About ten years ago, I bought my first cell phone and was assigned a phone number that I've had ever since.
For the first several months of owning that number, I would periodically get calls from real people asking to speak to "Kelly". I very quickly caught onto the fact that "Kelly" was the name of the previous owner of the number. I politely told each person that Kelly no longer had this number, and that was the end of that. Eventually, the calls stopped.
Over the next several years, I got maybe one call every couple years by a (real) telemarketer asking for Kelly. I gave them the exact same response every time, and that was – once again – that.
But last year, something different happened. I got a call from one of these telemarketers (disguising their number as a number from my own area code), and I answered.
Friendly woman's voice: "Hello, is Kelly there?"
Me: "Oh, hi. No, I'm sorry. Kelly hasn't had this number for about ten years, actually."
Woman: "Oh, well, maybe you can help me then!"
Me: "Oh – sure, I guess..."
Woman: "Well, I'm calling on behalf of [some weird organization I've never heard of] and we're looking to increase our donations for a fundraiser. It's a great cause, and the money goes directly to the people in need. [proceeds to tell me more about the cause] Would you be interested in helping us out today?"
Me: "Well, that sounds like a great cause. But I'm really not looking to donate at this time."
Woman: [pause] "Great! I'll go ahead and get you set up."
Me: "I'm sorry, what?"
Woman: [pause] "No problem."
Me: "I..."
Woman: "Thanks for your time. We appreciate your–"
Me: "No, I don't think you underst–"
Woman: [keeps talking over me] "–interest and we hope you will consider donating to us in the future. I hope you have a–"
Me: "I'm not Kelly!"
Woman: [keeps talking over me] "–great day!"
click
Me: ...WTF
I called the number back immediately, only to be met with a predictable automated recording telling me to press "2" to remove my number from their calling list (and no other options). So I did, since I was given no other alternatives.
But needless to say, that episode really fucked with me. Not because it was a bot or because it was a telemarketer, but because the bot sounded so humanlike. Even when she had said the name "Kelly", it didn't sound like the rest of the sentence had been recorded at a different time by a different person.
It also didn't sound overly clean and professionally recorded, like when you call Apple Support or Bank of America and have to go through a Siri-like automated phone system. It just sounded like a real person. Like someone's mom.
But anyway, since there wasn't much I could do, I went ahead and forgot about it.
Until today. I got a call (once again, from an unknown number with my area code), and I decided to pick it up against better judgment. But this time, I had my guard up.
Me: "Hello?"
Man: "Hi! Is Kelly there?"
Me: ...
Man: "I'm wondering if I can speak to Kelly."
Me: "...Hello?"
Man: "I'm calling from the [another fucking bullshit organization that probably doesn't exist] and we're–"
Me: "Hello?"
Man: [pause] "Yes."
Me: "Hello?"
Man: [pause] "Yes."
Me: "Hello?"
Man: "Yes, yes."
Me: "Hello?"
Man: "Ye–"
Me: "Hello?"
Man: "Ye–"
Me: "Hello?"
Man: "Ye–"
Me: "Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?"
Bot: [long pause]
click
Once again, I called the number back only to hear the same exact damn message I had heard all those months ago. Of course.
Keep in mind that every time the "man" talked, I heard some faint voices in the background, as if he was in an office and his co-workers were chatting on the phone behind him. So this could have very well been a real person/voice actor at one point, yet his voice is now being used to call thousands/millions of people per day.
I honestly don't know what would have happened if I had gone along with it. I have heard of scams where all they're looking for is a recording of your voice saying, "Yes," in order to apply that to anything and everything they would like... but I'm not sure how the logistics of that would work, so I don't know if it's true.
I just wanted to put out a warning to those on this subreddit that phishing bots/telemarketing bots/phone scammers/whatever you want to call them have gotten a lot more high-tech in the last couple of years.
Naturally, most people who are technologically savvy enough to be using Reddit in the first place are probably street-smart enough to not fall for something like this... but it's your parents and grandparents you should be worried about. I can very easily see someone's grandmother or great-aunt falling for something like this. That's why it's so essential to educate them against the dangers of stuff like this. I don't need to preach to the choir about how easy it is to fall into the hands of a hacker/scammer/phisher, even if you think you're educated enough on the topic. Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open. They're out there.
TL;DR Phone phishing bots are now using actual human voices to make you think you're talking with a real person. What you say may be recorded, too. Make sure you educate your elders on how to avoid falling for these scams.
Submitted February 21, 2018 at 08:52PM by vallco http://ift.tt/2ohzKnT
