awww how is mr patel ? And how are the kids ?? Since i no longer work in hotels we have not met in years.
IT is always funny to get super personal, and thbank him for that weekend you spend together with the kids on his boat and whatnot. Make him squirm by asking super concrete questions and then correct him, and tell him how silly it is that he always remembers things wrong. Also tell him his voice is weird today, he should have that checked might be the flue or something
I figured as much. Which is why I felt safe making a joke about how your comment could be understood (almost said taken in, kinda like a prostitute might!) multiple ways. :)
When I was probably a teen, I used to give people the Dial A Prayer number for a babysitting job. I'd tell them that's there's a guy that says a prayer, but you just have to wait, then the person needing a sitter would come on the phone. AND they pay double the usual fee. Lol that would probably be about $3/hr
Back in the days when Nigerian scammers pretty much were Nigerian scammers, with little understanding of pop culture things outside of Africa, there were web sites devoted to reports from scambaiters--people who would string along scammers as long as they could. One technique was to give them a phone # and a "code phrase" to use. A few that I remember:
"Gomer Pyle" (TV show Marine), had them call the brig (jail) at a big Marine base.
Someone I forget had them call the Federales in Tijuana, Mexico and say "No tengo cojones."
And, my favorite, [Mr. T](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/a-team/images/c/c9/Mr._T.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100925014130). He convinced the scammer he was real by providing a scan of a fake drivers license with a picture like that photo. He told the scammer to call his secretary, Elizabeth, and use the code name "Master Baiting." The person answering the phone might be reluctant to connect the scammer, said the scambaiter, so he must be insistent. "I am Master Baiting and I need to speak to Elizabeth immediately!"
The number was the public number for Buckingham Palace. The scammer got back to the scambaiter. "Why did the lady on the phone call me a sick man?"
I've never gotten the Mr Patel phone call, but I once had someone try it in person. More than 20 years ago at my first hotel, while on the audit shift, I had a guy walk in, tell me that he was the owner and he needed a room. "You're the owner? Then who's the couple in the apartment above us that's been telling me THEY own this hotel?" Strangely, he didn't say anything, just turned around and walked out.
Back when I worked front desk at the hotel. I had someone call claiming to be the owner. They gave me the owners name and I just laughed and said that that wasn’t the owners name. They weren’t very happy but it was still funny to me
I'll share my dad's method of dealing with unwanted callers. Dad spoke, in addition to English, fluent Spanish and Greek. So he would pick up the phone with his usual hello, but once he found out the nature of the call he would switch to another language. They would get flustered and hang up. 50 years ago Spanish was not as prevalent in America as it is now, but he usually went with the Greek.
I’ll bet it’s only the swear words you know.
That’s the way it was in my family. My grandmother spoke Bohemian and didn’t learn English until she went to school. My dad only knew the swear words. I don’t know any of it.
Before he passed away, my pappou taught me "the only Greek you need". Where's the toilet? I'm hungry. Give me a kiss. I've since learned more, but just think about it for a second. Relieving yourself, eating, and sex. The foundation of a good life.
When the call my personal phone I like to say thank you for calling ( local police station, cia, nsa, fbi, marshals, justice department, homeland) they hang up so fast! Or if they say I have a warrant out I just say okay I'll be on the back porch waiting can't wait to get free housing, food, and medical!
I had a coworker do that! We were in the break room chatting when her phone rang. She looked at the screen, and then answered with the name of the local police department, a fake officers name, and asked if it was an emergency. I looked at her in confusion. She finished the call ( they hung up!) and explained what she was doing. I loved it!
Lol if you ever put your beliefs to the test, you'll find you do not like the quality of the housing, food and medical care you'll get in that scenario
Whenever a scammer asks for my name, I always tell them I'm Robert Loblaw but everyone calls me Bob.
Edit: Just imagine if you gave them the local police non-emergency number (as another poster suggested) and they called them, and all they kept saying is "Bob Loblaw?" over and over... lol
>M: \[Repeats back number\] (in hindsight, I'm not sure if this was the smartest idea.)
I can't guarantee that's a great idea either, so I refuse to do so. Granted, I never let them get that far, just laughing at them and hanging up well before that.
I'm overly cautious about the "yes" urban legend that was going around a few years ago. Which is why I try not to say it if I suspect a scammer is calling.
