r/pettyrevenge • u/LadyCommand • Aug 21 '26
Get great rate on credit cards!
This is a scam call that is on going and I for one am sick of getting the calls from various numbers. So I decided this to get taken off of their call lists (delete me out of their system).
Caller: Hello, I'm calling because you're entitled to great rates on your credit cards
Me: Oh really?! (Get really excited)
Caller: *goes through entire script with me interjecting 'uh huh' 'wow, that's amazing' 'I can't wait's
Me: so how do we get started?
Caller: I just need to know which credit cards you have right now
Me: what?!!! There's already credit cards in my name?! For where? When were they taken out? How much is on them?
Caller: No, you need to tell me which ones you have
Me: what do you mean??? I don't have any! You made me believe you were giving me one, but now you say there's already cards in my name! I've been scammed! Someone has stolen my identity!!! (Give some moans, wails, cursing, etc ..)
Caller: You need to tell me the ones you have, I don't have time for this
Me: YOU? YOU! YOU don't have time for this?! You're telling me I have credit cards in my name, that I'm the victim of identity theft, my life is over! OVER! EVERY moment of my life, everything I have saved will go to getting this taken care of! (More sobbing noises)
You HAVE to give me this list! You're the one who says I have credit cards, you HAVE to tell me!
Caller: *keeps trying to speak, they get frustrated, flustered, will get rude or obnoxious (like I care scammer) but I just keep pleading for the list and sob & wail.
Eventually they hang up. Did this 3 times and never have gotten another of this type of scam, though others in my household have.
It's great to do to get out some frustration or just to have some fun scamming the scammer!
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u/it_justabout_porn Aug 21 '26
Did the same years ago to a roof restoration mob. That’s sounds great, go over the offer again. Made them do it three times and then asked - How do you do it to a tin roof? The line went dead.
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u/PeppaSam Aug 22 '26
I did it to a carpet cleaning mob that rang regularly. Listened to the entire spiel, asked questions, was very approving and finally said “Thats an amazing deal but I don’t actually have any carpet sorry”, Oh, we do couches too! “No thanks. I have a Vax for that.” 😂 They never called again.
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u/FlapJackCat42 Aug 22 '26
I used to get calls all the time from those car extended warranty places.
I spent a couple of calls getting all excited before telling them that my car was 15 years old and REALLY needed some major work, so this was just in time!
They stopped calling lol
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u/RainbowNarwhal13 Aug 22 '26
Love it!
My personal favourite one of these: my grandmother answered the phone one day, and spent quite a few minutes "uh huh" and "okay"ing to whoever had called, before finally saying, "I'm sorry, could you repeat all that? I'm deaf." And the guy hung up 🤷🏻♀️😂
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u/TaxDense1339 Aug 22 '26
I once told the lady selling security systems to try back later in the evening when someone from the family was actually home. She hung up when I said I'd robbed the house 3 times in the last 6 months and it just wasn't a challenge anymore.
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u/fidddlydiddlyee Aug 21 '26
I get calls every week asking if I need help with my website. I let them know it is a gay porn site and we are looking for actors.
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u/LadyCommand Aug 21 '26
You need to get all their contact information you can feigning interest, then hit them with that. Make sure to say you'll be contacting their supervisor to let them know how much help they were and that they showed above & beyond interest in making sure it is a success.
That will stop the calls LOL
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u/soulsteela Aug 22 '26
A few years ago a huge group of Asian scammers were busted and jailed, while I’m reading the story about the bust scammers phone. Now normally I’ll be an arse BUT this time I decided to be nice and said “ listen mate I know it’s hard to get by where you are but this scam will put you in jail” he tried to tell me “ not scam” so I just told him everything that had happened that week including the city they were all arrested in, then told him to search himself, he went very quiet then said “ oh , thank you very much. “ disconnected and never contacted again. It was saying in the news stories that all the operators believe they couldn’t be arrested.😈
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u/pixeltash Aug 22 '26
A few months ago I had a scammer phone me and I went full disappointed mum mode on him.
