Welfare Cards Helpline Has People Calling ‘America’s Hottest Talk Line’ Instead — Error Sends People To A Sex Line


Quite a few people availing welfare cards were greeted with a message from a sex line. People looking to check their balance on the Electronic Benefits Transfer cards were instead sent to “America’s Hottest Talk Line.”

A handful of Electronic Benefits Transfer card holders in the U.S. state of Maine were greeted with a sexy and raunchy voice at the other end of the line they had just dialed to check their balance. Apparently, the phone number mentioned at the back of the cards that was supposed to offer the current balance wasn’t correct and led people to a phone-sex line instead.

Many calling the phone number mentioned on the back of the welfare card to check their balance, were greeted with a perky and inviting female voice that asked them if they wanted to talk to a “fun and exciting” man. Assuming they had dialed the wrong number, almost everyone tried again, only to be greeted by the same message. Eventually it became clear it wasn’t the people who were dialing the number wrong, but the number mentioned on the welfare cards itself was erroneous, reported the Portland Press Herald.

Evidently, a misprint on some of the cards was causing the confusion, accepted Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The number was supposed to offer the latest balance on the welfare cards, and also assist in reporting lost or stolen card to the authorities at the DHHS. But owing to a single digit being misprinted in department’s customer service number, people were being sent to a phone sex line, reported Bangor Daily News.

When called, the incorrect line immediately picks up and a rather sexy recorded female voice says,

“Welcome to America’s hottest talk line. Ladies, to talk with interesting and exciting guys free, press 1 now. Press 1 now.”

You can easily imagine the embarrassment of people, shared Lj Langelier. The 25-year-old was in his car and had called the number using a phone that was synced to the car’s speakers.

“It played over my [car] speaker, I was like, ‘Wow, I must have messed that number up somehow really bad. I look at the card, I dial it the exact same way again, and it keeps happening. I thought it was just hilarious.”

The man posted a video of the card and of himself making another call on Facebook, reported the Lewiston-Auburn Sun Journal.

DHHS spokesperson John Martins admitted Friday that the department was aware of the incorrect number printed on some of the welfare cards. He added that the number “is off by one digit and therefore incorrect.” He shared that all the cards printed recently have the correct number.

“The defect has been corrected on all new EBT cards being issued. We have a plan in place to replace all existing defective cards and have taken additional steps to strengthen our review process so this type of inadvertent error does not occur again.

“The department has been aware of the mistake for some time. It isn’t clear how many cards contain the misprint. I do know that cards that have been produced for the last several months have been accurate.”

Martins also shared an interesting technique that these phone-sex and adult chat phone companies employ to increase their chances of landing paying customers. He noted that these companies regularly book numbers that are quite similar to widely published government phone numbers. These companies hope those unintentionally misdialing official numbers would inadvertently reach them.

It is quite likely that many people who might have called the incorrect number that led to a phone-sex company didn’t report the incident. This is owing to the strong stigma attached to people seeking welfare.

[Photo by Kylie Mclaughlin/Getty Images]

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