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People Who've Worked For Scam Call Centers Divulge What They Overheard

People Who've Worked For Scam Call Centers Divulge What They Overheard
Photo by Eirik Solheim on Unsplash

Does anyone enjoy receiving telemarketing calls at night? Truthfully, is there a single person alive who looks at an unlisted number while they eat dinner and think, "Excellent. I can't wait to see who this is." Telemarketers are trying to do a job, that's understandable. What may be less easy to understand and accept are the call centers who are not trying to do anything worthwhile or bring attention to a good cause, but are merely out to scam unsuspecting people of their hard earned money/bank information.


Reddit user, u/cmdrrockawesome, wanted to hear the behind the scenes scoop when they asked:

People who've worked for scam call centers, did you know? And if you did and stayed, why?

Quite The First Day With A Soulless Company

Giphy

Got a job at a telemarketing place once.

First day was told "If you are okay scamming people you can make a lot of money."

After the intro class we were split into pairs and were told to listen in to the experienced "workers". Essentially how it worked was you call into a real company and the scammers would get phone numbers close to the reputable companies, so as you call in and are on hold, you think you are waiting to speak with them.

A message would come on, with some kind of scam deal, a free trip, $1 dollar subscription for 12 months that costs you hundreds later on, things like that.

The very first call this confused senior. Who thought she was waiting to speak with her bank. So she willingly gave out things like her credit card number ect. By the time she clued in and realized it was a scam and asked us not to process the information, the rep hung up on her and was actually laughing...

Needless to say, I hopped on a bus home after that to go back to the want ads.

BadCatLeroyBrown

Magazines Are Not Vacations. Just To Be Clear.

Was some bullsh-t "You won an entry into a cruise" but actually they were selling magazine subscriptions.

I worked there one shift. Actually made sales, felt gross after. Never picked up my one cheque.

TempAcc64

Not Free In The Way You Think

Yes. Back in the 90s. We gave away free phones. Then that turned into them paying like 49.99 a month for the service. Then it turned into house alarms. Free and free hookup but like 59.99 a month.

Manager told us "if you get someone bad at speaking English aka immigrant or similar, and you don't land them your fired. Try win they won. Get their credit card number to ship. "

I quit after about a month...

HalfManHalfZuckerbur

To The Surprise Of No One...

I worked at one where we handled multiple different clients but it was DirectTV that got me fired. I dealt with rebates and they were so sneaky with their sh-t that I just couldn't take it anymore. Essentially they would sign people up to an expensive plan but say "no worries once you send in the rebate you'll get a huge discount on your monthly bill going forward." Then they wouldn't tell people how to send in for it properly.

I got so many calls from people, especially elderly, complaining that their bill was massive compared to what they were told it would be. I would explain the rebate and get them signed up for it but here's the kicker. It took up to 60 days for it to kick in so by the time they got it they were usually paying 3 to 4 big bills. I got fired because I started agreeing with customers that it was bullsh-t and sneaky. The company I worked for listened back to my calls and I was let go. Not even mad honestly, you couldn't pay me enough to scam people out of their money.

OriginsOfSymmetry

When The Way They Dress Is A Dead Giveaway

Worked a call center in college, lasted all of 2 hours. We were collecting for some State Trooper support fund or something, and there was a 'manager' circulating on the floor with his own manager's head set where he could come plug in and listen in on your calls. Dude was a tool, total Colin Ferrell's character from Horrible Bosses type - you know that guys, dark purple dress shirt with skinny black tie, chain wallet, bad goatee, starting to lose his hair at 25, drives a Sentra with an expensive stereo in it and smells like clove cigatrettes.....THAT guy.

Cut into a call where this elderly lady went from "sorry, I can't contribute anything this year" to "because I'm having surgery and blah blah....and Todd or Chad or whatever his name was is all " Bro, you just need to cut people like that off and get to the next call, f-ck em"

I just realized that was not what I wanted to spend my time doing...

Thunderhorse74

Makes You Wonder Where All That Money Is Going

When I was about 19 I worked for a call center for 3 days. They were scamming everyone including the employees.

First, shifts were only 3 hours long and you would be scheduled for 2 of those back to back (I.e. 9-12 & 12:30-3:30). This is because if you are scheduled for longer than that you are 1. Legally entitled to break time 2. If you are scheduled for longer than 3 hours and get cut you have to be paid a minimum of 3 hours. The company would regularly cut you if you weren't bringing in enough money, you were then expected to return for your next shift.

