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How To Profit From Telemarketing
jsprat writes: "From the Seattle PI: A man gets an automated message from a telemarketer. He complains. Two weeks later, he gets a check and an apology! In the article, another man is mentioned who claims to have collected $2650 dollars over the last year for illegal spam, faxes and automated calls. Another weapon to fight these clowns?" What's your personal cash-won record?
Telemarketers call YOU so THEY can make money....
Hi there - this is a note to the reader of slashdot. If you are reading this message, then the software has cored and the experiment is over.
In case you aren't aware there aren't really any people posting on slashdot - this is all one gigantic IRC bot specifically designed to make you believe that you are part of a community. You (yes - *you* ) are talking to a very clever computer program.
Well, sorry if we confused you, and hey thanks anyway. (Oh, yes and because you are the only reader our logs show that you have several 'karma accounts' and a number of 'troll' accounts - you never fooled anyone.
Even your emails to Taco were ironic - you didnt know, but Taco is actually a QuickBasic program on an old XT!
Thanks for reading and posting.
Over, and out.
Woah! Hey relax - its a joke (I've seen the Matrix too many times)
Who has the time to pursue this kind of thing? That time and energy could be spent making money honestly.
And Timothy, I ain't kissing no man.
; - )
Don't read this!
Ben Livingston has a web page with a lot of good hints for anyone interested in suing these people. He also has a complete list of everyone he's sued, the outcomes, and in some cases, even a scanned image of the check they sent him.
I hate to brag, Timothy, but I think you're being just a little short-sighted about this.
Carousel is a lie!
If a get 1 buck from ever spammer that sends me unwanted messages Im gonna get rich soon! :))
Is there a law in US that obligates spammers to give people money or that makes spam a crime? Here in Brazil we have no such law neither any law that makes spam a crime. I believe obligating these stupid people to pay some money to people they send spam would descrease A LOT the amount of unwanted messages we get everday...
Fabio - Sumare/Sao Paulo/Brazil/South America/Earth/Solar System/Milky Way/Universe
http://www.morroida.com.br
the power of noisemakers. When you know it is a telemarketer, just set the phone next to any of the following for an extended period of time. Say . . . 5 minutes. -A blender -A garbage disposal -A TV/Radio speaker -You ass after eating beans -etc. Remember, they pay for those calls. Make them earn em!
I tried unsubscribing and sending complaints via email. Next day I received some more email from them, so I actually openned and read some of them and they all offered me GREAT deals on cool merchandise.
Hello friends, how would you like to make some easy money?
... (hmm... accentuated silence!)
human: Sure!
It's simple, all you have to do is listen to this message, follow a simple procedure and BOOM! its money in your pocket
human:
Simply send 10 dollars to the following address, or leave us your credit card details, and we'll send you all the information you need to complain about us! Yes, it is that simple!
c - a blessed +5 grain of salt
I can imagine the body of text describing how all you have to do is sit around the house, answering the phone when it rings, record who called you, etc...
I stick to walls...
This guy's (Ben Livingston) website. He discusses all of his cases, including settlement, backstory, etc. Very informative.
Schroeter, who already works at home and consequently hates telemarketing calls more than the average person...
right...
he hates telemarketers more on average then i do, just like i'm smarter then the average person and drive better then the average driver.
--------------------------------------------
Customers are taking to many free napkins...
The key here is persistance. Its amazing how almost anyone will crumble when faced with a legal threat. Think about the way Scientologists went after slashdot, thats how I go after spammers. I may even be on thin legal ice so to speak, but the mere threat of the law usually sees these guys settle. At the moment, its cheaper for them to do this.
Its also worth noting that I am Canadian which makes it a whole lot more complicated (and therefore expensive) from a legal perspective.
I would urge slashdotters to take up my hobby, it takes about 1hr/week and can be very lucrative.
and we just got (pinky in mouth) One Million...oh wait, this is enemy territory....never mind...
What's your personal records?? Gimme a break will you!! Do you actually have TIME to collect that cash from spammers? $2000 a year, what a joke... Your valuable time doesn't seem to be very valuable at all.
I think they're a lot of fun, actually. Most people get mad at them but I look at it as a prank phone call you can't get in trouble for. As an example, a telemarketer once called during a favorite tv program of mine. I began to yell at them for interrupting my favorite show but then I calmly explained why it was so important that I watched the show. I gave him the plotline, character descriptions, etc. Had him on the line for about 10 minutes while completely wasting his time!
You know, $500 is not a lot. Especially compared to the actual cost of a lawsuit. The number of people who know their rights, and properly preserve the evidice is low. It might just be part of business-as-usual for YourHomeCareer.com to pay those who know the law.
