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Web Vigilantes Take On Robo-callers
Online campaign targets companies
By Sarah Quinn
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Posted May 15, 09 9:45 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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A group of techy activists tired of getting a stream of auto warranty robo-calls has turned the tables on one of the companies, the Wall Street Journal reports. "I thought, if you get a bunch of people together, you could blow up their voicemail boxes," says one frustrated caller, who found the number of the supposed offender on social media website Reddit and blitzed the company with messages containing Rick Astley's 1987 hit, "Never Gonna Give You Up."
Other Reddit users have taken it even farther, changing California's Auto One Warranty's voicemail greeting and threatening arson. "Ninety percent of the people complaining about my company have never been contacted by my company," says Auto One's president, who says they only contact people who opted to receive such calls. Still, he empathizes with those upset about warranty calls...even though he's never gotten one himself.