phone call abuse and harassment
Complaint
Judy McFarlane
Country: United States
Credit Card Services calls my home phone several times a week, always from different states and phone numbers. There is a recorded message telling me that I need to talk to someone about my credit card. When I press one to speak with a rep. they always hang up on me when I ask for my name to be taken off their call list. I file a complaint each time with the National Do Not Call List but I really don't think anyone even reads those complaints. Is there some government organization that can stop these people?
Comments
i appreciate all your anger
but i'm one who work in that things
it's maybe not a good job
but i understand your upset 100 % a day
everyone of us make 100 call per day for one costumer to accept lowering his interest rate
i really feel you , btw most of the people who work in that thing are not from states
still it's a really good deal and you get your interest rates dropped down for real guys
Its ILLEGAL, and We the People want to see you and your "bosses" in a Court of Law.
[Quote]
"it's a really good deal and you get your interest rates dropped down for real guys"
Cardholder services et al robo-dialers along with "james betony"are violating TCPA, TSR, and the RICO Act:
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act U.S.C. Title 18, Chapter 96 § 1962:
Sections 891-894 (relating to extortionate credit transactions), section 1028 (relating to fraud and related activity in connection with identification documents), section 1029 (relating to fraud and related activity in connection with access devices),”
Section 1 of Pub. L. 91-452 provided in part that: "The Congress finds that (1) organized crime in the United States is a highly sophisticated, diversified, and widespread activity that annually drains billions of dollars from America's economy by unlawful conduct and the illegal use of force, fraud, and corruption;
http://uscode.house.gov/download/title_18.shtml
http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/18C96.txt
http://telemarketerspam.wordpress.com/
https://complaintwire.org/complaint/ipzhHRymJ ... gon-robo-dialer
http://telemarketerspam.wordpress.com/2012/08 ... -telemarketing/
http://onthespotblog.com/on-the-spot-blog-sti ... older-services/
http://blog.usa.gov/post/30393077932/answering-your-questions-about-robocalls
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. They will charge thousands of dollars on your credit card without performing any services.
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://onthespotblog.com/on-the-spot-blog-sti ... older-services/
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011 ... -companies.html
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/st ... vcapId=23957705
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/12/roycox.shtm
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/cox-353170-agency-companies.html
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
https://complaintwire.org/complaint/KvBJJW-UFwY/card-member-services