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Blocking Annoying Cell Phone Callers?

Posted by Cliff on from the wireless-spam dept.

RobertB-DC asks: "Twice a week, for the past several months, I receive a call on my cell phone, from a 'Restricted' number. It's always the same: 'Please hold for an important non solicitation message.' It then tells me to call 1-800-842-0640 for further instructions. When I call (from a CID-blocked work phone), all I can get from them is the company name: NCO. They won't tell me more about their company unless I tell who I am. Verizon says they can't block the caller. Short of exposing my own identity to someone I don't know, how can I get rid of these annoying calls?" Are there cell phone carriers who are progressive enough to offer call blocking services of some kind?

4 of 128 comments (clear)

  1. Apparently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    You're not alone.

  2. Okay, I just called them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    They're a credit agency .

  3. Why you should talk to them... by Tintivilus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If it's NCO the collections agency, and *YOU* are the debtor they're after, you've probably got them nailed.

    Third-Party collections agencies (professional debt collectors) are bound by federal law called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This stipulates that they cannot disclose any debt to anyone but the debtor and the creditor; hence, the stonewalling until they find out who you are. Even telling somebody that they know who you are can be a violation, since how would they know you if you didn't have a debt in collections?

    This is, however, beside the point. The kicker is that the FDCPA prohibits a collector from incurring expenses to the debtor in attempt to collect the debt -- more to the point, they cannot call collect or on a cell phone. I've done work for collection agencies before and they're very careful to make sure they never contact a debtor on a cellular phone, since that allows a debtor who knows "the act" to create a legal morass that's more trouble than its worth.

    You might as well tell them who you are. If you're not the one they're looking for, they'll take your number off the account and leave you alone. If you *are* the one they're looking for, you can make a stink and they may write off the debt as uncollectable.

  4. It is an extortion racket by wildzeke · · Score: 5, Funny

    I called the number and some guy calling himself McBride said I owed him $699.