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Comment by tyingq | Hacker News Reader

I feel for the person who gets that number next once it's recycled.

I’ll take it. “Thank you for calling the executive office complaint line. To file a priority incident at the cost of $99, enter your visa/MasterCard number now”

I look forward to your medium post about what it is like in prison.

You can’t stop someone that wants to pay to file a complaint.

Pretty sure you’ll get shut down by the networks due to chargebacks… unless you have a quick “press 9 for a refund…”

Iunno, someone that thinks they’re getting somewhere by calling Zuck directly may not know what a chargeback is.

I know Congress has tried calling upon him and just gave up.

He is providing a service to pass complaints on to Facebook. Consideration for value received. What’s illegal about that?

It's fraud.

Saying "the executive office complaint line" isn't implying it's Facebook's complaint line. There is no legal obligation for the person on the other end of a call to be who you expect.

Who would even assume that such a thing would not be outsourced if it were affiliated?

And "a priority incident" can't be a misrepresentation inasmuch as "priority" is inherently relative.

As a matter of "legal realism" people might be right that it would land you in prison if you are just Joe/Jane Schmoe. But I see absolutely no logical justification for that when companies do things at least as shady all the time without serious consequences.

Is the phone number really that big an issue? I mean here phone numbers are 8 digits, randomly guess a phone number will almost certainly result in a working number.

The spam I see and hear about is just random dialing from Albanian numbers, hoping that you’ll call back.

I've gotten a new phone number and given it back because of the amount of calls it was getting.

sure any random phone number will connect. the point is that you know WHO the number belongs to. lots and lots and lots of places use phone number for auth. as a trivial example, calling to activate a new credit card.

Isn’t that mostly you calling in and not the other way around?

It might depend on your country, but I can’t think of a single service where you’re required to make a call anymore, it’s all online. There might be a few services for the elderly and handicaped, but again that’s you calling in.

I would take it and just automatically send all calls to voicemail and archive the text messages.

It will be a more modern '867-5309', however instead of people searching for love it will be a consolidation of the collective hate for a single entity/person.

Good comment. Why do people care if their phone number gets leaked? There use to be a yellow page book with everybody’s phone number. Also, phone numbers are not identities. I change phone number every year on average.

Many people never change phone numbers. I've had the same cell phone number since I was a teenager, and I suspect I will have it until I die.

It's the most identifiable thing about me other than my social security number. Even my driver's license number has changed more than my cell phone, and I don't always have a valid passport.

Typically don't just contain phone number or email, but also some other pieces of personal information. For example in this case it included at least the Facebook user id. This can give other tidbits of info like when you established you account, about your education, about your age etc.

Determined person can use the various leaks and other data sources to collect more detailed profile of you (and millions of others). This will eventually allow them to setup more targeted and personalized spam or phishing campaigns.

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