Philly company hoards numbers for sexlines
Records show that a little-known Philadelphia company has quietly gained control over nearly a quarter of the 1-800 numbers in the United States and Canada.
And many, if not most, of those 1.7 million numbers appear to be used for one thing: redirecting callers to a phone-sex service.
As of March, PrimeTel Communications administered more 800 numbers than any other company, including Verizon and AT&T.
Dial 1-800-Chicago and, instead of reaching a tourism hotline for the Windy City, you will hear a woman offering "one-on-one talk with a nasty girl" for $2.99 per minute. A similar thing happens if you punch in the initial digits of 1-800-Camera, among other numbers.
That and other such numbers contain messages redirecting callers to erotic chat lines operated by National A-1 Advertising, a company that has common ownership with PrimeTel. -- AP
'It's personal to me' The law would require businesses to have proper state licensing, prove that their employees are paid and ban staff from living at the spas or sleeping there overnight. Repeat offenders could face penalties up to $25,000. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.
'It's personal to me' The law would require businesses to have proper state licensing, prove that their employees are paid and ban staff from living at the spas or sleeping there overnight. Repeat offenders could face penalties up to $25,000. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn has more.
