Convicted criminals in the West Midlands are being paid to work in call centres inside their prisons.
Inmates at HMP Oakwood, near Wolverhampton, and Drake Hall, in Staffordshire, carry out market research for insurance companies.
The Centre for Crime Prevention said the project was "incredibly naive".
But the Ministry of Justice said it was a pilot scheme which may be rolled out further if it is successful, and added the prisoners have risk assessments.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: "We do not want prisoners sitting idle in their cells when they should be working towards their rehabilitation.
BBC News - Oakwood and Drake Hall inmates working in prison call centres
Now criminals won't need to go through the bins to help them commit identify theft, they'll be phoning you up asking for your details which you'll be able to give them
Perhaps banks should employ them for call centres, after all they're probably ribbing barstewards after all 
You couldn't make it up if you tried
Inmates at HMP Oakwood, near Wolverhampton, and Drake Hall, in Staffordshire, carry out market research for insurance companies.
The Centre for Crime Prevention said the project was "incredibly naive".
But the Ministry of Justice said it was a pilot scheme which may be rolled out further if it is successful, and added the prisoners have risk assessments.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Justice said: "We do not want prisoners sitting idle in their cells when they should be working towards their rehabilitation.
BBC News - Oakwood and Drake Hall inmates working in prison call centres
Now criminals won't need to go through the bins to help them commit identify theft, they'll be phoning you up asking for your details which you'll be able to give them
Perhaps banks should employ them for call centres, after all they're probably ribbing barstewards after all 
You couldn't make it up if you tried


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