Phone scams are all too common nowadays, but occasionally, a scammer catches someone with time to spare.

Have you ever messed with a scammer by playing along just to waste their time?

In this story, one scammer realizes they hadn’t caught a victim, but someone ready to fight back with vigor!

You’ll want to read on for this one.

Scammer call

I got a call from a random mobile number claiming to be my network provider, who wanted to give me an upgraded deal.

I knew it was a scam pretty much immediately but decided to play along, as I had nothing better to do that day.

The nice scammer went through his whole script, and I acted dumb and interested and excited.

She decided to drag this on as long as possible.

We got to the stage where he sent a passcode to my phone, which was preceded by the network provider’s clear message to not give the code to anyone.

“Ma’am, what is the code?”

She plays dumb.

“Oh, but it says I shouldn’t give the code to anyone.”

“I know, ma’am, but you can ignore that message and go ahead and give me the code.”

“Are you sure? I really don’t think I’m meant to.”

“Ma’am, it’s completely fine. Give me the code.”

She continues to waste the scammer’s time.

“I’m not sure.”

“Ma’am, as I said, we need the code to organise your discount.”

“Hmm, okay.”

I’d wasted 19 minutes of her time and considered giving her a fake code. But I’d had enough and just hung up instead.

It was a waste of my time but satisfying to know I’d crushed her hopes of scamming me.

This scammer’s carefully rehearsed scheme fell flat.

What did Reddit have to say?

This commenter deviously brainstorms more ideas to waste scammers’ time.

She was actually doing everyone else a favor too!

Some people make an entire hobby out of scamming the scammer.

Do scammers really deserve our sympathy?

Patience turned out to be her greatest weapon.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.