Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request
From: fmsystm!macy@cwjcc.ins.cwru.edu
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Does a 900-number Make a Sweepstakes a Lottery?
Message-ID: <5452@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 21 Mar 90 14:15:41 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 192, Message 1 of 10


In article <5311@accuvax.nwu.edu> :
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 182, Message 1 of 12

>I received one of those "you may have already won" calls on my voice
>mail at work the other day (in fact, so did everyone else in the
>office!) that told me that all I had to do to find out I was a winner
>was to ring up their 900 number and they'd be happy to enter me in the
>contest.  The call would cost me $10.

I got one of these on my cellular phone the other night on the way
back from a customer site.  Talk about sleazy!  There was absolutely
no way to identify the caller without calling the 900 number.  And I
had to pay airtime, too, 'cause I answered the call.  Gad, I was
steamed!

They were obviously power dialing the entire 216-389-xxxx cellular
exchange, and judging by the time, intentionally....

My friend in CO engineering at Mobilnet said they had no way to trace,
its just another incoming trunk call to them from Ohio Bell.

Cincinatti Bell is trying out cellular service where the caller pays
for the airtime on incoming calls (Yes, a 1+ is required) (Its
optional, BTW) Sounds pretty good to me...it would end this crap.

Hmmm.... No wonder Ohio Bell just petitioned the PUC to drop 976
service.  They don't want to be involved in this kind of crap.  I do
not like to espouse "there oughta be a law" very often, but this is
worse than junk fax.


 Macy M. Hallock, Jr.     macy@NCoast.ORG         uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy
 F M Systems, Inc.      {uunet!backbone}!cwjcc.cwru.edu!ncoast!fmsystm!macy
 150 Highland Drive      Voice: +1 216 723-3000 Ext 251  Fax: +1 216 723-3223
 Medina, Ohio 44256 USA   Cleveland:273-3000 Akron:239-4994 (Dial 251 at tone)
 (Please note that our system name is "fmsystm" with no "e", .NOT. "fmsystem")