I once thought I’ll never get phone calls such as this.
Some random person called me, with a phone number that was suspicious to begin with. +855111. Seems to be calling from one of those nifty tele-marketing software, where they can call out via the computer. Think SKYPE. Minus the sophistication.
So this auntie sounding caller said she was calling from Hong Kong and represents a phone manufacturing company doing a survey. The supposed phone company intends to release a new 3G PDA phone in Singapore and would like to find out what kind of price range would be reasonable. And she went on to ask me the questions.
My immediate reaction was to go on Red Scammer Alert. Very un-gemini trait. Anyway, I cut her off and threw a bucket of questions at her. What company do you represent? Where did you get my mobile number? What company are you calling from? What is the purpose of this survey? What will be done to the survey questions?
The more I asked, the more I suspected. She actually works for Asia Television Ltd but represents this obscure company called 卓越科技公司. This company apparently manufactures mobile phones. Yet when I whip out my trusty Google and searched for the company? Nada. None of the companies that are listed in the search makes mobile phones. I see refractometers, beauty/massage/health products, military defense products… But NO MOBILE PHONES. Ah-ha!
And when I decided okay, I’ll let her ask the questions. She asked for my FULL NAME, which I refused. And when I did, she said she is unable to continue with the survey. Ah-ha! Another suspicious point. Legit surveys are a bit more lax about the name requirements. The important point is the results, not the contacts. Unless, of course, their aim is not the results, BUT the contacts. Which I’m obviously not going to give them that.
So that’s it. End of the survey! Should have given her some random name I pluck from the air.
Seriously. They are horribly unfortunate in that they meet ME. Someone who has done research before. And someone who actually KNOWS how a company works. Manufacturing companies DO NOT make such marketing surveys. If they manufacture phones for other companies, all the more they should not be the ones doing such calls. And come on.. 3G PDAs? What’s the technology in that?? *rolleyes*
Plus, she spoke to me in MANDARIN. If you are calling Singapore, you should NOT be speaking in Mandarin.
Plus she sounds more Mainland Chinese than a Hong Kong resident.
Pfft.