounds like a lot of fun, but I’m afraid it will involve the bot picking up the calls and could increase the robocalls I get, yeah? Also I really can’t Remember the last time I had a human call me it seems like it’s maybe all been robocalls actually
4 Likes
“Oh god, I just so need some nicotine I could punch a baby right now! I mean not, like an ugly baby (chuckle) you know what I mean? Not a cute baby.”
Fun stuff. The headline is missing a word though. “15 minutes to a bot”
5 Likes
Maybe, but I like the idea of having a dedicated telephone number where unwitting scammers call and train bots.
11 Likes
“Boinger Spends 15 minutes Listening to a Scammer Talk to a Bot.”
28 Likes
Kind of like a Turing test that improves your level of commission?
6 Likes
I have gotten a few robocalls still, but I\u2019ve blocked maybe 5 spam numbers with my smartphone settings and now I honestly can\u2019t remember the last time one got through (maybe a year ago.)
In my country they frequently use fake numbers to avoid being blocked.
The bot looks like overkill.
I wished I could easily implement something like call centers use to redirect your call to the responsible sector.
When someone you didn’t know call you, they need to hear some message and type a number to go through.
2 Likes
Hmm, maybe we solve this problem (and kill two birds with one stone) by re-routing the calls to the FCC?
6 Likes
Ox-Gut uses IBM Watson to process the speech from the telemarketers
Weird, because it sounded like a totally random set of responses, unrelated to what the telemarketer said, except accidentally. Or at least it did no better than such systems in being relevant to the telemarketer’s questions.
Watson processes the speech. Meaning, it detects when there is speech and when there is no speech, and presumably it transcribes the words. Something else comes up with the replies.
5 Likes
This very afternoon, I was told that I would lose my medicare eligibility if I didn’t get myself fitted for custom orthopedic braces.
5 Likes
There’s another scam making the rounds-- supposedly Medicare calling about cancer-screening kits. They’re persistent bastards too, calling multiple times over days, even after I blocked the number.
4 Likes
Yeah, the replies are obviously pre-recorded and played back at “appropriate” times. It’s just that I’ve heard (undoubtedly cherry-picked) examples of completely “dumb” systems that only waited for a silent period in the sound coming over the phone to play a random sound clip that did just as well, in terms of engaging telemarketers and seeming relevant. (Smart choices in what the pre-recorded messages were did wonders, though.)
2 Likes
It’s only a matter of time before these companies start using bots for their calls, and then we’ll have two bots chatting to each other, making humans obsolete.
3 Likes
That script is sooo good!
How do these people make money? Is the subscription mostly a donation for their public service or will the subscription benefit you directly somehow?
The last minute of this is quite interesting, as it shows that phone scammers are starting to get wise to bots like Jolly Roger. I imagine they’ll soon all be giving any suspicious callers a type of Turing test to find out right away if it’s a bot or not.
3 Likes
I occasionally answer robocalls on speaker at work. It can add some needed levity to the office.
1 Like
Telemarketer: Before I tell you about the exciting trip you have won, I have a few questions…
Telemarketer: While walking along in desert sand, you suddenly look down and see a tortoise crawling toward you. You reach down and flip it over onto its back. The tortoise lies there, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs, trying to turn itself over, but it cannot do so without your help. You are not helping. Why?
5 Likes
