Security & Privacy
Phone Spam
22 Feb 2002
Ring. "(Pre-recorded voice) Congratulations, you have been selected to win a free cellular phone. Press "1" to claim your phone."
So I pressed one and asked the person at the other end for her name and the name of the company. After a couple of tries, I finally got her to tell me the company’s name was Call Center Networks, but she would only give me her first name, Mandy.
I asked for a phone number where the company could be reached, but she refused to give it to me. When I told her that it was illegal to place pre-recorded telephone calls, to refuse to supply her name or the name of the company, and to refuse to give a phone number where the company could be reached, she hung up.
I realize that telling her this won’t make any real difference, but perhaps she didn’t know any of this and she’ll think twice about coming back to work tomorrow.
Oh, I also reported the company to the FTC.