Inside Money: A call to smart investors

9:30 AM Tuesday Sep 27, 2011

'Are you being smart?'

This cold call had turned icy.

Weird reaction, I thought, to a prospect requesting a prospectus - must've struck a very sensitive telemarketer.

'Hey you called me,' I said. 'Aren't you trying to sell me something?'

'There's a $10,000 minimum - is that a problem?' she sneered.

'No, not at all,' I lied. 'But what is it?'

'I don't know,' she said. 'Would you like us to send out some information?'

You mean that prospectus I'd asked for? Yes please.

I'm still waiting for it. Maybe my telemarketer wrote the wrong address down, she wasn't big on details.

In fact, there were only two details she gave me.

She was calling on behalf of a company called Origin Majestic that wanted at least $10,000 from me to do something or other with.

It wasn't a very satisfying telemarketing experience. I tried to dig a little deeper but Google was no help. No reference to Origin Majestic anywhere. Likewise the Companies Office website failed to turn up any clue, no registered prospectus, nothing.

This morning I spoke to the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), which also hadn't heard of Origin Majestic but said the market was full of all kinds of phone prospectors - list-builders mainly, looking for suckers.

Origin Majestic (or whatever it's called) will probably find a few investors after its phone-trawling efforts for whatever it does.

Just remember if the Origin Majestic telemarketer calls not to ask too many questions. As long as you're not being smart, they might deal with you.