First phone based manipulation

From Ben's Writing

I am surprisingly easy to manipulate apparently. Not for malicious intent, which is fortunate, but the outcome of it still felt abusive in some way.

What happened was this: I received a call from a person claiming to go by the name <debt collector>, asking if I was a friend of <friend>. I said, that yes, of course I knew <friend>. To which <debt collector> responded, with something along the lines of your name has been listed as number where we can leave messages for <friend>. I--perplexed--answered that sure, I could take a message. After which <debt collector> told me task <friend> to call <debt collector> at <call-display number>.

And that was it! That was the end of the phone conversation. So of course, I immediately open up <social media site> and send <friend> a quick message describing the above.

That was the end of the manipulation: I'd delivered the message, done my bit, and returned to work. It's only now, after some reflection, that I feel somehow used. Not in any awful, embracing way, but at the same time, being manipulated is uncomfortable. What's worse, is I did their job for them. They are responsible for tracking down <friend> and getting their money, not me. This has nothing to do with me, yet because I apparently have no rights to privacy, they can call and take advantage my friendship with <friend> without my informed content. Yes, I did it on my own, and presumably under my own free will, but because I did not immediately recognize what they were doing, my consenting to pass the message along was not wholly informed.

But I doubt I'll bitch at them. Instead, I am going to call them back, and ask them about what they do. Not directly, of course, but enough to get a mailing address from them. That way I can send them a bill for the job of passing the message along. I may have acted like I was doing the deed for free, but in reality, I think I actually charge a substantial amount for passing on a message along. Especial one from which they plan to profit from. My bill, if I can determine their average percentage of debt recollection, will be a percentage of that. If they are going to get money from bulling money from <friend>, then I am going to charge them money for being a part of the process. If it works, I might as well split the money with <friend> as they are the ones losing out in the whole process in the long run, and it would be weird to make money of a friends' misfortune (however self-inflicted it may be).

I'll post an update on how this works out as the process evolves.