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rach

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    Important news of the day thread

    in General off-topic discussions

    Posted

    The belligerent porker went on a drunken bender after stealing and drinking three six-packs of beer that had been left out by campers at the DeGrey River campsite in Port Hedland, Australia.

     

    In the predictable series of events that followed the animal went on to ransack rubbish bin bags to find some late-night snacks before starting a fight with an innocent eyewitness cow.

     

    Following the boarish rampage the pig decided to swim out into the middle of a river before collapsing drunk under a tree and falling asleep.

     

    One camper named Merida recounted the tale to the ABC network: "It was in the middle of the night and it was these people camping opposite us and they heard this crunching of the can and they got their torch out and shone it on the pig and there he was scrunching away at their cans."

     

    "Then he went and raided their rubbish that they had sort of covered over with a bin as well.

     

    "And then there was some other people camped right on the river and they saw him running around their vehicle being chased by a cow.

     

    "It was going around and around and then it went into the river and swam across to the middle of the river.

     

    "The people that were camped on the river went across and crept up on it and it was hiding and sleeping under a big log right on the edge of the water."

     

    "It was sort of coming from there for a couple of days but we didn't see it this morning or last night."

    Important news of the day thread

    in General off-topic discussions

    Posted

    What was this doing on the 2nd page?!

     

    --------

     

    Cold-call victim gets his own back

     

    Leeds man sets up personal 0871 telephone number and makes 10p a minute from businesses and cold callers

     

    Cold-call victim Lee Beaumont has taken revenge on his telephone tormentors by turning his home number into an 0871 premium rate line – and has so far made more than £300 from the calls he has received.

    Beaumont, 25, was getting fed up about the number of nuisance calls he was receiving, particularly those offering to help him claim for mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), so he started looking at ways to stem the tide. Then he realised there was money to be made.

    In November 2011 the self-employed designer paid £10 plus VAT to set up his personal 0871 number, which sits on top of the normal Leeds 0113 number used by his friends and family.

    He bought an 0844 and an 0871 number but said he used the latter "because it's more revenue for me".

    Calls cost 10p a minute from landlines, from which he receives 7p.

    "I was getting peed off with getting PPI calls when I was trying to watch Coronation Street and Heartbeat," Beaumont told the Guardian. "Originally I got the 08 number to get them to stop. But when I started making money I thought 'this is better'."

    He acknowledged it was satisfying to have turned the tables on the cold callers, and indicated the move had succeeded in cutting the nuisance calls he received. At the beginning he was making around £7 a month, so the number paid for itself in less than two months.

    However, as news of his unusual venture has spread, and with media outlets keen to speak to him, his phone has been ringing non-stop – sending more money his way. "Over the last three days I've had literally hundreds [of calls]." Beaumont said it was very easy to set up the premium rate number: he found a company online – which he said he had been advised not to name – and paid a one-off £10 plus VAT, with no other fees or charges.

    On a Which? online forum, Beaumont – who has a website that carries the 0871 number – said: "I look for ways to get companies to call me." When he opens a new bank account, switches energy supplier and so on, and the company asks for his home number, he gives them the 0871 number.

    "Sometimes they ask why. I am honest and say it's so I make 10p per minute when companies call me ... Three days ago I had a problem with my Ocado shop. I tweeted them and they asked me to call an 0845 number. I refused and asked them to call my 0871 number. I posted this in a open tweet so if cold callers pick up on that number, it will help me make a few more quid if they phone me." Ocado did phone him on the number and sorted out the problem, he added.

    Beaumont is not alone in taking action against cold calls – in October 2012 Richard Herman told how he had won cash from a claims management company to compensate him for wasting his time with calls.

    The premium rate service regulator, PhonepayPlus, has issued a warning to others thinking about copying Beaumont, saying that people could land themselves in trouble.

    "Premium rate numbers are not designed to be used in this way and we would strongly discourage any readers from adopting this idea, as they will be liable under our code for any breaches and subsequent fines that result," a spokesman said.

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