Ok, so these people aren't technically customers, in fact they are technically con artists, but I have to deal with them at work, so I think they count. I get maybe five calls a day through the IP relay service from someone calling himself Shawn. "Shawn" tells me he wants to purchase a specific model of laptop as a gift for his son in West Africa. I tell him we don't carry laptops, just cell phones from [carrier I sell]. He says, hey no problem, do you carry the [phone model not carried by the carrier I sell]. We play this game for a while, and then another operator breaks into the call, informing me that this call follows a pattern of "fraudulent behaviour," and would I like to terminate the call at this time. The first time I went ahead and finished the call, both out of curiosity and a misguided belief that maybe they were wrong. The call culminated with him finally hitting upon a device that we do carry, and then immediately reading off a credit card number and shipping address (a PO Box number) and saying "when can I expect delivery?" Yeah, I bet that card's not stolen...any takers?
According to the IP relay customer service line, this is a known fraud, and they have forwarded the information on to the FBI, who is investigating it. The problem is that they can only block specific ISP's, and anyone that has internet has access to IP. Also, companies can't block calls from specific users of IP, and of course can't legally block IP altogether since that would constitute discrimination against actual Deaf customers who need IP to communicate by phone. It has gotten to the point that every time I hear the IP operator when I answer the phone that I just cringe.
It makes me so angry to know that there are actual Deaf and hearing disabled people out there that depend on the relay system to communicate, and these awful excuses for humanity are exploiting that system to steal from people. I used to take reservations for Deaf and hearing disabled customers at Budget all the time through relay, so I know what a valuable service it provides, and I would hate to see it ruined by theives. Have any of you ever dealt with this problem before?
According to the IP relay customer service line, this is a known fraud, and they have forwarded the information on to the FBI, who is investigating it. The problem is that they can only block specific ISP's, and anyone that has internet has access to IP. Also, companies can't block calls from specific users of IP, and of course can't legally block IP altogether since that would constitute discrimination against actual Deaf customers who need IP to communicate by phone. It has gotten to the point that every time I hear the IP operator when I answer the phone that I just cringe.
It makes me so angry to know that there are actual Deaf and hearing disabled people out there that depend on the relay system to communicate, and these awful excuses for humanity are exploiting that system to steal from people. I used to take reservations for Deaf and hearing disabled customers at Budget all the time through relay, so I know what a valuable service it provides, and I would hate to see it ruined by theives. Have any of you ever dealt with this problem before?
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