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From: ndallen@contact.uucp (Nigel Allen)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Telemarketers' Lists
Message-ID: <10260@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 30 Jul 90 07:39:22 GMT
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Reply-To: ndallen@contact.uucp (Nigel Allen)
Organization: Contact Public Unix BBS. Toronto, Canada.
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 531, Message 5 of 8


If you have ever received a telemarketing call at an unlisted number,
you may have wondered how the telemarketing company got the number.
 
In some cases, the telemarketing company may be calling numbers at
random within a given prefix or series of prefixes. ("Pseudo-random"
might be a better term here; the telemarketers are given a list of
numbers to phone.)
 
In other cases, the company may be using a city directory which lists
individuals and companies by their addresses and telephone numbers.
This information can either be taken from the local telephone company
database, in which case it will not have any unlisted numbers, or it
may be gathered separately. R.L. Polk & Co.'s Might Directories
division publishes a number of Canadian city directories, and gets the
information for them from a door-to-door canvas and asks employers to
provide information about their employees.  If you aren't in when the
R.L. Polk employee comes by, you'll find a form with the heading
"Important Notice" left for you on your return.  A "helpful" employer
may release name and address information (particularly if the employer
makes extensive use of the city directory itself). If the employer
also releases telephone information, you can expect to receive calls
from carpet cleaning companies on your unlisted phone line.
 
I remember seeing a message on a Toronto BBS from a new caller who
said he worked in telemarketing, and had reached a modem carrier when
he had called the number ... so he decided to call from his modem, just
to see what was on the other end.
 
I know one person who *never* answers her telephone until her
answering machine was seized an incoming call and played her message.
If the person on the other end of the line leaves a message that she's
interested in, she'll pick up the phone before the caller hangs up.