No Call List Bypassed Using Call Centers in India?

lollipop17 asks: "My husband and I recently bought a house, and so our three months on the do not call list before we can file complaints is not quite over. We only have one business thus far that has called soliciting anything, but here's the catch: it's always a recording, and when I finally got through on the number they provided, 800-513-4524, the reps that answer are in India and have no idea what's going on other than they have a contract with an American company to take sales orders. The girl on the recording mumbles the business name, which seems to be 'All Digital Satellite,' which I could not locate via Google as it's so generic. Given the recent story about spam faxes, and solicitations overseas, do you think this is the future of telemarketing (the offshore location anyway)? Has anyone successfully filed a complaint with the FTC for violation of the do not call registry (for I am sure they will call again after our three months is over, they call at least twice a week)? Does anyone have ideas for tracking them down (i.e. local phone number or stateside address)? The message even seems fraudulent, but I cannot file a complaint with the better business bureau without local phone or address. Any ideas?"

Comments

Phone spam

[AtariAmarok]

That sounds like phone spam.. Illegal, arrives in garbled format, and from some shady scam outfit that does not want to identify itself.

Reminds of the few times I have received spam advertising products that took the "cover up" aspect too far: the return address was fake, the name of the product was not in the e-mail, and there was no link or phone # or any way for me to contact them if hell had frozen over and I actually did want to buy their product.

Re:Phone spam

[walt-sjc]

There are the "telezapper" products that may help, but they are kinda lame. I use a linux-based asterisk phone system. If your caller ID is not on the (mysql based) white list, you need to navigate the menu. Numbers I dial are automatically added to the white list, and I also have a web-based management tool for it.

There is also a Telemarketer Torture script for asterisk someone came up with... :-)

Robert Kirkpatrick

[Jane_the_Great]

I found this PDF press release that mentions a Robert Kirkpatrick at All Digital Satellite. Perhaps you can contact those responsible for this site to clue you in as to how you can get in touch with Mr. Kirkpatrick. Here's a link to the actual PDF file at the Winegard company's website.

This means .... war!

[Leffe]

Couldn't you consider this an attack on America and use it as an excuse to invade India :)?

Re:This means .... war!

[WarPresident]

Couldn't you consider this an attack on America and use it as an excuse to invade India :)?

Never pick a fight with a country that believes in reincarnation and has nuclear weapons.

Re:This means .... war!

[addaon]

If everyone left off the last eight words of that comment (or perhaps the last eleven), the world would be a better place.

phone bills

[rooskie]

I'd imagine if you kept them on the line long enough the overseas phone bill would add up on their end.

They can use VOIP

[AtariAmarok]

"I'd imagine if you kept them on the line long enough the overseas phone bill would add up on their end"

I thought of this too, but these scammers could probably use some sort of VOIP thing to get their voices from India into the US phone system without long distance charges.

Re:They can use VOIP

[jmt9581]

I thought of this too, but these scammers could probably use some sort of VOIP thing to get their voices from India into the US phone system without long distance charges.

That's a good point, but you're not just tying up the phone lines: you're tying up the telemarketer as well. Say something like "Hold on a second while I go get my wallet." Then put the phone down and walk away for half an hour or so.

Wonder if it's the same people who've called me

[Kraken137]

I've been on my state's do-not-call list for 2 years now, and I'm on the federal one as well now, but I've had 3 recordings left on my answering machine. They're all offers for satellite TV hookups, go on for quite some time, and only leave a number.

"Again, I can hook up all the TVs in your house with satellite for $XX a month."

Any idea if they are using VoIP?

[xmas2003]

While it seems the cost of using "classic" analog phone lines would make doing this type of soliciting cost prohibitive, I wonder if they are using VoIP to make the call, and therefore dramatically reducing their costs, thereby making it cost effective and also being outside the US/FCC control ... mostly.

I agree with another poster that ultimatelly these guys want to sell you something, and it is that company that should (also!) get busted big-time. These guys are in the same sewer as Email spammers - too bad we can't just have the Hulk drop on 'em! ;-)

Re:Any idea if they are using VoIP?

[Carnildo]

They are only outside US control if:
a) The company located outside the US
b) The call center is outside the US
and
c) The company's bank is outside the US

Contact your phone company

[alienw]

Recorded sales pitches are illegal in most states, and this constitutes harassment. Contact your phone company about tracing the calls. They have the capability to do this.

Also, the BBB will be completely useless here. You need to contact the Federal Trade Commission and the FCC. The former regulates various consumer-related things, and the latter enforces many phone regulations.

Re:Contact your phone company

[SenatorTreason]

Good call on this one.

If you live in Georgia, see this page.

"Unsolicited telemarketing calls placed by computer or delivering a recorded message are illegal under Georgia law."

I get a recorded message everyday saying that someone had entered my name into a contest for a free month of satellite television....grrrrrrr.....it's *soooooo* bogus.

"Be right Bach!"

[AtariAmarok]

" Then put the phone down and walk away for half an hour or so."

