Thursday, June 30, 2011

Is Genesis Capital using illegal databases?

I had never heard of Genesis Capital before today at 11h49 when someone from their 011-731-5000 call centre phoned me to sell me financial products. I told him I'd never heard of Genesis Capital and where did they get my number from? "From an FNB database" he replied. "Who at FNB?" He didn't know. When I told him he was breaking the law he rang off.
I called Genesis Capital on the same number and they didn't appear to be too interested in helping me. The Marketing Manager wasn't available, and someone else cut me off while trying to put me through to someone else. I have logged a query with FNB about the breach of privacy, but personally I doubt if my bank had anything to do with this database. I have also logged a query with Genesis Capital, but I doubt if these scumbags will respond.
People like this buy databases on the assumption that it is OK to use the information to run a credit check on me and then contact me if the credit check looks promising. What they don't realise is that I have told the credit check companies like TransUnionITC to put my name on their Do Not Call database. So when they call they are already breaking the law. Not that this kind of company has any business ethics to speak of, so that wouldn't bother them much.

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