While Oral Roberts struggles with budgets, Fundamentalist Preacher Jerry Falwell faces a different kind of money pinch. The Lynchburg, Va., televangelist has long used toll-free phone numbers to assist viewers seeking spiritual help. The code-800 exchange has also worked well for fund raising, since those who phone in free are more likely to make pledges.
For many months Falwell foes, aware that each phone-in costs $1, have purposely clogged his lines. First an Atlantan who objects to TV ministers programmed his computer to dial Falwell every 30 seconds. Before Southern Bell stepped in, the stunt cost Falwell $750,000. Then it was...
LandersRockwell on August 25th, 2020 at 02:07 UTC »
Did the same thing in the early 90’s, to people trying to collect on my wife’s already paid off student loans. They robo-called every day at 5am. I finally called them back on their 800 line, and explained that robo-calling was illegal in California, and the guy laughed and said it was a good thing he wasn’t in California.
I broke out my modem manual, and set it up to dial, wait for an answer, and then hang up after 30 seconds and start again. You could hear the frustration on the other end when they picked up.
I let it run for six months. They never called again.
Chonky_Boi_563 on August 24th, 2020 at 23:48 UTC »
This reminds of the guy who programmed a bot to tweet Comcast everytime his internet dropped below a certain speed.
Kneeyul on August 24th, 2020 at 23:27 UTC »
Today I Learned learned that there's another RAS Syndrome victim.