Do others here (and especially Americans) have the same problem we do with telemarketers? They annoy us contunually, frequently calling at very inopportune moments--and this, even though we are on the national Do Not Call Registry and a similar registry in Tennessee. Today, I e-mailed the Attorney General about this, as follows: "Why cannot someone put a stop to these ubiquitous telephone solicitations from 'Rachel' at 'Cardholders' Services'? We receive about two every week, on average; and have been receiving these calls for the past two or three years now. "Presumably, this is a classical phishing scam: These folks are searching for credit-card numbers that they can either use, themselves, or sell to a third party. "But these phone calls are enormously annoying. Sometimes they come at very inconvenient times. They should cease. Immediately. "We are on both the national Do Not Call registry and Tennessee's similar registry, which preceded its national counterpart. But it really does not seem to matter to these scammers. "Since they have (obvious) contempt for the law, why doesn't somebody shut down their boiler-room operation? "This is starting to become more than a little frustrating..." Of course, I will probably never hear back from anyone at Eric Holder's office; or, if I do, it will doubtless be in the form of a canned response. (The man is far too busy suing those states that attempt to control their borders or who require proper identification for the purpose of voting, to have any time left over for a little thing like enforcing the law against those who cavalierly ignore the Do Not Call Registry.) About a week or ten days ago, I saw a story featured by MSNBC on this matter. It seems that many are openly ignoring this list. Some are halfway around the world--in, say, the Phillipines or India--so they may feel immune to American law. But others are right here, in the US. Has anyone here had similar experiences?
I haven't heard anything about that particular scam, but we get the same annoying telemarketers over here. They call at 8pm at night, when you are having dinner and they can't understand why you get pissed at them. We have scammers calling, claiming there is a problem with your computer, and to give them your password so they can access it. Its funny when you tell them you don't have a computer, and ask them how they didn't know that. They hang up fairly quickly. I am on the Do Not Call Register as well, and it works, for the most part. Its just charities that call me day and night.
Telemarketers are at the forefront of human expansion. They are the future. You should love them, especially the automated machines that blast a fog horn then say "this is your captain speaking on the cruise of your life" or whatever that bull(*)(*)(*)(*) is.
Ironically, we actually do have a program on our computer (there is an icon to it) that allows our computer guru to access our computer, remotely. That is so he can fix minor problems in this manner, rather than needing to come out here to do the repairs. The major difference, though, is that we know this person--he is legitimate, and has been doing our computer repairs for over 10 years now--whereas what you are speaking of sounds about like the credit-card scam I noted in the OP. In the US, the national Do Not Call Registry excludes certain groups: charities of any sort; politicians and their associated groups (we receive numerous robo-calls each election season); any company with which one has done business within the past three months; and any associated businesses that have done business with any of these businesses. But the pleadings of "Rachel" with "Cardholders' Services" is clearly a scam...
We still get telemarketer calls despite being on the Do Not Call listing. When I performed a quick investigation into that list I found out that any companies that I have done business with are allowed to call. GRRRRRRR!!!!!! My favorite trick for telemarketers (real easy to discern having one of those "Can I buy a Vowel" Polish last names) is to say "Can you hold a second, there is someone at the door" Then put the phone down and continue on with life, remembering to pick up the phone every 4 or 5 minutes and add "Just another minute". Rinse and repeat. My record is 21 minutes. This really hurts the caller. They get scored on how many calls they make, and if you can take 15 to 20 minutes from them, they will miss the evenings quota. They always fall for that trick also.
Idon't think 'the authorities' are interested in putting an end to scams and outright theft of your cash. YOU don't make enough for them to be interetsted in pursuing the matter.
I have caller ID. If I don't know your number, I will usually pick it up them immediately hang up. If I do answer and they can't pronounce my last name, I hang up. Whenever they say "this is being recorded for quality" I hang up. I used to play games with them but nowadays I just hang up on them. OH YEAH- if someone calls for my wife, I say she is at work. If they ask for a work number for her, I tell them her number is 800-638-3549. They usually don't call back but if they do, I give them the same number.
I used to be a telemarketer because it paid very well. You would be surprised how many people I could get to listen to me and say "yes". I find it annoying when people whine about telemarketers. More white people problems.
Yes, the politicians have (quite predictably) carved out an exception for themselves; so every election season, we receive a plenitude of robo-calls and other political calls. There is also an exception for charities. And for any businesses with which one has done business within the past six months. And with any businesses associated with those businesses. In short, the Do Not Call Registry is less like a net than it is like a sieve... It sounds like a good plan of action. The problem here, though, is that it will not work so well with a mere recording; which is what we are getting, repeatedly...
I use a Marshall Amp & a Les Paul Custom. Turn it up to eleven say Oh yes, yes, Then Extremly LOUD feedback squeal. They're always gone when I pick the phone back up. BTW I have been told this can cause permenant hearing loss & damage, guees thats the price they CHOOSE to pay, when deciding to call me, when I am on the Do Not Call registry. They get what they get.
My phone has a remote handset....I think I'll just get the second phone and '69' it to the main phone and let them jabber away to themselves.
Are you having a problem from a landline? I really only use my cellphone and don't have much trouble with telemarketers. I'll occasionally get those text messages telling me I won a Best Buy gift card and to register at a website with a shady url. Other than that, I don't get harassed.
For making your phone ring? Seems kind of drastic, don't you think? You realize that large computers called "dialers" are the ones that call you, right? You know that telemarketers aren't actually allowed to see your number or dial anything... right?
We prefer to use our landline for most phone calls. That way, we usually need to purchase only $10 worth of minutes per year, with T-Mobile (I purchase those minutes every March)--or, occasionally, $20 worth of minutes, if our balance has gotten too low.