They get PR (and all PR is good PR), come across as "ok, we did something wrong but we're good upstanding people who are willing to be good members of the community and make amends." They come out smelling like roses for a fairly paltry sum. It's a wonderful thought.
=Blue(23)
LITTLE GIRL: But which cookie will you eat FIRST? C. MONSTER: Me think you have misconception of cookie-eating process.
(I was on the fence about putting this out as someone may start doing it, but...)
I received a phone call a few months ago. The call rang once and ended before I could pick it up. When I checked the Caller ID (never go home without it) it had a number outside of my area code with a label, "Prize Claim Dept" attached.
When I checked the area code it was somewhere in the Carribean. I have seen more than a few jobs listed in the classifieds that had similar numbers, charging $20 a minute (legally) without warning.
This was pretty crafty, though. First, they get you to initiate the call, making it much easier for them to get your money. Second, if there ever was a problem, they could easily argue that they dialed the wrong number, realized it, then hung up. They didn't expect you to call them.
Ethically lacking, but pretty crafty.
I haven't collected anything but the satisfaction of seeing a few servers get taken down via weaknesses in MS soft..., bu anonymous and benevolent crackers. The only to stop spammers [although I do believe that some of that stupidity is so ridiculous, it's actually fun, as someone just posted] is to develop really good methodologically sound and efficient cracks to take them out.
Rien n'est plus beau que le creux du 0.
Well, you wouldn't necessarily get $10000, but the telemarketing firm would have to pay that in fines if you request that you take your name off their list and they do not do that.
I've worked for a telemarketer before (yes, I have been to hell and back), and I k now for a fact that we were required to immediately, upon request, take a person or business' name and information off our list without any questions asked. If we did not, the firm was risking a $10000 fine. This is federal law. If a telemarketer continues to bug you after requesting that your name be taken off this list, just remind them if this little law.
// file: mice.h
#include "frickin_lasers.h"
If you think this is unfair, please phone +441454411586! Calls cost $300 a minute!
This also explains why some telemarketers would be sending people money. They'd rather pay $500 to $2500 instead of $10000. This is just a way to keep people from saying anything.
// file: mice.h
#include "frickin_lasers.h"
I bet you could make money beating up telemarketers!
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
Interestingly enough, this has been done before.
:(
:)
I submitted a news post entitled:
2002-03-22 23:38:03 Finally, a way to combat those Spammers! Victims (articles,news) (rejected)
To slashdot.. but they rejected it
Basically, this guy was a lawyer, and everytime he requested to be taken off a list.. He charged them 25$ or something of that nature.
He sent an email saying that if they did not remove him, he would charge them for each email received... They didn't comply.
It eventually turned out to be that the man won in court, and the company settled for all the charges (much over 250)
See if you can search that out in the DB (if its there)
------------
Sase
"It's the opposite of that."
A local telemarketer has ignored my do-not-call requests seven times in the past two years. At $500 a pop, that's quite a bit of money, especially when you consider the possibility of treble damages (it's obvious that they are willfully and knowingly ignoring their do-not-call list, since we've reminded them every time). I've written a letter demanding payment for damages, but how should I proceed if they ignore it? The damages are too high for small claims court. Is it worth the trouble of going for the full amount, or would it be better to lower my sights and stick with small claims? Have any of you ever (successfully) sued a telemarketer for more than $3000?
The story mentions that this is Washington state law.
Does anyone know what other states this law applies to? I'd love to do this, as I get on average 10 telemarketing calls a day.
"A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but doesn't have an air force." -William Blum
so I wouldn't know about using the law to get back at spammers (as in the article), but here in redneck country we have much more effective methods.
For example, just last Tuesday I got $574 dollars and a $200 Rolex from a salesman who failed to notice the "no solicitors" sign on my front gate. He said he'd sue for excessive force and I said he's welcome to have his other eye blacked out too, and to get the fuck out of my house before I take that spiffy suit to go with my new rolex.
Must be new to the area.
Get an unpublished phone number. I know, it costs $$$ but I think it's worth it. My wife wanted one for personal reasons and I've received 2-3 calls in 3 years, and those were from the stupid phone company. At that point and time, I told them this number was unlisted, take me off your calling list, and they later sent me a letter confirming my request.
Overrated / Underrated : Moderation
I don't receive any telephone calls from telemarketers (that block their ID), since I've got this nifty little "privacy manager" service.
:)
Basically, it just asks the caller for their name, and then prompts me whether I wanna accept or deny (similar to collect calls). I notice that nowadays I have 0 messages on my answering machine, whereas before, I'd get 2-3 junk calls a day.
