Search My Blog

Monday, March 28, 2011

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT,THE NATIONAL DO NOT CALL REGISTRY

How To Report Do Not Call List Scofflaws To The Proper Authorities

By Meg Marco on July 28, 2008 5:18 PM 11644 views

—>Reader Brian says that he's getting weird scammy calls about "lowering his interest rates" and would like to know what he should do about it.

Brian says:

The recorded message said I urgently need to talk to someone about my credit card. It then assured me that there was no problem with my accounts, but I need to talk to someone about lowering my interest rates. All very serious business. It then said my options were to press 1 for a rep or 2 to be removed.

My phone number has been on the do not call registry for years. I've tried telling them that before, and they just hang up. So this time, I asked for information about the company. The rep said I had to join their services to get that. So I asked for a manager. The rep said "ok" then hung up on me. The only information I have now is the phone number, and a company name of "Card Services" or "Card Service".

Can you clarify what rules they've broken (auto-dialers, pre recorded messages, grossly misleading messages)? What can I do better to get myself removed from their call lists? Pressing 2, threatening with the do not call registry stuff, etc doesn't work.

I like Brian, have been getting more and more of these types of Calls From Scammers. I never answer the phone, but that means we have to Screen all of our Calls. We usually just delete these messages, since it takes so much time to Report them to the FCC. And that doesn't give us any measurable results. But the call I got today simply just Pissed Me off!:O And we have been getting quite a few just like this one for the last couple of Years!

Here is the letter I e-mailed to (fccinfo@fcc.gov) Today...

I would like to report that we are getting an increasing number of phone calls that sound like scams form several different parties. The one we received today 03-28-11 was from a person who sounded like a woman. She was very hard to understand. But it sounds like she said her name was Shawn Watkins. She claimed to be a Process Server and supposedly was looking for a Sandra Sims. She made threats about Mrs Sims being hauled into Court for a matter that she was not clear what it was suppose to really be about. She gave a case number, as all of these types of calls do. The number was 275596 and the Phone number she left was, 866-675-4055. It is very obvious that they knew they were not calling Mrs Sims, since our name is Bishop and we are listed in the Phone Directory. We get these calls often for names and people we have never heard of. I never answer these calls or call them back. Because the result of talking to these people is just more calls and they usually just make me mad for a long time after talking to them with their rude and deceptive behavior. They try to use these lies to get people to call them back and then who know what kind of Scam they will come up with if you talk to them! This is getting Ridiculous! Can you do anything to stope this? I have uploaded an MP3 Audio file of the message, you can download the file at, ftp://bishopco.homeip.net/pub/Phone-messege-Shawn-Winters-Process-Server-for-Sandra-Sims-866-675-4055-claim-275596-Sterio/Phone-messege-Shawn-Winters-Process-Server-for-Sandra-Sims-866-675-4055-claim-275596-Sterio.mp3

Thank You,

Don

National Do Not Call Registry

Your registration will not expire. Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became law in February 2008. Read more about it at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/dncfyi.shtm.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
THE NATIONAL DO NOT CALL REGISTRY

The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free.

Attention sellers and telemarketers: Go to https://telemarketing.donotcall.gov to subscribe to the National Do Not Call Registry.

If you are an exempt organization, and you wish to scrub your call lists, you may subscribe, but are not required to do so.

Go there...
https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

Consumer Factsheets on FCC Do-Not-Call Rules.
Consumer Factsheet: Unwanted Telephone Marketing Calls
Consumer Advisory: The Truth About Wireless Phones and the Do-Not-Call Registry

Summary of Recent Developments

Picture of family at dinner table while telephone is ringing

Has your evening or weekend been disrupted by a call from a telemarketer? If so, you’re not alone. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been receiving complaints in increasing numbers from consumers throughout the nation about unwanted and uninvited calls to their homes from telemarketers.

Pursuant to its authority under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the FCC established, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a national Do-Not-Call Registry. The registry is nationwide in scope, applies to all telemarketers (with the exception of certain non-profit organizations), and covers both interstate and intrastate telemarketing calls. Commercial telemarketers are not allowed to call you if your number is on the registry, subject to certain exceptions. As a result, consumers can, if they choose, reduce the number of unwanted phone calls to their homes.

	Do-Not-Call Registry

You can register your phone numbers for free, and they will remain on the list until you remove them or discontinue service – there is no need to re-register numbers.

The Do-Not-Call registry does not prevent all unwanted calls. It does not cover the following:

calls from organizations with which you have established a business relationship;
calls for which you have given prior written permission;
calls which are not commercial or do not include unsolicited advertisements;
calls by or on behalf of tax-exempt non-profit organizations.

	How to Register

For Consumers:

Subscribers may register their residential telephone number, including wireless numbers, on the national Do-Not-Call registry by telephone or by Internet at no cost.

