I got this idea back from the long HUTP with the fake Pakistani.
Catch people off guard by pretending to be some customer service official and ask if they're having a problem.
The only difficulty here is that in order for it to sound authentic, you must:
1. be able to talk on the phone in a professional voice.
2. Know the person's full name and number.
3. Know the name of some company they associate with: Power company, cell provider, Apple Computer, etc...
I work in a job field that involves a lot telephone calls to people I don't know. I've got a TV-announcer voice down and I can use it on the phone easy.
My accomplice knows Ice-cream-man's ex-girlfriend's name and phone number.
The kicker: She posted something on her blog that she was having trouble attaching photos to SMS messages from her VERIZON phone.
Bingo.
So here's your formula to getting a good prank out of this:
Practice your routine. Quiet the room and call.
"Hello, this is _____ Customer Service, can I get an account number?" or in my case, "I understand you have troubles with PIX messaging?"
If you're lucky, they'll say, "what? I don't think so..." and you can have ALL SORTS of fun with that. harassing them, telling them they're too stupid to know they have a problem, etc.
Well, this person bought it. "Oh? Yeah, I had been having problems! I'm glad you guys called!"
So I explain to her that the PIX system is down and she has to download her photos through a USB cable (which Verizon doesn't even allow.)
My friend is on 3-way calling.
"Well, we can order you a cable and bill it to your account. Hold on, let me connect us to my manager for billing."
We spew out some techno-nonsense and ask her what operating system she's running. "Dell." "No, the operating system." "oh, Vista." "well, that's your problem." and proceed to convince her to switch to Macintosh or Windows 95. She happily agreed to it and said she'd call back if she had problems.
That went too smooth.
Anyone else care to try and share the results?