Also, whenever I sign up for "advertising" promotions (kroger plus card, big bear card, etc) I use my modem line. I've actually heard someone call it, probably to the tune of once a month. I can imagine their suprise when they hear the modem on the other end.....
Karnal
See this page for a method that would surely destroy the telemarketing industry if enough companies did it.
I think it would be nice if we could get a copy of this law. Print it out, set it by the phone, wait for the telies and the start reading....
With all the spam, phone calls and faxes I get I could probably make a couple of grand also. The spam and phone calls are annoying but the faxes cost me money. That thermal paper isn't cheap.
Here is more information on the state of Indiana's anti-telemarketing law that was recently passed, and everything that goes along with it.
We might not have daylight savings time, but at least we are trying to keep out telemarketers. I suggest you look over the text of the law before making any comments, since it provides many ways for people to legally call you, such as not-for-profit orgs using their own volunteers, etc. Anyway, I think it has helped tremendously, and I'm still waiting for a business to get sued over it to really enforce it. (That will be the true test of the law.)
I also believe it is being challenged by a number of groups right now. At least it is a step in the right direction. Heck, the attorney general based his entire last campaign on this issue alone.
What?
I recently received a spam message from a company which contained a HTML formatted message which downloaded a number of pornographic images from a website in Hong Kong.
Since this was an obvious spam message, I decided to look into it further, and found the email address of the server's "Technical Contact" through a whois query.
I have since submitted an email to the person claiming that the email was not only intrusive, but a clear case for sexual harassment.
I mean -- how can you justify sending unsolicited pornographic images to someone? The email they sent it to was not only my work address, but the subject of the message was "Regarding your enquiry." A message like this is obviously something you would normally open, because it could legitimately be anything. Low and behold, porn-o-rama.
I have not yet received a response from these clowns, and stated clearly in my email to him the following items:
- I have sent a copy of the email in question and a copy of the email i sent to the webmaster to my lawyer.
- The content of the email was unacceptable for a work corporate email address.
- The content of the email is a form of sexual harassment, of which I may have a case in court for.
- The email was intrusive and unsolicited.
I don't know if I'll get a response or not -- but I hope at least something comes of it.. I don't like spam, and this one went too far.
The next step? Well, they do have a telephone contact on the WHOIS query, and I can only try!
I love it when under the picture of a chubby guy sticking out his belly, they write Click for a larger photo
--NerdMachine
Checkout Spamcon to see if there is a local law allowing you to sue spammers.
As x approaches total apathy I couldn't care less.
Then I realized that /. was just pushing another "get rich quick" scheme.
i was trying to find a page that would specifically tell me which states support/do not support automated telemarketing, but this seems to be what there is on this. http://www.auto-dialers.net/statelaws.html
--------- unix, because rebooting is for adding new hardware.
I saw an ad last night for some device which I believe was sold by the sharper image which you hook up to your phoneline. The device then dectects if an autodialer has been used and then claims to delete you from their database.
As I recall it was called the telezapper. And costs around 50 bucks.
http://www.telezapper.com/
From their website:
The TeleZapper is designed to "zap" calls made by predictive dialer computers by doing two things: first, by disconnecting predictive-dialed calls before you can be connected to a live telemarketer and second, by deleting your phone number from telemarketing computer lists. Whether the TeleZapper will affect computer-dialed calls from other sources depends on the type of computer equipment and how that equipment is being used. Therefore, it may also "zap" calls from other organizations that use predictive dialer computers, such as charitable organizations, blood banks, public safety and service organizations, market researchers, opinion and political pollsters, and academic institutions.
They "delete" you from the database by sending a line disconect signal. I don't know of anyone who has used this device so I can't attest to how well it works.
Bring back the old version of slashdot.
Yeah, work from home by just picking up telemarketers' calls, and then collect the loot...
Say no to software patents.
When ever telemarketers call me, i usually play songs on the keypad. mary had a little lamb usually goes over well
--JonnyBlog
I've got an idea for a new product/service...I'm planning on sending it out ALL over the internet. I got some cds with millions of email addresses and everything.
All right...stay with me...here's the idea:
Make money suing spam senders
Are you looking for a great way to make money? Are you tired of getting hundreds of emails a day from people you don't know making recommendations for products you don't care about?
Are you tired of your education keeping you back?
We can help...For 50.00 we'll teach you how to turn those unwanted spam into a serious business....
oh wait...that wouldn't work
Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor
Here's where he lives
I got a pop under ad when clicking the link to this story... I'd rather have a telemarketer calling me... at least I can flame them back.
Does Canada have a similar law regarding to this as well?
kawai
Can I sue slashdot for posting these "Sue a spammer" stories every week?
