Slashdot Mirror
Stopping Overseas Fax Spam?
iotashan asks: "Likely for most businesses, unsolicited faxes have become quite a problem. They needlessly use up toner and paper, and are usually just scams anyway. Specifically, we are receiving faxes from a company called Flamingo Travel. Now, they appear to bug business across the US, and some innocent parties are falling victim. I have used their automated system for having my fax number removed, to no avail. Is my only weapon having a bunch of friends call this 800 number to make the company's overseas toll-free phone bill unbearable?"
"The latest fax listed a number to call to take advantage of the offer (800-328-9795), so I called it and asked to be removed. The woman took down my number, but rather smugly told me that they are in England so they do not have to obey the US unsolicited fax laws. She wouldn't provide me with any other company information, and then stopped answering calls from my number after repeated hang-ups. The FCC says that it is a civil matter, and to go through the courts. The Fax Preference Service in the UK says they cannot help people outside the UK. Do I have nowhere to turn except an expensive lawyer, armed with no information about the company?"
Is my only weapon having a bunch of friends call this 800 number to make the company's overseas toll-free phone bill unbearable?
That's really not such a bad idea. Being that they're in an other country and illegally spamming, you can assume they aren't going to attempt to prosecute somebody that they themselves have illegally wronged.
Get a free VoIP service like Free World Dialup or something that lets you make 800 calls over the Internet. With most of them the caller ID shows up as random numbers across the US that they use to dial out. Then fax them tons and tons and tons of junk (read: goatse's) faxes through that.
Or you could just automate your VoIP program to call them every 30 seconds. Rack up the bills and annoy the hell out of them. Didn't Scott Richer get really pissed off when everybody submitted his email address to zillions of email lists?
Vonal Declosion
I think we should have a consistent answer to the guy who answers the 800 number. Something like "Sorry, wrong number. Bork bork." ?
--H
Slashdoting a fax line...I like it! And it's for a moderately good cause. How can you beat that?
EVERYDAY IS CATURDAY
Call them under a pseudonym, tell them you want to place an order for group travel for your company, have them fax a quote to you. Chances are they will use their real fax machine (programmed with their real phone number) instead of the auto-dial bank. If you can scam them under the pretenses of faxing an order, that's even better. Have a local (or use cheap voip service) to spam them back a copy of their advertisement, marked up liberally with a black marker.
While it probably won't get you off the list, it will make you feel better.
tape 2 a4 sheets of black paper together lengthways, feed into fax machine and send. When the fax starts to feed through, tape together into a loop and leave it.
:)
That'll use up their toner
Are you sure the return number is even theirs?
paintball
Seems to me that you could just rig up a computer to accept faxes, using ANI or caller id to refuse to accept anything you didn't get valid info for.
Set the jobs to auto-print and you are set. Use the old fax machine for outbounds only, rig it to not answer.
Woops, sorry, this solution requires more effort than plugging the machine into the wall. How could I have even brought it up.
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
If you're reading this, dial 1-800-328-9795.
One call won't hurt. Keep them on the line as long as possible. Ask what they're wearing and when they stopped beating their kids and stuff.
I asked how many people have let them know how despicable fax smapping is now. The woman answering said nonchalantly "Oh, not very many". I let her know they'd be getting a lot more very soon now.
"Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!"
The woman took down my number, but rather smugly told me that they are in England so they do not have to obey the US unsolicited fax laws. She wouldn't provide me with any other company information, and then stopped answering calls from my number after repeated hang-ups. The FCC says that it is a civil matter, and to go through the courts. The Fax Preference Service in the UK says they cannot help people outside the UK.
Now, I don't know about some third world countries, but isn't there a treaty that says something like "If a law is illegal in our country, your 'citizen' can't do it in our country.
Ok, one thing I am missing, how much does it cost them? I mean f they are sending the faxes from UK, it will be too costly, but if they are sending it via some sort of internet relay, go after the relay - they are in the US and must obey laws. What am i missing here?
