Post by Fenlander on Jun 9, 2008 18:39:13 GMT 2
Calling – How Do They Find Your Number?
UK residents will be used to telephone 'cold calling' where a company rings your telephone number in the hope they can sell you a product. It started years ago with double glazing companies touting their products. But technology has now taken over with automated systems dialling hundreds of numbers at a time and playing pre-recorded messages.
For those that have moved to Turkey and have a phone installed the lack of cold calling is a real treat. However, according to emails we have received recently, people are starting to receive cold calls leading to speculation as to where the company has found their details.
So Fethiye Times contacted the company in question on behalf of readers to solve the mystery.
We thought we would uncover a web of the sale of private details, mailing lists and other details harvested from official and web based sources but we were wrong. Quite simply the company has used a free web based international phone book which links telephone numbers and addresses from all over the world. Type in an English name in a foreign directory and you’re more than likely to find an English person at the end of the line. We tried it and it worked.
We’ll cover such directory services later this week. But in the meantime, if your Turk Telekom telephone number is registered in an English name don’t be suprised if you receive cold calls
UK residents will be used to telephone 'cold calling' where a company rings your telephone number in the hope they can sell you a product. It started years ago with double glazing companies touting their products. But technology has now taken over with automated systems dialling hundreds of numbers at a time and playing pre-recorded messages.
For those that have moved to Turkey and have a phone installed the lack of cold calling is a real treat. However, according to emails we have received recently, people are starting to receive cold calls leading to speculation as to where the company has found their details.
So Fethiye Times contacted the company in question on behalf of readers to solve the mystery.
We thought we would uncover a web of the sale of private details, mailing lists and other details harvested from official and web based sources but we were wrong. Quite simply the company has used a free web based international phone book which links telephone numbers and addresses from all over the world. Type in an English name in a foreign directory and you’re more than likely to find an English person at the end of the line. We tried it and it worked.
We’ll cover such directory services later this week. But in the meantime, if your Turk Telekom telephone number is registered in an English name don’t be suprised if you receive cold calls