Slashdot Mirror
FTC Announces Crackdown on Do Not Call Violators
Tech.Luver writes "The Federal Trade Commission today announced a law enforcement crackdown on companies and individuals accused of violating the requirements of the National Do Not Call Registry, resulting in six settlements collectively imposing nearly $7.7 million in civil penalties, along with an additional complaint that will be filed in federal district court.
The actions, brought by the Department of Justice on the FTC's behalf, are against companies ranging from adjustable bed seller Craftmatic Industries, to alarm-monitoring provider ADT Security Services and lender Ameriquest Mortgage Company. To date, consumers have put more than 145 million numbers on the Registry, indicating they do not want to receive calls from telemarketers at home."
Maybe the took that complaint I lodged 3 years ago seriously... It's about time this type of thing started happening.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/10/dnctestimony.shtm
Make sure you contact your congress critter about the permanency of the DNC list.
Either that or just make sure to register again in 5 years.
Just think about it: "If you think you have been affected, fill this form with your name, phone number and availability and we will gladly contact you with more information about ... "
Go here.
Weeks of coding saves hours of planning.
no doubt everyone's going to start moaning about how the government is yet AGAIN censoring the activities of upstanding all-american companies... aren't they?
Hardly censorship, and if you are trying to point out some sort of hypocricy, you are on weak footing
You might also note: companies are no allowed to drive around at 1am with a giant bullhorn aimed at homes, selling their products. CENSORSHIP!?!? No.
The freedom of speech includes the freedom not to listen.
"Little does he know, but there is no 'I' in 'Idiot'!"
Have one important drawback - they tend to apply only within the host country. Some of these scam^h^h^h^h telesales-marketing companies operate from oversees (ie. from Canada calling EU countries)..
"A nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it." - Churchill
Unless one specifically indicates to -one- firm at a time that they don't mind and might even like to be called about their latest news/offers (ala email/newsletters)?
NO ONE wants to be called by -random- telemarketers at home, selling what usually amounts to nothing but a flat out scam. It's preposterous we continue to accept it as a 'part of the market' or whatever it is that makes us keep allowing it to happen at all.
Not that I'd mind mobs lynching marketers...
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
To date, consumers have put more than 145 million numbers on the Registry, indicating they do not want to receive calls from telemarketers at home.
Now if only they'd remove the exemptions for charities and politicians, I'd call this a job well done.
The FCC has become as effective as the UN with regard to policy enforcement.
You might also note: companies are no allowed to drive around at 1am with a giant bullhorn aimed at homes, selling their products. CENSORSHIP!?!? No.
More likely they couldn't find anyone prepared to do the job. Especially after the first few angry (and sleep deprived) mobs.
Whereas with someone doing the same by telephone you can't do much to retaliate.
And hardly "all-american". Many of the telephone spam companies use third-world call centers who speak English well, better than many Americans, but whose accents are noticeably Mexican, Indian, Pakistani, etc.
The government saw telemarketing was a growing problem, and for all intents and purposes, fixed it. Taking a decision that results in lost jobs is usually antithetical to US politicians, but they did it anyway. Thanks for representing the people!
The problem now is the charity exemption. Years ago I don't recall receiving anywhere near the charity solicitations that I do now. Charities seem to be popping up out of the woodwork.
For example, it used to be you'd get a call from a real local police person once a year, asking to donate to their fund, and receive tickets to their annual comedy show or some such where you could meet the actual people. Now there's the police safety education fund, the police widows fund, the police families fund, the police community fund, the state police fund, etc. etc. (I'm making up some of these names since I don't remember them, but you get the idea), most of which seem to have nothing to do with the local police dept and are obviously being made from telemarketing centers. Some of them offer official stickers to put on your house door or your car, with the unstated implication that it might be good to have them if you're stopped, or worse it might be bad not to have them... And double all this for the firemen's funds. Never mind the innumerable "special olympics".
I'm all for helping my local police, but this is ridiculous. I know some people have no trouble brushing them off, and I force myself to do that too, but with that twinge of guilt that some widow may now starve because of me (even though rationally I suspect it's a scam) - and I imagine many nice aunts and grandmothers are easily sucked into their pitches.
I know, call screening and all that. Unfortunately I'm an old-fashioned person who tends to answer the phone when it rings. On the other hand, I've come to recognize the few seconds of silence after I say "hello", and then the sudden telemarketing background noise when their computer switches me into the next free telemarketer. *Plonk*.
It's fairly weak retaliation to a phone solicitor, but ...
... or take a nice walk outside, weather permitting. Don't forget to hang the phone back up when you are done.