-Em
RelevantElephants: A Somatic WebComic...
Scratch that, after searching a little more the number is right, dial away!!!!
My user number is prime. Is yours?
Why don't fax machines have whitelisting or blacklisting capabilities? Or do they?
Weren't they replaced by steam-powered typewriters or something?
Lemon curry???
I would not suggest having someone over in GB find their telephone circuit (ISDN-PRI, T1/E1, or whatever). Disconnect that line from the local telco provider (no need in creating collateral damage), and proceed to "test" the line.
For proper testing equipment, keep in mind that a normal telephone circuit runs about 40 VDC with 200 VDC spikes when ringing (your mileage may vary). Data lines tend to be much more voltage limited. As such, application of high voltage, say from a Megger or a VanDeGraff Generator, may cause "issues" with the CPE.
I would not recommend you do this, but then again, you are certainly welcome to use your imagination. Yes, the 220 VAC mains common in GB should create "interesting" results...
I keep a piece of black construction paper next to my fax machine. Granted this does not work for all my spam messages, but anyone who is bold enough to send unsolicited order forms that are to be faxed to their fax machine will be running out of toner daily. Economic solutions to SPAM do exist!
When we call we tell them we are minuto sombato from nigeria. We have a million dollars we need to transfer into an account and we need there help.
We kept getting junk faxes from some company with a 1-800 reply number. Well created a blank 250 page word doc that was nothing but a black background. It took half an hour to send the whole thing and I let it run for a few hours. Never heard back from them again.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
Try reading your link again. It is the same one noted in the story regarding "innocent parties". The page you linked at flamingo-travel.com explains the the number (1-800-328-9795) does belong to the offending company.
"Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado!"
Not a bad weapon if you consider Slashdot a bunch of friends.
Wonder-slash powers activate!
Form of a massive 800 number DoSing!
Shape of a six digit phone bill!
I was a victim. I finally got so pissed off at them coming in at 2-4am to my home phone that doesn't even have a fax machine hooked up that I changed my number... Unfortunately the new number belonged to some guy that is in huge debt with his creditors and they call constently. Also I forgot that I would no longer be on Missouri's no call list so telemarketers were calling quite a bit too. I think no call has kicked in because the calls seem to have dropped. The were almost all automated calls which is interesting because before the MO No Call list most telemarketing was done by live people.
If you guys want to organize a day where we call all the 800 numbers of spammers and junk faxers count me in. I've got a couple of numbers I've been collecting that I can throw into the pool.
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
Why it's the AT-5000 Auto-Dialer! My very first patent. Aw, would you listen to the gibberish they've got you saying it's sad and alarming? You were designed to alert schoolchildren about snow days and such. Well, let's get you home to Frinky. Hope your wheels still work.
If it didn't, people wouldn't do it.
I know somebody who runs a fax list. He's very religeous about getting you off his lists right away if you want off, but he's more liberal than I would prefer about what constitutes "opt in"...
It works.
He's getting business - lots of it. In his own words, he's "on a roll". It's cheaper and more effective to send junk faxes than to post legitimate ads in the trade magazines!
He's not selling penis pills or anything like that - just an independent broker promoting his services, which services he otherwise competently provides.
He'll continue this until the money runs out, like anybody else in his position.
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
I called, heard the phone pick up, "Reservations". So I said "I need reservations", and she hung up on me. Then I called back again and they picked up with no response. I said "Hello?", and they hung up.
So then I called and said "You're gonna die bitch". And then heard a bunch of women laughing.
Vonal Declosion
The poster mentioned the Fax Preference Service in the UK wouldn't help him track down and stop a UK-based faxer. However, he didn't mention whether the FCC would help a non-US fax recipient track down and stop a US-based faxer. Perhaps someone can find and link to the FCC's policies regarding foreign complaints, but in the meantime, be careful with attacking back with auto-dialers, looping faxes, and the like (not that they don't deserve it...just don't set yourself up for more greif).
