Recent spam...

In article <[email hidden]>, "~ Shelly ~" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Omelet" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Your list of things to do when telemarketers call is hilarious!

A friend of mine had a sister who would put her four-year-old on the phone
with them. He would constantly giggle, ask them silly questions, etc.,
until the caller gave up.

I guess it was pretty funny, because after a while he got wise to the scheme
and had a list of things to say when the telemarketer would try to get the
kid to get Mom back on the phone, he had a list of things to tell them.
Among the favorites:

* Mom's taking a shower.
* Mom's talking to herself and has her head in the oven.
* Dad's home and he and Mom have gone into their bedroom. I'm not supposed
to *ever* knock on the door when *that* happens!
* Mom went out looking for Grandma - the front door was unlocked and she
went out and got lost again...
* Mom won't come to the phone - she just found Dad's vodka.
* Mom's in the backyard burning some magazines. She keeps screaming that
real bunnies don't have staples in their bellybuttons.
* I'm lonely, will you be my friend?

~~ Shelly ~~

Too cute!!! ;-D
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

On Mon, 13 Aug 2007 02:33:02 -0500, Omelet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

George said:

Quoted message said:

I'd love to have my driveway paved to control the stupid weeds, but I'd
hire a local contractor. ;-)

Scammers don't do paving because it is too much work . The famous scam
is to show up in a pickup truck claiming they were working in the
neighborhood and have leftover blacktop coating and they will give you a
great deal just to get rid of it. It turns out to be old oil or some
cheap Walmart black paint which they quickly spread on your driveway and
disappear with your money.

I'm glad I'm not that stupid.

I'm considering bricking the driveway. This gravel and weed mess is
getting to be a royal pain in the ass. Anyone have any ideas that are
not too expensive?

I saw something on HGTV today.... two layers of asphalt. The first
layer was continuous and provided a level base. The second layer
began with 2 x 4s laid in some sort of pattern and move asphalt, then
the top was an asphalt stain that looked like concrete. After that
they removed the 2 x 4s and filled the space with small river rocks.
It looked great!

--

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies. Groucho Marks

Omelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dee Dee said:

Here is what I do 'usually' after asking who they are:
I say in a pleasant-as-possible voice, "We do not take solicitation
calls here. I am going to hang-up now."
And I do.
A few times I have got a 'ring-back' with no one there, and I know
it's 'themmmmmmm."
Dee Dee

Since I've started routinely answering the phone at home like I do at
work, a LOT of telemarketers hang up on me.

I answer "Good morning (or afternoon), how may I help you?"

There seems to be a general policy against telemarket spamming
businesses and for some reason, answering the phone that way makes
them think that that is what they have called.

There's a Do Not Call Registry for the U.S., can't speak for Europe or the
U.K. It's good for 5 years, IIRC.

https://www.donotcall.gov/register/Reg.aspx

Jill

On Mon, 13 Aug 2007 02:38:07 -0500, Omelet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

2. If they start out with, "How are you today?" say, "Why do
you want to know?" Alternately, you can tell them, "I'm so glad you
asked, because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these
problems; my arthritis is acting up, my eyelashes are sore, my car
won't start..." When they try to get to the sell, just keep talking
about your problems.

I know telemarketing scams for vitamins are well known but I only got
one in my entire life. <sigh> I was actually looking forward to it,
but by the time it came I was totally surprised that they had chosen
*me*. I was absolutely giddy! Yes, I anticipated almost every line
the telemarketer was about to say and I finally had to ask him if he
was trying to sell me $600 vitamins. By the time we hung up, he was
laughing and we were the best of buds. I aked him nicely to put me on
the do not call list.... and I never heard from them again.

BTW: I wasted at least 20 minutes of his time by acting interested and
then ducking. Time is money and telemarketers don't want to waste it.

--

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedies. Groucho Marks

sf said...

Quoted message said:

BTW: I wasted at least 20 minutes of his time by acting interested and
then ducking. Time is money and telemarketers don't want to waste it.

