No one's buying it so just stop (scammer fail, off duty CA win)

[smileyeagle1021]

Let me start by saying that I truly despise people who abuse the relay system, there is a special place in hell for them.
Having said that, there are a few things that every deaf person knows about relay abuse. Every deaf person (with an IQ over 2) knows that relay abuse happens and that because of that many people are weary of using the relay system. So most of them realize, that while it is not their fault, if they are going to be doing business with people on craigslist there best bet is to contact by email first and after establishing communication inform the person that they are deaf and that they will be placing a relay call. If they are going to be going to a local business they know that it is best to find out the places address and go in person the first time.
So when you call and the person says they don't want to take a relay call, the correct response to someone saying that they have had too many cases of fraud with the system is to ask how else they may contact them in a more suitable way... NOT bitch that you are deaf you have to use relay. No one believes you, least of all your relay operator... we will relay the message because we are required to, but don't expect us to be convincing.
Also as a side note to the most recent scammer that I dealt with... when trying to scam someone through the relay system, make sure you are not infact calling an employee of the relay company you are using... they are trained to recognize scam and how to lead you into incriminating yourself.

[Kristev]

Wow, that's just awful. So many people think they're just entitled.

[AtDIelement]

I work for a bank. We get those relay calls at least 6 times a week trying to fish for account information. We direct them to our back office who handles that. When they don't give up, we hang up on them and freeze the account for fraud.

[HawaiianShirts]

Forgive my naivete, but I am unaware of any unique way a relay system could be used for fraudulent activity. How does it differ from making normal phone calls for the same purpose?

[sevendaysky]

Um, AtDIelements, do you mean you're freezing the accounts to prevent further fraud? If so, I suppose I can understand it. I'd still be pissed if someone froze my account without informing me beforehand. Some people are just not in a good position to jump through the 1002 hoops to unfreeze an account. They might be on a trip somewhere... you freeze the account... and they're screwed until they can get someone to fix it, which may or may not happen in a timely manner.

Yes, getting the acct frozen is better than some scammer getting your info and cleaning the account out, but you just can't win either way.

[bankworking]

Um, AtDIelements, do you mean you're freezing the accounts to prevent further fraud? If so, I suppose I can understand it. I'd still be pissed if someone froze my account without informing me beforehand. Some people are just not in a good position to jump through the 1002 hoops to unfreeze an account. They might be on a trip somewhere... you freeze the account... and they're screwed until they can get someone to fix it, which may or may not happen in a timely manner.

Yes, getting the acct frozen is better than some scammer getting your info and cleaning the account out, but you just can't win either way.

I don't know how his bank works, but my bank has a type of freeze we can place on it that prevents EMPLOYEES from messing with the account. The customer can still use their debit card and checks and online banking as normal, but if there is a phone transaction, the call must be sent to a manager. Other employees cannot even bring the account up on screen. The idea is to keep a call-in scammer from calling back repeatedly until they run across that new and/or careless employee that will do what they're asking without looking through the account notes. The warning stays on the account until we can get in touch with the customer about the scammer (and get a new account set up for them if the scammer has their account number).

[smileyeagle1021]

Forgive my naivete, but I am unaware of any unique way a relay system could be used for fraudulent activity. How does it differ from making normal phone calls for the same purpose?

There are a few ways.
If the caller is trying to claim they are Cindy it works a lot better when a relay operator says it than their deep masculine voice says it.
Also it makes it a lot harder to track back to the scammer. Rather than their phone number showing up the relay company's phone number will be in the phone records, and while yes they are required to register for the service it is not too hard to provide false information. Of course we could if needed trace back IP addresses, but those can be hidden behind proxy servers etc.
Basically, while it's still possibly to trace the call back to the caller, it makes it a lot harder to do.