Posted on 01/15/2018 10:22:52 AM PST by shortstop
On the morning of Oct. 1, 2015, a middle-aged telemarketer arrived at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Federal Trade Commission. His name was Aaron Michael Jones, or possibly Michael Aaron Jones, and in any case, he went by Mike. According to court documents, Mike was a father and widower. He lived well, paying $25,000 a month for a Spanish Colonial Revivalin a gated community near Laguna Beach, Calif. He also employed a personal chef, drove a couple of Mercedes, and maintained a gambling account at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Jones sustained his lifestyle by spamming people with robo-calls. He worked with a revolving cast of co-workers under the auspices of about a dozen corporations. At the core of his enterprise was a computer program capable of blasting out irritating, prerecorded phone messages to just about anyone in the country. Jones allegedly paid for exclusive access to the program, which he then rented out to other robo-callers.
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
My question would be, why did the Feds not grab Jones and lock him away permanently for blatantly violating the do not call list? There's no level in hell low enough for this piece of scum.
I figured the Do Not Call list was dead about six years ago when I filed a complaint about a robocaller and the state sent me a letter saying “Our investigation has determined that these calls originated in Bulgaria, which is outside of our jurisdiction.”
Once again, our old friend the Internet, screwing-up life.
I hate robocalls. There’s this one from perky Allison from the warranty department. I speak back to her and she apparently listens and responds. Then I ask if this is a recording. She politely responds, yes for quality control purposes we use pre recorded messages.
Anyone who expected the Do Not Call list as set up and currently being run would ever be used as anything *but* a “CALL EVERYONE ON THIS LIST REPEATEDLY” list was a naive idiot.
This could *never* have ended up as anything *but* a call list, especially since it was clear from day one that the Feds were not serious about what token enforcement was even possible.
You should talk dirty to the recordings. Try it. It's fun to see what automated response comes back.
Scumbag list bump for later....
I love the ones that offer to help me with my credit card debt. I always ask for a supervisor to tell me how much debt their records say I have. If they say $0.00 I’ll know they have my records.
And the Indian guy offering to protect my computer as an agent of Microsoft. Yea right.
I can’t stand telemarketers.
I did get a real one last week. It was a real estate agent trolling for new customers. I live in Maryland and never changed my Michigan phone number when I moved here in 2001. I said, that if he wanted to drive 600 miles to show my house, I’d be glad to sign up with him. We got a little laugh out of it.
I wonder if a person could do a GoFundMe page based on the premise that if their goal was met they’d beat the living tar out of that guy.
Whatever happened to that law where television broadcasters were not allowed to have the commercials louder than the primary station presentation?
That was another one that got totally ignored. On the occasion that I do watch a show that is not the news, I have to mute the TV during commercials (when on the rarer occasion that I can’t fast forward the recorded program)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) rules require commercials to have the same average volume as the programs they accompany. In the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, Congress directed the FCC to establish these rules, which went into effect on December 13, 2012.Dec 11, 2015
Well, I'll pull a CNN on perky Allison and ask her about sh*tholes. And Clymers, too. Lol
Phone only rings once and then hangs up. Many of them don't bother to call again.
So you know Alison too? I thought we were the only ones favored by hearing her pleasant voice at all hours of the day and night.
Blocking the calls is necessary but it’s like bailing water out of a sub with a leak.
The dirty little secret is that the telcos could stop these calls tomorrow if they so desired. But every number issued, every line connected and every call made represents telco revenue so the calls continue.
When I pick up the phone, I first listen for heavy breathing to tell is someone is really there.
They didn’t arrest him because it is a Civil penalty, not a Criminal penalty. All they can do is fine him for violating telecommunication laws. You can’t make every crime a Criminal penalty. Not enough jails.
My wife and I were enjoying an evening of TV and got a call from an "unknown" number. I suspected it was a robocall. The first thing my wife heard from me on the phone was, "Hi, Becky. You sound hot. what are you wearing?" She almost spit a mouthful of wine out. Then I handed her the phone with a huge grin and a wink.
I never answer my phone anymore. I wait to see if a person actually starts talking and if it’s someone I know, then I’ll pick up. I get a lot of disconnects when the caller thinks no one is there.
Imagine how much worse it would be if legitimate businesses were calling you too. Now I know if someone is trying to sell me something on the phone he’s a crook who intentionally violates the law.
That regulation is still in effect, but I once read how advertisers got around it. The calculation of a TV show’s “average volume” includes occasional gunshots, squealing tires, noisy crashes, etc., in addition to normal conversation and other quieter scenes. In other words, the average volume is higher because of the occasional very loud scene. Then the advertiser uses this average volume for their entire advertisement — which obviously doesn’t include occasional car crashes and gunshots — so it’s REALLY LOUD all the way through.
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