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The Story of Lenny, the Internet's Favorite Telemarketing Troll (vice.com)
dmoberhaus writes: Here's a conversation with the developer who maintains the public server for Lenny, a robocalling algorithm that throws telemarketers through a loop. Lenny was created in 2009 and almost a decade later has developed a cult following online. Anyone can forward their telemarketing calls to Lenny, who is a kind and forgetful old man who is interested in whatever the telemarketer is selling. Some telemarketers stay on the line for up to an hour interacting with this chatbot, leading to hundreds of hours of hilarious recordings on YouTube. This is the story of Lenny's rise, and an analysis of its effectiveness at stopping unsolicited calls.
Donald's senile chatbot routine doesn't come close to the Turing test. LENNY 2020!
What telemarketers? I have had zero such calls on the mobile in 17 years. Do we have some kind of privacy protection in Europe? I guess so....
I have had 4-5 calls in the same time period on the land line [the number is public] either from credit card companies or energy providers. Since I don't use it anymore that's gone too. However, recently I did get a call on the mobile from an energy provider trying to convince me to change, but I kicked such a fuss about it that I hope they blacklisted the number forever.
Lenny takes calls from my mother in law at least twice a week. The hours they have spent bonding has really helped strengthen my relationship with my wife's family.
FCC Telemarketer and robocall blacklist
Instructions as to how to "use" Lenny.
Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
I know that telemarketers can be annoying - especially if you're on the Do Not Call list and they are ignoring it - but there are also telemarketers that are actually following the law and just trying to do their job. While this is certainly a more civil response than what some people propose, we still should acknowledge that there are telemarketers who do have humanity to them and aren't out to just ruin your life.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
^^
I think all telemarketers, political or otherwise should be burned at the stake. Good on you Lenny, I wish I could have that answer my phone.
I learned nothing more about Motorhead than I knew before.
...but we all need to do a little bit of what Lenny does...waste telemarketer's time. That is the ONLY way we are going to stop all these annoying robocalls. When you get a real person on the other end of the line, you are costing the telemarketing company real money. They have to pay someone to talk to you (even if it is a small amount to some guy in India who barely speaks English). That's why I almost always push the 1 button whenever a computer calls me. It connects me with a real person. The computer caller doesn't cost anything so it can bother 10,000 people for a few pennies. Half the time I don't say anything. I just let them give their opening dialog and they get no response. If I have a little more time, I say 'What?' or 'Uh ha' a few times to keep them talking. If it is an obvious scammer, I sometimes play along and act like I am going to fall for it. I once kept a guy on the phone for a half hour believing that I was really looking for my credit card (but it was hopelessly lost). If everyone did stuff like this, the telemarketers would be out of business within a few months. Laws, DNC lists, blockers, etc. do nothing to stop the problem.
we still should acknowledge that there are telemarketers who do have humanity to them and aren't out to just ruin your life.
If they are troubled by their public perception, then it falls upon the Telemarketing industry to remove the spammers and the scammers and improve the public appearance of their industry.
It's not my house to clean.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
They call me, and I ruin their day. I keep 'em on the line for as long as I can, asking them kooky shit, having to put the phone down "so I can go get my card" over and over, asking them what they're wearing (works for both men and women!), asking them detailed questions about their sex life, etc etc.
I'm usually "Bob", but "Bill" is who they really need to talk to, so hold on a minute while I get him. Oh, it turns out that he got "Will" instead of "Bill", so hold on again while I get him. Whaddya know, "Bill" says they need to talk to "Bob" again or maybe "Frank", so let me transfer you...and so on and so on. Sometimes I give them part of a credit card number and then we get "disconnected". So close, but no cigar. Very sad.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
I keep getting the extended vehicle warranty ones or the "free trip from Marriott" ones. If I am at work I answer them and string them along or inform them of the illegality of their actions. For the car warranty ones I keep trying to get an extended warranty for a 1916 Stanly steam car roadster or 2016 Koenigsegg Regera. When fucking with them with the Stanly for year, I respond 16, they ask for make and model I respond with Stanly and roadster and it usually takes them a few minutes to figure out that I don't mean 2016 and then they get all pissed off but I keep demanding a warranty for one. With a Koenigsegg they usually can't figure out what I am saying and ask me to repeat it. For the free trip ones I politely inform them that interstate wire fraud is a felony and that I suggest that they report their employer to the FBI before they are also named as a co-conspirator.
Time to offend someone
These are the bots that I use: The Jolly Roger Telephone Company
I hung up on a guy the other day, and amazingly he called me right back. I answered without looking at the number (I know, I'm an idiot), and when I realized it was the same guy I said: I just hung up on you. He said "I know, but..." Followed by various obscenities from me.
BECAUSE YOU'RE ALSO BORING?
News at 11.
Lots of people are telling us how much they hate telemarketers. But how many people on slashdot have been called by a telemarketer in the last year? More specifically, how many people have been called by a telemarketer that you did not - intentionally or otherwise - solicit yourself? Telemarketers are great punching bags and all, but it's easy to overstate the magnitude of the problem here.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
We need more of this. Where can I get a Mobile App for using this with calls in my cell and land line?
Lenny's script is genius and the voice of the actor reading it is perfect. And I crack up every time I get to the ducks.
I set up Lenny on Asterisk and used it for outgoing calls to "Microsoft Support" virus scammers. The script is not quite as good, but there is still the the occasional good conversation.
Is it racist to want your annoying spam calls to be in your own language?
Here on the West Coast, we get a large number of calls in Mandarin.
4 cents/min = $2.40/hr
20 cents/min = $12/hr
$1/min = $60/hr = $120k/yr equivalent @ 40 hrs/week, 50 weeks/yr
And that's just what the telemarketing company pays the dweeb they hired to call you.
No wonder there are so many telemarketing calls. You can make (steal) a huge amount of money doing it.
I love Lenny to bits... someone needs to make an andoid/ios lenny app, which auto-records of course. I would happily pay for such a work of art.
Telemarketers know Lenny well, for years.
Save for a very small few morons, they do not fall for Lenny.
The Lenny hype and adulation is a manufactured falsehood akin to the zobue craze of just a couple of years ago. It's childish bullshit and no one tuly believes any of it. But, people seem to enjoy lying about how much they use it, how much time telemarketers spend talking to Lenny, and "successful" it is.
BULLSHIT!!!
I miss Don. He moved into the neighborhood when I was about 10 (~1977). I wanted to play saxophone but the school district only taught clarinet for elementary schoolers. Don had his 1927 rosewood Conn clarinet re-padded so I could learn on "something of quality." But when anyone came to the door; telemarketers, Jehova's Witnesses, Mormons, he would always slide the screen door open real slow. And regardless of gender he would tell them "you got nice legs, want to come in?" Over 3 years he pretty much cleaned up the whole block. I miss Don.