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"Could You Start Over?"
Jolly Roger Telephone Company isn't like other telephone providers. This entity specializes in creating bots that blend artificial intelligence and pre-recorded phrases together all for the sake of "talking" with inbound telemarketer scammers. In most cases, the bots waste several minutes of the scammers' time before the fraudsters catch on and disconnect. Here's how Jolly Roger characterizes its services:"These merciless organizations have technology on their side with robotic auto-dialers, robotic soundboards, and an array of other tools ...but they have no morals. Their weak spot is that they need human agents to talk to you when you answer. So the only way to stop this intrusive industry is waste their precious human resource - to hit them in the 'cost of labor'. Now by subscribing to the Jolly Roger Telephone Co. you can get help rid the world of telephone scammers!"Every bot appears to follow a predesigned formula. When the scammer doesn't talk for a certain period, the bot will produce a pre-recorded "Hello?" phrase. This has a bonus of making the fraudsters think their victim can't hear them. Alternatively, when the scammer talks, the bot usually responds with a "Yes," "Mhm," or similar phrase designed to convince the fraudster they are engaged in the conversation. The AI occasionally mentions "computer viruses" and other problems to keep the telemarketer on the hook. But just as frequently, the bot mentions some distraction that supposedly prevented them from concentrating and requests that they start over, setting the whole process in motion again from the beginning. Here's a transcript of one of the calls recorded by Jolly Roger:
"How can I help you?" "Yes." "Sir, you called me. Is there anything else I can help you with?" "Yes." "Yes, tell me." "Hang on a second. Hang on. There's a bunch going on here. Hang on. Okay, sorry. Go ahead. Who's this? What are you calling about again?" "I'm not calling you. You're calling me, sir. You're talking to a Microsoft certified technician. I'm an online technician." "Yeah." "Yes, how can I help you?" "You know, I was having trouble concentrating because you sound exactly like someone I went to high school with. Sorry say that part again." "I said, 'May I know the reason of your call?'" "Mhm." "Yes, why did you call me?" "Sure." "Thank you very much for your wasteful time. Thank you." "Okay. Sure. Hello? Hello? Hello? …"Those random interjections take many forms. Sometimes they're short and commonplace, such as when the bot discusses the weather or recalls a family vacation. Others are more dramatic and drawn out. In one call, the bot says they didn't hear a word the scammer said because they were "tripping out" while looking at a candle flame. During another call, it sounds like the bot is a mother who's fighting with her teenage daughter. And then there's the "bee thing" that one bot brought up:
"Why did you dial my number?" "Oh geez, hang on. There's a bee on me. Hang on. There's a bee on my arm. Okay, you know what? I'm not going to talk. You keep talking. Say that part again, and I'm just going to stay quiet because of this bee. It's totally crawling up my arm. It's crawling on my arm. It's freaking me out. But it's not mad. I guess it's okay. Anyway, so sorry. You keep talking. Go ahead. Keep talking. Okay, it's gone. Okay, so you know when I said I was listening to you during the bee thing? Actually, I was just concentrating on the bee. Sorry, could you start over? What were you saying during the bee? Mhm." "Sir, are you talking to me?"As would be expected, the scammers' initial politeness doesn't take long to turn into something else. Some get annoyed, raise their voice, and demand why the person is calling. Others mock the bots with mimicry or curse the caller out
Scamming the Scammer
Interested users can purchase a "subscription" to Jolly Roger. If a scammer calls them, they can forward the number to the company, which will respond with a bot. Jolly Roger will then send over a transcript and an audio recording of what transpired. Users with a little more disposable income (around $180) can even pay to record with Jolly Roger as a new bot.Image
