Telemarketing scam

n/a | n/a | Texas Eagle

[Texas Eagle]

Sorry if this post doesn't fit this category but I hope to prevent as many as people as possible from getting scammed.

I received a telemarketing call from someone professing to be from a magazine clearinghouse and sweepstakes company. The caller said the name so fast that I didn't catch the exact name. I told the caller that I wasn't interested in ordering magazines but he interrupted me before I could get the whole sentence out and started naming off magazines I could get for 3.35 a month.

After a few minutes of this I hung up only to have the same person call back a few seconds later. I said I wasn't interested and told him not to call back only to have him call back a few seconds later.

He called back 3 more times and the last time he called back he simply said, "Hey, m******f*****, enjoy your 700 dollar bill!"

I would normally discount this as some sort of prank but the caller asked for my wife by her first name and her name is not listed in our local phone book so obviously these people have at least some info on us and may possibly have our home address as well. This all happened less than an hour ago so obviously I have not received any such bill but I am wondering if anybody else out there has received similar phone calls so I can decide if this is something I might want to get the authorities in on.

[LibWhacker]

Find a non-working number.

Better yet, copy the SIT .wav file to your computer so you always have a nice clean copy.

I've been doing this for years (didn't know you could just use the first beep, though) and it works really well against telemarketers who use "predictive software." Does nothing for the manually dialed calls from telemarketers, however. Still, it's gotten rid of about 80% of our telemarketing calls.

[jobedo]

Telemarketing Terrorism

[Joe 6-pack]

"From now on, no more Mr. Nice Guy. It's going to be "No, thanks!" and click.

Actually, it's far more effective if you ask them to hold for, "a minute," set the phone down, and go back to dinner with your family. The last I read, telemarketers make sales on approximately 4% of their calls, i.e., they have to make 25 calls for every sale...and many work on commission. The least subversive thing for someone not interested in their offer is to hang up...they'll just go on to try the next guy (which, btw, their calling you back is an indicator they are not trying to make a legitimate sale or offer.) If you can are in a job or position where you can live w/ out your phone for about 10-15 minutes, express interest but ask if they can, "just hold on for a second, ok?" Set the phone down, and go back to what you were doing. The more time they spend waiting for you, the fewer people they are bothering, the less calls they are making, and the fewer sales they are making.

Or you could just be like my old man who doesn't get out much anymore, and actually looks forward to these calls for the opportunity to mess with people...

[Texas Eagle]

Aha. So I shouldn't be surprised if my mailbox starts filling up with hundreds of magazines followed by a bill a few weeks later.

[UB355]

I got a GE branded digital answering maching at Best Buy. $10.00 after rebate. Does the trick. I don't pick up the phone after 6 in the evening.

[DouglasKC]

The most effective method for shutting telemarketers up instantly and never having them call you back are 12 magic words:

"I'm not interested. Please put me on your do not call list".

It is a federal law for them NOT to honor this request. If they call you after you tell them this they will be fined big time. The FTC makes them keep record. It really works. We used to get two or three calls a night from telemarketes. After doing this for about a year we're down to maybe one a month.

Here is some more information:

Telemarketing Sales Rule

[Dog Gone]

How much does it cost for an unlisted number in your area? It's $1 per month in my area. I get about one telemarketer call per year.

[Tennessee_Bob]

There are federal laws that telemarketers have to follow. The man who wrote Enigma put together a simple database with a series of questions that the telemarketers have to answer, along with the word for word excerpt of the Federal Regulation.

They have to answer the questions, or they can hang up on you, but it's been my experience that once you start throwing federal law at them, you're in control of the call.

Of course, you can hang up on them, but I liked using the software - if they want to call me at supper time, then I'm more than happy to torture them for awhile. I've always ended up talking to a call center supervisor - and loved the panic in their voices as you go through the questions provided.

The database allows you to keep track of who has called you, and if they repeat the call after you request they put you on their do not call list - if they do, it opens them up to a fine, not much, but a fine all the same.

[Texas Eagle]

I don't know but I'll certainly check into it.

[Dog Gone]

I don't want to win the battle with telemarketers. I don't want the battle in the first place. I don't even want the phone to be ringing and rolling over to an answering machine where I can screen my calls.

With an unlisted phone number, over 99% of the phone calls you get are from people you want to talk to. The remainder are people who misdial and generally apologize when you tell them you don't know anybody named Rachel or Rastus.

[Positive]

These telemarketing operations are using a machine to make the calls, theres a person sitting there and a light tells them that you've answered - they press the button and start their pitch.

These machines are costly and aren't economically worthwhile if you are in a rural area - in that case the sales people have to dial their numbers from whatever source of numbers they use - so yours being unlisted would work.

[meyer]

Thanks, Tenn-Bob! I was wondering what kind of program was there, since the web site does little to describe it. I was actually suspecting a telephone answering program that works through the modem to deter telemarketers. Which wouldn't help me much since I'm on a cable setup.

Personally, since I answer the phone all day at work, I tend to ignore it at home. I let the machine pick it up. If its important, they'll leave a message. :^)

[meyer]

These telemarketing operations are using a machine to make the calls, theres a person sitting there and a light tells them that you've answered - they press the button and start their pitch.

There's often a delay of a second or so between when you say 'hello' and they pick up, too. I always hang up if I don't hear anything right after I say hello. That's if I actually answer the phone in the first place.

[APBaer]

"How much does it cost for an unlisted number in your area? It's $1 per month in my area. I get about one telemarketer call per year."

In some locations it is rather expensive.
Some protection is afforded by having the phone in another name, and it doesn't cost extra.

When a friend of mine calls me, the caller ID announces an incoming call from her father who died in the 1950's.

[justlurking]

If you are in Texas, try this:

http://www.texasnocall.com/

At the moment, they are running a "special": for $2.40 per phone number, you can put yourself on the telemarketing no-call list(s). If a telemarketer (that is either in Texas or licensed to do business in Texas) calls you once your number has been published (quarterly), they are liable for a $1000 fine.

It works. Since I put my number on the list early this year, I have received exactly three telemarketing calls. I filed complaints on all of them. The FTC is exploring the feasability of a national list -- given how many states are doing this, I think it's going to happen.

It won't stop political polls and ads, though. I've hung up on a few of those in the past few days.

[Dog Gone]

I've been swallowed up by a metropolis of over 4 million people, so I'd say an unlisted number works great in an urban area, too.

[Lx]

I keep getting a recorded message on my machine about an important business message and then they leave an 800 number for me to call. How do I get them to put me on their do not call list without calling their 800 number?

Anyone else getting this type of call?

[chnsmok]

I interrupt them in mid first sentence with "May I have your phone number". Under the law they need to give it to you. After I get the phone number, which is very funny sometimes, I just say "Please put me on your do not call list". Most, if not all, understand that. I do listen to local businesses.

[calawah98]

I have to tell you what my son said to a telemarketer
He answered the phone and the guy asked for his wife, by name,
He said, I don't know where she is, she ran off with the next door neighbor and if you find her I want you to be sure and call me back. Then he hung up, he always has some darn thing to say to them.
I bought an answering machine, so I just let it take calls, and telemarketers do not leave messages.
Before I got the answering machine, my grandson in Calif called, saying he was from ATT, I hung up, He called back just laughing and said you hung up one me. Told him that is what I do to all telemarketers, all you need to hear is the silence on the other end, hang up.

[Michael Barnes]

Call from a payphone..or from a public area work phone, or, hehe....better yet, goto your local DNC office in the area and ask if you can "call your wife"..