For two days now I’ve had missed calls from a certain number.  Being the suspicious (and maybe slightly paranoid?) person that I am, I googled the phone number before calling back.  I found a mountain of complaints about the number, 02 9112 5000 (Aussie number), in relation to automated telemarketing scams.

Now, I’ve had a brief stint of employment as a telemarketer and I have a certain amount of sympathy for any that call me; HOWEVER, I truly believe that people who work for automated telemarketing companies have no soul.  What makes automated telemarketing more annoying than regular telemarketing is that the company thinks so very little of its potential customers that they can’t even allocate a human being to make the call.  Basically, the system mass-dials a block of phone numbers and routes the first person to answer to an available telemarketer - everyone else is either dropped or greeted with a recorded message.  Those that don’t answer, or are dropped, go back into rotation for another re-call.

This isn’t standard practice and, from my experience, companies that use this method are all kinds of dodgy.   What makes it appealing to scam artists is that they can hire a limited number of telemarketers to handle a high volume of calls.  Unfortunately for us, if we want to get off the rotation we need to be connected to a telemarketer, reject the pitch, and get taken off the list.

Directly after googling the number I registered myself on the Do Not Call Register.  Unfortunately it takes 30 days for my numbers to be applied, so at this point I’m torn between answering the moment it rings and telling them to swallow a razorblade, or just ignoring it until the DNC registration kicks in (if it even makes any difference at all).  From what I’ve read about this particular number, there are people who have been persistently called for months.  Those who have answered have reported scams regarding Commonwealth Bank health insurance, and Optus scams.  If you receive a call from this number, do not give them any personal information (like many of the reports I’ve read), or you may as well walk outside and hand your credit card to the nearest passer-by.

Even while posting this blog, I received yet another call from 02 9112 5000.  It’s like it’s lurking in wait of the most opportune moment to annoy the absolute crap out of me.

(16:31:27) caseylee: oh get fudged.
(16:31:29) caseylee: it’s calling me again
(16:31:33) sanjin: thinking about buying all the har…wow :[
(16:31:39) sanjin: put the phone on silent!
(16:31:48) caseylee: i’m writing a blog about it and it calls me
(16:31:50) caseylee: how poetic
(16:31:57) sanjin: lol :[