Whenever you receive a call from an unknown or supicious number you need to be aware of the real-world telemarketing and robocall infrastructure used by scammers and automated call centers.
And that first defence step is defined as the “3 Second Rule” – when answering say ‘Hello’ once and nothing else. If no answer then hang up before 3 seconds have passed.
IF YOU HAVE THE TIME THEN DO MY FAVOURITE TRICK:
- Listen to what the agent whats
- Respond by saying; “I am really interested in what you have to say, would you mind holding for a second?”
- Very NB – No matter the answer put the phone down next to you
- And this is where the fun begins – carry on with what you were doing with the phone next to you – type loudly, hum, play music, have a conversation
- Pick up the phone after 30 seconds or so and just say; “Please hold” and immediately put the phone back down
- Rinse and repeat making the gaps longer every time
- Eventually the agent will do one of two things: Shout and scream for your attention (which is a sign for you to continue your harrasment in a nice way) or they will hang up
In my experience they never phone again – time is money to these people and the longer you can waste their time the more people you are saving from being defrauded out of their hard earned money.
HOW PREDICTIVE DIALERS WORK
Automated telemarketing operations use predictive dialers. These systems auto-dial hundreds of telephone numbers simultaneously rather than dialing one by one.
When a call connects, an automated system checks whether a human or answering machine picked up. A human usually says a brief “Hello” and stops speaking, whereas a voicemail greeting plays continuous speech.
If a human answers, the predictive dialer attempts to route the live connection to an available call-center agent. If all agents are occupied on other calls, there is a delay/silence of 2 to 3 seconds before either an agent connects or the system disconnects.
VALIDATION AND “SUCKER LISTS”
Automated systems run silent “probe” calls to detect active numbers. Answering and continuing to speak (“Hello? Is anyone there?”) flags your line as an active, responsive target.
Lists of confirmed active numbers are aggregated, classified, and resold between scam operations and spam networks.
RECOMMENDED ACTION STEPS
The “One Hello” Rule: If answering an unfamiliar number, say “Hello” once. If you encounter silence, hang up before 3 seconds pass.
Let Unknown Numbers Go to Voicemail: Legitimate callers will leave a message or send a text.
Do Not Press Any Buttons: Avoid prompts like “Press 1 to speak to an agent” or “Press 9 to opt out”. Interacting confirms your line has a responsive human user.
Be Mindful of Verbal Affirmations: Avoid responding with “Yes” to prompts like “Can you hear me?” on unknown calls.
SIFV:
Silence test: Answer and say nothing for three full seconds. A real person says “Hello? Anyone there?” — that is normal. A robocall plays its recording anyway, stutters, or disconnects. Three seconds of quiet, and half the scam calls eliminate themselves.
Interrupt: A live caller pressuring you is reading a script. One calm, rehearsed sentence — “I’m recording this for my attorney,” “Mail me the documents” — steps outside that script. They have nothing prepared for it; most hang up on you.
Family word: Anyone claiming to be family in an emergency must say the secret word agreed in advance. Voice cloning copies the sound of a person, not what they know. No word — or “I forgot it” — means hang up and call them yourself.
Verify offline: Hang up completely and call back a number you already have: the back of your card, a printed bill, your saved contacts. Never the number the caller gave you. The real institution confirms or denies in seconds.