One up for the good guys.

[1alexie]

Indians literally have the most distinct accents and they expect us to believe that their names are “Mark Robinson” or other English name.

[pauland]

Indians literally have the most distinct accents and they expect us to believe that their names are “Mark Robinson” or other English name.

I don't think the bad guys will be offering their real names in any event.

[handrawn]

you cannot assume anyway; in the UK after 2/3 generation or so, the second name at least could be anything; reckon be the same elsewhere where there is ethnic mix

[pauland]

you cannot assume anyway; in the UK after 2/3 generation or so, the second name at least could be anything; reckon be the same elsewhere where there is ethnic mix

Absolutely, but these guys are in Delhi and most overseas call centres with Indian staff will naturally have names that are typically Indian rather than British or western. I don't think we were considering British people with overseas roots.

Quite a few people with atypical names in Britain will use an anglicised variant of their name outside of their community.

[handrawn]

do the people getting these calls know that ? that they are not in the uk (wherever)

[pauland]

do the people getting these calls know that ? that they are not in the uk (wherever)

Perhaps some don't, but generally they have strong non-UK accents and cadences (fair enough) and sometimes are quite hard to understand. Often the background noise can be quite high too.

I have often been talking to <English name> while thinking there's no chance that that is their real name.

I think Virgin Media uses call centres in the Phillipines.

Anyway, I'm not sure this is worth arguing about.

My Son used to work in a supermarket. On some days he would be wearing some generic name badge that was lying around because he couldn't find his own. So not just call centres, and not just overseas!

[handrawn]

just making a point no argument, it is legit not to use real name for all kinds of reasons
...

of course, in media we often don't use real names, but maybe that is another matter entirely