(1) Get their agent interested and when you're sure they're listening closely, blow the rape-whistle into the phone as loud and as long as you can.
(2) Once again, make sure the agent is invested in you as a potential customer; when they get into their long speach about how you need whatever they're selling, tell them you need a short pause to tend to a bothersome child. Then, leaving the phone on a table or nearby flat surface, walk away and watch some TV
Yesterday, I got my first call in years that wasn't from a wrong number or someone I knew.
They started off asking for me by name, and I asked why. They said they wanted to do a survey. I said, 'Do you not know I'm on the Do Not Call list?' 'We're not trying to sell anything.' After about 2 minutes of nastily telling him that he was profiting from me, and therefore WAS selling something, he said 'We'll call back tomorrow.' and hung up before I could reply. That was at 5pm... Yeah, dinner time. Another 'Unknown' number called at 8pm, but I hung up before they could talk.
I'm hoping they do call back again today so I can yell at another one of them and waste their time. I'm asking for a manager straight off this time.
It's kind of nice to have someone to yell at again... It's almost a shame the DNC list works so well.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
The arrogance of some companies! Maybe it was a mistake and they 'didn't know' but too bad, they're a business and they're supposed to know. This doesn't help much here in Australia, but maybe you poor Americans will be left alone to eat your dinner in peace/.
Another 'Unknown' number called at 8pm, but I hung up before they could talk.
Wrong thing to do. You should make it sound like you are interested but then say you prefer to speak on another extension (or that they should talk to your wife instead). Then just lay the handset down. 10 minutes later you return to hang up.
It will waste their time and their money.
Instead of going after voice spammers for simply filling a market void, instead of creating burdensome bureaucracy and yet more laws, there should be a free-market, technical solution to this problem.
Allow the market to function, and such a thing will happen. Allow the government to function, and you'll have a half-assed law that only gets enforced when it's profitable.
[ think ]
TM: Hi, would you be interested in switching over to TMI long distance service.
Jerry Seinfeld: Gee, I can't talk right now. Why don't you give me your home number and I'll call you later.
TM: Uh, I'm sorry we're not allowed to do that.
Jerry Seinfeld: Oh, I guess you don't want people calling you at home.
TM: No.
Jerry Seinfeld: Well now you know how I feel.
Bark less. Wag more.
I can't find a location on th net for them - at least a company by that name that would issue a card. There is a "Card Services International" that will process them.Anyway, it smells REAL fishy and I can't get information to report them.
There's also the folks who offer "free" services and then they'll sell you stuff when they get to your house. The water testing companies love to do this. Their marketing folks will say your water is unsafe and they'll test it for free. When they get to your house they'll try to sell you a filtration system that doesn't work well for hundreds $$$ You can get one in the home centers much cheaper and their's work. So, there's plenty of folks who are getting around it.
I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.
I'm sure lots of lonely people out there would like to sign up to such a registry!
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
I get repeated solicitations from an outfit called "Non-Profit services". It's the standard Disabled Firefighters/Police, "Dogs against Drugs", etc. I know all of this because they persisted in calling so many times, I actually took the time to make them identify themselves and the charities they were calling for.
According to data provided by the states of Indiana and Washington, these guys keep roughly 85% of donations -- only 15-16% goes to the charities. I was surprised that any charity would allow such a thing, only to realize that plenty of them are spending most of the proceeds on administrative overhead.
I wonder what kind of person would give a credit card number (or anything else) to an anonymous caller. Obviously someone does, because the calls continue. Giving money to these people is not a whole lot different than throwing it out the window.
Is it just me, or doesn't the Do Not Call List seem extremely uncharacteristic of the US Government?
It is *literally* the only bit of significant legislation I can think of in the last 15 years solely designed to protect consumers, and punish abusive corporations.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
2. The phone companies should be forced to provide - at no charge - an option to reject calls with blocked or out of area caller ID. Even for those customers who don't subscribe to caller ID. Such calls are invariably sales or other solicitation pitches and, as they are always unwanted, harassing and NOT protected by law. Since the phone company has taken explicit steps to allow people to obfuscate their identification for the purpose of harassment they are co-conspirators. Ideally the people who made the decision to authorize this harassment would be punished, but as that is exceptionally unlikely just force them to provide free call blocking. Cut into their revenue stream? Charge the calling banks $1.00 for every number they dial that is blocked. Now THAT would be incentive for people to honor the DNC lists!
If the g'vt kept the data on you that google does you'd better believe you'd be calling it "doing evil"
Yesterday, I got called by "Asia," saying she was from a local Chiropractor's office and wanted me to come in for a "Free" Spinal Analysis.
