This News Anchor Went Viral After Giving A Scam Caller The Scare Of A Lifetime, And People Can't Get Enough Of It

    "We are live on television with an investigation..."

    Krista Torres
    by Krista Torres

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Jeanette Reyes — who goes by JR — has been a journalist for nine years. She is currently a full-time anchor in Washington, DC for "Good Day DC."

    And JR recently went viral on TikTok for giving a scam caller a taste of their own medicine:

    @msnewslady

    Got some inspiration from @1roy_jr and added a little anchor twist to it 😌 #spam#scammers#phone#prank#anchor#news#tv

    ♬ original sound - JR

    In her video — which has over 5 million views — a scammer tries to claim that JR has a warrant out for her arrest and owes over $2,000. She pretends to get ready to pay for the fake fee with a credit card by saying, "It's 3, 2, 1...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?" The man then hangs up.

    @msnewslady / tiktok.com

    The video received so much attention that JR made a handy phone scam sound you can play yourself on scammers:

    @msnewslady

    Reply to @ladiimedussa456 ask and you shall receive 😌 #scam#anchor#voice#fbi#spam

    ♬ original sound - JR
    One TikToker was already able to successfully use JR's original audio to trick a scammer!

    BuzzFeed spoke to JR, who said she made the video because she has been getting a lot of scam calls lately. "I know the anchor voice can be a little jarring when it comes out of nowhere, especially when you’re being told you’re on live television with the FBI on the line. It took quite a few tries to get a human scammer (instead of a robocall). I almost didn’t post it because I wanted the scammer to actually react. But I guess abruptly hanging up is just as good," she said.

    This phone scam isn't the first time JR has gone viral on the platform, however. She has been gaining a lot of attention for her comical videos since last year — like this one where she speaks to her husband (who also happens to be a news anchor) in her on-air voice for an entire evening:

    @msnewslady

    What he means when he asks me not to bring work home #fyp #foryou

    ♬ original sound - JR

    JR has been pleasantly surprised by how many people love her anchor voice. "I haven’t had any formal training, most of us in TV broadcast don’t. We are simply trying to speak clearly, project, and 'punch' the who, what, when, where, how, and why of the story," she said.

    And her favorite video to date is actually the first one she made with her husband. "At the time, we thought, 'Either people are going to think this is cringeworthy or somewhat funny.' Much to our surprise, it took off with more than 7 million views." Here's the video where she jokes about how people think news anchors talk at home:

    She has so many great videos (especially the ones where she trolls her husband with her anchor voice 😂). If you want to see more, be sure to follow her on TikTok and Instagram!