"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine." -- RFC 1925
Looks like a hardware failure related problem to me. Generic RAM??
File a separate suit over each incident in which they called you illegally. I would guess that the small claims court's limit would allow for a $500 suit. (Wouldn't it?)
It'll be slightly more of a pain in the ass for you, and you'll have to pay the seven filing fees, but it's probably easier and cheaper than hiring a lawyer and going to a full regular court over it.
Most telemarketing systems call a bunch of people (say 4) at a time, then connect the first person who picks up to the available operator. That way they don't waste time on people who aren't home, etc. This is why you get so many hangups when you answer your phone....they don't need you anymore.
"Hey, asdasd!
Do you want to get rid of all those spammers? You can earn BIG MONEY by suing them.. bla bla bla...
Just click here to buy the unique 'How to sue the bad guys' whitepaper for just 9.99!
This is a one time opportunity! Request it now and get instant access to our pr0n affiliates for free!"
Pennsylvania just passed a law that could make telemarketers liable for up to $3000 for each call. The new law allows residents to be placed on a "Do Not Call" list. The list will be made publicly available to telemarkets, and if they make the call then they get zapped with the fine. Here is the press release.
One device that can help you "Collect" money from the telemarketers is the Call Screener.
http://callscreener.auctionpals.com/
Automaticaly gets the telemarketers off you line... way better than the telezapper.
heyday
Here in NJ, when most of these companies are located out west or south, it's easy. I sue for 499 a pop, they never show, auto judgement for me, and if they refuse to pay I can fill out and file for free an asset seizure on their bank accounts.
The deal is that anything sent to my business domain name is for business (in or out). I clearly have a statement at the bottom of the site that states that unsolicited email will result in an hourly charge, with a two hour minimum for my services and time. The judges here crack up when they see that, but they have yet to rule against me. I just don't do it enough to be annoying to them.
Specifically, I have filters with auto responders in place stating that the email was unsolicited and that I reserve the right to bill them for time and expenses per my companies standard policy. My email details that they should remove me from their list and immediately disclose the source from which they acquired my private email (which is NOT listed on the site or given out freely on the net). If they don't respond, fine, if they respond negatively or I recieve email from them again unsolicited, I sue. If they actually hand over their source for the mail address (a few have), I sue that company for disclosing my private email and information without permission (that suit is automatic by the way in NJ).
Most just remove me and don't send any more mail, a few are irate and spam me some more or repsond directly in a derisive way (they get sued), a couple have given me their sources and remove me from the list, and a few even apologize (usually the larger, more legitimate outfits).
So far I have spent about four hours in court (I only make 175-200 an hour, so I profited here) and about six hours on the net or working towards filtering and responding. I laugh my ass off at the ireate repsonses, and even more when I have their bank acount frozen until they pay their legal obligation to me settled by default in small claims court.
Missouri (the state where I reside) has such a list and it is completely free to sign up (some states charge a nominal yearly fee to be on the list). Under Missouri law, any telemarketer calling someone one the no-call list is automatically subject to a $5,000 fine! Complaints against telemarketers can be filed online to the MO Attorney General, who has been very agressive in enforcing this law.
Let the FTC know that you are in support of the national do-not-call registry. Below is the information on how you can contact the FTC to let them know how you feel about a national list:
As an aside, Missouri's Attorney General has also gone after the "Miss Cleo" psychic company for its calls to MO residents. Needless to say, I think our Attorney General is doing a pretty good job...even if they're making a mint off of these telemarketers.
If you live in the UK here's how to stop unwanted telephone marketing and fax spam, just go to these wonderful web sites and sign up. It really is as simple as that.
http://www.tps-online.org.uk/
http://www.fps-online.org.uk/
These are the links to the telephone preference service and fax preference service.
Telemarketeers are not allowed to call you by law if you are signed up to these services. And any half decent telemarketeer with respect them (I know that's an oxymoron) otherwise they won't be in business for long.
> What's your personal cash-won record?
Telemarketing his highly profitable. I *can* make 2000 dollars
a week, working from home, and being my own boss.
Even a wyoming highschool dropout can do this
If things go as planned, I will retire at the tender age of 35, married to a russian
woman, and grow my penis upto 25".
--
and all I got was this stupid t-shirt.
looks like an exploit ...instead
1. Answer the phone politely. Determine that it's a telemarketer.
2. Say "One moment please."
3. Put the phone down and go about your business for 5-10 minutes.
4. Pick up the phone, say cheerfully "Hello!", (telemarketer reminds you), say cheerfully "Sorry, of course! Just a sec."
5. GOTO 3.
I watched a friend's mother waste someone's time for close to an hour this way...
