- People sure are quick to try and take advantage of someone’s plight, even if it’s imaginary.
Few things are as irritating as your phone ringing nonstop. Whether it’s due to a hiccup at work, an overtly chatty friend, an annoyingly persistent telemarketer, or a nefarious scammer, having your phone go off constantly soon starts driving you insane.
Imagine, then, how this Canadian couple must be feeling.
For months now, Natasha Lavoie and Jonathan McCurrach have been swamped with endless phone calls. You’d imagine they’d be happy about it, since the callers are informing the couple that their missing cat has been found.
There’s just one problem. Their cat isn’t missing.
It turns out that Lavoie’s phone number was used in a novelty T-shirt depicting a missing cat poster. Naturally, people started calling the random phone number they saw on a shirt.
As you do.
Not all of the calls have been friendly, either. Some callers have asked for a ransom for a cat they supposedly have — and even threatened to kill the imaginary kitten in their possession unless Lavoie and McCurrach cough up cash.
We can only hope that none of these psychos has actually picked up some innocent lost kitty.
‘My Cat’s at Home’
According to Lavoie and McCurrach, their ordeal started a few months back. All of a sudden, they got a call saying that someone had found Torbo, their missing white kitten.
That was sort of strange, considering the couple’s cat is called Mauser, has black fur, and is certainly not missing.
Still, one call about the wrong cat might’ve been a simple misdial. Soon enough, though, Lavoie and McCurrach got another call.
And another. And another.
“Sometimes, like six times a day, I’m getting these really random phone calls and people leaving me voicemails saying that they found my cat and they want money for my cat,” Lavoie told the CBC.
“I’m like, ‘My cat’s at home in the air conditioning,’” she added.
Helpful and Disturbing
Still, the calls just kept coming and coming. Some have been genuine, coming from a person who has actually found a white kitten and is thinking they’re getting in touch with its owners.
Some callers, however, are attempting to abuse the supposed missing kitty situation for their own gain. They are basically demanding a ransom for releasing the cat.
“Half the time, they just cut you off and go like, ‘No, I’ve got your cat. I want the money for the cat,’” explained McCurrach.
“And I’m like, ‘No, there’s no money, there’s no cat.’ And they usually hang up.”
And then there are those calls that are downright disturbing. Some people have threatened to kill “Torbo” if Lavoie and McCurrach don’t pay a hefty sum.
Case in point, the couple received one voicemail where the called said had a snake that “eats free kittens.”
Saw It on a Shirt
So, why are these calls coming in? Initially, Lavoie and McCurrach suspected they had fallen victim to some kind of hyper-persistent scammer.
“When we started actually picking up the calls or responding to the voicemails, I thought it was some attempt at a scam. You hear about scams all the time about missing pets,” said McCurrach.
However, when the couple finally asked a caller how on earth they got their phone number, the answer was much more bizarre. Apparently, the person had spotted it on a shirt that sported a missing cat poster.
The shirt design was manufactured by an American novelty shirt company called Wisdumb NY. Indeed, the design features a blurry picture of a kitten, states its name is Torbo, lists a phone number, and reads that there’s a cash reward for returning the cat.
Although the company has seemingly pulled the shirt from its website, videos featuring are still available on the company’s social media accounts. Apparently, some people have thought the shirt a real call for help and have called the number — either trying to offer help or get money through blackmail.
Throwaway Numbers
According to Wisdumb NY, the company didn’t intentionally use a real phone number. However, it seems they didn’t really do their due diligence either, since there are official dead numbers for TV shows, merchandise, and whatnot.
Those numbers were set aside specifically because people kept trying to call randomly created phone numbers they saw on TV. The throwaway number range from 555-0100 to 555-0199
For Lavoie and McCurrach, the explanation is a cold comfort, as the calls just keep coming. They really don’t want to change the number because of their 604 area code, which is nigh impossible to get these days.
“I’ve had my number for 20 years. I don’t want to change it. I’ll just keep not answering,” said Lavoie.
Still, the couple would like an proper apology from Wisdumb NY. That, and maybe some compensation.
“I feel like I deserve a T-shirt after this. I think we both do,” said Lavoie.