Frustrated Man Comes Up With Brilliant Plan to Make Money When Telemarketers Call

A man in Britain has turned the tables on those pesky telemarketers.

Lee Beaumont has created his own 900 number, so that he gets paid when telemarketers call him. Whenever a business that he has encountered asks for his number, he passes it along and explains he has the toll number because he’s sick of getting bombarded with annoying calls from telemarketers.

Amazingly, the companies don’t seem to mind and continue to call, putting about 11 cents in his pocket for each minute he remains on the phone with them. He’s earned about $465 since he put the scheme into action in November 2011, although the number of calls he’s gotten each month has been slashed in half.

Still, Beaumont may be the only person in the world who looks forward to hearing from telemarketers. The group in charge of giving out 900 numbers in Britain also says it does not encourage others to follow his lead, since numbers are not meant to be used in this manner. That may be the case, but Beaumont definitely earns points for creativity.

[BBC]