Getting Back at Scammers

I take pleasure in making the life of a scammer more difficult.

When I get calls offering me a too-good-to-be true mortgage refinancing or vacation-club membership, I listen. I then ask questions, making them think they’ve got a fish on the hook. And then I let them know that I know they’re trying to scam me.

You should always be careful when engaging a caller you don’t know. Do not give out any personal information. But we hear so many stories about people being hoodwinked that I was delighted to get a number of responses from readers who, like me, can’t resist fighting back.

The latest swindle catching a lot of people is the tech phone scam in which someone pretends to be from Microsoft or some other computer company and coaxes people to let the scammers take over their machines to fix a bogus virus problem.

Mary Lewis of St. Johns, Fla., has become adept at combating the con artists.

She writes: “I gasp and very theatrically exclaim, ‘Oh, no! Let me go check my computer! I’ll be right back!’ I sit the phone down in front of the TV and let them listen to Judge Judy or whatever happens to be on television at that time. Occasionally, I pick up the phone just to listen, and they would be patiently waiting for me to return, thinking they had a ‘live one.’ After about a half-hour or so, I’d quietly hang up.”

Sometimes, Lewis says, she takes a clicker used for obedience training of her dog and puts it up to the phone and sternly says, “Operator, this is the call I want you to trace.” She then clicks the device repeatedly as part of the ruse that an operator is tracing the call. “I actually had a lot of perverse fun with those guys. I’m not a very aggressive person by nature, but these people bring out the worst in me.”

But let’s say you don’t have the nerve to toy with a scammer. Here’s what you should do when you get unsolicited calls:

● Have a blanket hang-up policy. You are not being rude. You are protecting yourself. The scammers’ minions are schooled in how to hook you. They have a script. Don’t give them the opportunity to break down your wall of skepticism. If the person is calling from what you think is a legitimate business or charity, let them know you will independently find a number for them and call back. Then hang up.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

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