OT Dealing with cold callers

[Hugh - in either England or Sp]

[polygonum]

Amazing coincidence - the chap did this by using telephone recording kit

- and "Mr Herman, who works in the telephone industry selling call-recording equipment, said his action was a last resort after asking the Information Commissioner and the Telephone Preference Service for help."

Of course, he has no interest in getting this story propagated, does he?

In that sense, is his spammy story much better than the spamming gits he complained at?

Maybe I am wrong - but certainly has a whiff...

[Graham.]

>>>>Amazing coincidence - the chap did this by using telephone recording kit

I agree about his agenda and probable motivation, but to correlate his story being published in the press and on TV with a cold calling operation is a strange way of looking at it.

[Hugh - in either England or Sp]

>>>>>>> Amazing coincidence - the chap did this by using telephone recording kit

The guy obviously has an agenda but it shows it can be done - if you can identify the entity at the other end of the line and they have any money

[Tim Lamb]

I heard him interviewed on radio and he admitted that the publicity might be good for his business (my words).

Perhaps the future is brr,,, brr,, hello..... background hubbub of call centre voices... is that Mr. ???? Just a moment while I switch on the recorder...click:-)

>

[polygonum]

The aim of spam is to enter your mind for commercial ends disguised as something else. That is, not "honest" advertising. Obviously not as directly intrusive as direct cold calling - but manipulating a supine fourth estate to get your selling message across seems to be very much down that road.

Sure, spam started off being restricted to email and postings - or something like that. But the word has gained legs and it seems perfectly reasonable to extend it to news media and stories like this.

[metric_trade]

Good luck to him. I don't care what is motivation is. Spam is intrusive, ex= pensive, and unavoidable. Anti-spammers are welcome to use methods that cos= t me nothing, are non-intrusive, and avoidable. When their methods reach th= e level of shampoo adverts and product placement in films, then perhaps the= y'll irritate me.=20

Right now, I'm glad he did and will welcome another story like that.

[Hugh - in either England or Sp]

expensive, and unavoidable. Anti-spammers are welcome to use methods that cost me nothing, are non-intrusive, and avoidable. When their methods reach the level of shampoo adverts and product placement in films, then perhaps they'll irritate me.

We have to live with product placement in films, people plugging books, tours, music releases etc. in chat shows and Breakfast all the time. Occasionally there is something entertaining or informative in the middle but I rarely watch live TV now. Record what I might like and watch it when it is convenient to me. The item we are discussing here is to some extent spam but does carry the message that claims can be made against time wasters.

[Roger Mills]

>>>>>>> Amazing coincidence - the chap did this by using telephone recording kit

To be fair to the bloke, he's set up a website telling you what he did - and I can't find any links to his recording equipment on that.

[Andy Champ]

When we get four calls in a day from a call centre where the person has an Indian/Pakistani accent, and insists they are calling from the UK despite the satellite lag (1)... that's not going to help.

Andy

(1) Well the first couple did. The last few haven't had the time. I find "Just a minute", phone on desk then back to the TV quite satisfying...

[Mark]

>>>>>>>

"If you can identify the entity" is the key here. On the few occasions I've engaged the caller in conversation they have either refused to tell me the company they work for or given me a fake name.

And if the company is actually based in India I doubt you could do anything even if you could identify them.

[polygonum]

Agreed. Even if they say something it is often difficult to get the name right.

I'd be interested how much the compensation works out at after costs and per hour of thought and effort.

[Roger Mills]

But surely, they must be working on behalf of a British entity which would provide whatever "service" they're promoting?

[Mark]

It is possible to provide a "service" to UK residents without the company having an official presence in the UK.

[Roger Mills]

Maybe, but I would have thought that most of the outfits offering to claim PPI compensation etc. were British. No?

[polygonum]

Maybe. But the spam callers are not necessarily doing anything of the sort. Simply mentioning PPI claims could be a ruse for something else - getting information out of you?

[Andy Champ]

Maybe. Or maybe further down the spiel they mention that you'll have to make an upfront payment to process the claim, and can they have your credit card details please...

Andy

[Mark]

That's my guess. I just assume the PPI calls are scams rather than ordinary marketing calls.

[metric_trade]

This topic is frequently discussed on uk.telecom

Trucall call blocker:

CPR call blocker:

I have the CPR unit. It works great for me. It prevents loads of spam calls getting through.

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