It was just after 6pm last night when the phone rang.A distinctive Indian voice - over a crackling phone connection - tells me that she is calling from "Australian Mobiles" in downtown Brisbane and that she has joyous news for me.
I had won a video camera which would be delivered tomorrow. Wow!
I was also "werry, werry lucky" to have been selected to receive a mobile phone package with also sorts of add-ons, freebies, cheap calls, flat-rate calls, free calls and a 12-month manufacturer's warranty. The list was endless. You name it, it had it.
Now, all she needed was my address to deliver all this great gear and my date of birth to verify that I was over 18.
I told her that I was over 18 but she said it was needed for a "soft credit check" - just to verify that it was all in order.
A "soft credit check"? Wasn't this all free?
I said that I would ring back her office to verify that I was giving my personal information to a genuine company.
She then assured me that they didn't need any personal information from me.
But didn't she want my date of birth?
I then said that I would not give my personal information over the phone without verifying the identity of the caller.
"I am werry, werry sorry but I cannot giv out owr cellfon narmber".
"I don't want your cellphone number, just your office number in Brisbane."
"I am werry, werry sorry............"
"Enoughhhhh," I said.
And then the rupee dropped!
Who in Australia has a "cellphone"? Even though she was supposedly calling from "Australian Mobiles" in Brisbane, her cellphone lingo let her whereabouts slip.
"I am about to terminate this conversation. Have a good night."
And then she no doubt started on another potential sucker.
The Federal Government allows this sort of crap, with thousands of Australians bombarded every day with dubious and untraceable calls from downtown India from so-called Australian companies which are not even listed on the Internet.
The Australian "Do Not Call" register is a joke.
This marketeer from India was calling me on a silent, unlisted number.
Does the Australian Government really think that silent numbers should have to be listed on this register?
I hear of people complaining about the "Indian Influx" every day. Some punters are getting 3 and 4 calls a day from overseas, flogging their wares to unsuspecting Australian consumers.Maybe the Minister for Communications Senator Helen Coonan could put a ban on overseas calls from India, stopping them electronically at the Australian border, between 5pm and 9pm every day.
At least the average Aussie battler would get a little peace from these pervasive pests from the Indian subcontinent.
