Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy life to inform the public of these terrible scams. I, for one, realized very quickly after reading your post, that I thought I was aware of most of the scams out there. Oh my, I was woefully unprepared! The "can you hear me" line largely has not happened to me because I really do almost never answer unknown callers. Unfortunately, I answered quickly last week because I was waiting for a call back. It was supposedly Microsoft telling me that they were contacting me because my computer had a virus that needed to be dealt with right away. The male, foreign accented person acted oh so concerned. He said I needed to give permission right away so he could correct this "dangerous" situation. So far, I'm still just listening. He said "is your computer on now"? At this point, I must confess, that I decided to have a little fun. I acted like I bought his whole spiel for a good 5 minutes. He was practically screaming his head off in frustration by then. Then, I went from my dingbat role in to the real me and said." Since you know so much about my computer, please tell me what operating system I am running"? He sat in stunned silence for what seemed like forever and then went on to say it didn't matter. Long story short, by the end of the call, he flipped out. He started cursing, screaming that I was a B and much worse. Before he hung up, I got the last word and as I was hanging up he was still losing it. I have to admit, I was secretly thrilled. I had won that round against those scoundrels. Today, I read your post and learned what I was risking by staying on the line, to "have my fun". Your post said to remember that they called you, and if they have your number, they can get your address & that these crooks might have a bad day and.... Uh oh, I realized suddenly that I had no idea about the risk I was taking for my 5 minutes of fun. Never again will I answer an unknown call. Your warnings have taught me so much! I can't thank you enough. People like you restore my faith in humanity! Thanks to you taking the time citing all of the different scams, I won't become a victim. Remember everyone, just don't answer. It's just not worth the risks you are taking. Have a wonderful weekend, and thank you a million times over. We need to shut these losers down permanently! Without an audience, they cannot and will not win.
Here is my two cents and recommendation. Nowadays, almost everyone who want a phone must present his/her ID to buy one. Even requesting some service or change in service, I have to present my ID. With the caller ID (unless it is fake or kind of cover up), we can back track the name of the caller. And I recommend people report to FCC for this kind of calling. I have recommended FCC to track all the number and people. If that individual made more than 20 times, that is strong case for some kind of criminal charge. As receiver, I recommend to file a complaint to FCC. More we file complaint and get their attention, then FCC can do something.