There are a few free long-distance fax networks out there. Some or all of the members have a phone line, and faxes are sent online to someone who's computer can dial the number locally.
As a result you may receive both legitimate and spam faxes from the same number. Most companies will send faxes directly over the phone, but individuals or thrifty small businesses have a fair chance of sending them by either method.
Since they're spamming, they're probably not paying long distance charges.
Even our spam is getting outsourced. Keep American spammers employed, buy your useless crap only from American spammers.
Share your offshoring story - My Job Went Over
Get a fax that read in line by line, with the output near to the input. Get a piece of black paper that is long enough, feed it trhough, and connect the ends. Continous fax that will run out their toner and might even overheat an older unit.
(looks around nervously)
;)
If you have their fax number, especially if it's an 800#...
Take 4 sheets of black construction paper and tape them together end to end so they will feed through your fax machine. Once the first sheet is through, quickly tape it to the last sheet to create a continuous loop.
If they use conventional fax, use up their paper and toner. If they store faxes electronically, a continuous loop should eat up some storage
"Lame" - Galaxar
I checked on the guy who posted this.. there's really no history of him posting anything on slashdot prior to this--
iotashan
Seems like a banner click thru scam, but this time it's with a 1-800 number. Brilliant.
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
Who the hell uses a fax machine anymore anyways???
Normal businesses and people, that's who.
When an editor wants to send back a marked-up piece of copy, they do it by fax. Any real editor in the world will tell you that you don't edit online. You do it with proofreaders' marks, circles, arrows, writing in between lines, etc.
If you are, or are dealing with, a lawyer, a real-estate agent, or anyone who works with contracts, you exchange the contracts via fax. (Typing your name in e-mail doesn't count as a signature.)
The business world still relies on faxes because they work better than e-mail for many purposes.
Most people don't have sheetfeed scanners, so they can't put a 15 page document in their scanner and just walk away. They have to feed it page by page, so don't even bother with the use-a-scanner-and-e-mail-it line.
However, spammers always lie - if they're using an 800 number, there's a high probability that it really _is_ in the US, and they're just claiming to be in England to make you go away. Or the 800 number could be going to a VOIP box in the US which connects them to a call center in the UK. So trace the call - at least with callerid, if nothing else (though that's often inaccurate) and see if you can find out where it's from. If the call is coming in on a direct analog phone line, you can also use one of the phone company features like *69 or your local telco's call tracing versions to check further.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
One of the most persistent offenders is a two-bit little box-pushing laser printer and supplies company in the north of Sydney called 'IT Imaging' (sales@itimaging.com.au). Their business practises are pretty suspect at the best of times, for eg I called them for a quote on a printer once (that I didn't go through with - too expensive) and they started calling my contemporaries in other departments saying "We're doing business with him, maybe you want to buy from us too?". They're big on junk faxes too.
When I get cold calls or junk faxes, I just add them to my "don't buy from these arseholes" list, and they stay there for a year. A polite email/fax to the effect of "As a direct and specific consequence of your decision to send me junk [mail|spam|call], I have added your company to my department's do-not-buy list, and your company will not be considered for any [insert product here] requirements for one year from this date]".
The Apple Centre in Taylor Square are another junk faxer of note here in Sydney, and they're pretty much a permanent resident on the "do not buy" list too!
Got a call from a girlie trying to be all official sounding, "calling on behalf of sales executive Mister Sales Droid from Fuji Xerox, wondering if you want to buy printers, blah blah". "We like Fuji Xerox as a company, here, because FX sustainable business practices are something we like, BUT, as a direct and specific result of your call...". They get off the phone real quick when you tell them that. I guess they want their year to start as soon as possible, so it will be over ASAP! :-)
Admittedly, this doesn't help with the anon and hard to contact fax spammers, but it seems to work pretty well on the ones who actually want to do quasi-legitimate business with you.
I find your ideas intriguing and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
And they're almost certainly receiving the fax on a fax modem, so sending lots of black bits just uses up jpeg space, not human attention. You really want to send them lots of faxes that _look_ like they're real requests, so humans need to waste time reading them.