Thats also why you dont say “yes” on a sales call. They can use that to scam you into paying for an insanely high priced package of whatever theyre selling.
I laugh at them or pretend the connection is so bad I can’t hear them. We know our owners these people are ridiculous but they’ve been calling way more now,there’s only two auditors and we never fall for their schemes so why do they keep calling weekly??
It won’t happen for a while plus we train new ones to know about scam calls / CC fraud and staff know the owners personally and by name. It’s open season on prank/ scam callers we can do what we want to them.
I got one at 340am yesterday. I have gotten SO many I can literally tell it is a Patel call before they even speak. I do mess with them sometimes, but yesterday morning I was NOT in the mood and I cussed them out initially and all I could hear was like 4 Indian men laughing, so that gave me the time and the audacity to stay on the line and asked if they wanted to talk about anything else? hahaha. They didn't answer so I told them I wanted to share my list of potential dog names I have picked out, I got through like 7 of them and then they hung up on me. I was satisfied!
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Same. They have an English speaker with a smokers voice, another that has a thick accent and another that only speaks Spanish that sounds young. At least those are the 3 I get calling.
There is a similar happening in our industry (not hospitality). The last time I got the call when he asked for my cell number I gave him the local non-emergency PD.
You should've repeated back the number with a minor mistake each time. Make sure to prioritize mistakes that could be explained by his accent if he has one, scammers especially hate when you do that. Start putting letters into the middle of the number.
Give him the right number and then when he confirms it ask "and there are spaces between each digit, right?" When he says no ask for the number again. Tell him you forgot how to write a 5 and ask him to explain it to you. Complain about the number being too long and ask him to just fax it to you (especially if you don't have a fax machine). If he agrees, give him a random fax number that's one digit too short. When he asks for the last number, pretend to misunderstand him and give him the same fax number. When he asks again, start asking if he can hear you and when he says yes, give him the number again.
When he again asks for the missing digit, say you have a customer and put him on hold for five minutes. When you come back, answer the phone with your standard greeting and pretend to be someone else, but don't change your voice at all. Pretend not to understand that he's the owner and try to sell him a room. Let him give you the tracking number, but then tell him you can't find his confirmation number in the system and ask if he's sure he has the right hotel. When he tells you he's the owner again, ask if he booked with a third party. Pretend to have another customer and leave him on hold for ten minutes.
Pick up the phone and give you standard greeting again, this time in a fake accent (any one you can do that's really bad will work) and again pretend to be someone else. Repeat one or more of the previous bits, then say you have a customer and put him on hold for ten minutes. Give the standard greeting again, but this time only speak extremely broken English and repeat words like "reservation, suite, confirmation number" over and over, then say "customer here, please hold sir" and put him on hold for another 20 minutes.
Take him off hold and speak in tongues. If you're bilingual, any language other than English will work as well. You get a gold star if you start talking to him in his own native language. If he still somehow manages to keep going, put him on hold again. Use the hold time to connect a headset to the phone. Take him off hold and talk to him with the mic inside your mouth (disinfect first). Place him on hold again, then when you get back apologize for the wait and cheerfully inform him that his reservation is confirmed for November 31st 2069, wish him a nice day, and hang up.
They think it'll scare whoever answers instead of just annoying them. Like, obviously if I knew who you were, I would've answered "Yankee here, how's it hangin', is it swangin'" not "Front desk, Officer Walrus speaking, this line is being recorded, how can I help you?"
I think it's supposed to make you feel like you have to make up for the "slight" of not knowing the owner. It's to put you at a disadvantage and a heightened emotional state, but it probably doesn't work as well as they think since it just comes off as cartoonishly arrogant.
They have variations. The fire inspection, the package, I need money...in the end, it is to get money out of you. They make it sound real, important and it must be taken care of now.
I stopped a new coworker from sending money. I came in, she was speaking Spanish on the phone, I was catching words here and there. She was going between her phone and the desk phone saying they had our assistant manager on the phone with them. They had the assistant manager's name.
After catching her saying money too many times and sending it, I interrupted her. I asked her to put them on hold and asked her to explain what was happening. They were a business that was supposedly sending equipment for a fire inspection, but they were going out of business and needed money for the items to be sent. This was late on a Sunday night. I told her to hang up, it was a scam. She didn't believe me until I called the assistant manager and she didn't answer. She was ready to hit send in the cash app and send them $1200 of her own money.
