They said they were calling ‘for KPN’ — but it wasn’t KPN
A sales call that sounded legitimate at first, but revealed how a small shift in wording can be used to mislead customers into agreements.
A few years ago I was contacted by a company claiming to work "for KPN" — not from KPN, but for them.
At the time I happened to be looking into subscribing to KPN, so when they called it felt like perfect timing. I genuinely thought it was meant to be.
They offered me a 3-year contract.
What I didn't know then — but later confirmed — is that KPN simply does not offer 3-year contracts. That alone should have been a red flag, but their pitch sounded convincing enough that I went along with it.
Afterwards something felt off. Their tone was rushed, their language was a bit unusual, and the whole interaction didn't sit right with me.
I decided to call KPN directly. The KPN representative I spoke with immediately told me this was not normal and strongly suspected it was a scam. He officially recommended I file a police report, which I did.
Armed with my police report number, I called the company back. I made it very clear that what they did was highly illegal, that I knew their location, and that I had already involved the authorities.
I also made sure they understood — in very colorful Caribbean terms — that they had picked the wrong person to mess with.
I never heard from them again. No invoice, no follow-up, nothing.
The key thing that misled me was the language they used: they said they were calling "for KPN" — not "from KPN."
That one word made all the difference, and it's a trick these affiliate call centers use to stay just inside a legal grey area while deceiving customers completely.
sales regulations in call centers have since been tightened in the Netherlands, but these companies were operating in a very shady space at the time.