AT&T Mobility said one number alone - 800-219-7425 - made more than 13 million calls to wireless numbers through telecom carriers Paetec Communications, Global Crossing and MCI Inc./Verizon Communications Inc. AT&T said it will need to subpoena those companies and others to determine the owner and operator of various spoofed phone numbers.
Although the calls are a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the government hasn't done much to put a stop to them:
Elizabeth Lordan, a spokesperson at the Federal Trade Commission, said such telemarketing also appears to violate the agency's Telemarketing Sales Rules governing the National Do Not Call Registry. Lordan said she is not aware of any completed FTC investigations involving autodial-based extended auto warranty telemarketing. Lordan also said she was unable to say whether the FTC has any probes in progress.
Rosemary Kimball, an FCC spokesperson, said the agency could not immediately provide data on consumer complaints about such telemarketing. Kimball said she was not aware of any FCC enforcement actions on extended warranty telemarketing.
"AT&T Mobility lawsuit tackles autodialing telemarketers, claims ‘annoyance and intrusion'" [RCR Wireless]
(Photo: Seth W.)
If they file a police report we can find out where the bastards are!
]]>I got one of those calls the other day, warning me that my auto warranty was about to expire and to press 1 to speak to an agent. I pressed 1.
AGENT: "Can I have the year, make and model of your vehicle?"
ME: "You tell me, you're the ones who called warning me about it."
AGENT: "Please hold on while I pull up that information..."
ME: (Holds for 60 seconds...darn, they hung up)
@jozhua: Don't think they do given that they call cell phones. Which are automatically DNC.
]]>Then be surprised when you pick the phone back up and the operator either isn't there or can't hear you, because they're deaf.
Repeat until they learn their lesson and leave you alone.
]]>@marks2l: Same here. I filed a complaint and got a letter back from the FCC saying it wasn't a valid complaint becuase out of the 100's of calls I got, I could never figure out how to talk to an actual person to tell them not to call anymore. So since I haven't told them, they can still call and FCC won't investigate.
]]>Now I was more than a bit rude to the last person I spoke to live on the phone (after all the hoops I've been through, he must know he works for a crook so f-him) but he told me that "I'll put you on the middle of the night call list!"
]]>@hornrimsylvia: Tell them you just bought a new car and act semi-stupid about it so they think they can con you into an over priced warranty. Go through the options, try to get a call back number or payment address... and then google against that info. Gather the info and then paste it free to any whocalledme.com, etc type of websites.
]]>HO HO
This is rich, these calls have been the bane of my office as well for the entire 4 years I have been there. But you guys wanna know the best part?
I work for a Toyota dealership... So these jackasses are wasting time and energy calling the last place that would fall for their horseshit. And when they do call they hit every line in the building in succession, sometimes several times per line.
Usually within maybe 15 minutes the Service center is inundated with calls asking why their warranty is up.
I really hope the death star grinds their bones into bread dough and feed it to a flock of pigeons and those pigeons crap on their offices.
]]>@Zain: Those guys are trying to grab business card transactions or loan businesses money based on the transactions. Search against the spoofed numbers and there is alot of info. I think they are based in Queens, NY if I remember. I also found their employment adverts on craigslist and added that info to the whocalledus.com etc type of websites...
]]>I hate these people! It's especially annoying when you're waiting for Publishers Clearing House to call you and tell you you're a winner... you pick up the phone with great anticipation and BAM! They hit you up for a Warranty extension on a car you no longer own. I hate them. I WANT MY MILLION FOR LIFE!
]]>Given the annoyance of these damn calls, the bold was justified.
]]>What is the point of a robocall if they aren't going to talk to you and try to get your money?
]]>Help me know how to sting these guys.
]]>@kamel5547: I complained to the FCC and got some lame response like: "no law was violated, so we are taking no action". What? Isn't it illegal to make 1) prerecorded sales pitches to 2) cellular telephones??
]]>Here's one story but there are more
[www.ajc.com]
I think you need to go read up on spoofing.
]]>Vehicle Services, Inc.
