Scammer quick off the mark!

[LoisWakeman]

Today, I made a small business site live, with a broadband phone number that hasn't been publicised before.

Within two hours, I'd had two calls - on from Yell.com (proper organisation but we used them in the past and paid a lot of money for no leads) and one from Vardis - a well-known scammer purporting to donate the profits to charity (yeah, right) by selling ad space on non-existent wall planners, directories etc. using ads often lifted from your web site or other publications.

Moral - register with the TPS (telephone preference service) before you publicise the number.

Does anyone know how they monitor the arrival of a new web site/phone number? The domain registration etc. was done weeks ago, so it can't be that.

[john_b]

Moral - register with the TPS (telephone preference service) before you publicise the number.

TPS seems to do a pretty good job most of the time and I'm sure it's worth registering with.

For a while I was getting some of these 'silent' calls - the ones where there's no-one there when you answer 'cos they're made automatically and the people at the other end can't keep up. BT put a trace on our line and stopped one or two as it's illegal. Strike one for the good guys!

Yesterday I had 3 calls from a real person (actually 3 different people) at "Global Marketing" (yeah, right.....)

Before they can develop their spiel I cut them off with "and what's the address of Global Marketing?" or "how do I spell your website name?" and invariably the line goes dead.

Of course, BT can't stop these as they're not illegal...;-(

Today I had one from "Consumer Research International" (yawn...) so I say "Yes can you hold on a moment?" and go and put the kettle on...

I suppose the only way is to go ex-directory, but like you, I have websites and I just detest the ones that won't give you full contact details...

...it's a difficult line to tread...

[LoisWakeman]

I read of someone who used to put his small daughter on the chatter to sales reps! When my son was at home, he used to enjoy saying ridiculous things to glazing salesmen - like "No, we live in a cave", or "We can't have double glazing - I'm a Jehovah's Witness" or the like.

I feel sorry for the poor saps who earn a pittance for being insulted by the public though.

[Steve Rindsberg]

<g>

When the survey people call, I ask them who their client is and what's my percentage of their fee.

Stunned silence.
Stuttersputter. Er. Sir ... I don't quite understand. We can't reveal the client's name, and ... percentage?

Well, I don't know you from Adam, you want to ask me for my personal information and you're going to re-sell it. Doesn't it seem reasonable that I know to whom and for how much? And since it's MY information, I figure I deserve a cut.

They usually leave gracefullly (and gratefully) at this point.

[john_b]

I feel sorry for the poor saps who earn a pittance for being insulted by the public though.

Agreed, but I think I draw a distinction between genuine call centres and scammers. My feeling is that these were bucket shops and I'm afraid anyone who refuses to provide any contact information falls into the latter category...

...after all, how can I send them my life savings if they won't give me their bank details...;-)

[Howard Allen]

Moral - register with the TPS (telephone preference service) before you publicise the number.

I assume the TPS is what we in Canada call a "National Do-Not-Call list"? If so, I hope it works better than ours. We got ours last year, and it's a total fiasco. The government, in its infinite wisdom, took the numbers of all the people who registered to be on the list, and posted it on the internet (yes, believe it or not) so that any scammer from Antarctica to Timbuktu now has a free list of millions of active phone numbers to do with as they see fit. The government spokeswoman was quoted on TV last night as saying "it's been very successful". No doubt. The government threatens "serious penalties" for anyone abusing the list--I'm sure all the foreign scammers are quaking in their boots at that prospect.

Like an idiot, I signed up for it, and of course, the number of crank calls has remained unabated. Thank goodness I neglected to register my cell phone number.

[ktinkel]

We call it the Do Not Call List here in the States as well. People seem to like it all right, but it is not what I would call effective — even without the government posting all the phone numbers in public! (At least I don’t think they did, but who knows?)

We get many “illegal” calls. One particularly annoying one is from a company that wants to pick up our automative service policy (the one from the manufacturer having expired a year ago). They call several times a month. No phone number appears on the screen, and they do not say the name of the company. Some others call weekly, always around dinner time.

Most are robo-calls. If I get a human being I say that we are on the Do Not Call List, and they usually hang up.

Charities and political campaigns are exempt. I think I would include them, myself — allowing individuals to opt in if they don’t mind the calls.

The DNCL explicitly does not cover faxes. That seems silly to me — they come in over the phone. I get dozens a week of those. Most do have phone numbers but I have never found an unbusy phone no matter how many times I try to reach them. There is a federal law against fax spam, so every so often I bundle up a pile of these things and send them to the FCC. About 9 months later, I get a report saying that the callers have been notified and that the calls should stop, but the only way to respond is by sending more paper to them. I give up. Just keep putting the papers in again and again (and try to remember to add a clean sheet when actually expecting a real fax).

[terrie]

kt: The DNCL explicitly does not cover faxes. That seems silly to me — they come in over the phone. I get dozens a week of those.They drive me nuts! I did discover a pattern a few weeks ago.

Late Sunday night and late Wednesday night is when I get 2 regular junk faxes so now what I do is to turn off my little fax receiver (a Panasonic KB-80) on Sunday and Wednesday evenings turning it back on mid-afternoon the following days and so far, I don't get those junk faxes anymore--it's very rare that I get a legitimate fax so I don't think I'm missing legitimately sent faxes when my receiver is off.

I used to make a note of and call the toll-free don't send me anymore faxes numbers but they change the numbers all the time so it's an exercise in frustration to try and use them.

Terrie

[LoisWakeman]

I assume the TPS is what we in Canada call a "National Do-Not-Call list"?
It is indeed. and it works quite well for UK calls - though not for international ones - boiler rooms etc. still call. The filtering is more effective on domestic lines than business ones, I have noticed.

[john_b]

My feeling is that these were bucket shops and I'm afraid anyone who refuses to provide any contact information falls into the latter category...

...just noticed I said "bucket shops" when I meant "boiler rooms"...

...so now I'm wondering what a bucket shop is...;-(

Oh dear, I suppose it can only get worse - or better, depending how you look on it...;-)

[ktinkel]

...just noticed I said "bucket shops" when I meant "boiler rooms"...

...so now I'm wondering what a bucket shop is...;-(My dictionary defines bucket shop as an informal, derogatory term for “an unauthorized office for speculating in stocks or currency using the funds of unwitting investors.”

Boiler-room operations are not much better, but they are usually rooms full of people selling over the phone, so not precisely the same.

[john_b]

My dictionary defines bucket shop as an informal, derogatory term for “an unauthorized office for speculating in stocks or currency using the funds of unwitting investors.”

On this side of the pond we call those "banks":)

[Bo Aakerstrom]

On this side of the pond we call those "banks":)
We have those as well!:D
Is where you deposit your savings safely called "mattress"?

[john_b]

Is where you deposit your savings safely called "mattress"?

Mattress?? Luxury!!! We used to live in t'shoe box by t'side o' t'road... :)

[iamback]

We got ours last year, and it's a total fiasco. The government, in its infinite wisdom, took the numbers of all the people who registered to be on the list, and posted it on the internet (yes, believe it or not) so that any scammer from Antarctica to Timbuktu now has a free list of millions of active phone numbers to do with as they see fit. The government spokeswoman was quoted on TV last night as saying "it's been very successful". No doubt.
Wow - such ignorance is truly stunning! <mouth agape/>