[telecom] Telemarketers call in reinforcements as they ignore do-not-call list

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- Monty Solomon
  
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posted
10 years ago

Wed, Jul 17, 2013 5:39 AM

Telemarketers call in reinforcements as they ignore do-not-call list

Complaints by those in the federal Do Not Call Registry are on the rise as telemarketers use robocalls and 'spoofing.'

By David Lazarus July 15, 2013

Dan Yeh has been on the federal government's Do Not Call Registry for years. And for a while, it seemed like the leave-me-alone system worked just fine.

Not anymore.

"There's been a real surge recently," Yeh, 72, told me. "I've been getting five or six calls a day, at all hours, seven days a week."

The Huntington Beach resident isn't alone. I've heard similar complaints from dozens of other people.

Regardless of having registered a phone line with the Federal Trade Commission as a telemarketer-free zone, a growing number of consumers are saying that some businesses are ignoring their stated preference and calling anyway.

A particular annoyance: automated robocalls that get you on the line before looping in a human telemarketer. Such calls frequently use "spoofed" lines that hide their origin or make it look as if the call is from someone you know.

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- HAncock4
  
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posted
10 years ago

Wed, Jul 17, 2013 4:25 PM

I still get calls from "Credit Card Services". One day I had two such messages, and each message was announced by a different speaker. Perhaps the scam has been adopted by multiple parties.

I also get sales calls and texts to my cell phone, even though that's illegal.

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- Jim Haynes
  
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posted
10 years ago

Fri, Jul 19, 2013 4:54 PM

I've received three calls so far in a two-hour period this morning. One from "John at the shipping department..." with some emergency medical alert scam - getting to be as frequent or more than Rachel these days. The others from quite likely bogus charities that may be exempt from the do-not-call list.

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- Bill Horne
  
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posted
10 years ago

Sat, Jul 20, 2013 2:13 PM

The latest scam to hit my phone is robocallers telling me to "Push One" if I want to hear about how they're going to send me a "Free GE home-security system".

Anyone who drills down to the details, after working his way past the first semi-humanoid troll who only wants to screen away those whom are complaining about violations of the do-not-call list, will discoverer that the "free" system needs "monitoriing", which is an internet-based service costing almost $500 per year.

The attitude of the people involved, from start to finish, is shameless hucksterism and vicious manipulation for profit. Laws are an externality to them.

It's not as if Uncle Sam doesn't notice: it's that he doesn't know how to solve it. Last year, I was interviewed by an FTC employee who was looking for ways to prevent forged caller ID and DNC violations. I told him that there's always a CLEC with a payroll to meet and bills to pay, and that the hucksters have cash.