Candidate Busted for Sending Cell Phone Spam in Opponent’s Name   2/20/2005 - 847 views,

Summary: Just how stupid do you have to be (or how badly do you have to want to win an election, although the two apparently aren't mutually exclusive) to send spam to thousands of your constituents? To their cell phones. Between midnight and four in the ...

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Just how stupid do you have to be (or how badly do you have to want to win an election, although the two apparently aren’t mutually exclusive) to send spam to thousands of your constituents?

To their cell phones.

Between midnight and four in the morning.

On election day.

Faking the “from” name as that of your opponent.

Aunty says “pretty stupid”.

And that’s exactly how stupid Dan Avila, candidate for City Council in Thousand Oaks, California, was this past November. He sent out cell phone spam to thousands of Thousand Oaks voters, in the name of his opponent, incumbent Bob Wilson.

As a result, Wilson received dozens of angry calls from rudely awakened voters who believed that he had sent them the wake-up call.

Fortunately, the good people of Thousand Oaks, perhaps not quite as stupid, didn’t elect Avila. However, they also didn’t elect Wilson, and who knows how much Avila’s stunt may have affected the final vote.

Now, instead of a four-year term in office, Avila is looking at a three-year term in prison.

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Read more:

»  Sex, Lies and Video Phones (Or Why Not to Make Sex Videos of Yourself with Your Cell Phone)

»  Perhaps the Stupidest Thing Ever to Do with Your Cell Phone - Carry Child Pornography On It

»  Online Candidate Calculator Lets You Determine “Who Should I Vote for?” Among the 2008 Presidential Candidates

»  Is it Phone Spam if You’re Watching Television on Your Cell Phone and a Commercial Comes On?

For additional similar stories check out our archives on Boneheads, Cell Phones, Spam

 

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