Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
When a scammer calls, just tell them to hold on a sec while you find your wallet, and set the phone down until they give up. That creates a just a little friction in that system.
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It also confirms that your number is active and connected to a real live human - which is valuable information for scammers. It also gives them the opportunity to record your voice for future AI scams. (This isn't really that new, scam callers have been trying for years to get people to say simple phrases used by banking systems for verification for years)
Old people have also been falling chain emails with photoshopped pictures since the internet existed. My mother used to send me multiple fake emails every day related to politics. I would respond, point out that she had been fooled by a fake, and then move on. Eventually she stopped including me on the emails - now she only sends them to people that want to believe they are real so they can talk about their conspiracies in peace without someone injecting reality.
There is zero friction (for me) from simply not answering the phone. Occasionally it is a real person calling me like a doctor's office confirming an appointment but most of that is done by text today. Any real person with a real reason to call me with leave a message - which I will return using the number I have for them. Anyone I know personally will just send me a text.
Back to AI video and voices - this is really only a concern for public figures or those that put themselves out on the internet. It takes voice recordings to fake someones voice in a call or video - the more that better. Which is why recent examples like the fake AI Biden robocall in New Hampshire or the Taylor Swift video are done so well - lots and lots of source material to train the AI. If the scammers don't have your voice print - they can't fake your voice. So why mess around with scammers by answering their calls?