I reported the call to the State licensing board, saying that if he is hiring "fly-by-night" telemarketing companies, it was possible that he is doing questionable practice. I also reported the call to the FTC and called my Chiropractor (who went to the same, very respected, College) to complain.
Usually, whenever I inform the caller that my phone is on a "Do Not Call" registry, they hang up and try not to give me any information about their company or whereabouts.
I used to live in an illegal sublet in NYC and all calls were for a "Mr. or Mrs SomeotherLastname." I would very calmly inform the caller that I was "Mr. SomeotherLastname's" brother from the midwest and that they had just passed away. I would very politely enquire if they had an open account with them or some other business with them. This was before the Do Not Call Registry was set up and it was very amusing to hear the reactions.
Gods don't kill people, people with gods kill people.
bunbun FTW
http://sluggy.com/images/comics/980326a.gif
I will not give in to the terrorists. I will not become fearful.
I've been getting the really annoying phone call for last 2 months or more now on a weekly basis. The gist is, you pick up and an automated recording lasting more than 2 minutes begins to play. The call display sometimes shows a phone number but most often does not. It then asks to press 1 to speak to someone or "2" to be placed on do-not call list. I hang up incase its a scam for long-distance calls.
The volume on these calls alone is deafening. The phone volume alone makes me feel like I'd really like to give someone there a piece of my mind should I ever encouter them.
In any case, I've reason to believe the calls are coming from the US. The company never identifies itself. But I've google searched the call and its been narrowed down to one three companies.
I live in Canada. The police, our "do-not-call" registry, the government, etc can't do anything unless I am the victim of a crime. I can't even report it. The telco I'm with wants money to block these calls. They won't tell me the actual phone number of the caller and would only release to police under court order. I've looked on-line to report in the US. I'd report to the BBB of the state where caller is located but I don't know the call display to be accurate.
Any suggestions would be welcome. I'd really like to take down as many as these clowns from calling people as possible. We all benefit!
Answering in another language or gibberish is fun. Speak Java or C++ to them. Klingon is good.
One ring to bind them - should probably have more fiber and less rings in their diet.
I try to engage in conversations with these people, when they are people, and try to convince them to let the missionaries from my church come and visit them. You would be surprised with how receptive these people are. I guess that is the risk for calling Utah.
I don't want no blasted settlements. I want them to fine the companies involved for the full amount under the law. If that drives them out of business, I say Good Riddance!
To stop legal callers such as political parties and non-profits, just say this and no more:
"Put me on your Do-Not-Call list."
--
U.S. Government corruption TimeLines
Example: Complete 911 Timeline, 3895 events
They've been doing that for years. I think they've gotten sued for it on multiple occasions. I also seem to recall hearing that they're disintegrating and shrinking due to the collapse of the sub-prime market, but I could be wrong there.
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
I get those. If I'm in the mood, I'll do the "push 1 to setup an appointment". Then I'll sound interested, ask the rep for company info, etc... and then inform them that I'm filing a DNC violation with the FCC.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Seriously, consider VoIP. Because VoIP is actually a competitive market, all the extras the telcos charge an arm and a leg for are normally thrown in at the base price. Voicemail, caller-id, conference-calling, selective-call-block, etc, all included. Of course, US/Canada calling is all included too. Some offer additional features like scheduled do-not-disturb times (with selective punch-thru for your kids or mom or whoever, if you prefer), while others offer wider international calling (15 nation or so, more available but at additional cost), as part of their differentiated feature-set. I chose a company and plan with a few more features, since the US/Canada covers my calling area needs.
I have it setup here so blocked caller-id or out-of-area gets routed thru a prompt to enter a series of numbers, thus eliminating the machine calls while encouraging folks to unblock, but I could set it to totally block them if I preferred. No additional cost, of course.
Now while I did choose not to port my number, as my old regular telco number was getting the usual number of undesired calls, guess how many such calls I've gotten on the VoIP since I switched. None. Nada. Zilch! =8^)
Call quality is comparable to the former bell telco in the area, or to cell, but rather worse than the digiphone service I had from the cableco previously. (That was the best call quality I expect I'll ever have, but at comparable to telco costs, which is much higher than VoIP.)
