888-502-0385

Called twice today both times without leaving a message. Caller ID showed "800 Service". Called number back with my caller id blocked. Told this was the proxy service for Franklin Templeton Investments. Wanted my personal info so they could look up my account to determine why I was being called. Told them nothing. Have no investments with this company & told them I never give info to people I do not know. Another scam looking for personal info.

Called my mobile phone once yesterday and once today. I don't answer numbers I don't recognize, and no message was left either time. I smell a solicitation or scam... Just sent them to my "Spam Caller" contact which has a "no ring" setting, so I'll never be disturbed by them again even if they call... - SL

got called 2 times (30 minutes between) from 888-502-0385 number as TOLL FREE CALLER.  Says they are 3rd party doing shareholder proxy service for Franklin Templeton.  I told them Franklin would not outsource this service and when Franklin does contact members, their name will show in caller id.  Give them no information!

maybe they are legit.  Not a good way to do business by Franklin since there are always scams going on.

https://www.franklintempleton.com/retail/pdf/proxies/GOF-PROXY.pdf

If you have any questions before you vote, please call D.F. King & Co., Inc., an ASTOne
Company (“D.F. King”), our proxy solicitor, at 1-888-502-0385 (8:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m.,
Eastern time, Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., Eastern time, Saturday).
We’ll be glad to help you get your vote in quickly. Thank you for your participation in
this important initiative.

I didn't answer the call but believe some of the other posters that say it is a proxy solicitor for Franklin Templeton.  I am a shareholder and about a week ago, I received notice of a special shareholder meeting to occur April 7, 2015.  It has been my observation that when a company needs to resort to telemarketing to solicit proxy votes, there is usually something on the ballot that needs to be voted down!

My message is the same as below they said they will be coming to my town March 15th and wanted to know if I was coming to the seminar I told them I didn't know what they were talking about he said that he would send information in an email so he ask for my email address I didn't give it to him he said he would send the information in the mail.

I do not answer calls from this number or any other 800 calls.  They will not leave a message.  They have called the past several days up to three calls a day.

I had received several calls without leaving a message from this number.  Just got a call saying it was proxy service for Franklin Templeton.  All they asked for was confirmation of my address that they already had on file.  I do have several Franklin Templeton Investments and told the caller how I wanted my votes to be recognized.  This one was not a scam.  I think there are a lot of hang ups because of robo-calling happening before an operator was ready to provide information.  This call was prior to scheduled Board of Directors meetings which I had received advanced notice of.

I, too, got a call from this number today.  She asked if I had gotten my voting info in the mail, and I said I don't know.  She wanted me to vote over the phone for a vote scheduled for April 7.  It's not even March yet, so what's the hurry?  I told her I wasn't prepared to vote over the phone (suspecting it was a scam), and she said "good day" and hung up.  Sounds fishy to me, especially since they told different things to each of the callers listed here.

I am a Franklin Templeton shareholder.  They never call for this proxy vote.  Always contact you by mail.  Told them that, and they hung up.

Another hang up.  They so not leave a message.

just got a call.....damn scammers!!!!!!!!

I found this phone number in this pdf file.
https://www.franklintempleton.com/retail/pdf/proxies/GOF-PROXY.pdf

refuses to answer when i say hello. scammer

Multiple calls a day for dsys. No ID,  no message.

Figured this was a scam and hung up- they called twice.

Seemed to be legit. Number and company listed in voting material. Asked if I received voting materials and if I wanted to vote via telephone. Agree not a good way to do business, but they may be trying to increase the voter response. Just a thought.

Copied from proxy materials:

"Who is D.F. King?
D.F. King is a company not affiliated with the Funds or with Franklin Templeton Investments that the Trusts, on behalf of the Funds, hired to call shareholders and record proxy votes. In order to hold a shareholder meeting, a certain percentage of a Fund’s shares (often referred to as “quorum”) must be represented at the meeting. If a quorum is not attained, the meeting must adjourn to a future date. The Funds may attempt to reach shareholders through multiple mailings to remind them to cast their vote. As the meeting approaches, phone calls may be made to shareholders who have not yet voted their shares so that the shareholder meeting does not have to be postponed."

Get 2-3 calls a day from them with the name as "not provided".  They always hang up when the answering machine comes on.  Definitely a scam.

Received call today, didn't answer.

I received this call a few times. I answered yesterday and would not provide my name. They asked for me in person and stated I call 1-888-502-0385, which is the same number on the pdf. file in the link above. Still could be a scam.

Apparently this is related to doing business in countries that traffic in people or where genocide is taking place. For whatever reason, Franklin is asking you to NOT to vote it down and other are trying to get the bylaw passed.