Dealing with phone spammers

March 12, 2009 – 12:45 pm

There’s been an epidemic, here in California at least, of phone spammers calling random numbers and playing a recording message claiming that “your car’s warranty has expired.” The recording then asks you to press 1 if you’d like to be connected to a representative, who will then try to sell you an outrageously priced extended car warranty.

A few months back I was receiving a spammy call every day on my cell phone. The calls finally stopped, but yesterday I received a call on my work phone line for the first time. This was the last straw for me. I decided to actually press 1 this time to speak with someone and have a little fun. Here’s how the conversation went.

Rep: Hello. This is [some fake name]. Would you … [some lame sales pitch].

Me: Uhh…I didn’t even realize that my warranty had expired.

Rep: Well if you could tell me your car model, year, and VIN number I can check for you.

Me: Umm…I’d have to go outside and check. My car is across the street. Can you wait a few minutes?

Rep: Sure, I can hold.

Me: Thanks, I’ll be right back.

At this point I set the phone down on my desk and did a quick search for some crappy hip hop music on YouTube. As expected, YouTube provided me with an endless supply of crappy hip hop results. I chose one and put one of my headphone speakers up to the phone and turned the volume up full blast. I let this go on for at least five minutes, assuming that the guy probably hung up after the first 30 seconds. At this point I was done amusing myself, so I picked the phone up off my desk to see if he was still there.

Me: Hello? Are you still there?

Rep: Yes, Sir. I’m still here.

Me: Okay good. I realized when I got outside that I actually don’t own a car. I have a bicycle though.

Rep: [click]

I really hope they call again today. I have a few other things I want to try.