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For some time now I have been receiving calls from these jokers.
The caller has an Indian accent and claims to be with "U S Pharmacy" in Modesto, CA. He initially says he is from the "shipping department". When informed that you have not ordered anything, he offers to sell narcotics with a prescription from a doctor they will provide. Or he may ask for a person who does not live in the household.
Telling them your number is on the Do Not Call list does not work.
I finally did a little research and it appears that they are actually located in India and the numbers that are showing up on the caller ID are nonexistent. Reporting them to the Do Not Call Registry is futile because the phone numbers they use are fake.
I have found reports on complaint forums about this. There seems to be no way to make them stop calling, even when you make it clear that you will not send them money. I found at least one person who did send money and, of course, did not receive any drugs.
The suggestions from other forums ranged from using profanity (one person even gave a translation of a common epithet) to just not answering any calls from unrecognized numbers. Another suggested sending a FAX to the Indian Embassy telling them to fix the problem.
It is obvious they are just thieves, but the calls are annoying and disruptive. Any suggestions on who to contact to see if there is a way to stop them? I foresee others doing it, too. Changing my phone number may work, but I do not want to do that. So far it is just my land line. I shudder to think if they get my cell phone number. I would love to dump the land line altogether, but DH wants to keep it.
Wrong forum, but in reality there is very little you can do about it other than having a live answering service that communicates with you some other way than through the phone to let you know you have a legitimate call. The system is broken and it will get worse. The FTC and telecom companies have their collective fingers up their collective ......
I use Ooma for my phone. I believe it lets me block certain numbers. Does your phone company offer anything like that?
Or wait....do they change #'s every time?
The numbers cannot be blocked because they are invalid numbers. The last one I received even had an area code that has not been assigned yet. And they use lots of numbers.
Wrong forum, but in reality there is very little you can do about it other than having a live answering service that communicates with you some other way than through the phone to let you know you have a legitimate call. The system is broken and it will get worse. The FTC and telecom companies have their collective fingers up their collective ......
I had to guess on the proper forum. Nothing else seemed appropriate, and it does appear to be a technology issue. Where should we move the thread to?
It would seem to me that there should be an option to block calls that come from invalid numbers. After all, if you use *69 to try to call them back, you immediately are told the number does not exist. Seems to me this would be a feature people would be willing to pay for.
I can see why you chose to post here. There is an entire huge thread on a scam telemarketer over in personal finance, and shopping is more related to the companies, but you are correct, it is a technical issue you are asking. I stand corrected.
There is no way to know if a phished number is invalid or not. The "Heather" and "Rachel" calls use numbers that still show as residential phones, and in fact some people have been inundated with angry call-backs, when they were just innocent bystanders. SOME calls do phish stuff like 000-000-0000, but those are rare. I got one recently that was a real chuckle. On caller ID, it showed up as SCAM CALL. Unless it was Scientific American being dumb (like they are now), all I can think is that someone was showing a trainee how to phish, and used that as an example.
I can see why you chose to post here. There is an entire huge thread on a scam telemarketer over in personal finance, and shopping is more related to the companies, but you are correct, it is a technical issue you are asking. I stand corrected.
There is no way to know if a phished number is invalid or not. The "Heather" and "Rachel" calls use numbers that still show as residential phones, and in fact some people have been inundated with angry call-backs, when they were just innocent bystanders. SOME calls do phish stuff like 000-000-0000, but those are rare. I got one recently that was a real chuckle. On caller ID, it showed up as SCAM CALL. Unless it was Scientific American being dumb (like they are now), all I can think is that someone was showing a trainee how to phish, and used that as an example.
SCAM CALL!
I think if the vendors want people to keep their land lines, they will need to find a way to identify and eliminate this garbage. If I have to change my number, I might as well just use the cell and drop the land line altogether, if can convince DH to do it.
Looks like the best route right now is to just not answer calls from numbers I do not recognize.
I think if the vendors want people to keep their land lines, they will need to find a way to identify and eliminate this garbage. If I have to change my number, I might as well just use the cell and drop the land line altogether, if can convince DH to do it.
Looks like the best route right now is to just not answer calls from numbers I do not recognize.
I never answer our land line. If it's important they will leave a message. I actually tell them in my message that we monitor our calls and if they start talking and we are here we will answer. Seems to work pretty well.
There is absolutely nothing that can be done about it. The Do Not Call registry has absolutely no teeth, it is impossible to get a complaint looked at or listened to or get a response from anyone to a complaint. Callers can phone with complete impunity, and never get caught or prosecuted.
If you Google for help, you will get a complaint form, which simply places your complaint in some kind of a registry. Your complaint will not be passed along to any law enforcement agency, and if you call 911 or any other enforcement agency, you will simply be referred to the online complaint form, or you will be given a phone number where you can leave your address, and you will be mailed such a form.
Callers like that, like everyone else in America, are protected by the Constitution. If you believe someone has violated the DNC law, they are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond any reasonable doubt, and the onus is on the recipient of the calls to identify the caller, prove who they are, and prove in court that they in fact made an illegal call to your telephone. And after doing so, you will receive no compensation for doing the police and detective and prosecution work necessary to get a conviction, which would result in almost no penalty at all. Good Luck.
Why these people are not calling cell-phones is a complete mystery to me. If I were them, I'd have a dialer that would call every cell phone, since nobody can do anything about it.
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