Orchestra teacher receives scam call during class and has her students scare them off in the best way

Much like hemlines, spam calls are on the rise. According to PR Newswire, "U.S. consumers received just over 4.7 billion robocalls in January 2025, marking a nearly 9% increase from December 2024, according to YouMail's latest Robocall Index." To break it down even further, the same report reveals, "On a monthly basis, January averaged 152.9 million robocalls/day and 1,769 robocalls/second."

That's a lot of spam.

Another spam call...Giphy

Of course, not all spam callers are scam artists, but many are. Either way, most of them are super annoying and a waste of a lot of time. But some people are having fun finding creative ways to fight back. One recommendation, which is proving quite popular online, is to scare the living wits out of them.

Picture this: Your cell phone rings from an unknown caller marked "Spam Likely." Instead of frustratingly answering or sending it to voicemail, you concoct a professional-sounding recording with a deep, authoritative voice that says the following: "Thank you for calling the CIA. You've reached the scam and fraud division. All of our agents are currently assisting other callers. To further assist you, please hold while we download your incoming and outgoing call logs to be analyzed against our database of known scam and fraud operations. An agent will be with you shortly."

That's exactly what Roy L. Baker recorded to battle scammers a few years ago. Snopes reports, "Within 24 hours of being posted, the viral clip from Roy L. Baker Jr. aka @1roy_jr received 72,000 shares and was viewed more than 5 million times."

This has inspired countless others on TikTok to use his recording for their own unwanted calls or to share their personal suggestions. In a post, which begins with the chyron, "How to deal with spam callers," a mash-up shows brilliant solutions to spam—and even a person trying out the aforementioned CIA trick.

The clip begins with someone receiving a call. They then place their cell phone under a metal colander, take out a spoon, and bang it loudly.

We then cut to a blue-haired woman explaining, "I have a house phone, and I don't know the number, but the telemarketers do." She then answers, "Kiernan's Mortuary and Pizzeria, where yesterday's loss is today's sauce. What can I get started for you?" She waits a beat, and lo and behold, the caller clicks off.

Another option is to pretend to be covering a news story about scam callers while live on-air. We see a woman speaking (possibly lip-syncing) into her cell in a very broadcaster-sounding voice: "Good evening. We are live on television right now with an investigation into scam callers. We have the FBI on the line, they are tracking this phone number, as we speak. Sir, what is your full name again?" And once again, the caller quickly hangs up.

Next, we have a woman who is now actually speaking to the would-be scammer. She says, "Okay, now it's open," as she places her phone under a pot and then attacks it with a spatula.

But perhaps the most impressive part of this montage? A music teacher receives a call while in class with her band/orchestra students. She announces, "Okay, I'm getting a scam call, go!" She holds her phone up as her students tune their instruments in a cacophonous sea of utter chaos. Once the scammer hangs up, she shows them that they did their job with great success.

The comment section buzzes, debating which option is their favorite. Some are teachers who can relate to the "let your students handle the call" suggestion.

Others are excited to try out the ideas: "I have a restaurant job, and all we get are spam calls. I'm going to try the CIA/FBI thing next time."

A few give their own genius recommendations: "I've blown a whistle into the phone as loud as I could. The swearing on the other end of the phone as they complain about their ears is priceless." Another claims, "I just yell WAAAZAAA like Don Pollo and they hang up."

Sorry, did my airhorn bother you, spam caller?Giphy

And this comment sweetly crosses generational lines, showing that even when faced with everyday annoyances, we can find ways to bond and be inspired: "My grandma keeps a mini air horn in her purse for spam calls. She's the woman I aspire to be."