Is there ANYTHING that I can do about telemarketers?

[mjr]

I understand that oftentimes it's just people trying to do their job. The live ones usually hang up when they hear on my voicemail that my cell # is on the U.S. "National Do Not Call Registry" (aka the "Do Not Call" list). However, for the most part, that list is a colossal joke.

Anyway, though I've a way to thwart the live calls, the "robo calls" are another story. A lot of them use "spoofed" numbers that I can't look up on the net.

Once I was able to do that. I got one that had a gentleman with a foreign accent. I called back and told him (bluffing) that if they called me back again, since I now had their number and location, I would sue them for $100 million.

Then, I called back and politely spoke to a manager (or at least she said she was), and explained to her that my number is on the do not call registry. She apologized, and when I asked her where they could have gotten my number, since I didn't sign up for what they were selling, she said it's most likely that someone just put in a "fake" number that just happened to be mine.

Anyway, I'm more interested in stopping the "robo calls". Anyone have any advice on that? I have a lower-end cell phone with not a lot of features.

[Kittish]

If you're getting repeat calls from the same number, your provider might be able to block that number. Otherwise the best I can come up with is screen incoming calls and don't answer numbers you don't recognize, if that's an option for you.

[klhanson]

I work technically as a telemarketer and what some people dont realize.. not saying you dont but what some other people dont realize is that if you do any kind of business with a company they can still call you if you're on the do not call registry. I can't talk for the robo calls but for regular telemarkters ask to be put on their companies do not call list. They legally have to do it and it may take up to 30 days depending on where you live but thats all it should take.

[Sapphire Silk]

It's still illegal to telemarket cell phone numbers, live or robocall.

Don't bother talking to them. File a complaint with the FTC. It's a $10,000 fine per call. That will get their attention.

[EricKei]

SS - the problem is tracking them down. The few robocalls I get, I add them to the FCC site's list set up for harassing calls, and usually try to call them back, only to get a "bad number" message, because many are spoofed, and they don't mention their company name. It's a real pain x.x I just don't pick up ANY blocked numbers, and have been using a "contact" named "Ignore" for the scammers/robo's when I discover them.

That being said, I've been on DNC long enough that TM calls are few and far between; I have found that legit companies really do want to know that I don't wanna take the call, while scammers usually hang up the instant I say "I am on the Do-" or when I ask for a supervisor.

Nothing wrong with working for a legit TM firm tho. klhanson is correct about the "doing business with a company" thing -- that allows companies to call you again until you ask them to stop.

[Moirae]

I suggest not answering any call from a number you don't know. I already do this. I also have a silent ringer on my phone so that if any number calls that I don't recognize and doesn't leave a message, I can add it and I don't hear the ring.

[MoonCat]

I get a lot of these on my house phone, which is a cheap Tracfone. We don't answer if we don't recognize the number, which in our case is easy because we don't know anybody who lives in a different area code (well, except our ex-friends in another county, but they don't call anymore).

Every day I check the phone and open the list of "missed calls." If I see any numbers I don't recognize, I delete them . Some are just listed as "private" which I also delete, because I have all friends or relatives' numbers in the phone list by name. Anyone who needs to speak to me can leave a voicemail. If they don't, as far as I'm concerned it's not a legit call.

So I second the advice to not pick up if you don't recognize the number. Why spend your minutes on some robot trying to sell you insurance, stocks or some other crap you don't want?

[mjr]

If you're getting repeat calls from the same number, your provider might be able to block that number.

This is part of the problem. Sometimes the numbers are the same, but sometimes they aren't. And they're often times "spoofed".

I had a situation a couple of years ago where I got twelve calls over the course of three hours. The problem is, sometimes the "robo calls" are long enough where they actually do have part of their recording on my voicemail. If I'm not mistaken, that does count against my minutes.

I work technically as a telemarketer and what some people dont realize.. not saying you dont but what some other people dont realize is that if you do any kind of business with a company they can still call you if you're on the do not call registry.

Sure. I understand this. That doesn't quite bother me.

What bothers me about it is that, if I understand the law correctly, I can get calls from companies associated with the company I did business with (or something like that).

File a complaint with the FTC. It's a $10,000 fine per call. That will get their attention.

I would...but it's hard to file a complaint against a company that uses a spoofed phone number that I can't look up.

SS - the problem is tracking them down. The few robocalls I get, I add them to the FCC site's list set up for harassing calls, and usually try to call them back, only to get a "bad number" message, because many are spoofed, and they don't mention their company name. It's a real pain x.x I just don't pick up ANY blocked numbers, and have been using a "contact" named "Ignore" for the scammers/robo's when I discover them.