Bill Stewart
New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
Ok finaly a subject I know something about. My background is that I repair fax and copiers for a major Chicago copier dealer. I am curently trained on over 25 models of fax and 20 multi function or fax/copier/printer all in ones.
First off most faxes have whats called a junk or spam fax number blocking list. You will have to read how to access it for your fax , but they all have it. Simply add the number to the list and no more faxes will come your way from them.
Second if you want to pay this person back I have a way designed to hurt someone bad. Simply make 5 copies with the lid up on a copier, this will give you 5 black sheets. Next tape them end to end . Put tape on the end of the long black strip. Insert it in your fax and dial the number. As the lead edge comes through the scaner tape the lead edge with the tape on the end creating a loop. Leave this send for 5 or 60 mins.
On the other end black sheets will pour out and will not stop. If done on a thermal machine the print head is toast. Best to do it in the middle of the night as no one will be there to unplug the fax.
I trust Microsoft as far as I could comfortably spit a dead rat
Be careful, calling an 800 number may cost you $$l lfre e.htm
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/tmarkg/to
When you work for a company someday, you'll find that no one wants to pay someone to hack a damned fax machine solution. Believe it or not, most people have jobs that don't allow them such free time. Wanting to "just plug it in" is a quite reasonable expectation. Just because everyone around here has the time, skill, and disposition to fuck around with their hardware doesn't everybody does
Not to mention that a standard fax machine is simpler and more stable than a computer-based solution for those companies that aren't large enough to really devote time to doing it right.
Also, there are a lot of reasons why someone's info might not show up on Caller ID - such as being behind a PBX in some instances - and that would basically be giving up on business.
All in all, that was a very good suggestion for those who don't actually have to run a real business.
According to the website provided by Slashdot:
They are coming from a company in Florida calling themselves Flamingo Travel... they sell time shares.
-B
Yeah, works great for me. It re-writes caller-id based on the names in my Mac's address book, recognizes certain callers and uses distinctive ring to tell what's happening, blacklists other numbers. I'm using it to send long-distance calls out via VoIP while still sending local calls via the POTS line that I can't get rid of. Great fun. Details on my blog.
For academic purposes only. Know the laws of your state.
First, you'll need a credit card number.
Visa numbers are constructed like this like this:
Start with the digit 4
16 digits altogether
The checksum they must pass is:
Take the even digits, double them, and add the resulting digits together to get a new digit. (or just map 0-9 to 0246813579 for the even digits).
Then add all the digits together. If it's a multiple of 10, the card number is valid. A quick way to generate would be to start with 4 plus 14 random digits, calculate the checksum of those 15 digits, and subtract from 10 to get the remaining digit.
Their machines will initially accept them, and be forced to contact visa to verify their correctness, at which time they'd fail, but result in small charges to their merchanct account. Enough bad card numbers can get an account suspended.
Evidently this Flamingo Travel has been getting complaints about the one sending spams and it is affecting their business as well. A message is at the top of their website saying it is a different Flamingo Travel.
A bit un-related but the most annoying fax SPAM of all: getting Fax SPAMS on voicemail.
A friend had been getting faxes through voicemail for office supplies. I transferred what part of the fax that was on voicemail to a real fax machine. A complaint to the telephone company (Bell Canada) later and no more! The telephone companies usually take action pretty fast.
Click on the website of the site and you will get the following message (It's probably a good idea to calm down now): We have been recieving phone calls from people angry that we are sending them fax specials like $99 to Disney and Kids Free. Please know that they are NOT coming from Flamingo Travel Group in Pennsylvania. They are coming from a company in Florida calling themselves Flamingo Travel. Their phone number is 1-800-328-9795 and they sell time shares. FILE YOUR COMPLAINT: http://ftp.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/unwantedfaxes .html
***We do not send faxed specials...ever...period.***
***We do not send email blasts...we only send email to people that ask for it***
***We remove people right away if they change thier mind at any time.***
***We value our privacy and we would never violate yours by sharing privledged contact information. ***
***We have nothing to do with time shares. Personally, I think they are a bad idea***
A reputable Travel Company will provide you with:
1. A Physical Address of thier place of business.
2. Their phone, fax and email information.
3. Their IATA number.
4. They will never ask for your income information...it's none of thier business.
5. Any reputable company should allow you time to check them out, offer information to help you check them out and this information should be verifiable.
