Thursday, May 27, 2010

Hilarious Prank Call Contest Using Call Display Spoofing

Recently, a group of students from a well known university ran a contest in which participants competed against one another to create the best prank call. The students were tasked with performing a prank call that was innocent and non-harming, creative, and unique. The students completed the prank calls using the popular call display spoofing service, SpoofTel, and had each of their calls recorded. It was the choice of each participant whether or not he or she wanted to utilize the voice changing option.

The contest ran for a two week period and the winner of the contest was to win the $150 grand prize. The winner of the prank call contest was chosen by a group of four members from the student union, the group that organized the contest.

"The contest gained an unexpected number of participants," states one of the organizers, whom we'll call Sheila. "I was happy to see the variety of participants and a nice number of female participants this year." This is the second year in which the school has run such a contest, according to the student union.

The judges received quite a lot of entries but had to narrow it down to a few select favorites. They were kind enough to share excerpts from some of the "best" prank calls that were entered.

One young male made a phone call to his girlfriend and pretended that he had been taken away by the government to serve in the army against his will. "I'm sorry honey, they took me," it began. He went in to quite a story about how government agents came to his work and took several of the males away for the purpose of serving in the army as they were short on men. The girlfriend was in disbelief at first but as the phone call went on she became more and more worried to the point of actually believing him. When he started to laugh and told her it was a joke, she just began to scream and no one could understand a word she was saying.

The winner of the contest was well deserving of the prize money. The hilarious and unexpected circumstances that played out during his phone call surely contributed to his win. This guy decided to phone his mother and essentially just act silly. When she answered the phone he began to explain that he had "a higher purpose" and it was "time to let his people know." She kept asking him what he was talking about and told him stop being silly. However, he continued with random gibberish for several minutes. He talked about knowing "where the enemy hides its resources" and "we'll need more bumper cars if we're going to succeed." During the phone call there was a knock on the door and he answered it with his mother still on the line. There were some muffled voices on the recording and he came back yelling "mom, what are you doing?" She stated that she believed he was on drugs and had his father come to take him to the hospital. She wouldn't believe him when he told her it was a joke.

We congratulate the winner of the prank call contest and wish all of next year's contestants the best of luck.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Disaster Hits Close To Home For Asset Location Expert

There had been false alarms before in Saint Bernard Parish, a community rich in heritage, adjacent to the Ninth Ward in New Orleans. By the time Katrina came along it had become almost routine. So on August 28, 2005 when a mandatory evacuation was ordered, Charles and Rosena Seruntine boarded up three buildings, taking only the clothes on their back. They would be back in a few days after the storm passed, just as they had done before. When they drove away in two cars sporting four children and three dogs, little did they know that their world as they knew it would be forever changed.

FEMA would not allow the Seruntines to return for over three weeks. Charles indicated in an interview to KATC-TV that, "We've been in three states, in five different hotels." Desperate for information, FEMA would only tell the Seruntines that there was “a lot of water.”

The Seruntine family home in Arabi, Louisiana was 2,800 square feet of luxury, evidence of Charles’ success in the asset location business. Charles was 21 when he began work in negotiations at a national debt recovery firm. He rose rapidly in the ranks to the legal division where he eventually headed up the agency’s asset investigation department. It was only natural that eight years ago he would start his own firm. First Guarantee Associates, LLC boasts an impressive client list, servicing some of the most successful collection specialists, attorneys and governmental entities.

When FEMA finally allowed the Seruntines to return, they would enter the boarded-up residence through a back door which had been kicked in by rescue teams. The receding waters had confirmed their worst fears: the family home was a total loss. Katrina would claim their daughter’s home, too and lift the building which housed First Guarantee Associates off its foundation. “We are starting over. We are back where we were when we first got married,” explains Seruntine.

Historically, the floodwaters of the Mississippi River have played an integral role in the destiny of Saint Bernard Parish. It was the floodwaters which left behind a rich soil, creating a thriving agricultural industry. It was those floodwaters, too, which played a part in the brewing tension with its celebrity neighbor. Tension dating back to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, when in the face of a monster storm, engineers bowed to local pressure by diverting floodwaters into Saint Bernard to save New Orleans. That decision destroyed a prosperous community and fueled resentment toward the Big Easy which continues to smolder to this day.

Katrina has done little to quell this bad blood, for once again Saint Bernard has taken a punishing blow. And once again it has taken a back seat to its popular neighbor. One of the hardest hit parishes, this bustling community of 67,000 people was erased overnight by Katrina. There is no real estate inventory; every building in Saint Bernard Parish was destroyed. This is where the tragedy at St. Rita’s nursing home took place. Yet much of the media attention has been focused on the French Quarter, argue Saint Bernard residents, noting much of the resources have been diverted to their sexy sister while they sit in obscurity like a forgotten stepchild. FEMA has become a four-letter word in this parish.

Today Saint Bernard Parish is an eerie sight. In an attempt to describe his community, Seruntine asks, “Have you ever seen ‘The Day After Tomorrow’?”

Out of the 67,000 residents in the parish, all but 203 fled the storm. 127 bodies have since been recovered. Although there were a handful of survivors, the balance are reported as ‘missing’. St. Bernard’s 25,000 homes were declared a ‘total loss’. With neither residents nor businesses, the parish government lost its tax base overnight. It will take at least five years to rebuild the community.

The nightmare for the Seruntines continually evolves, but never ends. Because so many homes were destroyed, available housing has soared 40-60%. But investment real estate Seruntine owns in the flood area has dropped. His investment lots prior to Katrina were selling for $80,000. Investors are now offering him $5,000. In November 2005 Seruntine bought a smaller home at twice the cost of his former residence. He’s since discovered it’s infested with termites.