I used to do that too. I'd ask about the weather where the callers were
calling from, asking for restaurant and comedy and night club
recommendations, etc., to a point where the callers would finally say they
had to get off the phone.

Now I just have my answering machine answer after the 2nd ring and play the
PhoneCo's disconnect tones, followed by my message. The telemarket phone
system will hang up and auto-do-not-call:disconnected on it's system. Works
like a charm.

Every once in a while, I'll get a blatant message that ignores the tones
and won't let me break to dialtone by hanging up, until its message
finishes playing and it hangs up. Very against the law (inability to dial
911). That happened a few times during election campaigning and I called
them back to tell them for being inconsiderate BUMS!!! they wouldn't be
getting my vote on election day.

Then there's the all-time phone slamming trap. You pick up the phone and a
voice says "can you hear me?" You say "yes" and you'll have a new phone
company minutes later.

Andy

Omelet said:

There seems to be a general policy against telemarket spamming
businesses and for some reason, answering the phone that way makes them
think that that is what they have called.

You get a different type of phone solicitation at work.
Businesses are not exempt from phone solicitations. I get people
trying to sell all sorts of [censored], and they can get really rude
and sneaky about getting their feet in the door.

And I can get pretty rude, too (big surprise there, eh?)

-sw

On 12 Aug 2007 16:39:17 GMT, "Default User" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Omelet said:

Why do spammers think we won't boycott them when everybody HATES them
so???

On another newsgroup, one participant has two rules about spammers:

1. Spammers are stupid.
2. Spammers lie.

Anything they do is a result of the two rules.

I disagree with this. There is only one rule. In every newsgroup,
including this one, there are people, called clickers, who will click
on the message and buy the product. The spammers know this, and they
don't give a tinker's damn about anyone else. They are after the
clickers because the clickers are making them rich.

The shoe spammers are posting through Google. Google doesn't give a
tinker's damn either. I sent the headers to their abuse email and here
is their response.

"Thank you for your note. Google does not regularly monitor or censor
postings sent to Google Groups, but we do try to prevent wide-scale
spam and other forms of Usenet abuse. Please be assured that the
information you sent to us is being collected and taken into account.
While we understand how annoying off-topic posts can be, we aren't
able to pursue most complaints we receive about them. We are using the
information you provide to make large-scale improvements in preventing
abuse. We appreciate your help in our efforts to increase the quality
of Google Groups.

Replies to this email address will not be received. If you have a
general Google Groups question or wish to report a post that you
suspect is illegal, please visit our Help Center at
http://groups.google.com/support

Regards,
The Google Team"

Julia Altshuler <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Default User said:

Not a problem anymore. The no-call list has completely
removed that. There's no such thing for spammers.

I'm on every do-not-call list known. All they have to
do is pretend they're calling for charity donations or
not tell me what they're really advertising until they're
well into their harrassment speech. Or they call from
out of the country. I think we should blow up their
buildings.

My state's DA doesn't like unsolicited phone calls or spam so he's
been pretty active in making the most-stupid pay.

I, too, am on every do not call list but there are some that still
call. I make sure I get three things from them before they hang up
on me: 1) Company name, company phone number, and the caller's
name. Each pause causes them obvious pain because I keep
interrupting the script. (BTW: The best reward was the local
caller that was so upset she called me back after hanging up and
then blew a gasket through the phone.) After getting all the
essentials, I remind them to place me on the do-not call list. If
I receive another call, I fire off a letter to the DA's office
with dates and specific company information (I love Da Net). 41¢
and ten minutes effort can net an amazing amount of contentment.

The Ranger

Omelet wrote on Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:31:28 -0500:

??>> The idiots are the people who buy from them, Om. That's
??>> what perpetuates spamming.
??>>
??>> --
??>> Blinky

O> Scary. :-(

I have noticed that a lot of spam that got thro today was posted
from gmail.com. I may have to consider killing all posts from
that server.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

T said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Omelet said:

WTF is it lately with all the clothing and shoe spams?
I'm setting up new killfilters so that any subject with the word "shoes"
gets filtered out. They've been hitting every newsgroup!

