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DO NOT CALL LIST BUSTED! MARKETPLACE GOES UNDERCOVER IN A PAKISTANI CALL CENTRE THAT IS HARASSING CANADIANS on DNC LIST

TO CATCH A TELEMARKETER airs Friday, Jan. 11;
WHEN THE REPAIRMAN KNOCKS: AIR DUCTS airs Friday, Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV

You’re on the Canadian Do Not Call List, but are still being harassed by telemarketers. No matter how many times you tell them to stop, you still get the annoying phone calls. You complain to Ottawa, but still no satisfaction. So MARKETPLACE pulls out all the stops, and gets to the bottom of it. In To Catch a Telemarketer, MARKETPLACE goes undercover into the secret world of telemarketing call centres. We end up, of all places, in Karachi, Pakistan, and discover a telemarketing company that targets Canadians. The telemarketers use fake names, fake phone numbers and fake company names, but the anger and frustration they’re causing back in Canada is real.

VIDEO: click to see a sneak preview http://youtu.be/XDzip1aZwV4

To Catch a Telemarketer with Tom Harrington airs on CBC News’ MARKETPLACE, Friday, Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV.

Companies are breaking the law, and harassing people - sometimes in vulgar and inappropriate ways - and to these Canadians, regulators seem to be asleep at the switch. MARKETPLACE shows the CRTC the tapes of Canadians being harassed, and asks for answers. And using hidden cameras, we go inside the telemarketing machine in Karachi to see how this shady operation works, and why Canadians are powerless to make it stop.

Beginning live at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT), on Friday, Jan. 11, across all time zones, Canadians are invited to join a live web chat about the episode and telemarketers at cbc.ca/marketplace with MARKETPLACE host, Tom Harrington.

Then on Friday, Jan. 18, MARKETPLACE wires up a bait house with hidden cameras to test air duct cleaners - the service the pesky telemarketers in Pakistan were trying to sell us the week before. To stop the annoying calls, one woman even books a cleaning, though the cleaners are a no-show. However, we finally catch up with them; it’s Big Brother, MARKETPLACE style, with a surprising twist of fate.

When the Repairman Knocks: Air Ducts airs on CBC News’ MARKETPLACE, Friday, Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV.

Celebrating its 40th season this winter, MARKETPLACE takes a look back over the first five weeks at some of the series’ most memorable moments. Winner of the 2011 Gemini Award for Best News Information Series, MARKETPLACE airs Fridays at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC Television. MARKETPLACE also airs Saturdays at 9:30 p.m. ET and Sundays at 5:30 p.m. ET on CBC News Network. For more information on MARKETPLACE, visit our website at cbc.ca/marketplace, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/cbcerica and twitter.com/cbctom. Executive producer is Tassie Notar.

To view past episodes of MARKETPLACE, and other CBC programming, visit CBC Player, download the CBC App for your mobile devices, and download CBC podcasts.

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@cbcerica
@cbcmarketplace

About CBC News
For more than 75 years, CBC has been the source Canadians turn to, to keep them informed about their communities, their country and their world. Through regional and national programming on multiple platforms, including CBC Television, CBC News Network, CBC Radio, CBCNews.ca, mobile and on-demand, CBC News and its internationally recognized team of award-winning journalists deliver the breaking stories, the issues, the analyses and the personalities that matter to Canadians.

About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, Internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages, plus five languages for international audiences. In 2011, CBC/Radio-Canada celebrated 75 years of serving Canadians and being at the centre of the democratic, social and cultural life of Canada.
 

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About CBC’s Brand New In-House Publicity Team
CBC’s brand new team of in-house publicists are delivering a comprehensive publicity service for all CBC programming and events. For a complete list of publicity contacts and for more information including series synopses, press releases, hi-res images, video clips and bios, please visit the new CBC Media Centre at cbc.ca/mediacentre.

For further information, or to request interviews, contact:

Corey Black, News and Current Affairs Publicist, CBC
o) 416-205-8710
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corey.black@cbc.ca

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