Letter from the State Attorney General: "Uh-oh" suddenly turns into coin money

I was a little worried when I saw a letter addressed to me from the State Attorney General's office...

Then I opened it and... voila! A $50 settlement because I had registered a complaint with the AG against a company for calling me even though I was on the Federal "Do Not Call" list!

 

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Tell me more about this federal do not call list? Is it like, well, what i think it is??. If so,
I totally need to get on it !! How do i do the deed?

 

Way to go! And not to steal your thunder but I received a fairly generic looking piece of mail a couple of months back, looked like junk. Opened it to find a check for $230.00 from a class action settlement against Marlboro cigarettes. Not to mention a mailing from the Paralyzed Vets that included a full step 2017D nickel. Pays to open it all.

 

Congratulations. You probably got 0.01% of what the lawyers of the suit got.

 

I don't even bother with a 'Do not Call' list. I just have a 'Do not answer' list.......

 

I thought I was the only one.

 

https://www.donotcall.gov/

Caveat: it won't stop all of them. Sometimes I think it didn't stop very many at all. But at least it gives me hope.

 

I wish I could ignore phone calls. My business doesn't allow me too.
I have gotten pretty good with knowing some out of state advertisers numbers.

I wish I could ignore them all. 7 of the last 10 customers have had out of state numbers.

 

Somebody calling my main number would swear that I must be dead.

 

Although it's good to register on the "do not call" list, it won't stop all telemarketers. The reason is a big flaw in the caller-ID system, namely that with the right technology, anyone calling can be made to appear to be calling from any number they choose. Historically, it wasn't a worry because the equipment to generate caller IDs was complex and expensive, but not anymore. Yeah, the call can be traced back to the real number, but try to get the FCC or any other agency to do it because you are on the "do not call" list and got a spam call.

The fix is for the telco's to be forced to change the caller-ID system, so that only they can generate a caller ID. And, yes, it's we, the customers, who will pay the costs of the change, and it will be worth every penny ... even a mint state 1909 VDB.

In case your aren't aware of it, two groups are exempt from the "do not call" regs ... nonprofits and politicians. Yup, they can beg and harangue you all they want.

Cal

 

It doesn't work, because only the honest telemarketers won't call you.
99% of all the telemarketing calls are scams, frauds, phishing calls from crooked companies who, call from other countries, use spoofing, don't care about the do not call list, are rarely prosecuted, any calls about credit card interest rates, Microsoft computer problems, etc. are all bogus. If you have caller ID, never even pick up the phone from any number that you don't recognize the person's name or number. If you have made a mistake, they will leave a message.

 

LOL. "Honest telemarketers".

(I know what you mean, and there are telemarketers that "abide by the rules", but I cringe at calling them "honest"...)

 

Although blocking or not answering calls from numbers you don't recognize can help, there are downsides. You may miss calls that are from numbers that you don't recognize, but really need to hear from ... banks calling about fraud on your account, police or other first responders calling about evacuations, etc. In addition, there are databases available for a price that list phone numbers and phones numbers of friends of the number owner (acquired from facebook and other sources). Some telemarketers have software that will spoof the caller ID of one of your friends when they call you.

I've had my phone number spoofed by telemarketers calling someone else. Then I got an angry call, but they calmed down when I explained what happened.

Cal

 

I got in on that one as wel!! Marlboro Lights, I believe.

 

Wow! If only I'd become a smoker, I could've gotten $230, too...

 

Wait....been smoking Marlboro lights for years first I'm hearing of this????

 

I don't pick up their calls either. If they leave a message, I might give them 5 seconds of 'listening time'.

 

One good thing which works really well, is to pick up the phone. AND DON'T SAY ANYTHING. When you say "hello" that usually triggers the computer on their end.
If you actually get a person, and refuse to say anything, there is nothing that they can do. "Hello? Hello" click.
What I don't like is this fake familiarity. "Hi, can I speak to Bob?" Like they are friends with you. 1. STATE YOUR NAME 2. STATE THE COMPANY YOU REPRESENT
3. STATE THE PERSON YOU WISH TO SPEAK TO AND THE REASON YOU ARE CALLING. I am never going to engage someone who just says: Hi, Bob? Is Bob there? Can I speak to Bob?
Most of the time I see the caller ID and I just quickly pick up and put the phone down. (landline) But an important tip if you decide to engage with these thieves,
they will ask an innocuous question, in order to get you to say "YES". When you do that you can be charged for some bogus things, because they have your vocal YES recorded. Never say YES.

 

It doesn't work and the phone companies don't want it to work. They won't stop them and do numerous things that just encourage them. If people fought this sort of thin at every stage it would stop overnight but they just set down the phone and get back in the tub.

As long as big business wants it and we have the best government money can buy it will continue.

 

Ideally, one should play the game until a person cones on the line, but without saying or doing anything that can be construed as a commitment. Although they don't pay employees much, the biggest cost for telemarketers is still personnel, not computers or telco bills. Then when an employee comes on the line, try to keep them on the line as long as possible without committing to anything or providing legitimate info. If everyone did this, the telemarketers would go out of business quickly.

I know some folks do telemarketer baiting. They get an employee on the line and then pretend to be an older person who is partly senile and a bit hard of hearing. Biggest bait is a credit card number, so they keep fumbling a digit or two and never give a valid number. Object is to keep the employee(s) on the line as long as possible. A real score is to get a supervisor on the line or get a call-back by a real person.

Like most folks, I don't usually have the patience and hang up as soon as I think it's a telemarketer, charity beggar. or politician. This, of course, is exactly what telemarketers prefer if they aren't going to get money out of you. Worst case for them is being strung along using employee time and getting nothing out of it.

One exception for me is coin telemarketers. I've often played the game with them, but never lied to them. Sometimes it's been repeated calls to me over a period of weeks until they get the message. I have yet to buy from someone who cold-calls offering to sell coins. The real score here is getting the occasional freebie coin. Biggest have been an ASE and a silver libertad. Wish I knew how they got my name and number, but they won't say. Has to be from dealers or magazines with whom I do business.

Cal