==================================
neophase
When you know it is a telemarketer, just set the phone next to any of the following for an extended period of time.
Nahhh.... too easy
You should piss about with them insted. eg
Them: Selling double-glassing (very common in UK)
You: Sorry mate, my house dosnt have any windows (over time, tell em you live in a nuclear bunker or something)
Them: "I'm carrying out a survay for..."
You: HAHA.... so am I !!! What are the chances of that!!!
Just keep 'em on the line and wind them up for as long as possable until they tell you to fuck off and slam the phone down! :-)
The other alternative is yor very own free porn chatline. Just talk dirty for a bit and see how long it takes 'em to hang up
Anyone quoted by a reporter knows how little they understand
Don't believe what you read is the truth.
I tried my hand at telemarketing a few years ago. The first call I made was to an old guy, and I asked to speak with his wife blanche. He proceeded to explain that she had passed away the day before. I started profusely apologizing for disturbing him. he was silent for a few seconds then he started in with wailing laughter and said "don't call me again" and then hung up. I walked out of the office for a smoke break, and never went back. I didn't even cash my $22 paycheck for the paid training. If more people did this they could get rid of telemarketers for good
I have been doing work in a lot of Insurance Agency offices and a lot of them have war-dialers. THey start @ 9am CST and stop @ 5pm CST and start @ XXX-0000 and dial to XXX-9999. They generate reports and call back those that get machines at a different time of the day.
I HATE FUCKERS THAT CALL ME WITH THAT SHIT. It fucking drives me NUTS. Everyone I know hates that automated calling shit.
One office set it up 2 weeks ago and last week they had 4 appointments based off the calls and 2 new accounts created.
The other office I know that uses it averages 5 new accounts per month from that machine
We hate them - yet they are suprisingly effective and cheap to own/use
The ultimate network admin tool needs HELP!
... two month after such a stunt, you hire a new guy whose name happens to be Feynman. The poor rookie will get all those cranky telemarketers' calls...
Say no to software patents.
Ok, so this guy is obsessed, and the figure is BEFORE attourney fees and non-payments but *dude*....66Gs...
/ st ories/akinsarmy-94860320010906-150952.html
http://www.click2houston.com/hou/news/akinsarmy
I'm glad i live in texas.
For your info : www.privcom.gc.ca
Unfortunately, most people don't know this, and are buying devices that quietly send a signal that sounds like the 'number disconnected' tone when you pick up the line, just to cut down on the problem. Make the telemarketers shell out the cash, not yourself!
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
I always use my cell phone number whenever I give out my number to anyone. In fact, since my non-cell phone belongs to my roomate, I don't really have any other number to give. In any case, while I used to get phone solicitations on a regular basis, I've gotten exactly 3 since I got the cell phone almost a year ago. Yes, I could have sued for $1500 (3x$500), and I may have won, but it wasn't worth it for me, because they stopped.
It's really nice getting zero telephone solicitations. Unfortunately, I can't sign up for USPS payment services (can't give them a cell phone number, has to be your home number), and had to fudge the truth when I signed up for Netbank (can't give them a cell phone number, so I gave them my efax voice-mail). I probably would have given the USPS my efax voice-mail number, but then they started asking for my SSN and my driver's license number, and I thought that was a little too ridiculous.
There have to be five articles a week on Slashdot about some schlub who got some money from a spammer or telemarketer! Give it a rest already!
- Have a picture
If you participate in that kind of infantile behavoir, telemarketers will put you down as 'not home' and you'll be called again and again and again until you bother to act like an adult.
Okay, I've been a telemarketer, and let me tell you that the job sucked enough as it was, without clowns like you thinking they where being cute by attempting to screw with us. (There where plenty of people who tried to screw with us, by the way, so the telemarketer you talk to has probably heard it all already.)
Look, for a while, working as a telemarketer paid the bills pretty well, compared to other jobs you can get as an undergrad student. If you don't want telemarketing calls, just ask to be put on the company's do not call list, which every company must have by law. And be nice to the HUMAN on the other side of the phone. They're just trying to make a living.
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be the name of a store, not a government agency.
ZDNet has a article about Interactive Intelligence and Sprint making a deal allowing Interactive to use Sprints' lines for it's new Interactive Voice Response software, which replaces telephone operators with a computer to make (or take) phone calls to people -- one application of the software is telemarketing.
Here's how! Get your name and number on everyone's telemarketing list, and then sue them when they call.
For more information, send your (certified) check for $500 to [ADDRESS CENSORED]!!!!
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
It'd be nice if the government would pass a law where any one could put their email on a national list and if you get spammed, the spammer would owe you $500. I could make a fortune off of my hotmail account alone -- about $20K a week or more.
