So I placed an dinner order on videophone tonight - I was almost ignored.

[Hawkeye-X]

Why? They said they thought this call was a scam. Lately Racine's (National DU meetup August of '08) was getting a series of "scam" call - last one being a order of 100 hamburgers.

I assured them I was real and would be picking my dinner up within half an hour - was there in 20, and they were happy to see me (I'm a regular there)

[tandot]

1. I am not sure but could they have encountered this scam:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ID/4781806/

It was designed to help the hard of hearing have full access to America's telephone system, and hailed as an equal opportunity success story. But some say it's now become a favorite tool among international con artists trying to bilk U.S. merchants out of millions of dollars.

Max Andrews' story is typical. He figures his small bridal shop in Dothan, Ala., has been involved in most of the tiny town's weddings for the last 35 years. The boutique, which only has a one-page Web site, never had any designs on international clientele. Still, Andrews Bridal Shop received a surprising $5,500 order four weeks ago. The customer wanted 10 identical wedding gowns shipped to Lagos City, Nigeria, immediately. And that wasn't the only surprise.

The customer, most certainly a con artist, was posing as a deaf person, taking advantage of a publicly-funded tool designed to let hearing impaired people use America's phone systems. Hiding behind a so-called "relay operator," a telecommunications employee who acts as a go-between when a deaf person calls a hearing person, the caller tried to use six different stolen credit card numbers to pay for the purchase. And by using the relay system paid for by American consumers, the con artist didn't even have to pay for a pricey international call.

--- more at link

[Hawkeye-X]

2. 100 hamburgers to Nigeria?

By the time they get there, it'd be rotten.

:)

But they were smart to be careful. Took 3 people to finally accept my order (went all the way to the manager)