Just off to freeze my nuts off in a cold workshop. The photo of the rabbit table lamp was snitched from a Pinterest article which I didn't even visit. I just found it as a thumbnail, viewed it as a picture in amongst loads of others and dragged it off.
Never the less, when I go to the old email address which I use as a spam-trap, I get flashing images of the bloody table lamp, each with a price ticket attached and details of where to buy it. It is another example of how absolutely stupid 'smart' targeted advertising is. You couldn't make an instrument as blunt as this if you tried.
That semi-defunct email address is hosted by the infamous TalkTalk (but all major UK Telecoms companies have the same problem) - the ones which allowed Indian hackers to steal hundreds of thousands of subscriber's personal details. For a year or so, we had about 4 or 5 phone-calls a day purporting to be from TalkTalk's 'technical team' until they realised that this old trick was never going to produce more than a few quid, and even then the victim would have to be extremely elderly with associated loss of critical faculties due to severe mental deterioration.
What would they do with this mountain of useless data once they had exhausted all the possibilities for theft or fraud? Cut their losses and sell it on to scammers who are even more stupid/optimistic than them.
So now the phone calls have begun again. The phone rings, you go to it to see who is calling, there is a long pause whilst the computer alerts the scammer that there is someone on the end of the line, you hear the hubbub of an overcrowded call-centre, then an Indian voice says, "Hello?", to make sure he/she is not talking to her/himself.
Sometimes I feel a little sorry for these operators who are just trying to earn a few rupees, but most of the time I don't.
R.I.P. Shridevi.
We are really pestered by nuisance calls. Usually around mid-day, they are either from idiots pretending to mend our computer system, or just no-one there. We get about 6 calls a day.
ReplyDeleteOh, so it's France too.
DeleteWe are registered with all the TPS’s and we still get loads ..... I am not known to be rude to people but, I am now. I’m sorry that it’s their job but, they are often rude to me and disconnect the call when someone picks up before me and most are scams. I just don’t understand why something can’t be done about it ..... I guess there are more important crimes to be solved.
ReplyDeleteKeep warm Tom ..... we have had the first visit from The Beast from the East ( oooer missus !!!! ) XXXX
They cannot do anything about calls from outside Europe. The Beast is on its way here...
DeleteMy father has had a series of particularly unsettling hoax calls purporting to be HMRC. He was really scared. They told him to get a lawyer as they were prosecuting him for non payment of tax. I'd love to get my hands on them........
ReplyDeleteI get emails saying I am owed a refund. That's when I know they are fake.
DeleteWhen i hear the line open and the poor sod start the spiel, I hang up. They have one "Hello", and nothing else from me.
ReplyDeleteI try to do that, but after the third call I sometimes start abusing them.
DeleteYes. I have been trying to form a meaningful, interesting reply but all I could come out with was a whole lot of agreement with you so settled for Yes.
ReplyDeleteA I cannot think how to respond to this.
DeleteI respond to every question they ask with a blatant lie. They usually hang up on me! I used to keep a whistle next to the phone and give them a quick blast, but it drives the dog mad.
ReplyDeleteGet the dog to answer the phone?
DeleteDitto Rachel's reply.
ReplyDeleteDitto my response to Rachel.
DeleteAre your nuts being frozen off in the name of making said bunny lamp, so you won’t be tempted into buying one?
ReplyDeleteBunny, no lamp.
DeleteLike Billy no mates?
DeleteErr...
DeleteI've got Long John s on
ReplyDeleteSo have I. mine are black.
DeleteGrey here
DeleteSkid marks?
DeleteI see on the display who is calling. Like Jackie I am not a rude person but, now I pick up and close off the call without listening who is on the other end and without me saying a word.
ReplyDeleteYears back we were advices never to day yes over the phone because the "yes" got recordered and that was a consence, like a signature on a contract; Telecom Italia used this method to reclute clients. There was a class action against the company.
Greetings Maria x
They have fake number generators for caller display. Contracts over the phone must be followed up with paperwork, and they must have a few weeks cooling-off period for you to change your mind. Well here at any rate.
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