It depends on the software / configuration / script.

In any sane set up, if the user fails to navigate the menu n times you get dumped to an operator. 0 or * or # aren’t special hacks, you just need invalid navigation.

I imagine what you have noticed is that increasingly there just isn’t an operator to talk to, or at least the org you’re calling really doesnt want to talk to you, so this kind of navigation failure just dumps you back to the start or something.

No son of mine is going to marry a chat bot!

I had a call from a scammer using a chat bot or voice generator?

Weirdly I was sure I could hear someone typing. I mean it would be trivial to set things up so the victim couldn’t hear that.

Regardless, it just didn’t sound like a human. I mean it was good but it was definitely in the uncanny valley.

Weirdly, it was obviously intended for victims to think it was human, but then at the end it said “I’m just going to transfer you to a human operator now”, and hung up.

I usually just press star or hash on the number pad a bunch of times

• beep
• I’m sorry I don’t…
• beep
• I’m sorry…
• beep
• I’m…
• beep beep beep
• <on hold music>