The federal government has been shut down for about a week. Since it
shut down, I've been getting ten to twenty scam calls each day, even
though I've been on the federal do-not-call list since it was founded.
But I was getting the same number of calls before the shutdown, and
I'm not the victim of any other federal crimes, so I don't see any
harm in continuing the shutdown.
Indeed, if the shutdown means that the laws are not being enforced,
maybe one of the victims annoyed by all these unpunished scam calls
will hunt down the scammers and kill them. And won't get punished
for it.
The federal government has been shut down for about a week. Since it
shut down, I've been getting ten to twenty scam calls each day, even
though I've been on the federal do-not-call list since it was founded.
But I was getting the same number of calls before the shutdown, and
I'm not the victim of any other federal crimes, so I don't see any
harm in continuing the shutdown.
Indeed, if the shutdown means that the laws are not being enforced,
maybe one of the victims annoyed by all these unpunished scam calls
will hunt down the scammers and kill them. And won't get punished
for it.
Certainly if I'm on their jury I will vote "not guilty."
Telemarketers have voluntarily withdrawn from the human race and are
more akin to mosquitoes, roaches, or other vermin. Removing them
makes the world a better place. And if the criminal justice system
is unwilling or unable to take action, the people as a whole have to
step in.
Trump has responded to Iranian uranium enrichment by bombing from the
air. He has also responded to ships on the high seas that he suspects
might be smuggling drugs to the US by bombing from the air. Many of
the telephone scammers are obviously in India. I suggest that bombing
those call centers from the air would be equally appropriate. If
India can't prevent its citizens from repeatedly harassing Americans,
high explosives, delivered by B2 stealth bombers, are always a solution.
I might as well get *some* benefit from the US military.
Another approach was inspired by the Israelis, who installed high
explosives in pagers and cell phones. Perhaps explosives should be
installed in all phones worldwide, and anyone who gets an unwanted
call can press the star key. Each phone will keep count of how many
calls made from that phone resulted in the called person pressing the
star key. If that total ever reaches 100 in a single month, the
calling phone will instantly detonate, making the world a slightly
better place. And deterring other would-be telemarketers and
telephone harassers.
In eighty-four years, I've seen the federal government throw
many tantrums, but it has never once shut down.
On one memorable occasion, it posted guards around a park
that had no fence or gate, saying there was no budget for
allowing people to walk across it. Unfortunately, I don't
remember enough details that I could look up the when and
where.
In eighty-four years, I've seen the federal government throw many
tantrums, but it has never once shut down.
On one memorable occasion, it posted guards around a park that had
no fence or gate, saying there was no budget for allowing people to
walk across it. Unfortunately, I don't remember enough details that
I could look up the when and where.
maybe one of the victims annoyed by all these unpunished scam calls
will hunt down the scammers and kill them.
On Tue, 7 Oct 2025 17:54:37 -0000 (UTC), "Keith F. Lynch" ><kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
maybe one of the victims annoyed by all these unpunished scam calls
will hunt down the scammers and kill them.
The people who do the actual calling are slaves.
You're probably remembering the closure of the WWII memorial. There
weren't any guards, but a fence had been put up around it to keep
people out. WWII vets, aided by members of congress, pulled the fence
down. Police were present, but didn't dare interfere. That was on
October 1, 2013. See https://apnews.com/article/33e767021bf24878b531ea95d5612cbe
Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
On Tue, 7 Oct 2025 17:54:37 -0000 (UTC), "Keith F. Lynch" ><kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
maybe one of the victims annoyed by all these unpunished scam calls
will hunt down the scammers and kill them.
The people who do the actual calling are slaves.
Many of them aren't people at all but machines pretending to be people.
Once they think you'll talk they'll transfer you to a human.
On Sun, 19 Oct 2025 13:29:33 -0400 (EDT), kludge@panix.com
(Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
On Tue, 7 Oct 2025 17:54:37 -0000 (UTC), "Keith F. Lynch"
<kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
maybe one of the victims annoyed by all these unpunished scam calls
will hunt down the scammers and kill them.
The people who do the actual calling are slaves.
Many of them aren't people at all but machines pretending to be people.
Once they think you'll talk they'll transfer you to a human.
And the human invariably has an incomprehensible accent;
it's no longer possible to find sufficiently-desperate
Americans.
Whenever I can do so without inconveniencing myself, I
string them along -- time spent reciting to my pocket is
time not spent harassing other people. But the human always
hangs up the first time he fails to extract my data.