Largely ineligible for government assistance, the help for Charles Seruntine would be grass roots. His 22 employees kept the business together. Members of the collection community rallied to his support. Sometimes that support would come by way of a sympathetic phone call, a check in the mail or a Wal-Mart gift card.

Seruntine makes no effort to hide his anger, “If Katrina was a woman, I would have shot her in the head a hundred times.” He is angry at the government engineers for failing to shore up the levees. He is angry at the insurance companies for denying his claims. He is angry too at FEMA and the media for their inattention to his parish’s plight. But most of all he regrets losing everything accumulated over two decades, especially family photos and keepsakes which were washed into the canal. “How do you replace 20 years of Disney World snowglobes?” he asks.

Seruntine’s business, conducted largely by email, is up and running. He continues his fight with the insurance companies and the federal government. His legal battles are expected to take 10 years to resolve. The scars of Katrina, however, will never fade.

Ramona Featherby is a judgment collection specialist in San Diego and past president of CAJP. http://discoverassets.com/

Disaster Hits Close To Home For Asset Location Expert

There had been false alarms before in Saint Bernard Parish, a community rich in heritage, adjacent to the Ninth Ward in New Orleans. By the time Katrina came along it had become almost routine. So on August 28, 2005 when a mandatory evacuation was ordered, Charles and Rosena Seruntine boarded up three buildings, taking only the clothes on their back. They would be back in a few days after the storm passed, just as they had done before. When they drove away in two cars sporting four children and three dogs, little did they know that their world as they knew it would be forever changed.

FEMA would not allow the Seruntines to return for over three weeks. Charles indicated in an interview to KATC-TV that, "We've been in three states, in five different hotels." Desperate for information, FEMA would only tell the Seruntines that there was “a lot of water.”

The Seruntine family home in Arabi, Louisiana was 2,800 square feet of luxury, evidence of Charles’ success in the asset location business. Charles was 21 when he began work in negotiations at a national debt recovery firm. He rose rapidly in the ranks to the legal division where he eventually headed up the agency’s asset investigation department. It was only natural that eight years ago he would start his own firm. First Guarantee Associates, LLC boasts an impressive client list, servicing some of the most successful collection specialists, attorneys and governmental entities.

When FEMA finally allowed the Seruntines to return, they would enter the boarded-up residence through a back door which had been kicked in by rescue teams. The receding waters had confirmed their worst fears: the family home was a total loss. Katrina would claim their daughter’s home, too and lift the building which housed First Guarantee Associates off its foundation. “We are starting over. We are back where we were when we first got married,” explains Seruntine.

Historically, the floodwaters of the Mississippi River have played an integral role in the destiny of Saint Bernard Parish. It was the floodwaters which left behind a rich soil, creating a thriving agricultural industry. It was those floodwaters, too, which played a part in the brewing tension with its celebrity neighbor. Tension dating back to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, when in the face of a monster storm, engineers bowed to local pressure by diverting floodwaters into Saint Bernard to save New Orleans. That decision destroyed a prosperous community and fueled resentment toward the Big Easy which continues to smolder to this day.

Katrina has done little to quell this bad blood, for once again Saint Bernard has taken a punishing blow. And once again it has taken a back seat to its popular neighbor. One of the hardest hit parishes, this bustling community of 67,000 people was erased overnight by Katrina. There is no real estate inventory; every building in Saint Bernard Parish was destroyed. This is where the tragedy at St. Rita’s nursing home took place. Yet much of the media attention has been focused on the French Quarter, argue Saint Bernard residents, noting much of the resources have been diverted to their sexy sister while they sit in obscurity like a forgotten stepchild. FEMA has become a four-letter word in this parish.

Today Saint Bernard Parish is an eerie sight. In an attempt to describe his community, Seruntine asks, “Have you ever seen ‘The Day After Tomorrow’?”

Out of the 67,000 residents in the parish, all but 203 fled the storm. 127 bodies have since been recovered. Although there were a handful of survivors, the balance are reported as ‘missing’. St. Bernard’s 25,000 homes were declared a ‘total loss’. With neither residents nor businesses, the parish government lost its tax base overnight. It will take at least five years to rebuild the community.

The nightmare for the Seruntines continually evolves, but never ends. Because so many homes were destroyed, available housing has soared 40-60%. But investment real estate Seruntine owns in the flood area has dropped. His investment lots prior to Katrina were selling for $80,000. Investors are now offering him $5,000. In November 2005 Seruntine bought a smaller home at twice the cost of his former residence. He’s since discovered it’s infested with termites.

Largely ineligible for government assistance, the help for Charles Seruntine would be grass roots. His 22 employees kept the business together. Members of the collection community rallied to his support. Sometimes that support would come by way of a sympathetic phone call, a check in the mail or a Wal-Mart gift card.

Seruntine makes no effort to hide his anger, “If Katrina was a woman, I would have shot her in the head a hundred times.” He is angry at the government engineers for failing to shore up the levees. He is angry at the insurance companies for denying his claims. He is angry too at FEMA and the media for their inattention to his parish’s plight. But most of all he regrets losing everything accumulated over two decades, especially family photos and keepsakes which were washed into the canal. “How do you replace 20 years of Disney World snowglobes?” he asks.

Seruntine’s business, conducted largely by email, is up and running. He continues his fight with the insurance companies and the federal government. His legal battles are expected to take 10 years to resolve. The scars of Katrina, however, will never fade.

Ramona Featherby is a judgment collection specialist in San Diego and past president of CAJP. http://discoverassets.com/