Here's a rough transcript of a phone call I got around 10am.
AUTOMATED MESSAGE Blah blah blah car warranty blah blah blah expire soon blah blah press one to speak to an operator blah blah blah Andrew presses one.
OPERATOR Blah blah blah -- ANDREW
Never, ever, ever call this number again, ever.OPERATOR
...um...your warranty...ANDREW
Ever.OPERATOR
Are you sure?ANDREW
I am absolutely sure. Never call me again.OPERATOR
Why?ANDREW
Because you're scam artists. Take me off your list.OPERATOR
I'm not taking you off the list.ANDREW
Take me off the list.OPERATOR
I'm not taking you off the list. (click)ANDREW
Unbelievable.
And yet it happened. Okay, so I could've been smoother about that. Next time I'm going to identify myself as Colonel Furdell, and inform them that cold-calling a secret military installation is grounds for black-ops firebombing.
just ask the operator to speak sexy to you & then start moaning. they won't call back. trust me.
That's actually illegal... if asked, they must place you on a do-not-call list. Take down the caller ID number. I can't remember who you report it to - FCC? FTC? - but I'm sure you can figure it out with some clever Googling.
There are, likewise, fines if they call you after you've asked to be put on the list.
I wish it were that easy. Unfortunately, the scammers-in-question used a technique called "spoofing", whereby the number on your caller-ID is inaccurate. (In this case it was 850-478-2651, a disconnected number.) Like I said: villainy.