For a scammer time is their biggest asset, so wasting their time really annoys them.

The simple approach is to listen then say something like

“Oh, just got to turn the cooker off – back in a minute”

Or “There’s someone at the door – hold on”

Or “Hold on – just got to get something”

Or anything similar

Then leave them hanging on.

You can prolong this by going back to the call for a minute then excusing yourself again for another long break while the scammer waits and waits. They do give up and put the phone down to move on to the next target.

But to really have fun at their expense, requires a little more imagination.

e.g. 1. Jack says “A scammer called claiming to be from Microsoft Support and wanting to help me sort out problems with my computer.

I agreed and let him talk through what to do but I was using my toaster rather than my computer”.

“So, now you can go to your browser”

“What’s that?”

“Browser, that’s the icon you click to access the Internet”

“OK. I’ve got a green light and a red light – is it one of them?”

“Can you move the mouse down to the bottom of the screen?”

“I don’t have any mice in my home – it’s very clean”

And so on till the dummy realised he was being taken for a ride.

e.g. 2. Bill says “I like to try to sell them something e.g. I’m glad you called cause today is your lucky day. I have a new delivery of tooth fairies and I can do a great deal with you. These are authentic, organic, low carbon tooth fairies and usually retail at 90 dollars each but today only I can get you two boxes – that’s 24 at just $14 each.

That gets them off their stupid script and confused for what to say.

e.g. 3 Jay says “I find a big enough distraction confuses them e.g. tell them you just won millions on the lottery and you’ve trying to figure out whether to leave home or go overseas”

They often break from their practiced script and start talking like a real human and ask me what I am going to do with the money.

e.g. 4. Lipu says I had one of those “your computer has a virus! scammers call me when I was driving home one time – so I kept him on the phone for the hour long drive. I kept saying I was opening the wrong folder or couldn’t find the file and then was confused about the virus and just made-up anything I could think of and started complaining about how slow the computer was.

The guy got really frustrated and clearly wanted to end the call. Finally, when I pulled into my driveway I told him – Alright, I’m home now so thanks for the entertainment. Don’t call again.”

e.g. 5. Jim said he kept getting calls from computer scammers that want to install new security for my new computer. I keep them busy for a while and ask about what computer they are talking about as I claim to have 14 which keeps them busy for a while. When she asked for my credit card to pay for the security update I give them a random number with the right number of digits and of course when they try to take payment it fails and I blame them for typing it in wrongly.

Keep ‘em frustrated and never give them any genuine information about yourself.

If you have any experiences with these scams do let me know, by email.

Online Watch Link known as OWL is an online service for Neighbourhood Watches, the Police and associated bodies involved in preventing and stopping crime.

It’s designed to keep people informed of what’s going on locally relating to crime prevention for both the public and the Police.

It’s used by a lot of the Neighbourhood Watches across the UK but not all so if you input your postcode in the Find a Watch scheme box on the home page – you may well get the message “Sorry that postcode is not covered by OWL”.

OWL has been featured on Crimewatch and is growing in popularity.

The website is https://www.owl.co.uk/

Q. How does OWL help?

Local authorities send out alerts via OWL about crime and local issues in your area. It can help to prevent burglary, find missing people, makes people feel safer and catch suspects.

OWL Has National Police Approval

There is some advice on the website relating to various categories of crime, but the website is all about the OWL service.

Searching the Internet shows that many communities have incorporated OWL into their local information websites and neighbourhood watches.

Owl was created by a British company based in Hatfield.

It seems a useful tool in crime prevention and the more communities and Watches that us it the more useful it will become.

Do click on the Facebook or Twitter icons on top right to follow Fight Back Ninja.

In these day of everything going digital, does the Neighbourhood Watch still have a role to play?

YES!

Neighbourhood Watch can provide security and assurance that nothing online can offer.

The Neighbourhood Watch scheme began in the United Kingdom in 1982 and is a partnership intended to bring people together to make their communities safer. It involves the police, Community Safety departments of local authorities, other voluntary organisations and individuals and families who want to make their neighbourhoods better places to live. It aims to help people protect themselves and their properties and to reduce the fear of crime by means of improved home security, greater vigilance, accurate reporting of suspicious incidents to the police and by fostering a community spirit. It is claimed that over 3.8 million households are covered by a neighbourhood watch.

Objectives of Neighbourhood Watch

• To improve community safety generally including e.g. fire safety
• To prevent crime by improving security, increasing vigilance, creating and maintaining a caring community and reducing opportunities for crime by increasing crime prevention awareness.
• To assist the police in detecting crime by promoting effective communication and the prompt reporting of suspicious and criminal activity.
• To reduce undue fear of crime by providing accurate information about risks and by promoting a sense of security and community spirit, particularly amongst the more vulnerable members of the community.
• To improve police/community liaison by providing effective communications through Neighbourhood Watch messaging systems which warn Coordinators of local crime trends which they can disseminate to their scheme members, and by members informing the police of incidents when they occur.

Neighbourhood Watch schemes are run by their members through a coordinator and are supported by the police and in many divisions, a local Neighbourhood Watch Association.

A volunteer resident coordinator supervises the scheme and liaises with the police, they receive information and messages to keep them in touch with activities and some have marker kits, alarms and other security items, which are available to members. The schemes are a community initiative, which is supported by the police, not run by them, so success depends on what the members make of it.

Do Neighbourhood Watches Help to Reduce Door-to-Door Scammers?

The anecdotal evidence is that they do reduce this type of crime. This is largely because people are more aware of possible crimes and do keep an eye out for unexpected visitors to their doors. Also, door-to-door crooks tend to avoid areas where there are any signs of organisation against crime and Neighbourhood Watch areas are usually identifiable by stickers on homes and buildings.

If there is a Neighbourhood Watch in your area, then consider joining.

Do you have an opinion on this matter? Please comment in the box below.