frequent phone calls
Complaint
barb
Country: United States
nearly daily calls from this company... a real pain in the neck.. how do I block them.?.. I have told them that I am reporting them , even spoke to supervisor, or so he said he was.. said he'd remove my number...but DID NOT.
Comments
My question is if anyone knows if this is "Americans With Disabilities" (a known fraud outfit) from Phoenix or "Ambrosia Web Design" also out of Phoenix. I don't believe this companies are linked but that is why I am asking.
http://blog.usa.gov/post/30393077932/answering-your-questions-about-robocalls
http://onthespotblog.com/on-the-spot-blog-sti ... older-services/
http://onthespotblog.com/tag/cardholder-services/
People should continually file complaints with their Attorney Generals office and also file with:
http://www.fcc.gov/complaints
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
If enough people keep complaining then maybe something will get done.
The calls are being made from outside the US however most of the call centers (where you actually talk to someone after pressing 1) are in the US and the companies making the money from the scam are owned by people in the US.
Many of these calls are coming from Costa Rica and India and they are using spoofed (false) numbers, which in itself is illegal. They do cold calling for or sell the leads to numerous companies in this country and they know that what they are doing is illegal. Tomorrow this same number may be selling Cruises, Timeshares or Security Systems but if you follow the money it usually ends up in the hands of an American LLC. Keep complaining to the FTC and FCC, and start bugging our politicians to pass laws to make it punishable in criminal court instead of handing out fines that they don't pay. Another course of action is to contact phone companies to find out why they won't block spoofed numbers. With today's technology that should be an easy thing to do, unless they are somehow profiting from the use of their systems.
The criminals behind this operation aren't going to pay attention to you asking to be removed from their list. Their calls cost them nothing and they can make a million of them a day so they have no intention of ever removing someone. When you press a key to talk to them all that is accomplished is to verify that they have a working number.
Unfortunately blowing an air horn or whistle doesn't work either. Their headset have noise dampeners plus they are expecting it. However with that said if it makes you feel better then by all means give it a shot.
For anyone thinking of using Special Information Tones (or as they're called in the industry SIT tones) to fake a non working phone number, they won't work. Since around 2001-2002, the costs of "digital" business lines have dropped dramatically, along with Voice over IP (Internet) telephone service. Neither of these use the SIT tones as the call information is carried separate from the audio.
This separate call information tells the calling party digitally if the call was answered, busy, voice mail, forwarded, rejected, etc. This renders SIT tones useless. Also the "TeleZapper" products that used to be on the market used this method as well, and were rendered ineffective for the same reasons.
It is also through this separate call information message that the spoofed caller ID information is transmitted.
Robocalls are illegal unless you have given them prior permission in writing (not worded into some small print contract from a 3rd party) and are absolutely illegal to a cell phone. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act permits individuals who have received certain unlawful telemarketing, such as junk faxes or telemarketing calls, to sue the violator in state courts where they may be awarded up to $1500 for each violation.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/robocalls/
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/07/robocall.shtm
http://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/policy/TCPA-Rules.pdf
Check here first to see if it is one of their phone numbers:
http://telemarketerspam.wordpress.com
Pacific Telecom Communications Group
Follow JD's recommendations in the blog and stop them at the source.
Many of the disposable numbers come from Pacific Telecom Communications Group and they are currently under investigation and in the midst of various lawsuits. (The principles involved have been part of actions by the FCC under other business names).These businesses have ripped people off for millions of dollars, yet have paid only a couple of thousand dollars in fines. The only way to stop them is to throw them in prison for a few years to make this criminal activity less attractive.
The Oregon Public Utilities Commission has revoked Pacific Telecom's certificate to provide telecom services in Oregon.
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office filed lawsuits against:
Consumer Credit Group and Proactive Planning Solutions of Arizona for violating Indiana’s Do Not Call Law and Auto-Dialer Act known as the robo-call law. Both companies violated the Credit Service Organization Act and Deceptive Consumer Sales Act by not obtaining $25,000 surety bonds with the state and collecting money upfront without performing any services.
Debt Zero of California for collecting money up front, failing to provide services or a refund and operating without a $25,000 surety bond.
Clear One Advantage of Maryland and Credit Arbitrators of Texas for violating the Credit Service Organization Act and the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act by not obtaining the required surety bonds.
http://www.in.gov/activecalendar/EventList.as ... ation_id=107077
Arkansas sues robocallers:
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2012/aug/0 ... arketing-firms/
Missouri sues robocallers:
http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/236974-kost ... nies-over-calls
Proof that current laws mean nothing to these scum suckers, these same people under different companies have been sued in the past and have only paid a minimal fine. Here are just a few:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/12/roycox.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/06/asiapacific.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/03/asiapacific.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0923193/111219roycoxcmpt.pdf
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/donotcall/mediacenter.html
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/02/afl_financial.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/02/voiceblaze.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/03/voicetouch.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/05/robocalls.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/12/robocall.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/09/twi.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/02/robocall.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/05/robocalls2.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/12/jpm.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/08/voicetouch.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/11/sonkei.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/05/ams.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/01/khalilian.shtm
Write your Congressmen and Senators. We need CRIMINAL penalties against the companies that are profiting from these calls. Follow the money, slap them in prison, no one left to outsource to overseas boiler rooms, problem solved. Since they are operating across borders it should become a federal felony and should be handled by the FBI under the RICO Act.
