Sep 13, 2016
I think this is a scam. The "caller" first said, "(giggle) It's about as hard to get a hold of you as it is to get my kids to clean their rooms." I was working from home, and it sounded like one of my coworkers, but then she said, "This is Maria with United Breast Cancer Foundation." At first, I listened politely, thinking it was a real person. Then it hit me that I was speaking with a robot, so I interrupted and said, "Is this a robot?" "Caller" replied simply, "No." So I asked, "Who is the president of the United States?" Caller said, "Okay, if you can't help now, we'll just call back later," or something to that effect. There was no option to opt out of calls. I hate these kinds of robo-calls that try to trick you into thinking you are speaking with a real person, so I called them back for two reasons, to give them an earful for basically lying to people and to ask to have my name removed from their list. When I called the number back, I got a machine that gave me several options. One was to speak to a live person. When I made that selection, the machine told me to leave my name and number and someone would call me back in the next two or three business days. I tried some of the other options to try to get a live person, but it was impossible. Finally, I chose number two, the opt-out option. The machine message tried to GUILT me and then verified my phone number. I was told by the machine that my phone number would be removed within the next few days. I received their call around 9:30 a.m. and called back shortly thereafter. So I find it highly suspicious that a charity doesn't have someone on hand to speak to a potential donor during regular business hours. Also, I don't think a legitimate charity would allow a "robot" to lie. And if it is a legitimate charity, I certainly would not donate to a non-profit that basically lies to me when they call.