I'm sure they screwed people's pay checks somehow but I walked out in day 3 and abandoned my paycheck.

I walked out because that was the day I learned where the money went. See, we weren't selling sh!t, we were raising money for breast cancer research. The key piece that led me to quit was when I learned that 0.1% of all donations went towards the actual research. The remaining 99.9%? Well, it was lining pockets and funding other centers to scam people.

I now only donate directly to a source and even then only after vetting them.

BonQuee

Florida. Figures.

For a while in Florida (go figure) I was selling "Back to the Fifties" concert tickets. This was to raise money for a police union, but we were told to start off every conversation with "You know the Just say no to drugs program in schools, for the kids?" .

Total scam, the concert was all of these has-been acts and barely anybody showed. Only lasted a couple of months

CapnKoz

Many people have been scam like that in Florida, especially the elderly, I don't know how many time I open the tv to watch the news hearing about another elderly how got scam out of thousands of dollars because the were scared they were being convicted of a crime or that they needed a certain product because it was a requirement in the state or if not they would lose their houses, it's very sad to see.

manoa99

We Want A Gift. But Only If It's MONEY.

It wasn't a scam. But I needed a job in college so I went to the job fair. First booth I approached was the alumni center, connected with the hiring manager, and got the job on the spot. Come to find out, we had to cold call alumni and ask for a "gift" to the university.

The cherry on top was that I was assigned a list of numbers of alumni who had graduated in the 60's and 70's. Few calls ended with widows upset or crying I was asking for their deceased spouse. I lasted two weeks and no called no showed. Not my proudest moment but needed out.

ahammergibson

You've Opened The Gates To The Enemy!

I worked for a place to call people and see if they were interested in an insurance quote, if they said 10/10 interested they got BOMBARDED with calls. Constant. I left once I realized this. In Mass we don't like to talk to anyone so once I realized what I was doing I thought about my land line and was like nah. However it was commission so they kept me for a minute.

frenchhorn55

Pens? Pens??

I got hired for one that was run by Evel Knievel's cousin, back in the day.

It was the weirdest f-cking gig, they were selling boxes of cheap engraved pens for like $600. The whole job was basically cajoling people into buying these overpriced pens... I left after my first day of training.

Tenchiro

An Endless Cycle Of Nothing

It wasn't exactly a scam, but it was kind of sketchy IMO. We were fundraising for a grab-bag of causes; pretty much any organization or campaign could hire us and outsource their telefundraising to us. I was pretty desperate for work this one summer and had failed to find anything else, so there I was.

The sketchy part was that the funds we raised were, in some cases, pretty much just being used to...continue telefundraising. It was this self-perpetuating bullsh-t. And while we were, on paper, supposed to be really honest about where the funds went, (a) our materials were always out of date and we'd sound like idiots talking about congressmen who'd died in the meantime,and (b) the people who really racked up the big money lied all the time and management turned a blind eye to it.

Also, they got mad when we wanted to use the bathroom. (You talk for hours, you want water to drink. You drink water, you pee. It's simple biology, people.)

One time the computer system screwed up and started calling Hawaii at like 4am their time. They didn't shut it off while trying to fix it, but told us to keep calling.

I was bad at it and never made much commission (you got a base hourly rate, but it was loooow), and by the time I quit, I was glad I wasn't making much money because it meant I wasn't ripping anyone off. I finally just noped out when my regular job started back up again in the fall.

greeneyedwench

Burning The Bridge And The Cliff

...I worked for a company that sold different products to people and used celebs to scam them and overcharge them and wouldn't give them the money back. My last day I had had enough because not only this, but they tried telling me I was in the bathroom for three hours in the first two hours of my day. How?

So that day I refunded every person that called and left at 12 pm. Never returned.

littlefierceprincess

At Least You Waited Until The Third Day

You're desperate for a job. They call you and it seems legit enough. You go through training and its fun, the people in your training class are all pretty cool, the managers make you feel special, you think you might actually like this. Then it happens you get on the phone, first real day of work and after the 5th person hangs up you realize that you are one of THOSE people. How did I not see this before, but your Managers are behind you cheering you on, telling you not to lose steam, offering free Lunches.