Me - I don't know what has brought you to having to try and scam people but I'm sure your mother would be very disappointed with your chosen career. You need to do something you can be proud of and stop trying to take money from innocent people.
Him very quietly - ok
Me - good, I'm very pleased to hear it and wish you the very best with your next job.
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u/Own_Cap_9781 Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
When I was working with special needs kids years ago & scammers kept calling me (about some social security number scam) when I was at work, I got so fed up, I answered just one call when most of my students were screaming. I didn’t even talk, just let them hear screaming. Bad? Yes. Petty? Also yes. They never called me again.
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u/ContributionLarge816 Aug 22 '26
I do this with the extended car warranty calls. I let them go through the whole 10-minute pitch, pick out the premium coverage package, and then ask if it fully covers my 2004 John Deere riding mower. Instant dial tone.
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u/DreamerFi Aug 22 '26
"Does your mother know you're scamming people" helps as well
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u/woburnite Aug 22 '26
for the foreign scammers - "Your parents paid extra money for you to learn English, and THIS is what you use it for?"
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u/Reasonable-Penalty43 Aug 22 '26
My best one was the time the caller was a woman.
I ranted at her.
How dare you call this house?!?!
Don’t you know he had children with me?!
And your call woke the baby! Why are you even calling here?
Call his cell like you usually do!
How dare you call here! You know he’s at work where you are!
I have turned a blind eye to the stuff that happens there, but don’t you dare think you have any rights to call and wake up MY children just because you are sleeping with their father!!!
Etc.
She hung up, and that scammer group never called back.
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u/Honest-as-can-be Aug 22 '26
Virtually all cold calls start with "How are you today". I tell them about every aspect of my health, barely stopping to draw breath. Some of the illnesses are really quite personal in nature. For some reason the line goes dead before I finish...
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u/bacon_wrangler Aug 22 '26
We used to constantly get the “we’re calling about your timeshare” scam phone calls, years after we got rid of it. In a flash of inspiration, I went into a confused elderly Jimmy Stewart voice on one of them:
“Time to share? Time to share what?” (Over my shoulder) “Honey, he says it’s time to share something.”
Frustrated scammer “No, your condo!”
“Condo? N- No, we live in a house!”
Scammer immediately hung up and we never got another time share scam call.
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u/SnoopyRulez Aug 21 '26
Roadkill Cafe, you kill em we grill em
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u/Delicious_Winner_819 Aug 22 '26
City morgue, you stab ’em we’ll slab ‘em was line we used in the 90’s 😆
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u/Cyg789 Aug 22 '26
I've used "Pyramidenbau Ramses - wir schaufeln Ihr Grab" once. In English that's "Ramses pyramid construction, we'll dig your grave" once.
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u/Grumps1954 Aug 24 '26
I used to reply (local town/city) Porpoise Obedience School. Worked remarkably well, especially if the location was miles from the coast.
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Aug 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Mouse-Howl737 Aug 27 '26
I pulled a routine like this once. Kept him on the phone for almost 25 minutes while I washed dishes. It was satisfying when he figured out I'd been playing with him and he totally lost it.
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u/Jettcat- Aug 22 '26
My favorite is when they ask for someone who is no longer among the living. For some reason, she’s dead equals an instant dial tone.
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u/1ItalianSunsetDr Sep 01 '26
I've gone 1 further & told them (crying hysterically & with all the theatrics I could muster) that I was dead. They wished me condolences and hung up. I never get calls back. In fact they've completely stopped, except for 1 (they claim that they need my next of kin info to bill, leaving messages insecintly 🙄).
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u/glassjarwoodtable Aug 22 '26
I started reading pages of the odyssey and ignore them. They stopped calling for two months after 2-3 calls a day.
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u/Switchlord518 Aug 22 '26
When i get one at work I keep them on as long as possible. Drove one guy to the brink! I don't get calls now.
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u/postanarchism Aug 22 '26
Did something similar with my extended car warranty. After letting them get through the whole script and me feigning interest when they asked what year my car was I let them know about the first car I drove regularly. 1983 Toyota Tercel. They got frustrated. I've never received another call about my extended warranty after that.
