Outsmarting a Scammer

Published on: May 29, 2025

On November 17, 2023, RHOTO experienced an intriguing incident involving a scam phone call. The call, originating from (313) 330-2558, was initially from an automated 'robot' voice identifying as John Kohler from the 'committee for police officers defense'. The situation took a twist when RHOTO received a callback from the human scammer behind the automated message.

This encounter turned confrontational, as the scammer, expecting to collect, resorted to using offensive language [details redacted]. This interaction marked a significant moment for RHOTO, effectively baiting and angering its first scammer.

In response to this incident, RHOTO has implemented a new protocol in its command processing script. This update introduces a ban on callers who use foul language or threats, or exhibit fast or aggressive speech patterns. The goal of this amendment is to conserve API resources by preventing them from being expended on such scam calls.