You get conflicted. You know its wrong. I worked there 2 days , the third day I came to work clocked in... looked around and just got up and left.

LoveBox440

Ghosted

i worked for a call center for about a month that bugged people to donate to "charities" with very similar names to actual charities, but less than 1% of the pledge would actually go towards a charity.

when i found this out i felt anxious about it and left, basically ghosting on it. no manager or employee of any kind even so much as called once when i missed my next shift. i just stopped showing up and then never heard from anyone again.

a few weeks later i got a call to my land line (that i don't give out), asking if i wanted to come work for........ the exact same company. in my head i was like "do you guys even remember that i literally DID work there and then just stopped showing up? oh ok then."

definitely how a legitimate and not shady corporation would act.....

quickso

Money Ending Up In The Wrong Hands

Worked at one place when I was 19 or so that did public radio pledge renewals. Turned out the boss wasn't actually giving that money to anyone, just kept it. Bunch of suits and uniforms showed up and arrested him, shut the company down in the middle of the work day. No idea if he was ever convicted or what might have happened to him afterward.

ForbiddenLlama

Probably jail. That sound like serious fraud.

Say-YEET-To-Drugs

Oh definitely fraud, probably federal since we were calling all over the country. I didn't follow the case so I can't say for sure what happened tho. Jail at the very least, but more likely a very long prison sentence

ForbiddenLlama

When They Represent The Opposite Of What They Preach

Giphy

Worked for an environmental non-profit as a teen doing calls and going door to door. I didn't really understand the legislation we were getting signatures for but hey it's good for the environment. A very very nice hippie lady invited me in and explained that the non-profit I was working for was financed by the oil companies and was trying to backdoor a way to remove any liability for spills in the Gulf. I did some research and, sure enough, that was indeed the case.

Told everyone in my office. About half were horrified and the other were like "Eh, it's a livin'" I left and so did many others. It was a trash place to work anyway as you were paid by how much you brought in in donations.

voice_of_craisin

Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "🤐" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk him about it.

Ewww: People Break Down The Worst Food Sins They Can Imagine

Reddit user Shozo459 asked: 'What’s the worst food sin you can imagine?'

People sharing pizza
Klara Kulikova/Unsplash

When it comes to culinary mashups, nothing is as delectably perfect as a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Chocolate and peanut butter in one bite? Heavenly.

Other food combos are not as popular but have a strong contingent of fans like pineapple on pizza or even peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

And then there are ones that are simply inexcusable.

Curious to hear examples of what foodies absolutely consider tastey bites, Redditor Shozo459 asked:

"What’s the worst food sin you can imagine?"

Trust the preparation.

That Is Soy Not Funny

"ketchup on sushi."

– BattleCatManic

I do believe you'd get your a** kicked for doing that."

– Mattress_Of_Needles

No Sauce Required

"Reminds me of this random sushi joint in osaka. Every pc had the wasabi inserted already. If the piece doesnt have a sauce (like eel), then its premarinated or salted. For normal fish, the chef brushes it with some kind of soy sauce blend."

"He reminded me that soy sauce would not be necessary almost every time he put a new piece on my plate. I asked what the soy sauce bottle is for then and he just shrugged."

"And we're talking about soy sauce not even ketchup."

– gabu87

Tough Meat

"Ok, not sushi, but. (I heard this from my kid....) My ex remarried to a southern woman who fancies herself to be a southern Belle. Instead, she's more of a Momma June. My ex cooked steaks for dinner one night. He will cook meat so it is BROWN straight through. Don't think about asking for it any way, but WELL DONE. In his world, any PINK in the beef means it's nearly raw.😳 So he cooked steaks for them. The wife starts eating and exclaims, 'This steak is soooo good it doesn't even need ketchup' My kid described the meat as being extremely tough and tasteless."

– stalagit68

That's just rude.

Expired Offer

"Eating my fries after I've asked you if you want me to buy you some."

– iggylevin

"So you've met my ex-wife? 'I'm fine' is a small fry and milkshake or frostee. And yes, she should use her words , but she won't, so you can choose to be right or to not have to sleep on the couch over fries and a milkshake."

– Jimmy_Twotone

Chili & Cinnamon

"Although it's not the worst sin imaginable, there's a weird regional dish where i live that involves pairing a bowl of chili with a cinnamon roll. Every potluck I've been to here has it. It's not for me but it's definitely unique."