1052 South Cloverleaf Drive
St. Peters MO 63376
Previously, when I received the calls, a screener would come online and ask some questions about my car. If I said something that didn't qualify for the warranty service that they were trying to sell, they would just hang up.... No goodbye. No "I'm sorry but your car doesn't qualify". They would just hang up. Finally, I must have given the right answers to the screener because they finally put me through.
]]>This is the FINAL notice that the factory warranty on your car may be expiring (it's not). By FINAL we mean FINAL UNTIL WE CALL YOU AGAIN, more than likely from another number. But don't worry, we'll call you from this number too. Did you miss our call? Don't worry, you'll also get notices in the mail, calls at work, and calls at home.
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
]]>@YvesTuditanus: That is some fun sport. My wife and I will tag team them and can keep them on the line quite awhile. My personal best time is 29 minutes for a girl trying to sell me long distance service. Get the other people in the house to yell weird stuff in the backround. They really don't know what to do when they have someone still asking questions for a long period of time its great fun.
]]>i even have a special ringtone that i made for "unknown" numbers (warning: NSFW - click the "play" button in upper right if you want to hear it) [www.last.fm]
it can be a little embarrassing if that goes off in the wrong place though. XD
]]>Last time I got one of these calls, I waited to get connected to a real person. The conversation went like this:
Me: What company is this?
Phone: This is the warranty desk.
Me: No, what company do you work for?
Phone: Click!
I completely unhooked my phone from the jack. I only use the line for internet now.
]]>. . . but they can't find who is making 13 million phone calls on their network??? Think of the money the are losing!!!
I call BS on this one.
]]>Ah, good times...
]]>If you know what you are doing with a telephone system you can program the setup message in just about any PRI to outpulse whatever number you want. The only way around this is with an ANI Identifier,(911 Call Centers etc.). The ANI will actually be able to read whatever number is placing the call regardless of the setup message. If they just decide to spoof a random number every 4 hours it's very very hard to stop
]]>@Fuzz: And lose money?
Why would AT&T want to do that?
Best line:
"AT&T said it will need to subpoena those companies and others to determine the owner and operator of various spoofed phone numbers."
Prediction AT&T will end up with boatloads of numbers of private citizens versus finding out who owns the company/systems which actually spoofed the numbers...
I also predict some grandmother being sued since she ended up with a number spoofed by the criminals...
309-286-2082
865-497-2733
517-931-2251 (twice)
I kept answering because I've been submitting resumes, so I think someone is calling me about a job, so I'm doubly disappointed and angry when it turns out to be a robo call for car warrenties. AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE A CAR!
]]>@theczardictates: "given the state of the SEC, FDA, FAA... is there actually any government agency that has been doing its job lately?"
None, especially if that job interfered with the goals of a private business or industry...
]]>She was so pissed off that she called them back just to chew them out a bit.
]]>I was saying to my wife this morning, given the state of the SEC, FDA, FAA... is there actually any government agency that has been doing its job lately?
]]>My newest car is nine years old and has 87 thousand miles on it. My oldest is 18 years old and has 145 thousand miles on it. But I get these calls too. I wonder which one they want to sell me a warranty on. But I don't wonder enough to stay on the line and talk to them.
]]>There is a feature put on these customer's circuits that checks the list whenever they make a call.
Who puts that "feature" on these customer's circuits? Their local phone provider? Horse hockey.
]]>@jackal676: Yah is funny...
]]>It disheartens me when people post the numbers, and the wrath of teh internets is unleashed on whoever Google says owns/owned the number. I've read plenty of stories of death threats, house visits, etc. from angry people who don't realize the numbers are spoofed and the owners had nothing to do with the scam call.
]]>"Tell me more about the blah blah."
]]>The do not call list is like a do not disturb sign at a hotel with exterior halls. Most people will leave you alone, but there's always the maid/kid who knocks on your door with the grin "Heeeere's Johnny."
I am glad to AT&T is at least making it known these scum bags are out there, and they want it to stop. Maybe Verizon, who's got people, can spare a few to go kick some cold-calling butt.
]]>the number is also from 949-256-9197 robo call
]]>Ha! I filed a complaint through the FTC and they pretty much told me they weren't going to do anything in their letter back. At least someone is doing something...
]]>Go AT&T! Shut them down.
]]>