Phone Spam

I seem to be home a lot, so I answer the phone.  It is interesting to see how the phone scam business is evolving with technology.  It used to be that some poor underpaid local schnook called and tried to sell me something.  I always listened for a few seconds, and said I wasn't interested and hung up.  You could always here them screaming 'Wait!'.  *

Then technology moved on.  The past year or so, we've had automatic war dialers.  The defining point here was that you always said 'Hello' twice, before some hideous recording started.  I hang up whenever there is a delay.  Some delays are noisy, and some are absolutely dead quiet.  Then, a few months ago, this weird one started where you heard a phone ringing, and then somebody picked up and said 'Hello?".  Damn, they're calling me!

Most of these calls are from India.  I can tell because the sound quality is terrible, and there is horrendous cross-talk.  Really, what's it to them if I hang up?  I sometimes let them try to pronounce my name, if I'm slow on the reflexes!  I even hang up on calls from India from "Bell Canada".  They're always trying to sell me crap I don't need, and lately I've been able to cut some services from them.  Yeah!

This past few weeks, I've been getting calls from fine young ladies, who say perfectly "I'm sorry, I dialed a wrong number."  It used to be that I asked them what number they were trying to dial, but these ladies are very sure of themselves, and hang up instantly (usually takes a second of babbling to realize it).  What scam is this?  Are they checking my phone number because I always hang up on everybody?  I can't wait to see!

* I remember a thread one where people were bitching about these phone calls, and doing nasty things like hanging up.  There was always a reply "Oh, think of the poor people making these calls!"  Now, with everything automated and coming from India, I won't get a bleeding-heart reply.  :)