It costs the recipient $0.25+ for each call from a payphone. Hit'em where it hurts.
"To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
hrm.. I currently have a cluster on an unmetered t3 hammering the shit out of them..
anyone got the real addy?
anime+manga together at last.. in real time.
JunkBUSTERS has a good web page on dealing with junk faxes. They also have lots of good, practical advice on lots of other related communications abuses. This is a site that is well worth checking out.
Signatures are a waste of bandwi (buffering...)
You can still take them to small claims court. Keep in mind, you can recover $500 plus collection expenses. Thus it is $500 plus the cost of having the suit served in England and your court fees.
After you get a judgement (which you will do since they will most likely not show up), you can put a lien on any propety or bank accounts or other aspects of their business in the United States. You may even be able to approach Visa / Mastercard and attach a lien against their accounts. Furthermore, once you have a judgement, you should be able to pursue them across national lines due to the many treaties that are in place.
I sure would like to see their expression once they realize that yes, you can pursue them across national bounderies. -Art
You're right, slashdot is definitely the arena to put something like this if you want mass calls. If you don't have access to this though you may be able to fight it a different way. Here's an example...
I got those same FaxSpam messages and tried getting unsubscribed many many times. I left messages, I left my contact information and in turn got fed up and applied a technical response to the problem.
The number listed on my FaxSpam was a 3+ minute recording of some guy yacking about the fool proof money making method of the month. I'm sure it cost him $.25 per call considering the legth of the message.
I had a bank of innactive modems for a newly de-installed dial-in system for my company. I fired it back up and attached it to a management computer. I then proceeded to plug all 48 modems back into our PBX lines (no numbers listed to be blocked) and wrote a cute script to war-dial on all 48 modems the 800 number listed. I ran the script for about an hour to test its stability and then shut it off.
I figured I'd give the spammer one more shot to remove my company's information and called the number in person. I left a polite message saying who I was and that I was once again requesting to be removed from his fax list. I left my number and a temporary e-mail address saying, that I was aware of how much each call was costing him and that I would repeatedly call to take up his time and money. I waited 24 hours and gave him every chance to remove me. That next night we received the same barage of fax spams to all of the fax machines at my company. I turned my script back on and let the program run away. It ran for about 36 hours before I received a call back from the guy that ran the FaxSpam list. He had left the message whie I was out of my office but it boiled down to him begging me to stop calling. By the time I got the message(2 hours later), the 800 number had been disconnected. We noticed a significant drop-off in FaxSpam before I left the company.
So use a pay phone. It's safer anyway because toll free numbers always get your caller ID even if you block it. Plus they actually get billed a surcharge to receive calls from payphones.
I used to get serveral junk faxes every day. I called the phone company to modify the fax line configuration only to accept calls that presented caller ID information. This stopped all of the junk faxes.
Do I have nowhere to turn except an expensive lawyer, armed with no information about the company?
No, you could always post an article on Slashdot with the actual 800 number, implicitly urging innumerable irritable geeks to inundate them with bizarre crank calls.
Wait, you already did that.
Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
800 number scams
Seems you need to agree beforehand to a billing arrangement or provide a CC # before you begin recieving 'services'.
We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
I run a home business, and I feel utterly at the mercy of these parasites. Between calls, faxes and junk email, I am kept in a constant state of agitation and unproductivity. My plan has always been that if my business ever fails and I no longer have any monetary assets to loose, I will drop out of society and drift from city to city sabotaging telemarketers (stealing paper and toner, cutting phone lines, etc... nothing too violent). It is pleasing to know that I have a fall-back plan.