Why do spammers think we won't boycott them when everybody HATES them
so???

Idiots.

Its hard to blame the spammers because they make money doing it. A few
percent of (apparently clueless) readers think the deal presented is
just for them or too good to pass up. No different than the "we have
leftover blacktop coating in the truck..." scam.

I'm sorry but most spam is designed to deliberately exploit people.
Therefore spammers are dirt to me.

But what happened to common sense? With that line of thinking it would
seem we would need to destroy anything with a sharp edge (someone may
cut themselves), prohibit open flame (someone may burn themselves) etc.

In article said:

On Mon, 13 Aug 2007 02:33:02 -0500, Omelet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

George said:

> I'd love to have my driveway paved to control the stupid weeds, but I'd
> hire a local contractor. ;-)

Scammers don't do paving because it is too much work . The famous scam
is to show up in a pickup truck claiming they were working in the
neighborhood and have leftover blacktop coating and they will give you a
great deal just to get rid of it. It turns out to be old oil or some
cheap Walmart black paint which they quickly spread on your driveway and
disappear with your money.

I'm glad I'm not that stupid.

I'm considering bricking the driveway. This gravel and weed mess is
getting to be a royal pain in the ass. Anyone have any ideas that are
not too expensive?

I saw something on HGTV today.... two layers of asphalt. The first
layer was continuous and provided a level base. The second layer
began with 2 x 4s laid in some sort of pattern and move asphalt, then
the top was an asphalt stain that looked like concrete. After that
they removed the 2 x 4s and filled the space with small river rocks.
It looked great!

But sounds expensive. :-(
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

In article said:

On Mon, 13 Aug 2007 02:38:07 -0500, Omelet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

2. If they start out with, "How are you today?" say, "Why do
you want to know?" Alternately, you can tell them, "I'm so glad you
asked, because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these
problems; my arthritis is acting up, my eyelashes are sore, my car
won't start..." When they try to get to the sell, just keep talking
about your problems.

I know telemarketing scams for vitamins are well known but I only got
one in my entire life. <sigh> I was actually looking forward to it,
but by the time it came I was totally surprised that they had chosen
*me*. I was absolutely giddy! Yes, I anticipated almost every line
the telemarketer was about to say and I finally had to ask him if he
was trying to sell me $600 vitamins. By the time we hung up, he was
laughing and we were the best of buds. I aked him nicely to put me on
the do not call list.... and I never heard from them again.

BTW: I wasted at least 20 minutes of his time by acting interested and
then ducking. Time is money and telemarketers don't want to waste it.

Sounds like me and Jehovah's witlesses. ;-)

I used to mess with them too for fun, but just have not had the time
lately. Fortunately, they won't come to the door any more because they
are afraid of my (very non-dangerous) border collie. The fence and gate
covers my front door.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

Omelet said:

WTF is it lately with all the clothing and shoe spams?

I was expecting some new SPAM recipes. Oh well

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

In article <[email hidden]>,

Steve Wertz said:

Omelet said:

There seems to be a general policy against telemarket spamming
businesses and for some reason, answering the phone that way makes them
think that that is what they have called.

You get a different type of phone solicitation at work.
Businesses are not exempt from phone solicitations. I get people
trying to sell all sorts of [censored], and they can get really rude
and sneaky about getting their feet in the door.

And I can get pretty rude, too (big surprise there, eh?)

-sw

I never get those at work.
The switchboard handles it. ;-)

I also cannot get outside e-mails at work. E-mails are restricted to
intra-system unless you log into the webspace from outside, but you have
to have the system password to do that and an intranet e-mail address.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In article said:

On Mon, 13 Aug 2007 02:38:07 -0500, Omelet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

2. If they start out with, "How are you today?" say, "Why do
you want to know?" Alternately, you can tell them, "I'm so glad you
asked, because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these
problems; my arthritis is acting up, my eyelashes are sore, my car
won't start..." When they try to get to the sell, just keep talking
about your problems.