And since this is over IP, they might be incurring bandwidth and transmission charges. So, when you put the phone down, turn on a nearby tape player playing some J.S. Bach tocatta with some ridicolously high note resolution (32nd notes, etc) into the phone. Just to maximize the data going over their lines. You'll be on your way in no-time to actually succeeding in slashdotting a telemarketer.

You don't need to wait

[sribe]

My husband and I recently bought a house, and so our three months on the do not call list before we can file complaints is not quite over. We only have one business thus far that has called soliciting anything, but here's the catch: it's always a recording...

You don't need to wait 3 months. Using automated recordings for commercial phone calls was illegal, to any phone number, long before the do-not-call registry was in place. For what it's worth, every time I've gotten one of these it's from a local small business--some schmuck who doesn't know better and gets sold on the neat idea by an unethical firm who knows that use of its software will leave the user liable for bankruptcy-inducing fines...

Get Their Billing Address

[DynaSoar]

Ask the next caller for their address. Tell them you're a telemarketing consultant, and you'll be glad to listen to their pitch and rate it at your normal consultancy rate. If they give you an address, listen to their pitch, hang up, write them a letter telling them what you think of their pitch, and send it to them along with an invoice. If they don't pay, submit it to a collection agency. The resulting credit rating problems will make them notice.

I've never gotten past explaining what I needed the address for, and I've never gotten a return call from the same place. If I ever do get an address, they'll get my best effort to rate their pitch, and a bill for US$200.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

[KingOfBLASH]

Hoovers.com allows you to search for businesses, including the assumed name a company may be operating under. If the company pays taxes you can get informatin on them, although if you haven't paid money for the service they will ask you either to buy a subscription or a report. Still, the Information you'll find if you search their site should give you enough leads to track down the business and let the FTC know who to go after.

Yes!!!

[gottabeme]

That sounds like the same calls that I keep getting! Recorded message, wanting to sell satellite service, same voice every time, same sales pitch, saying things like "I was given your name by a friend as someone who might be interested in this." Yeah, right. We already have Dish Network and have no desire to change to any other service. I finally called the stupid 800 number and the first option on the menu was the one to remove your phone number from their list. That just shows how many people they are ticking off. In two or three months they called around ten times. It's like e-mail spam: they figure if they spam you enough you'll eventually buy something. Argh!

interesting phone recording

[kootch]

I received a phone call a few days ago in the middle of the day that when I picked the phone up it just said "we're sorry, this phone message was intended only for your answering machine" and then it hung up.

Very strange.

The real problem...

[skinfitz]

...is that the legal system is regional with the concept of jurisdiction, whereas communication technology is global.

It is simply a logical progression for phone / fax spamming companies to use this method of bypassing the law.

Now what I REALLY want to see, is a filtering system for telephone calls. For example, I want to have the ability to be able to block ALL calls using a white/blacklist, or perhaps automatically reject all calls from a certain area / country. I also want to be able to filter SMS text messages.

Re:The real problem...

[Nonesuch]

The original story does not say what number is shown for Caller-ID. I'd be interested to know if this call shows up as originating from India, or Out-Of-Area, or Unavailable, or what?

Now what I REALLY want to see, is a filtering system for telephone calls. For example, I want to have the ability to be able to block ALL calls using a white/blacklist, or perhaps automatically reject all calls from a certain area / country. I also want to be able to filter SMS text messages.

For GSM cellular on the Treo 600, the CallFilter application can filter both calls and SMS messages.

Of course, just switching to a cell phone instead of a landline pretty much solves the telemarketing call problem -- in the US it is a violation of federal law to make an unsolicited sales call to a mobile phone or any other recipient-pays telephone (ship to shore, etc).

They've only just begun to use the loopholes...

[ScrappyLaptop]

I'd been predicting it since the DNC list was announced and recently, I got my first loophole call!

Here's the loophole:

1.Non-profits are exempt from the DNC.

2.Non-profit needs funds.

3.Company pays NPO to make calls on their behalf.

Mine began,

Caller: "Hello, may I speak to (me)?"

Me: "Uh, speaking."

Caller: "Hi, I am calling from the (city) (religious organization) Community Center. Could you take a moment to answer a few questions?"

Me: (not wanting to go to Hell this week) "Uh, sure"

Caller: "Great! Are you (religion)?"

Me: "No."

Caller: "Is anyone in your house (of the XYZ religion)?"

Me: "No."

Caller: "Okay, that's all for that part of the questions, just a few more."

Me: "Great."

Caller: "How many telephones do you have at this number?"

Me: "What?"

Caller: "How many telephones do you have at the address for this phone?"

Me: "Why do you want to know how many phones I have?"

Caller: "Oh, we just want to ask about your long distance carriers"

Me: "What does this have to do with (religious organization)?"

Caller: (click)

This is who owns that 800#

[jaredcat]

This is who owns 800-513-4524

UniPoint Services / 512 735 1200

Re:stupid telemarketers

[wiggles]

Bill collectors are known to use these tactics. They'll try to call you, then if they can't get you, they'll just tell you to call them without leaving a name, only a number.

Are you paid up on your Beowulf cluster of Imacs?