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From: john@bovine.ati.com (John Higdon)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: 900 Number Sweepstakes, Space Flight is Prize!
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Date: 20 Dec 90 01:33:50 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 892, Message 1 of 9


On Dec 19 at 00:30, TELECOM Moderator writes:

> [Moderator's Note: Consider it done.  About 4 AM Tuesday morning I put
> in a phone call to Moscow and spoke with a public relations person in
> the responsible agency. He said exactly what you said, and was pleased
> that the 'American media' (who me? !) was calling to find out '.. the
> truth about that rumor some Americans have started ...' The phone call
> cost me about twenty dollars, but I'd rather spend it on that call
> than give $2.99 to those greedy con-artists in Texas who are
> perpetrating this scam.

Looks like you might not have received your money's worth. Just five
minutes ago, KGO (TV) News reported that THEY had checked with Moscow
and received confirmation that the Soviet space agency had indeed
contracted with an American firm regarding a contest to send a lucky
winner into space.

I suspect that even in this Post Cold War era, one must still be a
little skeptical about any information casually obtained from
unidentified spokespeople. Remember, the Soviets invented bureaucracy
and it is most likely that the right hand doesn't know what the left
hand is doing.

In any event, KGO cautioned viewers that each call (number posted on
screen) cost $2.99.


        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   +1 408 723 1395
    john@bovine.ati.com     | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !


[Moderator's Note: Well now I don't know what to think. The {Chicago
Sun-Times} in the Wednesday editions had a picture of the men involved
with the firm and a short story saying the Soviets had DENIED the
report that arrangements had been made to take an American with them
on the trip and that the men involved were under investigation for
starting a scam.  So now we have KGO saying it is true and a couple of
government investigators saying it is false and they are investigating
the fellows involved. I'm told it is false in a phone call and a
message here yesterday made similar claims.  Wait and see, I guess.  PAT]