Dear Editor:
In March, you ran a letter by Norma Hurst about harassing phone calls.
We get them all the time. I have a business answering machine and I will get one hang up after another or strange messages to call back immediately to straighten out an account problem. Now my wife gets calls telling her to call back and speak to someone about the information she has requested. She must call back immediately to take advantage of a special offer. These are all ruses designed to catch people off guard, especially seniors.
I received one the other day on my cellphone so I went and called it back on the house phone right away. When I called it right back, the voicemail came on to tell me it was not a working number.
Numbers come from area codes that do not even seem to exist if you look them up. Magic phones.
There is a simple way to stop this practice. Our legislators have to force the phone company to supply the name and address of the harassers and then they can be subject to legal action.
Of course, this will not happen because the politicians and the big phone companies couldn’t care less about people, especially seniors.
As long as the harassers keep calling and calling and paying their phone bills, this practice will go on. The phone company will continue to make tons of money and the politicians that have investments in them will be happy too. Oh, and do not forget the phone bill taxes.
To correct this, you need honest politicians and an honorable phone company. So do not hold your breath, because it will not happen. It is only going to get worse.
George Hornung
Chincoteague