I don't mean to give anyone ideas, but I'd be surprised if among the entire Slashdot community there isn't someone ready to do this. Such a person would become a hero to millions! One drawback is the possibility of prison time, and potential mistreatment - so keep this in mind. Also, don't physically hurt anyone.
greetings earthlings
I'm not yet sure of the details, but do you remember the scene in Brasil where the Central Services guys were "fixing" the HVAC systems in the appartment, and then Tuttle comes in on his zip line and does a cross-over between the sewer output line and the suit air input line and then the two Central Services guys suits fill up with sewage and explode? We need to somehow cross-connect the fax spammers with 419 scammers so they work on eachother.
800 is always toll free. 899 or something like that might be a toll number. that is the scam you heard about.
Well, there's about a 1 in 10^13 chance of that happening for the actual number. Plus, you'd need to get the expiry date correct. Assuming a conservative 2 year window for month/year combinations, this makes it 24 times less likely you'd stumble upon a valid one. Oh, and not to mention the name wouldn't match. Suffice it to say I don't think you'd ever hit upon a valid credit card number with matching expiry in your lifetime.
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
At the risk of bringing my poor server to it's knees, or getting a huge bandwidth bill, here's a copy of the lastest spam fax: http://www.iotashan.com/spamfax.gif
Behold the glorious bragging rights
1-800-KaBloom
1-800-884-9510
The first seems to want to sell flowers. You have to press 1 or 2 to talk to someone, so configure that into your modem dial scripts (a comma will add a pause in the dial sequence, so put in enough to let them answer before autodialing the extension).
The second is trying to sell computers, and a human answers right away.
I chatted with the people at both ends, and they were quite friendly. They said I'd have to ask customer service if I wanted to get my questions answered about how profitable their spamming was. Unfortunately customer service has already gone home for the day.
Have fun!
This is a blatant call to action for vigilante harassment. It is irresponsible and unjustifiable to publish such an article.
Yes, this company is scum sucking slime. If you call a toll-free just to harass them, so are you.
To all the posts claiming that it is too expensive to send faxes from the UK, think again. For $2.95 a month here in Canada I get 6 cents (Canadian)/minute to the UK whereas for an extra $2.95/month I can only get 7 cents/minute to somewhere else in Canada so it would actually be cheaper to fax Canada from the UK than from within Canada!
We used to get a fax for free hair stuff until we took a 6 foot length of paper wrote "Stop Faxing us" on it, fed one end into our fax machine, created a big loop and faxed it back to the company once they had cloed up for the night... If you can get their fax number by hook or by crook... give it a try. If anything it will either tie up their computer fax or kill thier stack of paper and toner in one night.
Feed my eyes...
To save your server from that fate, I'll pseudo-transcribe the fax:
###
Disney Vacation (KIDS ARE FREE!)
4 Days
3 Nights
in Orlando
$99 per person
double occupancy
This Special Rate is Limited to the first 50 Purchasers Today!
{[Ask about our all inclusive 3 day 2 Night Cruise to the Bahamas!]}
INCLUDES: 2 Disney Tickets FREE!
Buy (Disney Vacation Package) get (Cruise Vacation Package) FREE!
BONUS: Daytona Beach 3 Days 2 Nights
Purchase Today and Receive Complimentary Air Voucher to Jamaica, Mexico or Las Vegas PLUS 2 Nights Accommodations!
1-800-328-9795
CALL NOW
LIMITED AVAILABILITY
Processing and accomodation fee not included. To have your fax number removed please call 1-888-211-8303 . Time share tour optional.
###
That was harder than it looks. The layout of that page is horrible.
First, a bit about UK law, which they do have to comply with if they are doing this from the UK. If you contact them directly and ask to be removed from their list, then they are committing an offense if they call you again.