Sometimes I can get the robot to respond to "do you have a
right to call this number" with "Oh, no, that's not the
case!".
On Sun, 19 Oct 2025 13:29:33 -0400 (EDT), kludge@panix.com
(Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
On Tue, 7 Oct 2025 17:54:37 -0000 (UTC), "Keith F. Lynch"
<kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
maybe one of the victims annoyed by all these unpunished scam calls
will hunt down the scammers and kill them.
The people who do the actual calling are slaves.
Many of them aren't people at all but machines pretending to be people.
Once they think you'll talk they'll transfer you to a human.
And the human invariably has an incomprehensible accent;
it's no longer possible to find sufficiently-desperate
Americans.
Whenever I can do so without inconveniencing myself, I
string them along -- time spent reciting to my pocket is
time not spent harassing other people. But the human always
hangs up the first time he fails to extract my data.
Sometimes I can get the robot to respond to "do you have a
right to call this number" with "Oh, no, that's not the
case!".
Whenever I can do so without inconveniencing myself, I
string them along -- time spent reciting to my pocket is
time not spent harassing other people.
I still
get calls for Dorothy, to which I reply that she ahsn't been at
this number for over three years.
I almost never get such calls, they usually give up before the
answering machine gets to the record message segment.
In article <t4IIE7.233t@kithrup.com>, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
Heydt) wrote:
I still
get calls for Dorothy, to which I reply that she ahsn't been at
this number for over three years.
My siblings visited last week and we were talking about cold callers. I >recalled an incident at my father's house when I was sitting next to a
phone when it rang.
"Could I speak to Mr Dormer?" came the voice.
I said there were three people present called that.
"The who owns the house."
Well, we were gathered for dad's funeral so technically me, my brother
and my nephew all jointly owned the house.
On Sun, 19 Oct 2025 13:29:33 -0400 (EDT), kludge@panix.com
(Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Joy Beeson<jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
On Tue, 7 Oct 2025 17:54:37 -0000 (UTC), "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
maybe one of the victims annoyed by all these unpunished scam calls will hunt down the scammers and kill them.
The people who do the actual calling are slaves.
Many of them aren't people at all but machines pretending to be people. Once they think you'll talk they'll transfer you to a human.
And the human invariably has an incomprehensible accent;
it's no longer possible to find sufficiently-desperate
Americans.
Whenever I can do so without inconveniencing myself, I
string them along -- time spent reciting to my pocket is
time not spent harassing other people. But the human always
hangs up the first time he fails to extract my data.
Sometimes I can get the robot to respond to "do you have a
right to call this number" with "Oh, no, that's not the
case!".
In article<h9egfkt2ec92ilghlerge6o0gcqqjv3kel@4ax.com>,
Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
On Sun, 19 Oct 2025 13:29:33 -0400 (EDT), kludge@panix.com
(Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Joy Beeson<jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
On Tue, 7 Oct 2025 17:54:37 -0000 (UTC), "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
maybe one of the victims annoyed by all these unpunished scam calls will hunt down the scammers and kill them.
The people who do the actual calling are slaves.
Many of them aren't people at all but machines pretending to be people. Once they think you'll talk they'll transfer you to a human.
And the human invariably has an incomprehensible accent;
it's no longer possible to find sufficiently-desperate
Americans.
Whenever I can do so without inconveniencing myself, I
string them along -- time spent reciting to my pocket is
time not spent harassing other people. But the human always
hangs up the first time he fails to extract my data.
Sometimes I can get the robot to respond to "do you have a
right to call this number" with "Oh, no, that's not the
case!".
[Hal Heydt]
I've developed a number of tactics that work to varying degrees.
Since the calls I get are on a household land (three adults and
teenager), I'll ask who they're trying to contact. If they come
up with a name, it's almost invariably pronounced wrong. I still
get calls for Dorothy, to which I reply that she ahsn't been at
this number for over three years.
One type I've been getting quite a bit lately is ones to sell
"final expense" (i.e. funeral) policies.
Before it gets to a
human, they'll ask how old I am. My standard reply is, "123."
Usual response is a pause, then <click>. They're looking for
poeple from 50 to 80. Any reasonably astute human would realize
that age of 123, is--at the very least--implausible, as there is
no well documented record of anyone achieving that age.