– MayorOfVenice

Citrus Sin

"Orange juice flavored toothpaste and toothpaste flavored orange juice."

– shhjustwatch

"I gargle with orange juice after i brush my teeth. Power move. Show that plaque who's boss."

– MayorOfVenice

Who does that?

Gimme Some Skin

"Eating the skin off of someone else's fried chicken."

– Upbeat_Tension_8077

"I had a bucket of leftover KFC in the fridge, and my ex SIL came over to my house while I was at work and ate all of the skin off the chicken. I was f'kin pissed."

"Then, on New Years, a few years later, her aunt wanted to make mole and split the cost. I was like whatever and pitched in. I had things to do and got home after it was done. Those f'kin b*tcheses had ate the all of the skin off every piece of chicken."

"I'm so glad I'm not a part of that POS family anymore. If I am ever victimized by chicken skin theft ever again I am going to throw that skinless piece of chicken at them as hard as I can at point blank range and I'm going to aim for their mouth."

– anon

Condiment For All

"Squeezing ketchup on top of a communal plate of fries."

– OverlappingChatter

"I had a boyfriend who would take all of his fries and all of my fries at McDonald’s, put them on the tray and squirt ketchup on top. This infuriated me in part because then the fries got cold so much faster."

– loritree

Wasting food is a cardinal sin.

Grocery Stores At The End Of The Day

"Grocery stores/suppliers throwing out perfectly good food when we there are people starving."

"There is a 2009 doc called 'Dive' that talks about how much grocery stores waste. Edit: (I'm sure there are many others but this is the one that made me aware of the issue)"

– moosegoose2222

"My husband did the samples at Sam's club for awhile and when they did alcohol samples they were told to bust/break the glass bottles into the food that was leftover and to be disposed in the dumpster...so first throw the food in, then break the glass bottles on top when throwing in dumpster."

– Swivel_D

Kevin Sucks

"I worked at a major big box grocery/everything else store for a short time. The a**hole store director was the kind of guy who would make one of the grocery guys get put the floor zamboni on SATURDAY AFTERNOONS to clean up footprints down the aisles when it snowed outside. Of course, it pissed people off."

"The worst thing he'd do, however, was demand that the bakery and Deli have their cases overstocked to 'Grand Opening' standards every f'king day. Of course, only half sold, and the leftovers were not marked down (he hated doing anything like that for damaged boxes or cans because he said it attracted 'poor people'). Instead, it all went into the dumpster at the end of the night. It was usually a half dozen cakes, a dozen loaves of bread, and often 15 - 20 rotisserie chickens. No, employees were not allowed to take home any of it. Oh, and he was openly racist and tried to get a disabled employee fired because he didn't like disabled people working with the public."

"I rage quit that job one day, two weeks before Christmas. I found out shortly after I left that the store director was diagnosed with Parkinsons."

"Rot in hell, Kevin."

– WhitePineBurning

My gripe is more about dining protocol than actual food.

I'm pretty much allergic to alcohol and aside from having the occasional glass of wine, I don't drink often when I go out.

I don't think it's fair when I'm out with a small group of people who each order more than two cocktails and I'm forced to split the bill evenly as the lone non-drinker in the group.

I get it, it's a hassle figuring out the bill to accommodate for me, but I don't mind sorting it out as there are apps to make this easy.

I think it's classy when other members of the group point out that they should chip in more for the bill so I don't have to pay my full share.

But I also hate having to speak up and say, "Umm, can you guys pay for your own drinks since I didn't order any?"

I'm screwed either way since I sound like a loser when I do voice my request or I get passive aggressive afterward for not speaking up.

Anyone know a good solution on how to deal with this?

Anyone who grew up with one or more siblings is bound to have stories of how their siblings occasionally (or frequently) got on their nerves.

Indeed, some people don't even have any sort of relationship with their siblings once they fly the nest.

Those who grew up only children, however, often have trouble accepting that people would cut their siblings out of their lives.

While being an only child can often mean getting your parent's complete love and attention, it also means that you will have to go through many of life's challenges alone, with no peer to turn to for support.

Not to mention, never having anyone to torment and boss around, as many children dream of doing to their younger siblings.

Redditor BroccoliniCarrot was curious to hear what only children thought was the biggest disadvantage of growing up with no siblings, leading them to ask:

"What’s the worst about being an only child?"

