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Friday, September 5, 2008

People calling a federal phone number to order duck stamps are instead greeted by a phone-sex line because of a printing error the government says would be too expensive to correct.

The carrier card for the duck stamp transposes two numbers, so instead of listing 1-800-782-6724, it lists 1-800-872-6724. The first number spells out 1-800-STAMP24, while the second number spells out 1-800-TRAMP24.

People calling that second number are welcomed by "Intimate Connections" and enticed by a husky female voice to "talk only to the girls that turn you on," for $1.99 a minute.

Duck stamps, which cost $15 apiece, are required to hunt migratory waterfowl. Revenue is used to purchase waterfowl habitat for the National Wildlife Refuge System.

This year's stamps, which feature a pair of northern pintail ducks, went on sale July 1 and are good through June 30, 2009. The error will not be corrected until next year's duck stamps.

The Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers the program, printed about 3.5 million duck stamps attached to cards with the wrong number. An agency spokeswoman, Rachel Levin, said it would cost $300,000 to reprint them.

-- From News Services