Cost, US Dollars, ~$25/mo BOTTOM LINE INCLUDING TAXES AND FEES depending on provider, or ~$20/mo ($200/yr plus a couple bucks a month taxes) annually prepaid. (Renewals can often be had for ~$150 annual prepaid.) I'm deliberately not mentioning the VoIP provider I chose as this isn't an ad, but those are the going market rates, so pretty close to what's available from several VoIP providers. (Note that all incoming or all outgoing can be had for less, this is for both, and including full US/Canada bundled calling area. Skype's less too, but locked provider and not standardized, so I avoided that route.)
What's nice is that while I had been skipping out on the extra fee caller-ID as I had found it just wasn't effective for what I wanted it for and it cost extra, now that it's bundled, I upgraded my phone (I chose a VoIP adapter that a normal phone plugs into, tho dedicated VoIP phones are available) to a voice-announcing caller-ID phone, with distinctive ring as well. Thus, after the first standard ring, it announces who is calling based on the (no extra cost) caller ID, then switches to distinctive-ring if I have that ID programmed for it. No more looking at the caller ID, or waiting for the answerer to pickup and listening to it to find who's calling, before I decide whether it's worth picking up! Thus, even if a marketer does call (none have), it'd just announce caller out of area or whatever, and I'd just let the voicemail pickup.
I've been very happy with it! =8^)
Duncan
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master,
and if you use the program, he is your master."
R Stallman
This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone.
This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a "real" sales person to call back and get someone at home.
What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!!
This is from just before Do Not Call went into action, but ADT is really awful about telemarketing calls.
When we bought our home, we started receiving calls from ADT trying to sell us a security system. When I say that, I mean several calls every day: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc. I always followed the procedure of "No I do not want your service. Remove me from your calling list." This continued for months. After 2 months I was pretty darn angry with them. I started contacting ADT direct, each time being told it would take a little while for my "do not call me" to take effect and that it was multiple franchise owners calling me and they could do nothing about it. The last time I called, I told them on the phone that any further calls would be reported to the police as harassment and sent a registered letter stating the same. The calls stopped immediately.
I will never purchase a security system from ADT; just based on that past experience.
Andrew Borntreger
Champion of cinematic disasters
All these call center jobs are being offshored to India. Its tedious, boring work, with a low success rate and plenty of abuse from the people you call. Why pay Americans to do this when you can hire 4 Indians for the price of one?
I doubt putting Americans out of work was much of a concern for the politicians. The jobs would be gone in another 5 years anyway.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
When answering a call from one of these systems, you typically hear a pause while the system alerts the telemarketers that it has found a live human for them to speak to.
Upon hearing that characteristic pause, I now simply dial 25 to instruct my Canon ImageClass multifunction laser printer to accept an incoming fax and hang up, leaving the caller to be bombarded with shrill fax tones.
In the two months I've been doing this, the number of spam calls I get has dropped by 2/3.
Waste a mod point on me too!!!
This is great, but political calls and political robo calls are exempt. There is a new Political 'do not call' registry that is fighting back against politicians calling you at home with impunity. More at: http://www.stoppoliticalcalls.org/
Another poster had a great idea: Ask the telemarketer "What are you wearing?" I've tried this a few times and this does stop them in their tracks, with no followup calls.
That ain't liver; that's beef kidney!
First I have to say that I work for the company that I'm talking about. Ok, now that's out of the way. Primus Canada recently launched a new service where we give the customer the ability to control telemarketing calls. Think of it like spam filtering but on telemarketing calls. This has reduced inbound Telemarketing VERY substantially for our customer base. Do not call lists are all fine and dandy but they aren't that reliable. You can learn about the feature here:
http://www.primustel.ca/en/residential/guide/tmg/TelemarketingGuide.html
The best call treatment is the "press 1 jail." If the number is identified as a telemarketer the telemarketer needs to "press 1" in order to reach the customer, since 99% of Telemarketers can't send any digits this effectively blackholes them. Works a charm.
Paul
This opens the door for doing other things too. Want to charge for the right to talk to you? Set up a web page that lets them send you cash via a PayPal account or something and issue them a PIN code they can use to talk to you at that point. Want to redirect landline calls to a cellphone? With an additional phone line or a VOIP service you can do this. Least call routing is pretty easy too -- use enum or something to check to see if the phone number you're calling has a registered IP address and make a pure data call if it does. Choose plain-old-landline for local area calls or a voip service for long distance. I haven't really found a voice service I particularly like yet, but I'm hoping that they get better as time goes on (Or that everyone just starts making data calls across the Internet without getting the POTS system involved at all.)
I wish I could do any of that on my cell phone...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Yeah i hate cold callers, just use this nifty program to stop them from contactiong you on your telephone landlines, (ColdCallBlocker) its free and it works wonders! Best of all it has no ads and cuts down calls to few to none now days =]