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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Companies Accused of Disguising Sales Pitch as Polls to Get Around 'Do Not Call' Rules

Election season has apparently spawned a slick new way for telemarketers to get around the "Do Not Call" registry — hiding a timeshare sales pitch behind a phony political poll, say critics.

With telemarketers barred from robo-calling people on the "Do Not Call" registry, a new phone campaign called "Political Opinions of America" offers a three-question "poll," and then offers a reward that sounds suspiciously like a classic timeshare sales pitch. An automated voice asks the recipient to complete a quick survey with questions like: “What’s the most important thing to restore our economy?” Other questions include: “How would you rate the job that President Obama is doing?”

After answering, the user is transferred to a live operator from “corporate travel services” who is giving away free cruises thanks to an anonymous donor. The offer allows up to four free guests and requires a $60 per person “port fee” to be secured by a credit card.


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Political robo calls should be forced to live by the do not call rules too.