Telephone Scam Artist: You Don't Fool Me.

I want to tell everybody about a phone call that I got fifteen minutes ago, because after Googling the hell out of it, I know it's a scam. But before we start, it's important that you know I sound a whole lot younger than my twenty-three years. I've been told I sound like a ten-year-old.

I picked up the phone, there was that few seconds of silence that is the tell-tale sign that your caller is calling you from abroad, and then I found myself on the line with an Asian sounding male, maybe in his early- to late-thirties.

Because of how young I sound, the first thing he does is ask if my mum is home. I do a quick search of the house for her, realise that she isn't home, and tell my caller as much: "I'm sorry, she's not home at the moment. Can I take a message?"

Caller then asks if my dad is home. I tell him no, my father doesn't live with us. Caller tells me that this call is important - that it's in regards to a car accident that my parents have had - and that he needs to be able to contact my mother.

At this point, I'm a little confused. "A car accident?" I ask, not sure if I've heard correctly. He confirms that I have, but this only confuses me more - because I know for a fact that my mother hasn't been involved in a car accident (major or minor) in several years, and she was sure as hell never involved in one with my absent-for-fifteen-years father. I also know without a doubt that if she had been involved in one, she would have provided her mobile number. She generally provides it as her first point of contact.

I ask him to tell me the names of the people he's trying to contact, so I can confirm he has the right number. He, of course, refuses to provide these names and asks my mum's contact number again.

I tell Caller again that my mother isn't home, and ask again if I can take a message.

This is when he starts demanding that I provide him with a contact number for my mother. I'm a little miffed. I'm being nothing but polite to this caller that I'm now certain is a scam artist, and he's getting hostile with me. I ask him instead to provide me with his name and contact number, and tell him that I will get in touch with my mother and have her call him.

And this is the part where he gets angry.

He tells me that I'm "being a very rude child!" and that this is "a very important call!" and once again demands that contact number. So this is where I get angry, because I don't appreciate being called rude when I'm being polite, I don't appreciate people demanding I do something I'm not comfortable with, and I sure as hell don't appreciate being called a child.

If you know me in real life, you know that I very rarely yell - but I yelled at this man.

I yelled that he in turn was being rude, that I would not, under any circumstances, provide him with my mother's contact number, and that if he wanted to get in touch with her he could leave his name and number with me and I would have her call him back.

He calls me a "very rude child" again, and says something along the lines of, "Don't give me the number then. See what I do!"

And hangs up on me.

The first thing I do, of course, is call him a dick over the dead line. The second is get in contact with my mother and let her know what happened. The third is jump on Google to see if anybody else has encountered this.

Apparently it's a scam that's been going on for years - somebody calls up saying they're from some accident insurance place, that they're calling in regards to an accident that you've had in the past three years (that they're not allowed to provide details on), and then they tell you that they can get you compensation for said accident.

Ding, ding, ding! Suspicious caller offering money!

There are a ton of reports online from people saying this has happened to them - but they're all from adults, parents, etc. This is a child's perspective, since this idiot thought I was one. And I think it's scary as hell.

So let's all be aware of this scam - make sure our parents are aware, make sure our children are aware. Because the last thing we need is scumbags like this getting what they're after.