Special Report: Decoy Digits

OK, Party People - you know the drill.

A couple drinks at the bar, then you hit the dance floor.

A couple more drinks, you have 'her' in your sights, and you're ready to pop the question...

"Hey, what's your number?"

But is that really her number, or is it a fake?

Hali Marins says, "I've heard of people giving the number of the police station."

Boston student, Allison Poll says, I would just sort of make it up off the top of my head... is that mean??

Some, like college student John Chris, admit, they've nervously dialed those phony digits.

He says, "First you're like, you know, this isn't really cool at all... but plenty of fish in the sea."

Now, to add a bit of humor to these dating deceptions - The Rejection Hotline is a *real* bogus number with a smart-alec message to help some *get the message*.

Here’s part of the Rejection Hotline message: "This is not the person you wanted to call/ you've reached the Rejection Hotline the person that gave you this number does not want you to have their real number, we know this sucks, but maybe the person wasn't interested because you give off that creepy, stalker vibe."

It's the brainchild of Framingham native, Jeff Goldblatt. He's got fake numbers in almost every area code.

Goldblatt says, "I just started it as a joke, just to make my friends laugh, my friends thought it was funny. they told their friends now we're getting thousands and thousands of calls."

After hearing the message, Allison Poll says, This is funny.

Here’s another portion of the message says, "Do your best to forget about the person who gave you this number, because, trust us, they already have forgotten you."

John Chris says, "I think it's hilarious."

Amy Saraiya, another college student says, "If someone was obnoxious to me, this would be the perfect comeback."

But some aren't laughing...

College student, Chris Arcand, says, "Wow, this is kind of harsh."

Family therapist, Carlton Kendrick, calls it hurtful and irresponsible.

He says, I find this to be disingenuous at best, and cruel at the very most, because many people who will NOT just roll with it.

Goldblatt says, "We don't want people to use it to be mean// the message is kind of funny in nature, it's meant to be a good humor kind of thing.

Allison Poll says, "I think I might visit Rejection Hotline.com"

For those who prefer email - you guessed it - there's a phony email address that you can give out and the person who tries to use it, will get a rejection email.

The Rejection Hotline

(Copyright (c) 2005 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)