I don't know if this was mentioned before but New York State has a "Do not call" telemarketing registry website @ www.consumer.state.ny.us
My co-worker told me about it and I signed up. I takes a few months to take affect, but there shouldn't be any more telemarketing calls afterwards. Worth looking into if you're in NY.
...for my mother at X-mas. It emits a tone everytime the line is picked up. Last I heard, the number of crap calls had noticeably dropped. I don't know if telemarketers will be able to work around it either. They'd be fools to not program their auto-dialers to listen for those tones and remove the "bad" numbers from their list. Someone will probably think of something though.
um, any way to to block stories from the 'please-kiss-this-man' department? it's not really my lifestyle choice.
go get it
My opinion is probably not popular...so flame me or whatever, I still think I have something important to say:
/.ers understand necessary for consumers). Please don't lump everyone into one bag. It's just like generalizing about any other group of people "all managers are dumb", etc...when we know that just isn't true.
I know I hate the telemarketers who call me at the wrong times (stock brokers at 7AM), but there are some very-legitimate businesses out there who do a good job of targeting their audience.
I have a friend with such a business, employing about 20 telemarketers. They know about what they are selling. They only sell stuff they know the business is already using, and their first call or two is never to sell, just to get a quote out.
They are almost always cheaper than the current supplier, and when they are not, they make their best effort to be.
I hate it when people lump all telemarketers into one big lump. These people are polite, will understand if you actually don't use the product (hence they can't save you $$), and the company only makes money by selling a lot of volume at small margins. They don't make money by ripping people off, rather they save them money.
My father recently saved mega dollars remodeling his duplex because someone called up selling windows and had a better deal thanmy dad could find elsewhere. I'm sure if my dad said "I don't need any windows", they (being a responsible company) would have understood.
How are these legitimate businesses (not scams, traps, overly-persistant) supposed to contact their customers if they can't call. It's far too expensive to mail out mailers (and that wastes trees anyway).
There are legit companies, saving you and me money, and insuring there is compeition in the marketplace (something I think all
If they are trying to scam you, hang up...don't put up this call blocking crap that only serves to reduce competition in the marketplace and hurt many small businesses who are not out to scam you, but make an honest buck.
--
Any spelling errors are because I don't care
http://www.stopjunkcalls.com/
Great page on HOWTO make money from junk calls and junk faxes!
If you have time to implement, Phil Karn (KA9Q) has a wonderful way to get some goods from telemarketing firms here.
Have fun,
Edésio
.the homer simpson way Favourite Qoute:"Hello, this is Homer Simpson, a.k.a. Happy Dude. The court has ordered me to call every person in town to apologize for my telemarketing scam. I'm sorry. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, send one dollar to Sorry Dude, 742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield. You have the power."
Anyone else find it extremely funny that someone called 'prisoner' also works for the RIAA? :)
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
http://www.pimall.com/nais/n.tel.tape.law.html#anc hor373433
Damn, guess I'll have warn the telemarketers, since I'm in Florida.
Calvin:"It takes an uncommon mind to think of these things Hobbes" Hobbes: "I'm afraid I'd have to agree with that."
Try this tactic instead:
1. Act really, really enthused about the product.
2. Say "This sounds like the total solution we've been looking for. I think we need a face-to-face."
3. Ask them to fly someone out to give a presentation. Better, ask them to send a team out to give a presentation.
4. When they get there, make them take you out to dinner and drinks the night before the presentation.
5. After 5 minutes of the presentation, say "This isn't at all what we need. It sounded completely different on the phone. Goodbye!"
The company is out thousands of dollars and a couple of days of lost time.
Repeat every time you get a telemarketing call. Even if they call you at home for a magazine subscription. "Say, this sounds like a valuable resource for our business. I think all 10,000 of our employees could use this magazine! Can you send a rep out to give a presenatation to our staff?"
If everyone in America would do this for a month, telemarketers would be bankrupt in a month.
Oh, yeah, and never, ever buy anything from a telemarketer. Not even if they offer you solid gold bricks for a penny. It just encourages them.
Serving your airship needs since 1995.
One of our local TV stations did a feature on it. They determined that it doesn't work very well at all.
Article is here
I sue telemarketers regularly. I live in Washington, DC and sue in the DC small claims court. It only costs $15 to file, and thus far I have collected $600 this year.
