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Odd This Day @oddthisday.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

It’s 24 years since the sheriff’s department in Coldwater, Michigan heard that Al-Qaeda was carrying out telemarketing fraud, and issued a statement warning people—only later discovering that their source was... perhaps not to be relied upon

Onion story: Al-Qaeda Allegedly Engaging In Telemarketing. It is illustrated with a photo of (apparently) Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden’s second in command, wearing a headset while sitting in a work cubicle. The story reads: WASHINGTON, DC—In a chilling development, the CIA announced Monday that it has acquired a videotape showing suspected al-Qaeda operatives engaging in what appears to be telemarketing. "This video, obtained from a credible third-party source, features grainy footage of a group of men strongly believed to be al-Qaeda members making phone solicitations for vacation-home rentals, long-distance phone service, magazine subscriptions, and a vast array of other products and services," CIA Director George Tenet said at a press conference. "Many of these calls have occurred, unthinkably, during the dinner hour." Added Tenet: "We had known about al-Qaeda's practice of raising money through drug trafficking and money laundering, but it seems the full scope of their depravity had barely been imagined." The video is not the only evidence of telemarketing activity within al-Qaeda. According to Tenet, CIA agents tracking the terrorist organization over the past 12 months made steady progress infiltrating its communications network, eventually gaining access to transmissions to and from al-Qaeda operatives. These transmissions included a number of telemarketing "cold calls" to randomly chosen U.S. citizens.

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Swamp Thing @anotherswampthing.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Picture is unrelated. Sort of.

albinoblacksheep.com

Taliban Takes on Telemarketers (Taliban Telephone)

Taliban Takes on Telemarketers (Taliban Telephone), a Flash Animated video by Sector 8 Animation

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