The FPS is a UK-wide do not call list maintained by the Direct Marketers Association. All marketers are supposed to treat it the same as having called them directly to be removed from the list, but the only penalty for not following this seems to be a slap on the wrist and maybe getting booted out of the DMA. The DMA is not interested in enforcing the law, particularly against non-members.
Ultimately, enforcement is up to Ofcom and the Information Commissioner. If you do make a complaint, be sure to include the response you got from FPS, I'm sure they'd be interested to see how self-policing by the DMA really works.
When you start receiving repeated offers from a fax marketer, determine who the company really is, play along to get them to send a for-real offer via fax, then fax them a rejection of their offer and fax them a counteroffer to "evaluate future fax advertising materials". for $500.00 per each junk advertising fax you receive in the future.
Note specifically in your counteroffer fax that you are responding to their initial fax offer and their faxed followup for-real offer. Throw in a few terms and conditions like: liquidated damages of $2500 (or the maximum your local small claims court will give), net 30 billing, the name you will bill them under (such as "Advertising Evaluation Services Company"), and MOST IMPORTANT: TELL THEM THAT THEY CAN ACCEPT YOUR COUNTEROFFER BY SENDING ANOTHER FAX ADVERTISEMENT FOR THEIR GOODS AND SERVICES TO YOUR FAX NUMBER, THE SAME ONE THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN USING. Otherwise (you tell them) they no longer have your permission to use your computer and computer supplies (such as fax paper and toner) by sending advertisements to your fax number.
Now, when you receive their next fax, do exactly what you said you would do in your counteroffer: take a look at it, then prepare a bill for your time and send it to their billing office. They may pay it right away, especially if it looks official, you use some business-like name and provide a nice classy professional description of your services. If they do not pay, after a couple months file suit in small claims court for the maximum small claims amount allowed, typically $2000-5000 or so. (assuming, of course, your faxed counteroffer had a per-occurence liquidated damages clause of whatever that maximum is.
So what happens? They may pay automatically. If not, you file suit in small claims. By the time they realize that they have made an offer (the initial fax and/or the followup fax), received a counter offer (your fax back to them with your rejection and your modified terms) and have accepted the counteroffer (when they kept sending you advertisements), it will be too late. You will have hardcopies of their initial offer, your counteroffer, and copies of the faxes you received in response to your counteroffer. If I were a small claims judge, I would see this as a slam dunk case in your favor, and would be laughing hysterically in chambers afterward when I ordered them to cough up the cash. Of course, it only works if the company is local or regional and therefore amenable to small claims.
You see, the internet and fax machines permit them to go make offers like crazy, throwing trash terms and advertisements at everyone heedlessly. They do not check up on who is sending the offers out, whether illegally to blocked numbers or not. They just don't care. Their management systems are not tight and things (like obeying the law and actually reading your counteroffer) fall between the cracks.
The process I describe above, as long as you respond to their faxes, as long as you tell them very plainly exactly what you are going to do and how you will bill them, etc, and as long as you keep paper copies of all the faxes you receive from them and send to them, cannot be considered as fraud. Believe me, if they catch on only after paying several of your bills, they will feel like utter fools, but there is no judge in the land who would find your actions to be fraudulent or criminal if you were quite upfront. Indeed, most would gleefully realize how you finessed the fax monsters and order them to pay up immediately in small claims.
NOTE: I am not your attorney. If you want an attorney, hire one. If you are interested in this idea, take it to your local attorney and get his opinion.
the phone system itself is responsible for some misdials. The original analog phone system design requirement was for high availability, i.e. the system is always up and running.
Just to point out that the when the phone system was designed, they had no term "high availability". It is a machine. They built it well. Just as everyone who built any kind of machine at the time.
The term "high availability" wasn't invented (due to lack of necessity) until people began attempting to run web servers on Windows.
Necessity is the mother of invention. (Lazyness is the father.)
The price of freedom is eternal litigation.
Nuisance/Unsolicited calls or fax are certainly against the rules and the company can be cut off of even prosecuted.
http://www.ofcom.org.uk.