Wyoming Relay No Scam
March 9, 2010
Reported by Joshua Zuber
Katherine Burns has been hard of hearing her entire life.
"So many times I get so frustrated," Burns said.
That makes speaking difficult for her.
So when communicating in person, she sometimes uses an interpreter.
And thanks to technology, she can basically text, or instant message, to have conversations with others over the telephone.
It's called a relay service. Wyoming Relay is among the most popular.
"It allows access to the phone service. they can call you, they can call their doctors, they can order pizza," Lori Cielinski said. She's with Wyoming Relay Service.
But ordering pizza can be difficult. Katherine will tell you. And while these calls are "a call anyone can make" ... They aren't always calls people answer, but rather hang up on.
"It's not always easy. they know how to use the equipment. they know how to make the call. the difficult part comes in terms of businesses accepting their calls, and not understanding what it's about, and hanging up on them," Cielinski said.
But Lori says by just taking the steps one normally takes to avoid being a victim of fraud, there's not need to fear a relay call.
"The biggest ways to avoid being scammed by through a relay call would be the same that individuals are with other calls: verify the caller's name, address, phone number, verify payment information," Cielinski suggested.
;)
