Comreg and the Data Protection Commissioners have begun investigations into a series of abortion conversation related, automated phone calls which were made to some households around Thurles & indeed countrywide today.
It is understood the calls involved a recorded message being played on the topic of abortion, and these recordings then invite the householder to press a number to obtain even further information on this topic.
The caller claims he is Professor Eamon O’Dwyer, a retired Professor Emeritus of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at NUI Galway, who has overseen the birth of some 9,000 children at Galway University Hospital.
Mr John Rogers from the Data Protection Commissioners is advising anyone who receives these calls to ignore the message and not to press the numbers 1, 2 or 3 on your phone dial, as requested to do so by this automated call.
(Those with telephones which identify incoming phone numbers can expect to see just four or five identifying digits appear on their phone screens when the automated call makes contact.)
What would happen if we were to press either of the numbers mentioned? Is it a scam to make money or a genuine attempt to give people information?
Not sure Pat, but the suggestion is that it was an attempt to extort money via phone.
Thanks George. Apparently Professor Eamon O’Dwyer is real and above board; he is a contributor to this website or some of the products therein: http://www.familyandlife.org/resources/free/free-resources?term=8
It’s very easy to scam many innocent people on the telephone.
What to do when you answer the phone and you hear a foreign accent doing a survey or selling something and you don’t want to enter into the conversation. You answer with the Hail Mary, or something in Irish. They will hang up and won’t ring you back.
When we hear a foreign accent trying to sell us something or even ask for someone by a false name we simply pick up our referee’s whistle and blow it down the phone it works wonders. Charity workers are just as bad and don’t take no for an answer. One hospital charity seller wanted me to sell raffle tickets and when I said OK she asked me how many books would she send me and after questioning her further the idea was I was to buy these books something like 6 dozen and pay for them up front. I told her I am Irish but I don’t have green skin never heard from them again. George in Ireland can you get your phone company where you pay your bill to give you a code to block these people we have just done that and it is a blessing. We used to get numerous nuisance calls day and night even though we have a silent number. It makes you wonder where these people get a silent number from. The night calls were shocking we always jumped out of bed thinking it was home calling, only to hear these foreign voices, but not any more.
We can block most of them here in Ireland also if we contact and request same from our service providers. But if they have our Telephone Numbers in advance they just call anyway.