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Path: utzoo!utcsri!hofbauer
From: hofbauer@utcsri.UUCP (John Hofbauer)
Newsgroups: net.rec.photo
Subject: Re: camera rip-off scam
Message-ID: <1845@utcsri.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 21-Dec-85 16:56:46 EST
Article-I.D.: utcsri.1845
Posted: Sat Dec 21 16:56:46 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 21-Dec-85 17:43:07 EST
References: <106@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto
Lines: 44

> A few weeks ago my wife got an interesting phone call during the
> day.  It was a pre-recorded "film usage survey" that asked questions
> like:
>     how many rolls of film do you shoot per year?
>     what kind of film do you use?
>     what kind of camera do you have?
>     what is your phone number again so we can send you 10 free rolls
>         of Kodak film?
> 
> I thought it was kind of strange that anybody would send me free film,
> especially 10 rolls, but I just kind of ignored it.  We never got
> any free rolls of film...
> 
> Two days ago our house was broken into and all my camera equipment and one
> jewelry box that was near it in the bedroom closet were stolen.
> The value of the stolen equipment was about $2000. (My Leica and 
> 5 lenses).
> 
> So is there a connection?  And how did they get my name?  Well, I usually

The phone number is the connection. There exist business directories which
give much more information than the standard phone directory. One's that
I've seen are organized like the phone directory but also give a person's
occupation as well as address and phone number, and have sections
which divide the city into lots of tiny sectors and give useful statistical
info like average house price and income. Lastly they have an inverted
phone number list so that given the phone number you can find a person's
name and address. These directories cost several hundred dollars and are
generally sold to businesses for obvious, legitimate purposes. Invariably
the local public library also has a copy. I have often used those to find
out basic info on people...

An interesting aside... I have had an unlisted phone number for many years.
When I checked my entry in such a business directory I didn't find one.
Furthermore, once every so often a card is dropped into my mail slot from
an organization which publishes these directories asking for info. Again,
their activity is legitimate and above board but I have never replied.
Consequently I don't exist as far as they are concerned. We are seldom
bothered by telephone solicitation... I like to think there is a connection.

Scams like this have all sorts of variations. A favourite is to send
people "free tickets" and then rip them off while they are enjoying
their prize. In reverse, this has become popular with law enforcement
agencies as a sting for capturing wanted criminals.