For calls where they're trying to sell some sort of medical
policy or service by claiming that I have some specific condition
or other, I deamnd to know where they got the data, so that I can
file a HIPAA complaint against whoever told them.
On Oct 21, 2025, Dorothy J Heydt wrote
(in article <t4IIE7.233t@kithrup.com>):
[Hal Heydt]
I've developed a number of tactics that work to varying degrees.
Since the calls I get are on a household land (three adults and
teenager), I'll ask who they're trying to contact. If they come
up with a name, it's almost invariably pronounced wrong. I still
get calls for Dorothy, to which I reply that she ahsn't been at
this number for over three years.
My mother still gets calls for my father, whorCOs been dead for the better >part of a decade. She also gets snail mail rCyoffersrCO for various things. >The most amusing have been the rCyfinal expenserCO guys and the life >insurance guys.
In article <0001HW.2EA991CB010C941A700007F8438F@news.supernews.com>,
WolfFan <akwolffan@zoho.com> wrote:
On Oct 21, 2025, Dorothy J Heydt wrote
(in article <t4IIE7.233t@kithrup.com>):
[Hal Heydt]
I've developed a number of tactics that work to varying degrees.
Since the calls I get are on a household land (three adults and
teenager), I'll ask who they're trying to contact. If they come
up with a name, it's almost invariably pronounced wrong. I still
get calls for Dorothy, to which I reply that she ahsn't been at
this number for over three years.
My mother still gets calls for my father, whorCOs been dead for the better >> part of a decade. She also gets snail mail rCyoffersrCO for various things. >> The most amusing have been the rCyfinal expenserCO guys and the life
insurance guys.
[Hal Heydt]
Got a call wanting to talk to Dorothy today. I gave my usual
answer. Then he asked if I knew her, to which I replied,
"Intimately." The implications seemed get by the caller. He
that this was the only number they for her, at which point I
repeated that she hadn't been at the number for over three years,
and--no--I didn't have another number for her.
On Oct 21, 2025, Joy Beeson wrote
(in article<h9egfkt2ec92ilghlerge6o0gcqqjv3kel@4ax.com>):
On Sun, 19 Oct 2025 13:29:33 -0400 (EDT), kludge@panix.com
(Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Joy Beeson<jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
On Tue, 7 Oct 2025 17:54:37 -0000 (UTC), "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
maybe one of the victims annoyed by all these unpunished scam calls will hunt down the scammers and kill them.
The people who do the actual calling are slaves.
Many of them aren't people at all but machines pretending to be people. Once they think you'll talk they'll transfer you to a human.
And the human invariably has an incomprehensible accent;
it's no longer possible to find sufficiently-desperate
Americans.
Whenever I can do so without inconveniencing myself, I
string them along -- time spent reciting to my pocket is
time not spent harassing other people. But the human always
hangs up the first time he fails to extract my data.
Sometimes I can get the robot to respond to "do you have a
right to call this number" with "Oh, no, that's not the
case!".
I just love the calls where they rCyhave to verify your identityrCO and want the last four of your social, the zip code, various other things. IrCOve started to point out that they called me, they are the ones who need to verify stuff... such as their name, the orginization they represent, what, exactly, theyrCOre selling... they usually hang up.
My condolences.
I'll say 'hello', but if a human answers, and I suspect a scam, my next
line, regardless of what they ask, may well be a blunt "What do you want?". This
throws them off their script.
begin fnord
Crryptoengineer <user3070@newsgrouper.org.invalid> writes:
I'll say 'hello', but if a human answers, and I suspect a scam, my nextwant?". This
line, regardless of what they ask, may well be a blunt "What do you
throws them off their script.
Harlan Ellison(tm) answered the phone with a curt "YEAH?". I find that
a good example to follow.
I'll say 'hello', but if a human answers, and I suspect a scam, my next
line, regardless of what they ask, may well be a blunt "What do you want?". This
throws them off their script.
begin fnord
Crryptoengineer <user3070@newsgrouper.org.invalid> writes:
I'll say 'hello', but if a human answers, and I suspect a scam, my next
line, regardless of what they ask, may well be a blunt "What do you want?". This
throws them off their script.
Harlan Ellison(tm) answered the phone with a curt "YEAH?". I find that
a good example to follow.
For my ex-land line (now IP), I answer "this is the Major." If someone
ever responds, "This is Condor," or "This is Joe Turner," I'll talk to
them.