Here is the language I put in my standard complaint against someone who has sent an unsolicited commercial fax message:
On March 15, 2002, the Defendant sent an unsolicited commercial facsimile message to Plaintiff's home telephone number in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (47 U.S.C. 227 (b)(1)(C)). Additionally, the fax message did not include accurate date, time, and sending telephone number information in the margin of the message in violation of 47 U.S.C. 227 (d)(1)(B). Plaintiff has no prior business relationship with defendant, and has not consented to such communications. The TCPA affords Plaintiff a private right of action in State court pursuant to 47 U.S.C. 227 (b)(3). The Superior Court of the District of Columbia (Civil Division-Small Claims and Conciliation Branch) has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to D.C. 11-921 and D.C. 11-1321. Defendant is engaged in willing or knowing violations of the TCPA, and Plaintiff requests minimum liquidated damages of $500 and treble damages pursuant to 47 U.S.C. 227 (b)(3)(C).
I've been getting a flood of hits and email since yesterday when that PI article turned into a piece on KING 5 TV here in Seattle and, obviously, this Slashdot piece. When it rains, it pours. :)
I've won $7150 in small claims court. I've collected $2650, of which $1800 was from pre-trial settlements.
I've been doing this for about a year and I'd estimate I spend about twelve hours a month doing it. That works out to ~$18 per hour, which isn't too shabby in this economy. If you actually enjoy doing this sort of thing, it's that much better.
This hobby keeps getting more interesting every day. Two weeks ago I was contacted by an assistant attorney general in Arizona about one of my cases. They wanted to "compare notes." That same week, a police detective from Oregon contacted me, wanting to "share" information. It seems that these people might not have jurisdiction over the spammers (who violate more than Washington law when they hijack mail servers), so they're really rooting for me. The Oregon detective said he was hoping to come to my court case!
All in all, this is good fun and you get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing what slimebags most of these people are. Junk faxes and recorded calls are illegal under federal law as well as many state laws, so anyone can go after those folks and, if you enjoy playing detective at all, you really should.
My problem is worse then spam and soliciters, it's faxes. The kicker is I don't even have a fax machine. I finally borrowed one from a friend so I could get the number to call back and cancel but it takes time, and fax spamers don't seem to care what time it is, I get calls at 2am with no regard for the fact I am sleeping.
Most of them marketing faxes, some are from large companies who say they can't figure out were the fax is comming from (I haven't gotten any since my last call so I hope they figured it out), one is from the Nigeria scam. This is crazy, there needs to be a law regarding caller ID on faxes, If I hadn't borrowed a fax machine I would still be unable to call them. It's illigal to fax unsolicited, but I have to pay for the fax machine to find out who it is?
I would change phone numbers but I've had this one for about 6 months now, at first it was not bad but it got 100 times worse since then. Based on some of the faxes I am quessing my number used to belong to a realestate agency.
iRepairIT - iPhone, Mac, & PC Repair
Does anybody have URLs or information in regards to laws against unsolicited fax and email? And how to take similiar cases to small claims court?
...He was just doing what he was ordered.
You have a conscience, don't you? You have free will?
Telemarketing companies are evil, and everyone that works for them are evil.
"Hey don't be mad at us drug dealers, we are just trying to make a living, be mad at the cartels."
Collecting money is not that easy, and not that cheap. I had a service business for many years, and had to deal with a lot of deadbeats. Getting judgements was not the problem. Collecting the money was. Even if you already have the bank account info, and even if there's money in it, it costs a lot to collect it. At the very least, you have to get an abstract of judgement, then there's a fee to file the lien. Last time I did this, the courthouse fees alone were almost $200. On top of that, there's another fee to actually get the money from the offender's account. You have to pay this up front- the marshalls won't just take a commission, like lawyers will.
yeah fighting spam should be done the same way: if the SMTP server identifies a spammer (or open relay check or whatever), it should just tarpit the connection for as long as it can
I'd be willing to waste some of my bandwidth dealing with my part if everyone did like this, making spammers take minutes or hours just to send one message
I removed my phone line. It's great!!! No interruptions.
:)
My personal email only accepts known emails (no spam) as well.
Now if I can only get rid of my mail box. I tried removing it, they just place the mail on my doorstep. I'm thinking about putting out another trashcan with my mailing address on it.
-just hang up.
Take a listen to this from "This American Life" here:
http://www.thislife.org/
Click on the 02 archive and scroll down to the February 1 episode, "Plan B," and listen to "Act Four: A Fate Most of Us Fear" (requires RealAudio). It's one particular guy's telemarketing experience.
The MOST beneficial thing you can do for the poor schlubs in a telephone boiler room is to do ANYTHING out of the ordinary which keeps them on the phone longer than the 30 seconds or so that they are allowed to give their initial pitch. If you keep them on line then that gives the phoners a break from having to give their pitch again (and again and...). This also explains why they are more than willing to go along with almost any nonsense (short of ear damage and pure obnoxiousness) for minutes at a time.
