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Comment by pavel_lishin | Hacker News Reader

In my limited experience as an American, most of the callers sound like they have American accents to me; maybe 10% that actually get through sound like they're from South Asia, which is what I used to associate with spam.

I also suspect that a lot of spam calls are coming from within the prison system - not prisoners trying to run scams off payphones, but actually working from a phone bank at a prison for a nickel an hour. It's the only thing I can think of that explains their dogmatic adherence to the script in front of them. Free scammers from overseas will start insulting you once you're onto their scam; free scammers from the U.S. will typically just hang up and try again; but if you're a prison worker, the punishment for going off script is much worse than just losing your job.

Wish I could prove or disprove my theory.

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I answer and talk to the scammer every time. I ask them why they do this for a living and generally try to make it psychologically hurt for the scammer. I've done this more than 50 times at least. The vast majority have Indian or Pakistani accents. A small percentage have south American accents. None have had American accents.

I'm curious if they have ever divulged their actual location to you? Obviously with a big grain of salt.

A few have told me they were from Pakistan when I asked them questions like why such a high percentage of the country defecates in the streets.

It’s funny that you could ask the same question to anyone living in San Francisco, particularly Tenderloin.

Weird! I wonder why there's such a difference in our experiences.

I also don't think making it psychologically hurt is going to make any difference, especially not when you're asking them why their fellow countrymen shit in the streets. Based on what I've heard and read, a lot of them justify their work by villainizing us in their eyes. Which isn't unfair! We're vastly richer than them, and they don't see any particular problem in what they see as being a Robin Hood-like character. Insulting and abusing them just further justifies their actions in their mind.

I used to try to waste their time as well, but after I postulatede my prison-work theory, I no longer do that - they don't have a choice, and it's cruel to put them through that.

It's not always insulting or abusing. I've noticed considerably more psychological damage from normal conversations. Questions like "do you think seeing yourself as a scammer is going to cause long term effects on your health?" Abusive questions only get a rise out of them and then they either stay on longer, incoherently angry, or they drop the call quickly.

To be clear, your theory is that these calls are coming from operations run by American prisons?

Yes.

Not all of them, but enough that I don't think messing with them is morally justifiable.

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