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First Caller-ID Spoofers Punished
coondoggie plugs a NetworkWorld story that begins, "The first telemarketers charged with transmitting false Caller IDs ... to consumers were fined and barred from continuing their schemes by a New Jersey District Court judge.... [T]wo individuals and one corporate defendant have been barred from violating the agency's Telemarketing Sales Rule and its Do Not Call requirements ... They were also found liable for $530,000 in damages ... [T]he case was the first brought by the Commission alleging the transmission of phony caller ID information or none at all."
I hope that this set precedent for spammers.
http://what-is-what.com/what_is/spam.html
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
you find out they don't have it and are only paying 45,000 in fines..
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Call me! No wait! Don't call me! *wink wink*
That's a whole lot of money for getting called.
You know who else should get slapped with a fine? Companies that hire telemarketers.
When "hackers" get caught, it's not uncommon for the judge to ban them from using computers for a period of time. Ban the caller ID spoofers from using a telephone for a few years, either for business or personal use (with an emergency usage exception).
"...calling consumers on the National DNC Registry"
Maybe someone can help me understand something here. Why would a company want to waste their resources marketing to people who have made an overt effort to opt-out? Do they really think that people will make a purchase if they could through?
Personally, I've put my number on the "do not call list" and I wouldn't buy anything from a telemarketer purely as a matter of principle - I'd pay more elsewhere just to avoid encouraging this form of marketing. I've never met anyone who didn't feel similar about getting sales calls at home.
Alex, I'll take keybindings not used by Emacs for $400....
Easy: Stupidity once removed, i.e. some telemarketeer gets paid by the number of calls made where somebody was on the other side, not the number of sales. Personally I never buy products that telemarketers advertised ever again, but it seems not enough people handle it that way.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
To those people asking why you would want to call a "Do Not Call" list anyway...
I know a few people who work in telesales and it's usually the stupid and draconian rules put on the employees by the company, despite there being no actual proof that they would improve sales. In fact, in some places where they listen to the employees, changes can be made to INCREASE sales by cutting out known-bad calls as soon as possible.
E.g. (these are ACTUAL examples of PRESENT policies among some UK tele-sales offices)
"You can not hang up on the customer. They must hang up."
One of my friends had a three-hour ordeal with a woman whose husband had died and had to persist trying to sell to her because she could only plead for THEM to hang up, she was so upset. Yes, the woman should have just hung up rather than upsetting herself but she was hardly thinking straight.
"You must try to make an appointment for a salesman to call, even if you know it will mean no sale."
So tele-sales were booking appointments with people who were so annoyed at the telesales that they were threatening violent action. They were talking these people into BOOKING AN APPOINTMENT with a real, physical representative of the company who then turns up their house only to be pulverised.
On a similar tack, I just had a sleazy salesman knock at my door the other day. His opening words, while flashing an EDF Energy ID card, were "Hi, we're from EDF Energy and we're here to give you a new prepayment electricity key". Okay, I'm listening. I have a pre-pay meter. But I know there's something not quite right. The following conversation then ensued.
"Okay... erm... but I don't think I'm with EDF." (I'm actually with E-On but I was sufficiently confused between the two to take a second. Note that in this second he would not have been allowed access to the property or even the meter cupboard anyway. I'm not THAT stupid).
"Oh. Well. Would you mind telling us who you *are* with then?"
"Erm. You know? I'm not telling you."
"Why not?"
"I believe you're a salesman. Goodbye."
"Thank you sir."
Two hours later, he was back and I opened the door again (the wife had been suitably alerted by this time anyway so she would have slammed the door in his face too). He only said "Oh, it's you. We've spoken to you."
What got me was the unbelievably casual fraud (they implied, even if the actual words didn't say, that they were my current electricity supplier when in fact they were planning to sign me up to a new electricity supplier by inserting the key into my meter). And the fact that they went up the road and obviously carried on with the same line for the rest of the afternoon before turning back and trying the houses that they'd missed.
If I hadn't been in the middle of laying a new floor at the time, I would have shouted down the street and knocked on everybody's doors to warn them myself, or call the police and make them explain themselves. They may have been doing nothing "wrong" but I'm sure that a police officer wouldn't take kindly to their sales pitch and it would cause them enough trouble to try another street.
Guess what happens next time I'm choosing an electricity supplier? The ones who commit fraud on my doorstep don't get included.
Will it actually change their marketing ploys? I doubt it.
Just the other day, I was taking care of dinner and kids when phone rang. It had my wife's name (yes, I have; and yes some role reversal, but I get home earlier, etc..) Without thinking, I answered. It was a stinking telemarketer. When I chewed her out and she hung up, I looked back at the caller ID log. Instead of my wife's name and cell phone # as usual, it had wife's name and our own land line phone number! So not only did this company spoof the name, but also the #. And it seems to happen a lot lately!
We don't answere the phone unless it is someone we know, and now I have to even worry about that! No, I'm not dodging creditors, I just rank time with kids and family as more important than solicitations for "Troopers association" or other junk callers. If I need your service, I'll look you up. Don't bug me with calls when I'm with the family!
--- Relax, that mass muderer is just trying to reduce our carbon footprint, one fetus at a time...
If I understand this correctly, they may no longer violate the rule because they've been... barred from violating the rule.
That's correct. They're now on double secret probation.
Part of their punishment was to be barred from violating the very rules they were convicted of violating?! Does that make any sense?!
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
I'd been getting calls from "Card Services", representing themselves as being with my credit card company, once a day or so for a while. I whipped out a short blog entry one day just to vent, and somehow ended up with several thousands hits per month on it. Apparently I wasn't the only one they were driving crazy. It's good to see that these cretins are finally being reined in.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
The judge later reversed his decision, after receiving phone calls from the president, the secretary of the UN, the pope, and Elvis. "It's amazing how similar all them sound", said the surprised judge.
Political and non-profit organizations are exempt from Do Not Call laws. Also caller id spoofing is not illegal.
Grom he actual bill that was passed:
IN GENERAL - It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States, in connection with any telecommunications service or IP-enabled voice service, to cause any caller identification service to knowingly transmit misleading or inaccurate caller identification information with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value, unless such transmission is exempted pursuant to paragraph (3)(B).
Unless the Obama camp was attempting to defraud, cause harm, or wrongfully obtain anything of value from you it is perfectly legal for them or any other organization to spoof their caller id.
I think the invisible hand of the market has its middle finger extended
--A wise old fart named SC0RN
We've been seeing this problem in the Lowell, MA area, from time-to-time. I've also seen how some legitimate phone calls (from companies) are using CallerID spoofing - I still think that should be illegal.
I'm wondering:
1) How did they track down the telemarketers who were spoofing. Obviously they left or gave information about their identity and product.
2) How are these companies being permitted to spoof their Caller-ID? I read an article in alt.2600 a while ago about some of this, but the details escape me.
I even had a marketing front for The American Cancer Society (and others) calling, looking for "volunteers" - and when I complained to them, they said that seeking volunteers was not covered under the Do Not Call rules. Very sneaky and clever, eh?
Only if you by 'a dash' mean alot and by 'paprika' you mean tequila
Just tell them, you'll vote for them if they never call you again. That might work.
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It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
Because then it's contempt of court which can be punished very quickly.
It seems to me that a simple hang-up is just as (not very) effective at stopping telemarketing as a phenomenon, and takes about 1/100th the time.
I try to be considerate to other persons: let them merge in traffic, hold the door open, not stand in front of the shelf they want to look at, and so forth, but I'm not really inclined to martyr my own time so that someone somewhere won't get a call. That person can do the same as I: just hang up.