Consumers can register on-line for the national do-not-call registry by going to www.donotcall.gov. To register by telephone, consumers may call 1-888-382-1222: for TTY call 1-866-290-4236. You must call from the phone number you wish to register.

For Industry:

Telemarketers and sellers are required to search the registry at least once every 31 days and drop from their call lists the phone numbers of consumers who have registered. For more information, see: Industry

	Related Rules

In addition to the establishment of a national Do-Not-Call Registry, there are other amendments to the Commission's rules implementing the TCPA that may reduce the number of telemarketing calls to your home:

If you subscribe to CALLER ID, you should know when a telemarketer is calling you: telemarketers are required to transmit Caller ID information and may not block their numbers.
Telemarketers must ensure that predictive dialers abandon no more than three percent of all calls placed and answered by a person. A call will be considered "abandoned" if it is not transferred to a live sales agent within two seconds of the recipient's greeting. As a result, you are less likely to run to answer the phone only to find silence or the "click" of the calling party disconnecting the line.

In addition to these changes the rules provide:

Telephone solicitation calls to your home before 8 am or after 9 pm are prohibited.
Anyone making a telephone solicitation call to your home must provide his/her name, the name of the entity on whose behalf the call is being made, and a telephone number or address at which you may contact that entity.
Company-specific do-not-call lists are available to consumers who wish to avoid telemarketing calls only from specific companies. For more information see our Unwanted Telephone Marketing Calls Factsheet

	How to Complain

Filing a Do-Not-Call Complaint

In addition to complaints alleging violations of the national do-not-call list, you may also file a complaint against a telemarketer who is calling for a commercial purpose (e.g., not charitable organizations) IF:

The telemarketer calls before 8 AM or after 9 PM; OR
The telemarketer leaves a message, but fails to leave a phone number that you can call to sign up for their company specific do-not-call list; OR
You receive a telemarketing call from a company that you have previously requested not call you; OR
The telemarketing firm fails to identify itself; OR
You receive a pre-recorded commercial message from someone with whom you do not have an established business relationship and to whom you have not given permission to call you.

How to File a Complaint

You can file a complaint by e-mail (fccinfo@fcc.gov), telephone 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY, by fax to 1-866-418-0232, via our electronic complaint form at http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm, or mail. For the FCC to process your complaint you must either fill in the electronic form completely or otherwise indicate:

your name and address;
the home phone number where you received the solicitation;
identification of the individual or company whose products or services were being advertised or sold, and any phone numbers included in the call;
a description of the call;
any phone number provided to allow you to “opt-out” of future calls;
whether you or anyone else in your household gave the caller express prior permission to call;
whether you have an EBR with the caller (specifically, whether you or anyone else in your household made any purchases of property, goods, or services from the company that called, or made any inquiry or filed an application with the company prior to receiving the call).

If mailing a complaint, send it to:

Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554

Consumer Private Right of Action

Read More...
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/donotcall/

Information for Business

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) amended the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) to give consumers a choice about whether they want to receive most telemarketing calls. As of October 1, 2003, it is illegal for most telemarketers or sellers to call a number listed on the National Do Not Call Registry.

Who May or May Not Call?
How Does It Work?
FTC information and documents
Definitions (Organizations, Authorized Representative, Certification, Subscriptions, EIN/SSN, Area Codes)
Subscription Renewal Information
Passwords
Email Addresses
Assistance / Help Desk
Limits on use
Accessing telephone numbers and downloading files
File formats (Flat text, XML tagged)
Browsers
Exempt Organizations
Paying by Direct Debit/Electronic Funds Transfer
Subscribing to Area Codes

Who May or May Not Call?

Read More...
https://www.donotcall.gov/faq/faqbusiness.aspx

Debt Collection

If you are behind in paying your bills, you can expect to hear from a debt collector. A debt collector is someone, other than the creditor, who regularly collects debts owed to someone else. Lawyers who collect debts on a regular basis are considered debt collectors, too.

What You Need to Know

You have rights: Federal law requires that debt collectors treat you fairly. In short, that means:

A debt collector may contact you in person, by mail, telephone, telegram, or fax, but may not contact you at inconvenient times or places – for example, before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m – unless you agree. A debt collector may not contact you at work if the collector is aware that your employer prohibits it.
If an attorney is representing you about the debt, the debt collector must contact the attorney, rather than you. If you don’t have an attorney, a collector may contact other people only to find out your address, your phone number, and where you work.
A debt collector may not harass, oppress, or abuse you or any third parties they contact about you.
A debt collector may not lie or mislead anyone when collecting a debt.

The FTC at Work

Debt collectors generate more complaints to the FTC than any other industry group. In its lawsuits alleging illegal debt collection practices, the FTC has been able to ban some debt collectors from the debt collection business forever, and has gotten millions of dollars back for consumers.

Read More...
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/moneymatters/dealing-with-debt-collection.shtml