As some of you may know I was once fairly active on the site 800notes. Unfortunately the lack of oversight by the admins forced me to step away start a blog that focuses on the calls that were being received. Eventually I returned for a period of time. When I did I had a new perspective. Before stepping away I didn’t think much about how some posts were being handled. Being away allowed me to clear my head. I was able to look at handling responses. It is for this reason I have created this post. Here I will explain some of what I am referring to and compare it to how it can be handled differently. If I can help people understand where I am coming from than maybe it will inspire others to change their approach as well.
“Stop calling me” : This is fairly common comment people make in response to the call they are receiving. The common response is usually something like, “This site cannot stop your calls”. I know this because I’ve done it myself. I now believe the person is simply venting and not actually asking for 800notes to stop the call. I think the better way to handle is to either just let them vent or suggest the option of device or app that blocks calls.
Criticizing Potential Victims: In this case I am referring to people who find it necessary to criticize potential victims of telephone scam. An example of this would be, “I don’t see how anyone could be stupid enough to fall for this”. Please keep in mind that these operations are looking to victimize vulnerable members of society. Many of them are often senior citizens who who assume the call is legitimate. Rather than criticize people who are victimized, why not show some compassion? Offer simple advice on these calls. To me criticizing them makes the critic look shallow. How would these same people feel if an elderly family member fell victim to one of these scams? Would they ask how they could they be so stupid or would they be angry that someone took advantage of someone they love?
Debt Collection Shills: A debt collection shill is someone that posts a comment worded in a way to make the call sound legitimate. Here is an exact same of what I am talking about, “I am very glad ms medrano contacted me she was very helpful and i even spoke with her manager to give her a commendation as she is very professional and helped me resolve my debt on my terms basically. People just dont want to pay their bills. I received my paid in full letter and my experience was a good one unlike the others..Pay your debt people”. There was a time where I would have called this person out as an employee. But instead I took the following approach, “Please keep in mind that debt collectors have a long history of harassing innocent people by calling outdated numbers. I know this from personal experience. I have had more than one phone number over the years where I was stuck with phone calls from debt collectors looking for complete strangers. Telling them they reached the wrong phone rarely worked. That tells me they assume they their information is correct. The fact is phone numbers change on a regular basis.” But at one time it wasn’t uncommon for me to not only call them out, but to continue my argument that they were a shill. I now realize that these shills are nothing more than trolls that feed off of arguments. That’s why I only point out that debt collectors call outdated phone numbers and leave it at that.
Other Shills: Shills are nothing more than those that work for telemaggoter .operating that who use message board in the hope of convincing people that frivolous calls are legitimate. One of the most common ones claim to be tech support. while I believe they should be called called out for what they are, I do not believe do not believe it needs to turn into a drawn out battle. I have learned that it often feeds them. Just call them out and leave it at that.
Shrolls: This term is a I started to use to point out shills that insist on arguing with somebody that doesn’t believe believe them. They get to the point where they start to act like a troll since its obvious they are feeding off the attention. As such I combined the words “shill” and “troll” to form the word shroll. I thought it was fun to play a battle of wits with them! But I have come to realize they aren’t worth it.
Criticizing Grammar: I will be the first to admit that I have done this on both 800notes and social media. But I came to realize that it was pointless. To be honest I consider it a form a trolling. Within the last few years I have dubbed these people “Grammar Police”. The fact is not everyone has the best grammar. Some make simple mistakes. I know I certainly have. But that just proves I am human.
In recent months I think I have finally moved on from posting comments on 800notes. Though it is still a great source for confirming that people are also receiving calls from specific unfamiliar numbers and it is the only time I will visit the site.
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