https://complaintwire.org/complaint/ipzhHRymJ ... gon-robo-dialer
http://telemarketerspam.wordpress.com/2012/08 ... -telemarketing/
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011 ... -companies.html
http://www.bbb.org/west-florida/business-revi ... ter-fl-90107305
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/st ... vcapId=23957705
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/cox-353170-agency-companies.html
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0923193/index.shtm
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/29/business/la-fi-lazarus-20111129
http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=22278
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/debt/client_services_inc.html
http://www.scambook.com/report/view/71722/Ambrosia-Web-Design-Complaint-71722-for-$998.00
http://onthespotblog.com/the-hunt-for-rachel-at-cardholder-services/
http://www.scamchecker.com/content/cardmember-services-another-scam
http://www.state.ia.us/government/ag/latest_n ... fundraiser.html
Many of the disposable numbers come from Pacific Telecom Communications Group and they are currently under investigation and in the midst of various lawsuits. (The principles involved have been part of actions by the FCC under other business names).These businesses have ripped people off for millions of dollars, yet have paid only a couple of thousand dollars in fines. The only way to stop them is to throw them in prison for a few years to make this criminal activity less attractive.
The Oregon Public Utilities Commission has revoked Pacific Telecom's certificate to provide telecom services in Oregon.
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office filed lawsuits against:
Consumer Credit Group and Proactive Planning Solutions of Arizona for violating Indiana’s Do Not Call Law and Auto-Dialer Act known as the robo-call law. Both companies violated the Credit Service Organization Act and Deceptive Consumer Sales Act by not obtaining $25,000 surety bonds with the state and collecting money upfront without performing any services.
Debt Zero of California for collecting money up front, failing to provide services or a refund and operating without a $25,000 surety bond.
Clear One Advantage of Maryland and Credit Arbitrators of Texas for violating the Credit Service Organization Act and the Deceptive Consumer Sales Act by not obtaining the required surety bonds.
http://www.in.gov/activecalendar/EventList.as ... ation_id=107077
Arkansas sues robocallers:
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2012/aug/0 ... arketing-firms/
Missouri sues robocallers:
http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/236974-kost ... nies-over-calls
FTC is sending refund checks to 4,468 consumers “who allegedly were defrauded by a telemarketer who used robocalls (prerecorded voice messages) to pitch worthless credit card rate reduction programs for an up-front fee.”
http://bbbconsumereducation.com/the-checks-in-the-mail-this-time-its-true/
. . . endorsed Mitt Romney for President today, the 2012 Fall Equinox.
The famous phone voice (Google “Rachel at Card Services” to learn more), says Romney will roll back annoying government regulations like the No Call List, which she terms “an insulting and unnecessary Nanny State measure.” Such ‘consumer protections’ unfairly burden small businesses such as Rachel’s highly successful Florida operation. “If Obama wins, he might actually enforce the List,” she warns.
Rachel, for those who have somehow missed her calls, phones Americans at random, especially the elderly. She explains that she wants to help you reduce your credit card interest rates. You give her your credit card numbers and other personal information. She sells your data to computer hackers in Russia.
The Russians, she says, do the actual helping. "I've outsourced that part," she explains. "Mitt understands how outsourcing leverages American entrepreneurial talent (mine, for example), and helps ambitious Americans like me succeed in growing our wealth."
She is creating jobs for Americans, Rachel says. "I employ scads of callers who could never come up with a creative idea like mine," she adds. “I must say it is disappointing how many of them quit my call centers after just a few weeks. Many would rather take government handouts than work for me. It’s hard to find good help these days. I pay $10 an hour, which is very generous for mindless grunt work."
"I’m a Constitutional originalist. I just want what the nation's founders intended," Rachel insists. "As the Supreme Court has finally acknowledged, we Americans are entitled to say anything we want to each other. People I call can decide for themselves whether to answer their phones. It's up to them to decide to trust me and give me their personal information. Government has no business sticking its bureaucratic nose in. This is private business. We don't need government on our backs."
Rachel admires Romney’s determination to return America to capitalism’s Golden Age “when we were free to become rich, as God intends for true Americans, his chosen people. Mormons understand this.”
Is she proud of getting people to reveal their personal information and their credit account numbers?
"Absolutely!" says Rachel. "I'm teaching thousands of people one of life’s most valuable lessons. And I make my money directly from the people I teach, unlike those greedy teachers’ union members.”
What is that lesson? “Well, ‘Never Trust Anybody’, of course”, she says, smiling. “You knew that!”
“I built this business all by myself”, she adds, more seriously. "All schooling should be privatized. We in private business can teach the public everything it needs to know better than any politician or bureaucrat. Americans don't need tax-guzzling government to learn that creative greed runs the world.”
"Mitt Romney gets it," Rachel concludes. "That's why he must win – and appoint more business-friendly Justices to the Supreme Court, men and women who understand free speech and encourage successful American entrepreneurs to buy as much of it as we can. Progress depends on ‘the ones born every minute’, if you take my meaning.” Rachel smiles winningly and winks. She’s relaxed, with friends.
"Speaking of which: I'm confident that the Koch brothers will get Mitt elected. So I, too, am investing in the American future we all deserve. I’ve ordered ten thousand more robodialing machines.”
"Elect Mitt!” Rachel urges. “He knows who you and I are – the real Americans!"