Phone Survey Scam: But Why?

I got a call today from an automated survey. Out of curiosity I punched 1 to take the short survey. It was about health care, a subject that I am concerned about as a citizen and as a parent, so I thought it would be worth my time.

It asked me some questions about smoking, no big deal. Then it asked if I thought gay people smoked more than straight people. Hmm.. That's odd. Then it asked if I was gay and I hung up. I have caller ID, so I googled the number that called me and it was indeed some kind of strange scam. But I don't know what for. I found this cool site called 800notes.com. Turns out I wasn't the only one who hung up on an automated system that questioned my sexual orientation. I don't need an automated system for that. I went to Sarah Lawrence College for God's sake. There is no shortage of people who have questioned my sexual orientation, thanks though!

Most disturbing was that the Mass Health Board which the survey was reportedly from has a note on their home page that they do NOT do phone surveys. They have the Attorney General looking into this.

That's pretty F*cked up right there.