On 10/23/2025 12:07 AM, Crryptoengineer wrote:
I'll say 'hello', but if a human answers, and I suspect a scam, my next line, regardless of what they ask, may well be a blunt "What do you want?".
This
throws them off their script.
For my ex-land line (now IP), I answer "this is the Major." If someone
ever responds, "This is Condor," or "This is Joe Turner," I'll talk to
them.
Keith F. Lynch wrote:
The federal government has been shut down for about a week.
Indeed, if the shutdown means that the laws are not being enforced,
maybe one of the victims annoyed by all these unpunished scam calls
will hunt down the scammers and kill them. And won't get punished
for it.
Murder is a state crime, and the last I checked neither Virginia nor
any other state had shut down.
The people who do the actual calling are slaves.
Many of them aren't people at all but machines pretending to be
people. Once they think you'll talk they'll transfer you to a
human.
Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
The people who do the actual calling are slaves.
What is your evidence for this claim? In what nation are these slaves
being held? And what nationality are the slave? In my experience,
they nearly all have Indian accents. Does India have slavery? Or
are neighboring countries kidnapping and enslaving India's citizens?
I would advocate "pulling the plug" on India. If they won't enforce
laws against making overseas scam calls, it should be made impossible
for them to make overseas calls at all. Let them scam each other.
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
The people who do the actual calling are slaves.
What is your evidence for this claim? In what nation are these slaves >>being held? And what nationality are the slave? In my experience,
they nearly all have Indian accents. Does India have slavery? Or
are neighboring countries kidnapping and enslaving India's citizens?
She's referring to the scam call operations in the Golden Triangle. Most
of those calls go to China but an awful lot of them do come to the US.
Where they are held might be Burma but it's a special economic zone that
is under the control of Chinese nationals not associated with the Chinese >government.
You can pull the plug on any place and the scammers will move.
India had a lot of scam centers a few years ago but times have
changed.
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
I would advocate "pulling the plug" on India. If they won't enforce
laws against making overseas scam calls, it should be made impossible
for them to make overseas calls at all. Let them scam each other.
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
I would advocate "pulling the plug" on India. If they won't enforce
laws against making overseas scam calls, it should be made impossible
for them to make overseas calls at all. Let them scam each other.
The bulk SMS guys are moving to the US now, so we'd better pull the
plug on ourselves.
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
I would advocate "pulling the plug" on India. If they won't
enforce laws against making overseas scam calls, it should be made
impossible for them to make overseas calls at all. Let them scam
each other.
The bulk SMS guys are moving to the US now, so we'd better pull the
plug on ourselves.
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
Scott Dorsey <kludge@panix.com> wrote:
Keith F. Lynch <kfl@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
I would advocate "pulling the plug" on India. If they won't
enforce laws against making overseas scam calls, it should be made
impossible for them to make overseas calls at all. Let them scam
each other.
The bulk SMS guys are moving to the US now, so we'd better pull the
plug on ourselves.
I have plenty of experience with scam phone calls and with email
spams. But I have no experience with SMS, as I've never had a cell
phone, so I won't comment on SMS.
Now that the government shutdown is over, I suggest that they
prioritize scam calls. The domestic callers can be sentenced to
prison. As for callers from India, again I suggest that if it's
legitimate to bomb ships on the high seas because they're suspected
of carrying drugs intended for willing buyers, then it's certainly
legitimate to bomb Indian scam call centers designed to repeatedly
annoy hundreds of millions of unwilling Americans in order to
financially scam the few thousand of us who are most gullible.
Except, of course, it's not, in either case.
Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:
Except, of course, it's not, in either case.
I agree about the alleged drug boats. Why not have the Coast Guard
intercept and inspect them? Innocent until proven guilty. Or, better
yet, allow adults to buy and consume whatever drugs they choose, so
long as the drugs aren't mislabeled. The US is supposed to be a free country. There have been large numbers of drug overdoses only because
the concentration and the composition of the drugs hasn't been clearly
and accurately labeled. Let every CVS sell USP heroin.
But what about the billions of daily scam calls to unwilling victims?
What's the alternative?
* Every American just has to put up with an interruption every ten
minutes, forever? Or rather until greater automation results in
scam calls every ten seconds instead?
* Americans just have to give up using telephones?
* America will pay tribute to Modi in return for a promise to leave us
alone? It worked so well for Ethelred when he paid the Vikings to
leave the English alone.
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