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Deciphering a Chinese spam call

#1

Apparently I need more excitement in my life but I was actually excited to get a spam call in Chinese on my cell phone. It seems this message has been working its way around cell phones at least in the US Northeast. How I wish my Chinese was better! Unfortunately, it proved way too hard for my newbie skills. Is there anyone that wouldn’t mind breaking down at least part of it in pinyin so I could practice listening to it at full speed? It is only 15 seconds long. At the very least perhaps some could at least translate even a very short summary of what it is. I can’t upload the file due to forum rules but I did find it on a site advertising a robocall blocker that has the recorded audio of it.
The link is:
https://www.nomorobo.com/lookup/212-244-9392?v=9&utm_expid=.uTnXOhf4TGqCsrPUEzn5Nw.4&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.ycombinator.com%2F

The post broke it up but it is one long string with the v= 9 etc coming right after the question mark.

I have a few phone apps that are audio translators but they just gave up when I played it. Are there any apps that are good for translating things like this? Even if it just did the translation I was hoping I could then look up the words and pinyin to try listening to it at full speed again.

Even if no one is interested at taking a stab at it, if they could recommend a tool I could use to work at breaking it down I would appreciate it.

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#2

Hi, Meir,

This sounds like a Qin Weng opportunity! Thanks for sharing. Let’s get some more ideas.

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#3

Ha, I’ve gotten this too. Here’s what I can decipher: 这是中国大使馆通知您，您有一份文件尚未领取一(大?)多天，请接载相关证件过来领取，否则将(竟至?)到期。(xuxi？）咨询请按一，按一有员工为你服务。 I think basically the idea is that they are claiming that the Chinese consulate has some documents that you need to pick up (eg: passport application stuff), and so they claim you need to bring proof of identification in order to retrieve it.

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#4

The Chinese embassy is informing you that you have a document that has not been picked up for a few days.
Please, bring your personal documentation to the embassy to pick up your document, or the time will expire.
If you want information, press #1.
Someone will then personally answer your questions.

Hope this helps Meir! Also thanks Colin!!

g

#5

Wow, I must really be internalizing my Chinese learning so that even robo-callers see my aura as Chinese! I got a different one now, I think, and this time didn’t answer it so that it went to my voice mail. Is there anyway to send one from my voice mail (perhaps to my own email and from there to be able to upload it perhaps through a Dropbox link?) if you are looking for more than one spam err I mean Chinese-learning validation email for Qin Weng?
I wish I could translate these myself. Are there tools that it can be uploaded to and slowed down to see if that gives me a better shot? If I can get to the level that I can translate my own spam calls in Chinese I will be ready to visit China!! ; )

#6

What kind of phone do you use? For my iphone if you click on the voicemail there’s a share button which should let you email it to yourself if you want.

As for slowing down audio, even windows media player has this function (right click on the area with “library music album” -> Play -> Play speed), but this kind of thing tends to distort the speech, which might be a problem since phone calls are already very distorted.

Regarding the language used, just be aware that it tends to be extremely formal speech that you’re unlikely to hear outside of intercom annoucements or automated phone systems. If you want to work up to this kind of thing, there are some relevant intermediate lessons:




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#7

Thanks Colin,

I have an iPhone and didn’t even know that was an option! The first 2 times I picked up and so I had no recording but the 3rd time I let it to go to voice mail so now I have it and just emailed it to myself. Is there a way to upload it or email it so you can compare this one? This one sounds similar and I think it’s also talking about a package pick-up but the vocabulary is different.

#8

Meir, if you scroll up a few comments you’ll see my translation. Let me know if you still don’t see it! It’s in between Colin and you.

#9

haha, I get these calls like once a month. The number redirects back to the Chinese embassy.

#10

I see it now, thanks so much Grace!

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