A British man fed up with cold calls from telemarketers set up a premium phone number in November 2011 and has made £300 by accepting calls and keeping the annoying marketers on the line as long as possible.

Lee Beaumont, who works at home in Leeds, UK, was getting calls at all times of the day. "I thought there must be a way to make money off these phone calls," he told the BBC. He searched on Google and found a small company that charged him £10 (about $15.50) to set up an 0871 line (equivalent to a 900 line in the US), which forces people who call him to pay 10p per minute. Of that, he receives 7p (about 10.9¢).

The BBC has an article and radio segment on Beaumont here. He now gives out his 0871 line to any business that might cold call him, while giving friends and family a different number. The BBC writes:

Because he works from home, Mr Beaumont has been able to increase his revenue by keeping cold callers talking—asking for more details about their services. He admitted the scheme had changed his attitude, saying: "I want cold calls," and that he had moved on to encouraging companies to make contact. After a recent problem with his online shopping, he declined to call an 0845 number but posted his number on Twitter in the knowledge that the number could be picked up by marketing companies.

The scheme reminds us a bit of Internet citizens turning the tables on obnoxious "Windows Technical Support" scammers, although ordinary telemarketers aren't quite as devious.

Beaumont is honest with companies who ask him why he has an 0871 number, telling them he's annoyed by marketing calls and would rather make money if he has to receive them. He used to receive 20 to 30 cold calls a month, but he only got 13 last month, a trend he doesn't necessarily like since it reduces his payments.

For what it's worth, the organization that regulates premium numbers told the BBC that "Premium rate numbers are not designed to be used in this way and we would strongly discourage any listeners from adopting this idea, as they will be liable under our code for any breaches and subsequent fines that result."

Still, we have to admire Beaumont's entrepreneurial streak, and his sense of humor.