Anyone who would pay money to speak with the real "Dr." Phil is
probably no worse off with the con artist. ;-)
TELECOM Digest Editor wrote:
> We get 'Dr. Phil' on Channel 7 on CableOne here in Independence each
> weekday at 3:00 PM. It just now came on today, and the good doctor
> is complaining that his name and reputation has been ripped off by
> some Nigerian-407 style con artists. Someone got a toll free 800
> number listed as 'Doctor Phil' and when anyone calls 800 directory
> assistance for (the real) Dr. Phil, the directory robot operator
> gives them the number for the bogus 'Doctor Phil'. The person on the
> other end claims to be the producer of the show, and asks for money
> to set up an interview with him. Naturally, the money (at least a few
> hundred dollars, typically a thousand or more) has to be wired to the
> con-artist on the spot. He has an FBI investigator and others looking
> into it. Thus far, it has been traced to somewhere in Houston, TX,
> where the calls terminate on various phone lines. Two victims thus
> far have wired money to the scammer in Houston, each of them from
> desparate elderly people who were convinced to send large amounts of
> money to the bogus 'Dr. Phil'. On television they are trying to lure
> the con-artist out into the open. The scammer claims the money should
> be wired to 'Esther Hernandez' who is (the bogus) Dr. Phil's secretary.
> More details on this in the next issue of the Digest. Now I want to
> go in and watch the rest of it on television myself.
> PAT
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I am amused by your comparison. :) You
are probably correct. On the Wednesday show, Dr. Phil was outraged by
this ripoff; he spent the entire hour dealing with it, and it will
be continued on today's show. The imposter is apparently not all that
sophisticated; the wo(man) claiming to be his producer/secretary is
sort of crude, but smart enough many of his would-be guests were
decieved by the trick. It has all been traced thus far to Houston, TX,
at least that's where Western Union wires money to the imposter.
I do not know which I like better on the afternoon television lineup
around here: Dr. Phil, Judge Judy or Jerry Springer. Maybe I will
stick with the classical music programming on KOSU, along with the NPR
newscasts. PAT]
Path: telecom-digest.org!ptownson
Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2007 11:24:03 EDT
From: communicationsdirect <communicationsdirect@communicationsdirectnews.com>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: CommunicationsDirect News Daily Update
Reply-To: communicationsdirect_daily-owner@communicationsdirectnews.com
Message-ID: <telecom26.166.8@telecom-digest.org>
Organization: TELECOM Digest
Sender: editor@telecom-digest.org
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 26, Issue 166, Message 8 of 9
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********************************
PricewaterhouseCoopers Presents
The CommunicationsDirect Daily Update
For June 14, 2007
********************************
Investing in the Future
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/24909?11228
Virtually everyone now agrees that corporate social
responsibility (CSR) is not a management fad but rather a key
part of doing business in today's marketplace. The CSR agenda
presents genuine risks to many areas of corporate performance and
to a company's overall reputation. Communications providers need
to stay ahead of the ...
Uncertainty as TeliaSonera's CEO Quits
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/120/24908?11228
Nordic telecoms giant TeliaSonera has announced that its chief
executive officer (CEO), Anders Igel, will quit the company,
following declining profit margins and the failure of the
company's leadership to resolve ownership disputes in Turkey and
Russia. Igel, who has been chief executive for five years, engineered
the merger of ...
EU Rules Out Scrutiny of Telecom Italia, Telefonica Deal
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/130/24906?11228
The European Union (EU) will not rule on a bid by a consortium
led by the Spanish telecoms giant, Telefonica, to take a
controlling stake in Telecom Italia as the deal does not fit the
criteria for EU anti-trust involvement, according to reports from
Dow Jones. The report notes that EU competition regulations state
that the ...
Microsoft to License Instant Messaging, Digital Media Code to Linspire
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/140/24901?11228
SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. has announced it will license instant
messaging and digital media technology to a small desktop Linux
distributor, Linspire Inc., adding to a growing number of deals
meant to help the Windows operating system work more smoothly
with open-source software. San Diego-based Linspire's
relationship with ...
Clearwire: Making the Internet Mobile
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/150/24898?11228
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Speaking at the Wireless Communications
Association (WCA) in the nation's capital yesterday, Clearwire
CEO Ben Wolff described his company as "doing for the Internet
what cellular did for voice." Wolff went on to say that
Clearwire's strategy is to give consumers what they want, that
being ...
Zhone Electrifies FTTH
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/150/24895?11228
Zhone earlier this week took the wraps off of what looks to
be the world's first Optical Line Terminal/Optical Network
Terminal (OLT/ONT) Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Gateway that doesn't
need to be powered by the home electric circuit. Theoretically
that eliminates the big power outage bugaboo surrounding fiber --
but of course ...
AlcaLu Plays the Patents
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/130/24888?11228
Alcatel-Lucent is pumped about the top-line potential of its
patent portfolio, with CEO Pat Russo spending a great deal of her
time focused on how to extract the maximum payback from the
company's combined intellectual property, according to industry
sources. That the vendor regards its patent portfolio as a
strength is ...
FastSoft Wades Into the WAN
http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/150/24886?11228
Caltech spinoff FastSoft is the latest entrant to the WAN
optimization arena, with a TCP technology it claims can
significantly speed file delivery over the Internet. The
startup, which launched its first products earlier this year,
also clinched a $4 million funding round this week, led by
Miramar Ventures. ...
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CommunicationsDirect Editor <telecom_direct_editor@us.pwc.com>
Copyright (C) 2007 PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Sam Spade (sam@coldmail.com)