[HN Gopher] 867-5309 in All US and Canadian Area Codes
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       867-5309 in All US and Canadian Area Codes
        
       Author : jbledsoe2112
       Score  : 35 points
       Date   : 2022-05-14 18:31 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (telephoneworld.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (telephoneworld.org)
        
       | bityard wrote:
       | In the late nineties, if you dialed this in my zip code, you
       | would have gotten a hold of my friend's grandmother.
       | 
       | No, her name was not jenny.
        
       | WalterGR wrote:
       | HN may be hugging the site. Archive.org:
       | https://web.archive.org/web/20220514183125/https://telephone...
        
         | jbledsoe2112 wrote:
         | Thanks. HN puts a strain on it. :)
        
       | abirch wrote:
       | LTP: if you're at a grocery store and don't have membership
       | account, use the local area code and this number. It hasn't
       | failed me in the 14 states I've tried it.
        
         | randombits0 wrote:
         | Or gas loyalty discounts, or really anywhere you need a throw
         | away phone number. It just works. And if you have to deal with
         | a human, especially one over 40 years old, you might get a wry
         | smile, a wink, or even a chuckle.
        
         | mike_d wrote:
         | Back when you had to actually give the number to the cashier
         | and they would read back the first name to confirm (or maybe it
         | was if multiple accounts were tied to the same number, I'm not
         | sure) I would always use this number with the local area code.
         | Older cashiers would just put the number in and move on, below
         | a certain age threshold they would say "Jenny?" and I would
         | nod.
        
         | WalterGR wrote:
         | LTP = LPT = Life Pro Tip
        
         | ipv4dhcp wrote:
         | would that work for free gas too for kroger?
        
         | imglorp wrote:
         | I do that at my stupid hair place: the clerk won't enqueue you
         | without some random phone and a name to call when it's your
         | turn. Then they wonder why there's a dozen people on that same
         | number!
        
         | chiph wrote:
         | You want my ZIP code to market to me? 90210
        
       | stormbrew wrote:
       | Ok but what about 867-530-9000? (this would be in the Canadian
       | territories)
        
       | daheat wrote:
       | Jenny!
        
       | brak2718 wrote:
       | thanks you jerk now I have this song stuck in my head for the
       | next 20 hours
        
       | boomboomsubban wrote:
       | I like that they mentioned that they did this for cheap, but did
       | not seem to care that they were calling ~1000 random people. And
       | they plan to do this regularly.
        
         | omoikane wrote:
         | I wonder if they would get in trouble for making hundreds of
         | random VoIP calls, especially if they intend to do this on a
         | regular basis.
         | 
         | But I suppose we wouldn't be getting so many spam calls if
         | people actually got in trouble often, maybe that's what
         | emboldened this person to try.
        
         | javajosh wrote:
         | Sorry bro, I'm all outa outrage today.
        
         | oxguy3 wrote:
         | If you want to get mad about people spamming this phone number
         | with fake calls, you're about 40 years too late. The numbers
         | are already spammed to hell; there's hardly any harm in one
         | more call every 6 months to document the phenomenon.
        
           | bee_rider wrote:
           | I guess a significant number of the callers must just be
           | curious.
           | 
           | If this site were to somehow become very popular,
           | hypothetically it might even cut call volume a bit.
        
         | jbledsoe2112 wrote:
         | Naw, like every 6 months or so. Chill, dude.
        
           | boomboomsubban wrote:
           | I would still find one prank phone call every six months
           | annoying. I get that it's probably a small drop in what the
           | poor people that unintentionally have that number deal with,
           | but it's silly to think the readers would worry about the
           | cost to the caller not the stranger called.
        
             | stickfigure wrote:
             | My number is unremarkable and I still get a half dozen
             | spam/scam calls a day. An extra one in six months would go
             | unnoticed. If you're not in my contact list, you go
             | straight to voicemail.
        
               | crb3 wrote:
               | We get that half dozen as what we call 'ghost calls' --
               | the caller has hung up by the time the outgoing message
               | ends. It might have something to do with my putting SIT
               | tones at the beginning of that outgoing message. If their
               | autodialer doesn't drop the call entirely, it triggers
               | their message, so we hear it start partway through;
               | either way, we know not to pick up.
        
         | jchw wrote:
         | From the perspective of those people, it's one call every ~x
         | months. The main problem is how _many_ people might be doing
         | that.
        
         | zamadatix wrote:
         | I think the article gives pretty understandable reasoning of
         | why the owners these <400 numbers, of which <100 were actually
         | in service and accepting calls, are ones that are expecting to
         | get called just to see what's on the number. As it explains
         | these numbers are not something given to a random grandma who
         | is going to be bothered by the wasted minute on their phone
         | plan.
        
       | jbledsoe2112 wrote:
       | What happens when you call 867-5309 in all the US and Canadian
       | area codes? Do you reach Jenny or something else? Check this list
       | out!
        
       | cmroanirgo wrote:
       | Related: By the B-52s song, _6060842_
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hik5y1lNGbY
        
       | johnklos wrote:
       | Fun but unrelated fact: 8,675,309 is a prime number.
        
       | dlg wrote:
       | In 1999, Brown University which had only used 863- added the 867-
       | exchange. A suite of students got 5309 and kept getting calls
       | asking for "Jenny" at all hours. They stopped assigning that
       | number.
       | 
       | Ultimately a Rhode Island plumbing co, Gem Plumbing, bought it
       | from Brown and used it in their ads.
        
       | bittercynic wrote:
       | For area codes where the number is not assigned, is there some
       | way to find out who to contact to purchase it?
        
         | tyingq wrote:
         | Guessing somebody beat you to it, because you can find the
         | number on "vanity DID" sites selling for ~$10k+/USD:
         | 
         | https://www.numberbarn.com/search?search=867-5309&saleOnly=t...
        
         | jbledsoe2112 wrote:
         | Good question. I'd like to know myself.
        
       | brianzelip wrote:
       | Campus phones at the Evergreen State College (Olympia,
       | Washington) started with 867. I think there was a lucky dorm with
       | this land line number!
        
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       (page generated 2022-05-14 23:01 UTC)