I live in Jefferson City, Missouri, USA. I just got a call at 3:33pm Central Daylight Time on Tuesday, October 12th, 2012.
It was for a contest for a cruise I had supposedly entered. I waited for a short time after the auto-message finished, then was connected promptly to an operator of some sort.
The gentlemen seemed to have trouble hearing me over my cell phone, as if his PBX didn't connect to me completely. He said "hello, hello" a couple of times, in what seemed to be a latin/spanish accent in decent English, ergo, I could understand what he was saying. After a few seconds and a little bit of background noise in what sounded like 'paper shuffling,' line was closed.
Typing the phone number into google (using the format: (573) 216-8774 into Firefox's google search bar yielded up this web site, and so I am posting here now.
I do fill out contest forms at malls on occasion, some for cruises, some for ATV's, etc. I've found most center around time-share/condo offers, so I have stopped filling them out, in general.
It would've been nice to have won a cruise, as my wife and I could use a nice getaway for a few weeks. Better off saving and just buying it, ourselves! Private Jet, Private Boat, Private Private Private! More expensive that way, but it's generally safer and "you get what you pay for" truly applies in these cases.
It'd be cheaper to rent a 46-foot sailboat with a retractable keel, say a Hake 46 fully equipped! Either that or find someone with a nice Ocean Alexander "big boat" with spare time, a heart for the Great Lakes and Ocean, and more time, money, and boredom on their hands then they know what to do with. If I had a little money, I'd just call that person and they, my wife, and me would be on our way!
Wishing everyone their own dream getaway without scams, hassles, and quid-pro-quos,
Wish there were some sort of reverse Bullet (electrical surge) that you could send to fry their automated calling systems of these obnoxious spammers / callers that disregard the National Do Not Call Registry! It really seems to be non effective to me. The legislatures create new laws but enforcing agencies are to busy to enforce them!