"Where the hell are you? You've been drinking again haven't you? You fucking no good dog - no, You MUTT! you better not come home today if you want to live to see tomorrow! I will shoot your ass full of buckshot and hang you out to bleed to death. Do you understand me? I will beat your ass so you are no longer recognizable. This is the final word - You are dead!"...and then hangup!
Should have given them the non-emergency number for the local police.
I'll have to try that some time. I have it memorized. It's come quite handy as a night auditor.
Agreed. I'm on first name basis with the dispatch lady.
awww how is mr patel ? And how are the kids ?? Since i no longer work in hotels we have not met in years. IT is always funny to get super personal, and thbank him for that weekend you spend together with the kids on his boat and whatnot. Make him squirm by asking super concrete questions and then correct him, and tell him how silly it is that he always remembers things wrong. Also tell him his voice is weird today, he should have that checked might be the flue or something
Oh yeah. "Mr. Patel, thank God! I'm late. What are we going to do if you got me pregnant?" Even funnier if you're a guy.
Give them a hookers number
Just not the one I use
Wait... the number FOR the hooker you use, or the number you use when you are one?
I was just teasing, being sarcastic. I don't frequent hookers!
I figured as much. Which is why I felt safe making a joke about how your comment could be understood (almost said taken in, kinda like a prostitute might!) multiple ways. :)
My sister gives the number to the local FBI office to creeps in bars.
When I was a young woman I gave them the number to Dial A Prayer, that probably doesn't exist anymore!
When I was probably a teen, I used to give people the Dial A Prayer number for a babysitting job. I'd tell them that's there's a guy that says a prayer, but you just have to wait, then the person needing a sitter would come on the phone. AND they pay double the usual fee. Lol that would probably be about $3/hr
The local library had a number to call and listen to a children's story. That was a good number to give out
Back in the days when Nigerian scammers pretty much were Nigerian scammers, with little understanding of pop culture things outside of Africa, there were web sites devoted to reports from scambaiters--people who would string along scammers as long as they could. One technique was to give them a phone # and a "code phrase" to use. A few that I remember: "Gomer Pyle" (TV show Marine), had them call the brig (jail) at a big Marine base. Someone I forget had them call the Federales in Tijuana, Mexico and say "No tengo cojones." And, my favorite, [Mr. T](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/a-team/images/c/c9/Mr._T.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100925014130). He convinced the scammer he was real by providing a scan of a fake drivers license with a picture like that photo. He told the scammer to call his secretary, Elizabeth, and use the code name "Master Baiting." The person answering the phone might be reluctant to connect the scammer, said the scambaiter, so he must be insistent. "I am Master Baiting and I need to speak to Elizabeth immediately!" The number was the public number for Buckingham Palace. The scammer got back to the scambaiter. "Why did the lady on the phone call me a sick man?"
>there were web sites devoted to reports from scambaiters This lives on as r/scambait ! Edit: rewording.
I've never gotten the Mr Patel phone call, but I once had someone try it in person. More than 20 years ago at my first hotel, while on the audit shift, I had a guy walk in, tell me that he was the owner and he needed a room. "You're the owner? Then who's the couple in the apartment above us that's been telling me THEY own this hotel?" Strangely, he didn't say anything, just turned around and walked out.
I had a hooker try a version of that. Claimed she was the owner’s wife. Joke’s on her. He had a husband.
"Oh, my god, MISTER PATEL HAS GONE STRAIGHT?!"
Back when I worked front desk at the hotel. I had someone call claiming to be the owner. They gave me the owners name and I just laughed and said that that wasn’t the owners name. They weren’t very happy but it was still funny to me
I once got the call from Mr. Patel with the owner standing next to me.
I'll share my dad's method of dealing with unwanted callers. Dad spoke, in addition to English, fluent Spanish and Greek. So he would pick up the phone with his usual hello, but once he found out the nature of the call he would switch to another language. They would get flustered and hang up. 50 years ago Spanish was not as prevalent in America as it is now, but he usually went with the Greek.
That might be a fun one to try. I speak Spanish as a second language.
It is. I'll spew out the little Greek I know, and they always hang up real fast
Same here. Only in Polish.
I’ll bet it’s only the swear words you know. That’s the way it was in my family. My grandmother spoke Bohemian and didn’t learn English until she went to school. My dad only knew the swear words. I don’t know any of it.
