Be nice when you hang up on scammers, fraud expert says

Be kind to phone scammers.

That's the advice from an expert from The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

Daniel Williams said they have encountered cases where some overseas phone scammers have responded to a harsh disconnect with an overwhelming number of return calls.

Williams said it can be difficult to avoid the calls.

"They can call me, I can't call them," he noted. "And if I upset them they will happily call me at three in the morning, four in the morning, as they have done to many, many consumers across Canada."

Williams said there have even been cases where phone scammers have made threats. He said the best strategy is to simply not answer the phone if you don't recognize the number.

But if you do pick up, he suggests you say 'Thank you for calling' and hang up gently.