From: vandy@avana.net (Vandy Terre) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.pagan,alt.revenge,alt.snowmobiles,ga.forsale,ga.general,misc.consumers.frugal-living,misc.rural Subject: Strange telephone call Date: Wed, 18 Sep 1996 14:27:05 GMT Organization: Tanglewood Farm Lines: 59 Message-ID: <323ffe3d.188173@news.avana.net>
This message is being cross posted to several groups that I read in an effort to find an answer to my questions. Please email replies, not all posts make it to my server. If you must answer on the net, please trim headers. Okay, this is the story. I just received a strange telephone call. My caller ID system shows only 'OUT_OF_AREA-----000-----'. The female voice claimed to be taking a survey for the Department of Defense and that she was acting as a representative of my government. She did not say US Government or State Government, just 'your government'. When I said that there was no way for me to verify she was what she claimed, she gave me a business name, supervisor's name and an 800 telephone number. She claimed this survey had to do with a Department of Defense program named 'YATS' and told me that if my household did not qualify, then our telephone number would be removed from the calling list. She then ask the same question three different ways. The question was 'Is there anyone in your household between the ages of 16 and 24?'. When I said no for the third time, she said we did not qualify and hung up. So here are my questions. Was this a legitimate call? The government should already know exactly how many people are in my household. It is on my tax forms every year and many other places. Why would any government office or representative of a government office be making cold calls to unknown telephone numbers for any kind of survey? Who or what is 'Westat'? This is the name of the company this woman supposedly represented. The telephone number given to me is 1-800-638-8778. The same woman answered it as called me. Seems like a company doing a survey for the government would have more than one employee. Her supervisor's name is Chris Martin. Is she Chris Martin? In a single person office, I guess you would be your own supervisor. The woman never gave her personal name. This survey was supposed to be for the Department of Defense for a program named 'YATS'. What is YATS? My biggest question is, Is this a new face on an old scam? Instead of posing as the local fire department looking for donations, are the scam-artist now posing as the government? What a way to case a home in preparation for theft or running yet another scam of questionable legality. Yes, I am a very suspicious person. I have seen too many scams being run. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please answer by email. Please trim headers if answering on the net. Thank you. Any significantly advanced scam vandy@avana.net is indistinguishable from religion. Georgia, USA -- frogfarm@yakko.cs.wmich.edu (Damaged Justice) is officially declared Unmutual. "Would I had phrases that are not known, utterances that are strange, in new language that has not been used, free from repetition, not an utterance which has grown stale, which men of old have spoken."