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Inside
Info from The Graziadio School...
al-Qaeda
Engaged in Telemarketing?
The
Onion, an online humor magazine, thought it was being funny
by making up a connection between telemarketing and terrorism...
"In
a chilling development, the CIA announced Monday that it has
acquired a videotape showing suspected al-Qaeda operatives
engaging in what appears to be telemarketing. This
video, obtained from a credible third-party source, features
grainy footage of a group of men strongly believed to be al-Qaeda
members making phone solicitations for vacation home rentals,
long distance phone service, magazine subscriptions, and a
vast array of other products and services."
(The
Onion, September 18, 2002)
But
the joke sputtered when a Michigan Sheriff took the report
seriously and announced an investigation of local telemarketing
firms.
So please note that any similarity between telemarketers and
international terrorists
is purely coincidental here in...
The Telemarketing LOOP.
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Nobody
Home
Wendy: Hello?
Telemarketer: Good evening. May I speak to Mr. Gallamore?
Wendy: I'm sorry but he's out of town celebrating his wedding anniversary.
Telemarketer: Well, may I please speak to Mrs. Gallamore?
(Reader's Digest)
Only
the Lonely
"We may need to create laws that forbid companies from calling
people at home except those who have signed forms declaring themselves
extremely lonely." (Melvin Durai, Public
Opinion)
Gimme
Five
A south Florida man was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading
guilty of defrauding an elderly man in a telemarketing
scam. Daryl E. Tellechea
and another man, Thomas Francis Crossin,
convinced Fred Faurot to send them $1,887 after they told him he had
to pay "entrance fees" to claim a cash prize of $43,000.
After sending the money, Faurot notified staff from the Missouri Attorney
General's Office, who recorded subsequent calls. Crossin
then told Faurot to send $1,800 to claim additional large cash prizes.
Crossin and Tellechea were arrested at a Western Union office where
they were attempting to pick up a cash wire. (Office
of Missouri Attorney General)
Don't
Call Us...
Apparently, Miss
Cleo's psychic hotline features some of the most incredible psychics
in existence. While most other hotlines wait for you to call them
seeking answers, Miss Cleo's psychics know you will call eventually,
and save you the trouble by calling first.
The firm is known for its TV ads featuring a woman known as Miss Cleo
who reads tarot cards and starts every sentence with "Girlfriend!"
But
the Missouri attorney general recently obtained
an order against the firm to pay $75,000 for violations of Missouri's
telemarketing law.
Used with
permission.
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Top
10 Responses to Telemarketers
LoLFun.com
1.
Tell
him you are on home incarceration and ask if he could bring
you some beer.
2.
If he says, "How are you today?" say, "I'm so
glad you asked because no one else seems to care. My arthritis
is terrible, my boss is acting crazy, my dog just died, etc."
Continue until he hangs up.
3. If he says
he's John Doe from XYZ Company, ask him to spell his name. Then
ask him to spell the company name. Then ask him where it is
located and continue asking questions as long as necessary.
4. Say "NO"
over and over. Be sure to vary the sound but keep a rhythmic
tempo.
5. As soon
as you realize it is a telemarketer, set the receiver down,
shout and scream, "Oh my God!!!" Then hang up.
6. Ask him
to repeat everything several times.
7. Tell him
it is dinner time, but ask him if he would please hold.
Put him on speaker phone, smack your food loudly and continue
with dinner conversation.
8.
If
he wants to loan you money, tell him you just filed for bankruptcy
and could sure use some.
9. Ask him
to fax the information to you, and make up a number.
10. Tell him
to talk VERY SLOWLY because you are writing every word down.
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Wyoming
is a "No-Call" State
Wyoming's
no-call law applies to firms making more than 225 unsolicited
telephonic sales calls to Wyoming numbers per year. The law
requires that telemarketers disclose at the beginning of the
call the name of the individual caller, the identity of the
telephone solicitor or merchant and a telephone number and address
at which the telephone solicitor or merchant may be contacted,
that the purpose of the call is to sell consumer goods or services,
and the nature of the goods or services.
Each
telephone solicitor or merchant making unsolicited telephonic
sales calls to Wyoming numbers must file a statement giving
notice of activity and designating an agent for service of
process with the Wyoming Attorney General's Office.
Solicitors
or merchants are prohibited from making telephonic sales calls
involving an automated system for the selection or dialing
of numbers or the playing of a recorded message when a connection
is completed. Some uses of auto-dialers are also considered
crimes.
The
no-call law does not apply to calls made at the request of
the person called, made primarily in connection with an existing
debt or contract (payment or performance of which has not
been completed at the time of the call), or made to a person
with whom the caller has an established business relationship.
Most charity and political fundraisers are also exempt.
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