...and, no, I did not listen to it again to see if you can skip to Act Four: once was quite enough for me, thank you!
I know I'm just preaching to the choir here, but...
Telemarketing should be outlawed. Seriously. All it does is annoy people and invade their privacy, and for what? So someone can get an easy paycheck? Come on. Get off your you-know-what, find a real job, and stop supporting an industry that does NOTHING but piss people off.
I pledge allegiance to the flag...
of the Corporate States of America...
Well, guess what? Rejection and dealing with rude customers is part of that job. If you want to be ignorant to telemarketers, feel free. It comes with the territory.
Next, I've read a couple posts suggesting we should be sympathetic due to the poor, unfortunate telemarketer's working conditions. A few months ago, I had an interview at a company called "DirecTel." They offered me a job, I accepted. The pay rate was $10/hr. No prior experience was necessary, and I got free dental (wooha!). I took the week of training, which consisted mostly of teaching me how to manipulate customers, how to place people into well defined 2-dimensional categories, and also how to ignore that constant moral nagging due to the fact that I was getting paid to annoy people. Anyways, I quit the job before I ever had to make a call, and paid my rent with the money I made during that first week of training. I ended up costing them money, which made me feel good about myself, even though DirecTel probably didn't give the slightest shit.
Most of my time during that week of training was spent taking people OFF the telemarketing lists while no one was watching, but one time, our slimy little supervisor/trainer guy took us out of the training room, and upstairs to see the place where all the magic happens. People were wearing expensive clothes, laughing with each other, standing and talking and genuinally seeming to enjoy themselves.
Certainly this is probably not the situation at all telemarketing companies, but I can say that the only part of the job that seemed especially UNAPPEALING to me was the fact that I had to annoy people to make a living.
Last thing (I promise)... the aforementioned slimy little supervisor/trainer person once told me that we were offering legitimate products to legitimate consumers, and that we shouldn't feel bad about our jobs as salespeople. The difference between a telemarketer and "Joe Smallbusiness" who owns a store in the local mall is that telemarketers make targets on (potentially) unwilling consumers. They're not out shopping, they're not looking through catalogues, they're in their homes.
At home... not at the marketplace.
"But the cars are all flashing me, bright lights are passing me, I feel life passing me by" - Stiff Little Fingers
I'm not sure if this is state or federal law, but if you ask them to remove you from their list, I think legally they're required to. My norm when I realise a telemarketer has called is "Please remove me from your list""click"
I never get callbacks *shrug*
Put your phone number in a newspaper, make it cheap, do it once and advertise you will "rate the telemarketers expertise for $1000 a call"
Simply answer the phone, get the pitch, request the address and phone number of the company.
Then, mail them a bill.
Once the bill is mailed, wait two weeks and file a lawsuit suing the company for not meeting a contractual agreement. Keep a copy of the ad handy and you will win in court.
I actually heard about a friend who did this and won. He did it quite often, he got quite a bit of money the first year. Now, he rarely ever gets calls.
Might be worth a try.
I've had 7 calls in 6 days about carpet cleaning. No I don't want to take any damn survey thank you and will you please take my name off your list. They say they will and then call back the next day. It's always a different voice.
Need Mercedes parts ?
Larry Parker got me, 2.1 Million....
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
I keep getting more and more spam by posting here on Slashdot. I don't know why. It's quite annoying.
Dancin Santa
Dancin_Santa@hotmail.com
You know, the company might actually be happy about the whole thing.
Many people read their website name in that article.
Sometimes even negative publicity is good publicity. Unfortunate but true, they are likely to get some sales as a result of that.
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
More so if they are senile or just bordering on it, they can really be taken for all their worth and more.
Pretty unscruplous and low for the average person, but not for telemarketers. Ohhh, and electronic salesmen.
So I can understand the logic behind the law, because this will intimidate the telemarketer to be more careful, and not so wily afterall.
I sig, therefore I was.
I was paying $25-30 a month for my basic phone service, with call waiting.
I was getting a lot of telemarketers. I bought the no solication for $5, which required caller ID for $8, and the $30 box.
Well later I found out Qwest's custom choice is only $50 a month, and I can forward my phone and get other features too.
So after a few months of $50 a month, I said the heck with it. I still get telemarketing calls anyway.
Cancelled the home phone last week (the wire gets cut Friday). My wife and I have cell phones and that will be plenty for me thank you.
YES, there is a McDonald's in Hanoi Square.
I'd be glad if anyone could send me (solicited) information
about german law on that subject?
fr2ty@freemail.hu
th@nkj.hu!