Is Amazon.com Selling Your Phone Number?
Published June 11, 2009
Today I wanted to know a couple of things about soap making and candle making, but wasn’t having any luck Googling for the answers. I found a site called Askville at http://Askville.Amazon.com It’s like Yahoo Answers. You ask a question and hopefully someone can answer it.
Askville has an account verification process to make sure you are really you. You get to pick how you want to verify yourself, either through your Amazon account or via a text message sent to you cell phone. I didn’t want to risk having my personal information exposed online, so I chose the second method, but ONLY because Amazon swore up and down and on their mother’s grave that they will never, ever, fucking EVER release my cell phone number. They promised that it would ONLY be use to send a text message with a verification number for me to enter on their website.
Well low and behold, about five hours later my cell phone starts ringing off the hook. I ignored the first call. Two minutes later I get another call from the same number.
I answered it the second time. It was a telemarketer that asked for me by name. He said I had filled out a car insurance quote for an ’84 Oldsmobile. Sorry, not my ride. He also gave me an incorrect birth date. How the hell did he get my name right? Reverse cell phone look up? That’s the only thing I can think of.
A couple of minutes later the phone rings again. Same number calling. This time it was from a chick with an Asian accent. Beats me what she was selling because I didn’t allow her to complete her sentence.
At this time I’d like to reveal the numbers for the entire world to see because they revealed mine. Tit for tat. What comes around goes around.
818-299-9146
818-299-9144
I urge you to give them a call and find out wassup!!!!
Here’s where things sit. Only my two grown kids have my cell phone number. They don’t like calling me on it because the phone sounds like shit. I have AT&T and a piece of shit LG CU515 phone. (I HATE that fucking phone.) Ok, so that makes three entities that have my cell phone number. Ok, so it’s more than three because now Amazon and the telemarketers have it. fuckers.
Bottom line is, I carry my cell phone in my pocket every day, but only use it if I need to call the kids or for them to reach me if I’m not at home. No one else has the number. I never, EVER use it to call any one else. In fact, I have minutes expiring every month because I hardly ever use it. (It would be nice if I could donate those unused rollover minutes to some poor person pool.)
Either Amazon is looking me right in the eye and straight up lying to me with their fingers crossed behind their back or some puke-ball on the inside is selling cell phone numbers.
HEY AMAZON, YOU BETTER CHECK WHO YOU HAVE WORKING IN YOUR DATA CENTER!
Doesn’t matter. I’ve already fired up the shovel and started digging your grave.
9 Responses to Is Amazon.com Selling Your Phone Number?
You’re right, is very upsetting when you got unwanted calls from unknown people. This is a kind of spam, I’m sure like you they have your phone number from Amazon, but you can’t prove this. Until now I’ve used my phone number on the net only to get a verification code from Google, but I’ve never had problems with them.
oooh that is so messed up if they sold your phone number. The thing that really gets me is when you get those prerecorded messages calling you all the time, and since they aren’t a real person, you can’t tell them to stop. I hate it!!
Learning from America…The idea of having the government involved into our private insurance companies is not a bad idea.. Will save it from going bankrupt
this was really good, Thanks for this.
Most companies share or sell your information to other companies they have relationships with. Your information including phone number is then sold again and again further down the list and eventually to telemarketers and spammers.
Hi Lookup. Absolutely they do, but when a company gives a privacy statement saying your information will be private and they STILL sell your information, that’s a lawsuit just waiting to happen.
I had the cable company do the same thing to me. I know it was them because I kept getting mail with my name mispelled. I mispelled my name when I signed up for their service.
I really don’t get it, why would you need to verify someone’s account by verification through text message? I mean if spam is your concern, try sending email confirmation or anything else but why you need someone’s cell number?
If you ever get any spammy email from the company, you atleast can delete it. Once you give out your numbers to the company, they’ll keep nagging you.
Grr!
Come on guys it makes sense. You are a multi-billion dollar company and you need to make more money…Just sell the data you have collected…Oops just make sure that before you do you put a check box on your website that allows customers to opt out…make sure its small and at the bottom…job done…great way to make even more money!