'Y’all are my heroes for real': International swarm of callers floods scam center after woman shares the number online, causing them to shutdown operation

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Dec 17, 2024 1:00 PM EST

Scam calls and emails, aside from being irritating and annoying, are some of the most infuriating and sinister forms of fraud, many times directly targeting the elderly and other less technologically oriented demographics who are most vulnerable to these kinds of ripoffs. 

Nothing is more satisfying than people coming together to take action against wrongdoing. And no one is more deserving of getting a taste of their own medicine than these scammers, who are willing to deceive the most susceptible individuals and obviously don't have a strong sense of conscience or morals. And when people get creative when serving the scammers with a dose of justice, it can be even more fulfilling.

That's exactly what happened in this story. The original poster (OP) posted to Reddit about a scammer she was able to irritate when he tried to con her. At first, commenters rooted for her and told similar payback stories. But then, after the OP agreed to share the scammer's phone number, the thread developed into a full-fledged, community-driven retribution. Flooding the scammer with around-the-clock calls from all around the globe, forcing his surrender.

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    wwwww "Guess who's phone just rings and rings without being answered now..."
    via Elnur

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    Angering a scammer
    via Lyndzie1040
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    Okay, so I really hate scammers. I know everyone does, but I've been scammed out of thousands of dollars, so there's a special hatred in my heart for them. I've been messing with one for the past few hours, and it has been absolutely glorious.
    via Lyndzie1040
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    I got a scam email a couple hours ago saying something about a PayPal receipt from me buying an iphone. It had an amount number that I supposedly paid, and an invoice number. I don't even have a PayPal account, but I also just
    via Lyndzie1040
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    knew by looking at it that it was a scam email. Unfortunately for the scammer, they put their phone number on the email as the number to call to ask about your "PayPal" transaction.
    via Lyndzie1040
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    I saw my opportunity. I called the number and made up a story about how I'd ordered this phone, and had gotten the PayPal receipt, but I didn't see a tracking number or a confirmation of the order address, so I was calling to
    via Lyndzie1040
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    see if there's any way they could tell me when I could expect my package. Scammer took the bait. He introduced himself as "Austin", and asked me for the invoice number on the email,
    via Lyndzie1040
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    which I gave, knowing it was a completely fake number. He then asked me how much my receipt was for, like how much I'd paid. I said confusedly, "shouldn't you already know? Aren't you looking at the invoice?" And he told me
    via Lyndzie1040
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    the invoice number I'd given was invalid. I said that seemed odd, because it was the one listed on my receipt I'd gotten. Immediately he got defensive and said "if you don't believe this is real, just hang up and don't call back." And he hung up on me.
    via Lyndzie1040
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    I called back. The person who answered the phone sounded like the same voice, but I wasn't 100% sure. He introduced himself as Frank. I started in on my plan, and I said "hi, I'm just calling because the person I spoke to
    via Lyndzie1040
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    before hung up on me and it was very unprofessional." He said "I think it was me you were talking to, ma'am." I said "I think you're right." He asked why I was calling back, and I said that I was very offended by how he'd treated
    via Lyndzie1040
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    me, and that hanging up on customers was unprofessional, and I'd like to speak to his superior. He declined, but before he could finish his sentence I said
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    "if this is a real business, you'd let me speak to your manager, so I'd like to do that now please." He told me not to call back and he hung up again.
    via Lyndzie1040
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    I called back immediately. He said "this is PayPal" and he introduced himself as Austin again. I said "oh, so you're Austin again now? Not Frank?" And he said in a very defeated voice "yes ma'am",
    via Lyndzie1040
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    which was hilarious to me, although I suspect he didn't really realize what he'd just admitted to. He then stated swearing at me and demanding that I never call him back.
    via Lyndzie1040
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    So of course, y'all know what I did. I called back three more times, changing my voice every time, but he knew it was me. He continued to yell and swear at me, but I figured, as long as I keep him on the line, he can't
    via Lyndzie1040
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    scam other people, right? It's been like two hours now and I call him back every few minutes. He took the bait about 5 minutes ago and introduced himself as
    via Lyndzie1040
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    Austin from PayPal again, and I started banging pots and pans for about a minute and a half. He swore again. It's been incredible honestly.
    via Lyndzie1040
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    I'll probably continue to call him and save his number in my phone for when I'm bored and want to make a scammer feel a small part of the way I felt when I got scammed.
    via Lyndzie1040
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    EDIT: to all of you commenting about your experiences with calling him, you guys are absolutely incredible. I don't think I'll be able to respond to all the comments, but I'm reading all of them, and you guys are just so awesome. I love that you guys are
    via Lyndzie1040