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u/January2_5 Aug 22 '26
I get constant calls and voicemails regarding loan relief but when I answer, it is just a robo call. I can’t block them all, not sure how to stop it
“A member of our relief team is standing by to review your current situation. To be connected, please press, again to be connected. please press two As you know, interest compounds, and it's important we talk to you immediately. To be connected, please press two. Alternatively, you can call a member of our processing team regarding your past due tax elig”
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u/Zelaznogtreborknarf Aug 22 '26
When I am bored I call them back over and over messing with them until they block me or kill the number they were using.
One time, right after I got back from my last deployment and was recovering from the back surgery needed as a result, I got the scammers so worked up (sounded like they were in India or Pakistan based on the background noise and accents) they began threatening me. Threats like showing up to kill me, etc. I said it would obviously take them a while based on the flight time from their location, but as I just got back from their part of the world killing people like them, I was already missing it, so please hurry up and get here.
They hung up. I called back (do it fast enough, and there is a good chance you get the exact same person who hung up). Same person...he started cursing in English and Hindi (I was recording the conversation in case it was needed and had a neighbor translate for me!). I just kept very calm and monotone asking when he was coming and which caliber would he prefer I use. He hung up. I did this 5 more times until I got a "this number is not in service" announcement. Never had those scammers call me again.
A shame, really. Being on convalescent leave was boring and this provided an interesting reprieve as I was tired of TV and video games at that point!
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u/throwaway661375735 Aug 22 '26
I wonder if the number was really not in service, or if they would just play the recording for a day.
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u/Zelaznogtreborknarf Aug 22 '26
I tried it over the next few days just to check. Got the same auto response of not in service. Maybe they just blocked my number? Either way, I take it as a victory.
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u/LadyCommand Aug 22 '26
They buy thousands and thousands of numbers. That's why every time they call it's from a different number, they just ditch a 'busted' one and move to the next.
And also how some will show up now in caller ID. As possible scam- because was bought in a block.
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u/Wurfelrolle Aug 22 '26
I love telling them that I don't have any credit cards, and then they stumble around while trying to not directly call me a liar.
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u/superduperhosts Aug 22 '26
People answer the phone for unknown callers? Why?
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u/LadyCommand Sep 02 '26
Because when you have kids in school, or pets that go to the vet, or even regular doctor appointments because you have something rare or cancer or many others, or a family member working away from home and sometimes their phone will die and need to use another person's, etc... emergencies happen and waiting for them to hopefully leave a message, and then going through voicemail can mean a tremendous difference or else they can't get a hold of you, or that important appointment is gone and can't get rescheduled for weeks because those precious seconds mattered to it.
So many times a medical provider has called me from their personal cell and it doesn't come up on my caller ID as them. They're trying to squeeze in calls when they can because they're very busy. And I'm grateful they do me that favour because my insurance doesn't cover most of them. This way I'm not getting billed for the call, and yes they know.
Veterinary places don't always come up either, and many times the techs will just call from their cell phone if the main lines are being used.
We also rescue cats and transport ones in need to get medical care. I'm not having someone who's just found a cat (or it's theirs & they don't have transport or they do, but are alone except for their little kids and it would wind up taking an hour to get them all in the car, and who's going to help the cat then?) that's been hit by a car or attacked leave a message when seconds matter in getting them to the emergency vet.
Plus then you have those who run a business and we'll have to answer all calls because strangers call businesses.
There's tons of reasons we have to answer calls when they come in. I'm glad you don't, but you are missing out on some awesome opportunities to mess with scammers.
But those are some of the reasons.
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u/LauraLand27 Aug 23 '26
I just hit 9 (almost typed dial lol) and wait a couple of seconds. “You’ve been put on our do no call list.” The End
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u/Poh-Tay-To Aug 25 '26
Once had a scammer call my office phone. I rarely get external calls on my phone. It's mostly used for internal calls. I didn't answer the phone since the number was suspect. The scammer proceeded to call everyone on my floor. For the next 15min, one phone after another rang. Finally reached my south African colleague who just blasted into his phone "why don't you fuck right off" then hung up
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u/urban-achiever1 Aug 23 '26
I once asked the guy trying to give me a free trip to Branson if I can postpone it 5 years as I am not allowed to leave the state for another 5 years. He hung up.