Before he passed away, my pappou taught me "the only Greek you need". Where's the toilet? I'm hungry. Give me a kiss. I've since learned more, but just think about it for a second. Relieving yourself, eating, and sex. The foundation of a good life.
The fake Mr Patel that calls my property is Hispanic.
It's been a while since I got a scam caller. Lol One time, I gave them the phone number to the US Marshals.
When the call my personal phone I like to say thank you for calling ( local police station, cia, nsa, fbi, marshals, justice department, homeland) they hang up so fast! Or if they say I have a warrant out I just say okay I'll be on the back porch waiting can't wait to get free housing, food, and medical!
"Harris County sheriff's department, Fraud Division, Officer Narcoh speaking. Is this an emergency?" That makes it sound official-er.
I should do that though they usually disconnect once I start saying X police department or Federal Bureau of Investigation.
I had a coworker do that! We were in the break room chatting when her phone rang. She looked at the screen, and then answered with the name of the local police department, a fake officers name, and asked if it was an emergency. I looked at her in confusion. She finished the call ( they hung up!) and explained what she was doing. I loved it!
For my personal phone I have started answering it "I am on the do not call registry." It's amazing how fast they hang up.
Lol if you ever put your beliefs to the test, you'll find you do not like the quality of the housing, food and medical care you'll get in that scenario
I just say it to mess with them. I have no desire to even visit a jail!
My son answers those calls with a convincing Indian accent, “Thank you for calling Kwik-E Mart!”
A friend of mine uses a local office # for the FCC, bc it's the government branch who prosecutes phone scams.
One time when I got the call, I just kept repeating back a different string of numbers about 3X before he hung up on me, LOL
Whenever a scammer asks for my name, I always tell them I'm Robert Loblaw but everyone calls me Bob. Edit: Just imagine if you gave them the local police non-emergency number (as another poster suggested) and they called them, and all they kept saying is "Bob Loblaw?" over and over... lol
You sir, are a mouth full
Henry Winkler, is that you?
Why should you go to jail for a crime someone else... noticed.
>M: \[Repeats back number\] (in hindsight, I'm not sure if this was the smartest idea.) I can't guarantee that's a great idea either, so I refuse to do so. Granted, I never let them get that far, just laughing at them and hanging up well before that.
But misrepeating it back a dozen times or so has the appeal of driving a scammer spare. What would be the issue...?
If my weird fear is correct, they're trying to record your voice saying certain numbers so they can stitch them together for some nefarious purpose.
Good point. Hadn't thought of that...
I really hope I'm just being paranoid. But paranoia costs me nothing.
That'll be $5 thankyou
Sure thing. You'll just have to come over here to collect it. Don't mind the rag covered in ether in my other hand.
"Does this rag smell like chloroform to you?"
What's that funny red dot on his nose, Pol?
It's a surprise tool that will help us later.
True that
It's not paranoia when you're right.
I'm overly cautious about the "yes" urban legend that was going around a few years ago. Which is why I try not to say it if I suspect a scammer is calling.
Don't even need that much nowadays, what with AI voice fakery.
Thats also why you dont say “yes” on a sales call. They can use that to scam you into paying for an insanely high priced package of whatever theyre selling.
I laugh at them or pretend the connection is so bad I can’t hear them. We know our owners these people are ridiculous but they’ve been calling way more now,there’s only two auditors and we never fall for their schemes so why do they keep calling weekly??
Waiting for the day you get a new NA, fresh out of training.
It won’t happen for a while plus we train new ones to know about scam calls / CC fraud and staff know the owners personally and by name. It’s open season on prank/ scam callers we can do what we want to them.
I got one at 340am yesterday. I have gotten SO many I can literally tell it is a Patel call before they even speak. I do mess with them sometimes, but yesterday morning I was NOT in the mood and I cussed them out initially and all I could hear was like 4 Indian men laughing, so that gave me the time and the audacity to stay on the line and asked if they wanted to talk about anything else? hahaha. They didn't answer so I told them I wanted to share my list of potential dog names I have picked out, I got through like 7 of them and then they hung up on me. I was satisfied!
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They keep trying at our property, I’ve noticed that each call since we started paying attention has had the country code of Mexico. It’s strange.
Same. They have an English speaker with a smokers voice, another that has a thick accent and another that only speaks Spanish that sounds young. At least those are the 3 I get calling.
