I was chatting today to someone on my mobile phone and I noticed that an unsuccessful attempt had been made to contact me while I had been on the line.
So, I dialled the calling party (0203 476 2608) and this recorded message was played back to me:
"Hello, please hold for an important message. If you’ve been involved in a road traffic accident in the last 3 years, please press 1.
To have your number removed and not be called again, please press 2."
So, I pressed 2 and heard the message:
"Thank you."
And that was it. I don’t know who these people were, what business they had with me, or how they felt that I had given them permission to call me, presumably using an automated dialer.
That’s more than a tiny bit naughty – but fortunately the enforcement team from the Information Commissioner's Office has powers to go after these guys and give them a good regulatory going over. And impose enormous fines if they’ve been causing misery to lots of people. I wasn’t made miserable by the encounter – mildly inconvenienced at most, I suppose. And the inconvenience soon turned into a sense of relief when it dawned on me that I had some new material for my blog!
It’s always possible that others who were contacted were inconvenienced - and that they were having their hopes improperly raised by someone who might have been harvesting details of people who could subsequently be "sold on" by means of introduction fees to someone else.
Anyway, I hope that these guys get what they deserve.
Whoever they are and whatever they were after.
Image credit:
Chris Ison/PA http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gallery/2011/nov/05/road-transport#/?picture=381465847&index=1 On 5 November 2011, a large number of cars and articulated lorries were involved in the devastating crash near Taunton in Somerset, described by emergency workers as “the worst road traffic collision anyone can remember.”
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