Drive Away The Scammers

(While working at a group home in my community, we receive a scam call. Our manager has given permission for us to prank any scam calls or telemarketers.)

Caller: “Yes, hi. I am calling from windows technical support. We’ve been monitoring your computer and several windows have viruses.”

(I used to work in a call center for a car-sharing company. I decide to go by my old script.)

Me: “Hi. Thank you for calling [Company] today. May I have your name and membership number please?”

Caller: “No, ma’am. You misunderstand. We are not [Car-Sharing Company]. We are technical support.”

Me: “Thank you. Yes, could you repeat that number?”

Caller: “Ma’am, we are from technical support.”

Me: “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that! Yes, the parking brakes on a Prius can indeed be hard to find.”

Caller: “No, ma’am, nothing is wrong with your car. We are not the car company. We are technical support.”

(I speed rapidly through a full troubleshoot scenario for finding a Prius’ parking brake and disengaging it. The poor scammer kept trying to convince me he wasn’t the car company. They ended up ending the call first!)