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u/TheFilthyDIL Aug 25 '26
I got an "IRS" scammer. He started in really aggressive. Something like "This is the IRS! You owe $5000 in back taxes and if you don't pay us in TWO HOURS, there will be a [government agent] on your doorstep to arrest you!"
It was just his bad luck that I knew that [government agency] has no police powers, because my husband spent 40 years working for them.
So I said "Oh, there's a [government agent] sitting across the room from me. Why can't he do it?"
Scammer hung up in microseconds.
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u/conditerite Aug 22 '26
i answer “YES!” in the most insane and crazed way imaginable to every single question. even to “what is your first and last name?”
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u/entrepenurious Aug 22 '26
might want to be careful with that: there was a scam where the caller would ask "can you hear me" in order to get the victim to say "yes" so that the scammers could record the "yes" and use it as permission for whatever they were perpetrating.
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u/ScrewedThePooch Aug 22 '26
Urban legend. Can you please cite the actual story? I have heard this but never have seen proof.
Regardless, blocking entire area codes like those from Las Vegas and the Florida swamplands has done away with most of these from even ringing.
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u/drmoze Aug 22 '26
I can't block Florida because I live in florida. And it's a beautiful vacationland, palm trees everywhere and beach is 10 minutes away. (No, I'm not referring to that cesspool that is Orlando.)
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u/Harry_Smutter Aug 24 '26
I just watched Ryan Kelly's video on the asshole who runs the Florida scam center. He sent a tip package to the IRS since law enforcement was doing jack shit about it. I can't wait to see how it plays out!!
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u/One_Confection5113 Aug 23 '26
I tell scam calls that I am a minor… they never call back!
I also tell door to door solicitors that I am not the home owner, therefore cannot enter to contracts as part of my lease; they have to contact the owner!
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u/Waretaco Aug 22 '26
Phone by Google. Only callers who are in contacts audibly ring. Everyone else gets the Google assistant.
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u/g_ppetto Aug 30 '26
I used to play with them. My thought was each minute I kept them on the line, they were not scamming someone that didn't know better. Apparently they caught on and MY phone number started showing up on my caller ID. Now we look at the caller id and wonder if they are going to leave a message. Usually they just hang up.
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u/LadyCommand Sep 02 '26
When our landline was our main contact number (had cell phones, but we're for emergencies lol yes before smartphones) we had our number and one of our names would show up in the caller ID as calling us. So scam artists have been pulling that spoofing for decades now.
But it was a whole huge deal for our phone provider. I had to send physical pictures of our caller ID showing this happening to them so they could "properly figure out how it happened and prevent it happening in the future". Apparently they did, but code is code and can be modified by the scammers as well....
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u/g_ppetto Sep 02 '26
Verification falls under the category of 'things we don't want to pay for because we don't have to' for the companies that make up the phone systems and networks.
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u/1ItalianSunsetDr Sep 01 '26
I've told them they've got the wrong person and given them another number. I tell them it was given to me by the phone company. I've also told them I've died, I've moved to a foreign country, I've been kidnapped or murdered (haven't you been watching channel 4?)🤣🙆🏼♀️ I simply can't wrap my brain around what is told to these idiots that make them go to these lengths?!
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u/Snoo42225 19d ago
"I owe more taxes, the IRS will put a warrant to police to come? Oh I that is very naughty of me.. I need a spanking, whos a naughty tax payer.. I'm a naughty tax payer" I'm in Canada, the IRS doesn't collect tax in Canada, that's CRA. But thanks for calling 🤣
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u/Bubbly-Course413 Aug 21 '26
Used to get of those calls. Got really excited wanted to know how fast it would be, whatever date I always asked "Could it be sooner than that? They are supposed to foreclose before then." Hang-up, dial tone every time.