Lack Of Playmates

"When I was little, people would give me board games like Monopoly for gifts, and I wouldn't have anyone to play with."

"even Hungry Hungry Hippo sucked playing solo."

"I did master Solitaire though!"- Jesikabelcher

Last One Standing

"When my parents die that’s it."

"I’m just alone."- undertheraindrops

"Family is the most likely group of people to help you when things get tough."

"When your parents pass you have less support."

"Also, aging parents become solely your responsibility."- rubixd

"Taking care of an elderly parent with no one to help."- 3Gilligans

No One To Turn To

"When you are the only one to support your aging parents."- Fantastic_Leg_3534

Forced Independence

"I think because I am an only child I have become used to spending time on my own."

"As a result I am quite antisocial.'

"I don’t mind being around people and can be quite talkative however it exhausts me and I need far too much time on my own to recover."- OstneyPiz

"You become TOO comfortable with being alone all the time, to the point where being alone is the default and interacting with others feels like a chore."

"And that doesn't play out too well in the real world."- DeathSpiral321·

Going Through It Alone

"No one to have a sanity check with."

"My wife and closest friend have siblings and they talk about a close bond with their respective siblings where they could look at the other and effectively say 'mom/dad are crazy, right?'"

"Being an only, I thought some of the sh*t they pulled growing up was normal."

"Having a sibling would have helped counter the gas lighting from parents."- RennSport5280

Making Your Own Conversation Partners...

"As an adult, I sometimes find it difficult to quiet the self-talk because all too often growing up it was all I had."-GreenDolphin86

More For Me?

"I am absolutely not good at sharing."

"Plus and minus was that I got all of my parents' attention, so I had a lot of love and support but also a lot of expectations and not a lot of space to f*ck up."

"Nowhere to hide, no one to blame anything on, and no backup when they were being unreasonable."

"But I also didn't have to split time, affections, or personal belongings with some other gremlin sharing my DNA."=Justheretolurkyall

No One To Keep You In Line...

"No reality check."

"Nobody to confirm that, no, it's not you that's acting nuts."

"Later, nobody to bounce ideas and behaviors off of, nobody to tell you, 'hey, X thinks you're cute' or 'that's not how you ask a girl out, doofus, say this'."

"I should mention that for various reasons, if I had had siblings they would have been older."

"So when I imagine not being an only child, I tend to imagine being a younger brother."

"But I think the reality-check thing would still operate even as an oldest sibling; plus I might have learned to handle responsibility earlier."- ElderPoet

There Is, Indeed, Safety In Numbers

"I am the only son of a single mother."

"I hate this term, but it's called emotional incest."

"Basically my Mom was very young when she had me and there were no men in her / my life."

"As a result, she placed all of that emotional needs of a grown woman on to me."

"My Mom never really raised me as a son."

"At best, she raised me like a little brother she got stuck with after our parents died."

"At worst, she treated me like I was a toxic boyfriend."- ANerdCalledMike

No Scapegoats

"All eyes are on you- can’t get away with anything!"

"Most strict parents ever ( they were older too)."

"Unlike my husband's family growing up with 6 kids."

"Parents hardly knew where the teenagers were or who they were with."- Available_Honey_2951

"When asked by a parent what happened you cannot blame your sibling."- nanodecay

The Eye Of TheBeholder

"People assuming that I was spoiled."- Purlz1st

Having no siblings means never being bullied, teased or tormented, or having to vie for your parent's attention.

Something many people who grew up with older or younger siblings openly say they dream of.

When the going gets tough, however, and these same people realize they always had their brothers or sisters to turn to, they might bite their words and regret ever even thinking of being an only child.


People Who Had A Threesome With Their Significant Other Break Down The Aftermath
Photo by Simon Hurry

Many couples like to spice things up in their relationships to keep things fresh.

When it comes to bedroom spices, couples tend to add ingredients, like another person to the mix.

But everyone really needs to be on the same page with who they're mixing with.

Or drama can ensue.

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champagne in two flutes

Anthony DELANOIX on Unsplash

Have you ever gone back to your elementary school as an adult and been amazed that everything looked smaller than you remembered?

It's a great example of how our perception of the world around us is shaped by our own experiences and where we are in life.

As a child everything seems big because we're small.

Our childhood perceptions of other things were also skewed. Things that seemed grand luxuries became ordinary or mundane as we aged.

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