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    also irritated by scammers and want to stand up for innocent people. I'd give everyone an award if I could. Thank you guys so much, this is a Christmas present to me. You guys have brought so much joy and laughter to me today!
    via Lyndzie1040
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    idrinkAnarchy • 2d ago • I was having a really bad day in the height of the pamic and got a social security scam caller. I think I was extra triggered because they had my mom's name and I was already worrying about my parents risk of aid much less scammers.
    via idrinkAnarchy
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    And I just... laid into him for a lil over an hour until he broke down and admitted it was all a scam, etc. I pretty much had the same thought
    via idrinkAnarchy
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    as you to keep them on the phone instead reaching an actual senior citizen who might fall for their scam. The cathartic release was a bonus lol
    via idrinkAnarchy
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    noeljb. 1d ago I had a guy swear at me once. On his 800 number. Big mistake, this was in the days of modems. I
    via noeljb
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    programmed my modem to call his 800 number every 5 minutes and wait for him to hang up. It was a business he had to answer the phone.
    via noeljb
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    In case you don't know the owner of the 800 number pays long distance charges. Back then about 18 cents per minute. After about two months I needed my modem for something else so I stopped calling his number.
    via noeljb
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    . deedeejayzee • 2d ago Share the number, lol
    via deedeejayzee
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    Lyndzie1040 OP.2d ago • I was hoping someone would ask, because I didn't think I'd be allowed to post if I included it. You're my hero lol. It's 1 (855) ****2. If it helps you get him going or trick him into thinking you're a legitimate caller, the fake Invoice # is 0054-PPL
    via Lyndzie1040
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    deedeejayzee • 2d ago • Ok, I told him that I'm your daughter and you tried to buy me an iphone for Christmas and thought something happened to it. Told him that I was 20yo and in college. He wanted to know about my bank account, I told him it was
    via deedeejayzee
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    bought with my mom's account, not mine. He tried to get me to go to a website, I told him it was blocked as an unsafe sight by my antivirus. Then he tried to get me to go to website where he would be able to take remote control of
    via deedeejayzee
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    me. There was a bunch more, he accused me of changing my voice (I didn't), said I was actually an old man (I'm not). It was fun. I was only able to keep him on the line for 20 minutes, lol
    via deedeejayzee
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    my computer. I told him that I knew what that website was and he didn't need to remote into my computer because I knew how to follow directions. He hung up on
    via deedeejayzee
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    cjwxshi 1d ago • I've just added unlimited international calls just for this lol and I'm in aus so I hope Austin likes getting calls in the middle of the night
    via cjwxshi
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    ViolentLoss 1d ago My boyfriend is quite a night owl. I hope "Austin" doesn't have anything important to do tomorrow.
    via ViolentLoss
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    nosnowjob ⚫1d ago • I just called too! Only kept him on for about 15 minutes. What a POS. The spiel with me was that there were many many bitcoin purchase transactions that
    via nosnowjob
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    they were disputing for me. He became enraged when I logged into my PayPal account and said I don't see anything like that. Hahahaha! Keep calling! These folks are ruthless.
    via nosnowjob
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    kosweeps 1d ago • LOL!! I just had my husband call because I'm not good at this. Now they pick up and just breathe heavily. I just yelled "We can do this all night long." It's a land line
    via kosweeps
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    that we haven't bothered to get rid of so it only gets spam calls that are never answered anyway. Also blocked my number before calling. That was fun.
    via kosweeps
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    jueidu 1d ago I just called them over and over, putting them on hold only to call again, and joining the calls. Did that 40+ times. Will probably f around and do it again tonight lol
    via jueidu
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    Prior_Craft6085 • 2d ago • just called, played Baby Shark really really loud while he just repeated "hello, hello, hello"..... Happy Friday!
    via Prior_Craft6085
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    Lyndzie1040 OP 2d ago. I love this so much, I want to give you a hug lol. Y'all are my heroes for real. The joy I feel right now is so awesome. Thank you
    via Lyndzie1040
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    mommagawn123 • 1d ago • For those of you that have been calling Frank Michael Austin McScammypants, I hope all I your wishes come true and y'all have the bestest Christmas ever!
    via mommagawn123
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    DanceFluid1749 • 1d ago • I'm in France. "Michael" spent 20 minutes at an ungodly hour (for him) talking to my elderly scammer-hating neighbour who is studying English, understands it ok but speaks it poorly. For him this was an opportunity to practice his English with someone other than me and my kids.
    via DanceFluid1749
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    He kept asking Michael to repeat stuff and clarify words, to please spell out words he didn't understand. Eventually Michael lost his patience and hung up. Neighbour was extremely proud he harassed a scammer while understanding 50% of what the scammer was saying.
    via DanceFluid1749

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Tags

pro revenge scammer justice petty-revenge-reddit revenge injustice retaliation Justice-served community petty revenge scams justice served scam vengance payback
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