The man who did a number on cold-calling phone pests
FED up with cold-callers trying to sell you solar panels or offering to reclaim mis-sold insurance?
Businessman Lee Beaumont was. So he worked out a drastic plan to turn the tables on the telemarketers which means that, whenever they ring, he’s the one who cashes in.
Mr Beaumont, 25, simply turned his home phone into a premium rate 0871 hotline.
Now, for every infuriating minute that the callers stay on the line, they are paying out 10p.
Mr Beaumont, of Leeds, said: “I was getting annoyed at the Payment Protection Insurance calls I was constantly getting so I thought there must be a way to make money out of them.”
He paid just £10 plus VAT for his new number. Then he gave out the 0871 number as his home number to gas or electricity companies but kept a separate line for his friends and family to call him on.
“Out of the 10p, I get to keep 9p for every minute,” he said. “This was set up in 2011 and I’ve made £300 from it."
Mr Beaumont added: “I actually want to be cold-called now. I’d recommend everyone to do it, it definitely stops the PPI calls.
“Companies ring me up and the first thing they ask is ‘why do you have an 0871 number?’ I tell them it is so I can make money out of them.
“Some companies are fine with it. Sometimes they won’t call me, and I say fine, you’ve got my email address – email me.” Mr Beaumont admitted that he is not earning so much now as firms have stopped ringing him.
His actions were described as “brilliant” by 2012 National Business Awards winner Colin Stevens, of Wigan.
But premium number regulator Phone Pay Plus warned others against doing the same thing as the lines are “not designed to be used in this way”.
A spokesman said: “Anyone adopting this idea will be liable for any breaches and subsequent fines that result.”
