Scams claim to trick unsuspecting people into revealing their private information or money on a daily basis. Phone scammers are getting smarter. If you’re not careful, they could make a fortune off you. To avoid becoming a victim and keep their smartphones safe and private, some people choose to hang up or simply block the phone number.
In fact, in addition to this, you can also take other measures, such as provoking them or retaliating against them. One thing you should remember is to never reveal any real information. Do not give them your real name, address, Social Security details, or any information that might be relevant to you. This also includes not mentioning people, places, etc. you know or may be related to you. Most of these scammers are indeed harmless, but not worth the risk. Under this premise, there are a few tips that can help you mess with them.
Ignore
The most obvious and easiest way is to ignore scammers.
Scammers aim to make money by tricking people into being scammed. The best way to get revenge is not to be fooled and make sure any time spent on you is a waste of time. You can focus on whatever you want to talk about and it will confuse them. A common problem people have is scammers calling saying they called because “you” allegedly signed up for this or that. Well, the best way is to say “I don’t remember registering for anything”. Anyway, a good way to annoy them is to pretend to be quite worried about not remembering this and to lead them to believe “you” are losing your mind. They usually try to bring the conversation back to their conversation, and you can just ask them questions like “Do you think I should go to the doctor? Should I call an ambulance?” and similar things. This could push them against the wall. Basically, don’t let them dominate the conversation – get it in your way, and ignore what they’re saying, and they have no choice but to follow up, get very frustrated, or hang up.
Use Call Flooders
A call flooder is a device that can be attached to telecommunications equipment or used independently. The benefits of using one include tracking the number of calls made, blocking unwanted numbers, and other benefits. Call flooders are great for telemarketing companies and are great for revenge against spam calls. They allow them to measure the effectiveness of each campaign based on the number of leads and sales it generates. Fortunately, you can also use one of the call centers. Usually, call centers buy phones to get leads from potential victims, and once you call them through a call flooder, it calls all their active numbers and restricts them from making further calls. They’ll end up having to waste more money buying more phones.
Use Voice Changer Apps
Voice changer apps are probably one of the easiest and best ways to annoy scammers. Once you’ve identified a suspicious caller, you can use the voice changer and talk to them in any voice or tone you like. Remember, your time is as valuable as theirs, so you should be content that you’re giving them what they deserve, jokes, and shaming, not your SSN or bank details. You can pretend to be someone in their department or higher authority. You can also pretend to be an 80-year-old grandmother who knows nothing about computers and the Internet, which often leads to confusion or helplessness. Then they have to stop and ask your daughter for advice on how to use the computer during the call or just hang up.
Use an Anti-Spam Chatbot
You can apply for a service designed to waste scammers’ time. For example, Re:scam is an email chatbot designed to do just that. Re:scam receives emails that have been sent to it and replies to scammers in an attempt to keep them engaged for as long as possible. Because Re:scam is run by a cybersecurity company, it is quite safe from a legal point of view. The chatbot is currently offline, being redesigned and receiving an upgrade, but should be available again soon. Spamnesty is another chatbot that tries to attract spammers and waste their time. Spamnesty deletes your email address to protect your identity and privacy, then sends you a link to the conversation so you can watch it unfold and enjoy some scammers in return.
Scambaiting
You can try to negotiate with the scammers, email them, and pretend to play with any scam they make up. Because you’re just replying to emails that scammers send you, there’s little chance of getting into any legal trouble. Many people specialize in scams and make a career out of them. If you choose to go this route, you may want to use a dummy email account while pretending to play together. This will make it harder for scammers to link you to your actual email, minimizing the likelihood of any fallout. If scammers retaliate by flooding your dummy email account, just close it and start over with a new account.