On November 13, 2001, I received an unsolicited fax containing what appeared to be a newspaper clipping with the words "Thought you might find this interesting" handwritten in one corner. The supposed newspaper clipping was titled "Homeowner Beware - 'Wow! Was I being ripped off!'" and provided a number near the end to call if I was interested in better mortgage rates.

I called the number provided and was greeted with a recorded message. "Thanks for calling the Freedom From Debt hotline," it said. If I wanted to "escape the debt ratrace," all I had to do was order their free report, which would be "sent confidentially through the mail." I could leave my number or I could press zero to speak with an operator.

I pressed zero and an operator answered, "Gateway Express Mortgage."

"Hi," I said. "Are you in Seattle?"

"West Seattle," she responded.

"Are you the one who sent this fax to me?" I asked.

"Which one?"

I read the title of the purported newspaper clipping. "Okay, great," she said. "Can you hold just a minute, please?"

She transferred me to a man named Dan Doran. "Are you the people who sent this fax to me?" I asked."

Dan said they were the people and I explained to him that unsolicited faxes are illegal. "Are you an attorney?" he asked somewhat jovially.

"No, just a concerned citizen," I said.

Dan told me that they hire an outside company to do their faxing. I asked him for the name and number of that company, and he responded, "I don't actually handle that. An associate of mine does." I asked Dan to have his associate give me a call and we parted ways.

On November 20, after not hearing from Dan or his associate, I called Gateway Express Mortgage and explained to the operator that I had spoken with Dan previously and was looking for the person in charge of their faxing.

"That would be Dan," the woman said. Unfortunately, Dan wasn't in, so she took my name and number and a brief message.

On November 29, after still not hearing back from Dan, I called Gateway Express Mortgage again. Dan wasn't in, so I left another message. This time, he called back and told me that they had already removed me from their list. I explained that I was looking for the company doing the actual faxing so I could get in touch with them.

"Well," he said. "I sent them your information. If they want to contact you, they will. I don't know what else to say, buddy."

After hearing him call me "buddy," I could tell that we were at an impasse. "Okay," I said, and we ended our conversation cordially.