That being said, I've been on DNC long enough that TM calls are few and far between; I have found that legit companies really do want to know that I don't wanna take the call, while scammers usually hang up the instant I say "I am on the Do-" or when I ask for a supervisor.

This is correct. That was my big issue was robo calls. The problem was, at the time I was looking for a change of jobs, and every call I got may have been about a job.

It seemed to start as soon as I sent out my resumes. I don't know why. I think some of these come from overseas call centers. I toyed with one of them, and kept calling them back via Skype and Google Voice.

[Seshat]

Give the FCC the spoofed number and the timestamp - basically all the information you have on the call.

The data about who actually called you IS available, it just requires time, attention, and the authority to require phone companies to provide their connectivity logs*.

* IE, not the content of the call, but which number called who.

[mjr]

The data about who actually called you IS available, it just requires time, attention, and the authority to require phone companies to provide their connectivity logs*.

So if I'm understanding you correctly, the FCC can request logs and tell that the number that showed up on my cell caller ID as "555-555-1234" really came from "555-444-3333", and then take action.

But what about instances where the number comes in as all zeroes? I've had that happen before, too.

[Jester]

It's still illegal to telemarket cell phone numbers, live or robocall.

Oh, that's funny! As if it being illegal has ever stopped them.

My defense against telemarketers is very simple: if I don't recognize the number, i.e., if it doesn't come up as someone I know, I ignore it. If it's important, they'll leave a message. Admittedly, sometimes the telemarketers leave messages as well, but I simply delete those.

Now, sometimes I'll pick up if the number has a local area code, because MOST of the time that is actually a person trying to get a hold of me for some reason, rather than a business. Some telemarketers have gotten smart and somehow route their calls through local-to-the-callee's area codes, but hey, no system is perfect.

I get far more annoyed by telemarketers who call my bar while I'm working, especially when I'm busy, it's not a robocall I can just hang up on, and I don't have time to deal with those idiots.

[ComputerNecromancer]

Every day I check the phone and open the list of "missed calls." If I see any numbers I don't recognize, I delete them . Some are just listed as "private" which I also delete, because I have all friends or relatives' numbers in the phone list by name.

"Private" (or Restricted" or several other things) means that Caller ID is blocked on the call. Which means that even if you have the number that the call is coming from in your phone's contact list, it'll still show up as "private".

Having the number in your contact list will only work if the caller ID *isn't* blocked. Because if it is your phone never sees the calling number, that gets stripped out at the *originating* phone exchange.

[ComputerNecromancer]

So if I'm understanding you correctly, the FCC can request logs and tell that the number that showed up on my cell caller ID as "555-555-1234" really came from "555-444-3333", and then take action.

But what about instances where the number comes in as all zeroes? I've had that happen before, too.

The numbers you see are provided as part of the caller ID packet that gets sent as part of the call setup. So that'd be in the log.

What these companies are doing is using their own phone switch/exchange and telling it to fake the numbers in the caller ID packet.

There *are* legit uses for this feature. Tings like putting a company's main number there to hide the direct line to an employee or department.

What they *can't* fake is the ANI info. That's part of the process of setting up a call and is what phone companies use to make sure the right folks get billed for stuff.

That's in the logs too.

Alas, with long distance so cheap a lot of this stuff is coming from outside the US, which makes it next to impossible to prosecute.

[MoonCat]

"Private" (or Restricted" or several other things) means that Caller ID is blocked on the call. Which means that even if you have the number that the call is coming from in your phone's contact list, it'll still show up as "private".

Having the number in your contact list will only work if the caller ID *isn't* blocked. Because if it is your phone never sees the calling number, that gets stripped out at the *originating* phone exchange.

That's still okay, though, because nobody I know has blocked Caller ID. Seriously, my aunt doesn't know how to do that (and still uses an older land line), and the two co-workers who have my number don't use it either. Any other friends or relatives know to leave me a voicemail and I'll call them back. There just aren't that many people who call me (not sure if that should worry me or not...)

[protege]

I get far more annoyed by telemarketers who call my bar while I'm working, especially when I'm busy, it's not a robocall I can just hang up on, and I don't have time to deal with those idiots.

If my boss isn't around, I go out of my way to mess with them After 16 years of dealing with various scammers, I can spot them a mile away. I figure, if I'm wasting their time, they're not ripping someone else off. Trust me, my office is *not* moving, we *don't* need overpriced (and shit quality) toner cartridges, nor do we take debit/credit cards.

At home, I went off on some staffer for a local political candidate. After multiple attempts at telling her I wasn't interested, I simply replied that if she called me again, not only would I *refuse* to vote for her boss, but I'd carry the phone into the garage, and she'd get an earful of England's finest Never heard from her again after that