Woman Gets Dale Begg-Smith Old Cell Number: Text Message Flood:

The old cell phone number of Australian Free Style Silver Medalist Dale Begg-Smith now belongs to an East Vancouver woman who has been receiving a flood of text messages meant for Aussie mogul skier.

Heather Burgess was supplied with the old cell phone number of Begg-Smith. Dale Begg-Smith, who grew up in West Vancouver, was a star with the Canadian freestyle ski program before falling out with officials over his business dealings in 2001, leaving Canada for Australia.

Burgess signed up with Rogers last fall, and started receiving unexpected "season's greetings" in December and birthday greetings in January, but she knew the messages weren’t intended for her.

Burgess responded to some at the time, explaining she now held the number, but to no avail, and she continued to receive messages.

Since the start of the 2010 Games, Burgess has been has been hit day and night with text messages from what she now realizes are Begg-Smith's friends and supporters.  Messages about luggage, training and references to television appearances, including "Your teeth look good on TV", have been rolling in.

Burgess realized she had an Olympian's old number when she received congratulatory messages following Begg-Smith's second place in the men's mogul final. One read: "Hey bro its justin [sic], that was a bullshit silver call! Where are you? Let's party." That led her to conclude she had Begg-Smith’s number.

"At first it was funny and entertaining.” Burgess said. “But when the messages started waking me in the night it got a little disappointing because they weren't from my real friends and they're costing me money."

Ironically, Begg-Smith amassed a fortune from starting several internet businesses involved in the distribution of spyware, leading the Aussie press to dub him "Spam Man."

Begg-Smith could not be reached for comment.