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Two years spent spamming spammers back

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Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#101

Post by spacehome »

kalleboo wrote: post #23

This is a great idea. Waste the spammer's time and it's no longer worth it. The phone version of this is Lenny[0], a set of audio files/Asterisk script which pretends to be a senile, doddering old man (who has a duck problem). There's a reddit user who runs a number you can forward your sales calls to, and he'll pick out the best ones and put on YouTube[1]. The record is keeping a caller on the phone for 56 minutes.…

In addition the telemarketers, I wasted a bunch of time listening to Lenny. This is amazing! Thanks!

Edit: I love his ducks

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#103

Post by pbhjpbhj »

wofo wrote: post #73
GirlsCanCode wrote: post #24

Spam doesn't bother me anymore, but unsolicited phone calls do. The majority of phone calls that come in are not legitimate.

You should probably check Lenny out: https://www.reddit.com/r/itslenny/

That's great, is there an app that will do this, like put it down next to your landline phone and let it answer for you?

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#104

Post by Symbiote »

grecy wrote: post #53
timbowhite wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you being serious? > I wonder what these people think about you If they're acting at all as GP described, then it's obvious they see you as another mark to aggressively try to extract money from. Caring about what some bothersome strangers think about you and where you're from takes a distant backseat to standing up to aggression.

> Are you being serious? I am. I'm the guy who wrote the story, maybe I did a bad job. It's not like they're getting violent or "trying to extract money from me" - jeez, when you do buy something you can just hold out a handful of money and they'll take the right amount - extremely, extremely honest. In reality, they're just trying to sell their stuff, I don't understand why someone would react by yelling and getting…

People are discussing very different situations.

You're describing routine purchases in (perhaps) a market in West Africa, probably with few tourists around. The hawkers aren't making any money from dishonest sales to tourists, and sales are probably reasonably consistent. Repeat customers are common.

The others are describing very popular tourist areas in poorer parts of Europe. All their money comes from tourists, sales rise and fall frequently, there are no repeat customers, and there is strong competition between hawkers for the best places, and possibly efforts to keep newcomers out of the trade.

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#105

Post by spacehome »

spacehome wrote: post #101
kalleboo wrote: post #23

This is a great idea. Waste the spammer's time and it's no longer worth it. The phone version of this is Lenny[0], a set of audio files/Asterisk script which pretends to be a senile, doddering old man (who has a duck problem). There's a reddit user who runs a number you can forward your sales calls to, and he'll pick out the best ones and put on YouTube[1]. The record is keeping a caller on the phone for 56 minutes.…

In addition the telemarketers, I wasted a bunch of time listening to Lenny. This is amazing! Thanks! Edit: I love his ducks

If I let one of these "Windows Technical Department" guys into my Parallels Windows VM running on OS X, am I exposing myself to any danger?

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#106

Post by Gustomaximus »

craigsmansion wrote: post #86
calebsurfs wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Locals usually have a way to get rid of street vendors that is effective, so finding out what that is in your locality is a good idea. In Mexico, it's Hoy no (Not today) and it works pretty well.

Why bother with that if you feel perfectly self-entitled, judging by the comments, to be aggressive and yell crude language at people who are just trying to make a living in a manner or cultural context you don't understand or want to have anything to do with?

I like where your thoughts are coming from. I also have a solid guess you've never experienced this enviroment. Imagine being swamped by a group of people that physically get in your way, shifting to stay in-front of you when you try and go around. You simply can't progress from people trying to get you to buy goods you really have no interest in. Your stuck for minutes at a time multiple times a block. Now imagine this happening EVERY day when you try and walk down the street outside your home/hotel.

Yes first couple of hours, maybe days, you will be polite and expect these values returned. But they wont be. Anything less than aggressive behavior is taken as sales potential. Quickly you will realise should you want to be able to walk down the street you must get rude fast to anyone that crosses the line. Some previous advice in this thread is good, avoid eye contact. If they respect that they can call out etc. As soon as they physically get in your space you need to let them know this is not acceptable. Polite simply doesn't work. Its not being self entitled. Its the cultural necessity of some countries.

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#107

Post by robrenaud »

There is kind of a interesting Turing test scenario for AI here. Design an AI to maximize number of replies (or total text written) by the spammer. The internet is vast and full of spammers, you'll never run out of real humans providing responses to optimize your system.

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#108

Post by wpietri »

codingdave wrote: post #55

Sure, great idea, funny and clever and all that. But I disagree with the idea that inboxes are sacred, and disagree with the attitude of "how dare people send marketing to me!" Fraudulent spam is one thing. Plain old marketing or sales cold calls, though... you know people are going to do it. It is their job. And I'd much rather get emails than I can quickly delete and ignore vs. phone calls. And once in a while, som…

You are welcome to disagree with the notion for your inbox. If you want spam, godspeed. But other people get to decide for their inboxes.

And as to this: "You know people are going to do it. It is their job." This always puzzles me. So what?

Telemarketers are just doing their job. Door-to-door salesmen are just doing their job. Pickpockets and hit men are just doing their job. That people have found a way to make a living from being an asshole does not mean I have to support them in any way.

In the end, the purpose of most advertising and sales activity is to manipulate people into buying something regardless of the purchaser's utility or need. This is a fundamentally disrespectful activity; the people they attempt to manipulate owe them no respect in return.

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#109

Post by fernly »

calebsurfs wrote: post #76
grecy wrote: post #27

> Imagine if this type of thing happened in real-life. You walk out the door in the morning and you’re immediately attacked by Parul, Kevin, and Amelie. I laughed out loud at this, because it's exactly what I'm experiencing now in West Africa. Street vendors are aggressive about selling whatever they have, and they seem to assume I want it - almost like I owe it to them to buy it - I'm not sure if it's because I'm Wh…

Locals usually have a way to get rid of street vendors that is effective, so finding out what that is in your locality is a good idea. In Mexico, it's Hoy no (Not today) and it works pretty well.

Yeah, on a tour of the highlights of Istanbul we were taught the word is YOK! which in Turkish basically means "it does not exist" or "cancel" or something. It worked.

Re: Two years spent spamming spammers back

#110

Post by pavel_lishin »

bigtunacan wrote: post #77
grecy wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

....That's a horrible way to react. I wonder what these people think about you and your country of origin. You are, after all, an ambassador for your country when ever you are outside it.

This response just shows you are unfamiliar with these types of encounters or at the very least accepted behavior in such situations. In one area I used to live in the general "proper" behavior when you are approached by street vendors or beggars was essentially 3 phase. 1) Ignore unless you intend to buy or give. This means you do not reply to anything they say or even make eye contact. 2) Engage verbally or even ju…

Where did you grow up where that's the norm? It sounds, uh, interesting.
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