I know telemarketing scams for vitamins are well known but I only got
one in my entire life. <sigh> I was actually looking forward to it,
but by the time it came I was totally surprised that they had chosen
*me*. I was absolutely giddy! Yes, I anticipated almost every line
the telemarketer was about to say and I finally had to ask him if he
was trying to sell me $600 vitamins. By the time we hung up, he was
laughing and we were the best of buds. I aked him nicely to put me on
the do not call list.... and I never heard from them again.

BTW: I wasted at least 20 minutes of his time by acting interested and
then ducking. Time is money and telemarketers don't want to waste it.

Sounds like me and Jehovah's witlesses. ;-)

I used to mess with them too for fun, but just have not had the time
lately. Fortunately, they won't come to the door any more because they
are afraid of my (very non-dangerous) border collie. The fence and gate
covers my front door.

I"m a rabid atheist. I pity any JW that comes to my door.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden]
says...

Quoted message said:

BOB said:

I haven't received
a call in about a year, and it started dwindling since I started using these
tactics. I don't care if any of these things are true or not, they don't
know either.

If they're female, I ask them what they're wearing and if they
prefer thongs or briefs.

And they often have the nerve to get upset.

-sw

So what about the times they don't get upset. Must make for some
interesting calls.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Steve Wertz said:

Omelet said:

There seems to be a general policy against telemarket spamming
businesses and for some reason, answering the phone that way makes them
think that that is what they have called.

You get a different type of phone solicitation at work.
Businesses are not exempt from phone solicitations. I get people
trying to sell all sorts of [censored], and they can get really rude
and sneaky about getting their feet in the door.

And I can get pretty rude, too (big surprise there, eh?)

-sw

I never get those at work.
The switchboard handles it. ;-)

I also cannot get outside e-mails at work. E-mails are restricted to
intra-system unless you log into the webspace from outside, but you have
to have the system password to do that and an intranet e-mail address.

I wish our switchboard could handle things like that. Our unit has it's
own in-dial number, we all have specific extensions, etc. I've explained
to her that if someone calls asking for my extension it's good, or they
ask for me by my short name, it's good too. Anyone asking by my full
name is more than likely trying to sell something.

I do the same at home, if they ask for Anthony I just hang up.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Julia Altshuler said:

Default User said:

Not a problem anymore. The no-call list has completely removed that.
There's no such thing for spammers.

I'm on every do-not-call list known. All they have to do is pretend
they're calling for charity donations or not tell me what they're really
advertising until they're well into their harrassment speech. Or they
call from out of the country. I think we should blow up their buildings.

--Lia

I just hang up on them anymore.

I have an answering machine that I use to screen all landline calls now.
Anyone that I really want to talk to has my cell phone number.

Speaking of which, I got a telemarketing call on my cell phone the other
day. If anyone hadn't noticed cell phones get very particular exchange
assignments. A simple lookup would tell them it was a cell phone.

James Silverton said:

Omelet wrote on Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:31:28 -0500:

??>> The idiots are the people who buy from them, Om. That's
??>> what perpetuates spamming.
??>>
??>> --
??>> Blinky

O> Scary. :-(

I have noticed that a lot of spam that got thro today was posted
from gmail.com. I may have to consider killing all posts from
that server.

I think you'll find that they're from the Google Groups server; the
posters are flying Gmail email addresses. The two aren't the same.
Filter on the string google in their Message-ID headers.

--
Blinky
Killfiling all posts from Google Groups.
Except with Thunderbird, which can't filter that well.
Details: http://blinkynet.net/comp/uip5.html

Omelet said:

Sounds like me and Jehovah's witlesses. ;-)

Long ago, I worked at an ABC TV affiliate. At the time, they (the
ABC stations) used the name "Eyewitness News" for their...uh...news
presence. Inhouse, that was sometimes called the "Eyewitless News"
or the "I Missed It News".

--
Blinky
Killfiling all posts from Google Groups.
Except with Thunderbird, which can't filter that well.
Details: http://blinkynet.net/comp/uip5.html