,,,and anything else for that matter. Why would anyone give up their hard earned money without doing some real thorough research? I was looking at this old thread and figured why not just bring up the telemarketers in general. http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t50610/ Fortunately the OP on that thread did NOT fall for it. Unfortunately people DO fall for it. Why? There are so many easy ways to avoid this in the first place. How many people here have caller ID? I do - came with the phone. I could be standing right next to the phone and if I don't recognize the number I just don't answer it. IF the product someone may be selling or if it's really important people will leave a message when it kicks over to the machine. Then, I MIGHT pick it up. If you DO pick it up and it's a telemarketer shouldn't your first question be "why are you calling me?" or "how did you get my number?". One of the first things I wonder and/or ask. I'm usually fairly rude to be honest about it. Wouldn't you also ask about their credentials? Get references of recognized dealers? Ask for a web site and phone numbers so you can call THEM back? This doesn't happen to me too often as my wife and I are on a "no call list" but I can remember when it did. I was not a fun person to call. When I worked midnights and somone woke me at 4PM to sell something I would calmly explain that I was sleeping and ask for their home phone number. Why? - because I'd promise to call them at 3AM to discuss it when I was awake. Never had any takers. We get calls like this all of the time at work. Does anyone know how many incarnation of "yellow pages" there are? We had one catch my boss' wife unsuspecting at work one day. She answered a few questions and they recorded her. Total scam as it was NOT someone we dealt with. When the bill came "overdue" they called demanding payment. Hey, they had the recordings. My boss got a phone number then made a few calls of his own. He called them back and said he was taking it to the State District Attorneys office. We never heard from them again. I recently had a call concerning "yellow pages" from a gentleman with a heavy Indian accent. He was asking for my boss by name and I told him he was busy. I managed to get a bit of informaton out of him and sure enought it's a new account that we DON'T want OR need. I know there is a lot of outsourcing these days but why in the world would I just hand the phone to the boss in that situation? I told the guy to take us off the list. We do this a lot at work actually. I doubt I'll ever get most of these calls being on the "list" and all but I'm starting to get them on my cell phone. Well, if they DO get through to me at home or on my cell I'd LOVE to have a Coin Telemarketer contact me. I could have a lot of fun wasting their time. Gist of this thread. Really think before you dump your money. Fun side note? Waste as much of their valueable time in your spare time as you can. In case anyone gets upset or works as a telemarketer I know it's people trying to make a living but fight fire with fire. I always try to get supervisors on the phone when involved in such shenanigans.
A neighbor who is an elder (80+) widow fell victim to some NYC telemarketers a couple of years ago. She is from the generation that is polite and will not say "No" to a telemarketer on the phone. They sold her coins on several occasions, all of them "incredible bargains" to the tune of $32,000. The FedEx driver noticed what was happening and asked the police to tag along on a delivery and their questions uncovered the scam. I took a look at the coins and they were all genuine but most were self-slabbed and all were grossly overgraded and incredibly overpriced. I estimated she had no more than $7,000 or $8,000 worth of coins for her $32,000 (which she took out of her savings). I never heard the final outcome but word was her lawyer got the NYC telemarketers to agree to buy the coins back for $5,000. So I guess these thieves were able to rip her off coming and going. I don't know why she did not ask me my opinion before diving headlong into investing in high-priced coins she knew nothing about. She knew I am a coin collector and I would have been glad to help her stay out of trouble. I guess these scammers are out there ripping off some other elderly (and out-of-state) person as we speak. Hanging is too good for scum of the earth like this.