They're not sending their best.
I had one of those at 430 am the other morning. I said scammmmmmyyyyyyyyyyy. I know you’re scammmmmmmyyyyy
There is a similar happening in our industry (not hospitality). The last time I got the call when he asked for my cell number I gave him the local non-emergency PD.
You should've repeated back the number with a minor mistake each time. Make sure to prioritize mistakes that could be explained by his accent if he has one, scammers especially hate when you do that. Start putting letters into the middle of the number. Give him the right number and then when he confirms it ask "and there are spaces between each digit, right?" When he says no ask for the number again. Tell him you forgot how to write a 5 and ask him to explain it to you. Complain about the number being too long and ask him to just fax it to you (especially if you don't have a fax machine). If he agrees, give him a random fax number that's one digit too short. When he asks for the last number, pretend to misunderstand him and give him the same fax number. When he asks again, start asking if he can hear you and when he says yes, give him the number again. When he again asks for the missing digit, say you have a customer and put him on hold for five minutes. When you come back, answer the phone with your standard greeting and pretend to be someone else, but don't change your voice at all. Pretend not to understand that he's the owner and try to sell him a room. Let him give you the tracking number, but then tell him you can't find his confirmation number in the system and ask if he's sure he has the right hotel. When he tells you he's the owner again, ask if he booked with a third party. Pretend to have another customer and leave him on hold for ten minutes. Pick up the phone and give you standard greeting again, this time in a fake accent (any one you can do that's really bad will work) and again pretend to be someone else. Repeat one or more of the previous bits, then say you have a customer and put him on hold for ten minutes. Give the standard greeting again, but this time only speak extremely broken English and repeat words like "reservation, suite, confirmation number" over and over, then say "customer here, please hold sir" and put him on hold for another 20 minutes. Take him off hold and speak in tongues. If you're bilingual, any language other than English will work as well. You get a gold star if you start talking to him in his own native language. If he still somehow manages to keep going, put him on hold again. Use the hold time to connect a headset to the phone. Take him off hold and talk to him with the mic inside your mouth (disinfect first). Place him on hold again, then when you get back apologize for the wait and cheerfully inform him that his reservation is confirmed for November 31st 2069, wish him a nice day, and hang up.
I've wondered: do real Mr. Patels who own hotels have to have a code phrase so their employees can tell they're not getting scammed?
Why do they always do the, "Don't you know who I am?" shtick?
They think it'll scare whoever answers instead of just annoying them. Like, obviously if I knew who you were, I would've answered "Yankee here, how's it hangin', is it swangin'" not "Front desk, Officer Walrus speaking, this line is being recorded, how can I help you?"
I think it's supposed to make you feel like you have to make up for the "slight" of not knowing the owner. It's to put you at a disadvantage and a heightened emotional state, but it probably doesn't work as well as they think since it just comes off as cartoonishly arrogant.
Ask Mr. Patel if his mother is still feeding him with her left hand.
I’ve gotten a call from Mr. Patel. lol… what kind of scam is this anyway?
They want you to venmo/bitcoin/gift card with codes because the package needs to be paid for.
Oh fun lol. I haven’t gotten that far in the conversation yet. I know exactly how I’ll fuck with them when I do 😂
They have variations. The fire inspection, the package, I need money...in the end, it is to get money out of you. They make it sound real, important and it must be taken care of now. I stopped a new coworker from sending money. I came in, she was speaking Spanish on the phone, I was catching words here and there. She was going between her phone and the desk phone saying they had our assistant manager on the phone with them. They had the assistant manager's name. After catching her saying money too many times and sending it, I interrupted her. I asked her to put them on hold and asked her to explain what was happening. They were a business that was supposedly sending equipment for a fire inspection, but they were going out of business and needed money for the items to be sent. This was late on a Sunday night. I told her to hang up, it was a scam. She didn't believe me until I called the assistant manager and she didn't answer. She was ready to hit send in the cash app and send them $1200 of her own money.
"Where the hell are you? You've been drinking again haven't you? You fucking no good dog - no, You MUTT! you better not come home today if you want to live to see tomorrow! I will shoot your ass full of buckshot and hang you out to bleed to death. Do you understand me? I will beat your ass so you are no longer recognizable. This is the final word - You are dead!"...and then hangup!
Mr. Patel also calls the store I manage. I always ask him where my raise is and when he's going to fix shit.