Phone Spam

[Mark Buckles]

Earlier this year I was getting messages on my machine
from "Mike Hall" at Digital Dreamscapes claiming that
I or someone in my family filled out and entry form
(a lie), and have been selected to receive a gift.

I am supposed to call their number (888) 793-7532
(an automated system) to make arragements to claim
said gift.

Anyway, I tracked down a phone number for Digital
Dreamscams on which I could actually talk to a
person, and told them to remove my phone number
from their calling list. They said that they would.

Well they are at it again - I have received several
calls from their machine repeating the same lie that
I filled out an entry form blah blah blah...

Is there some sort of agency that is supposed to
police this type of scam activity?

BTW: here is the contact info I found for Digital
Dreamscams:

Resort Pro Marketing Technologies
9550 Waples Suite 105
San Diego, CA 92121
877-588-0743

Regards,
Mark Buckles
San Diego

[NoSuch...@bigfoot.com]

I'll give you another tidbit: Ever answer the phone, only to hear a
haggard male response, "I'm sorry... I must have dialed the wrong number."?

That's them. They are set up to only leave their messages on answering
machines.

How do I know? I have two phone lines. It turns out that they always
dial one line immediately after the second one. If I answer both, I get
the apologetic computer voice on both. If I answer one and let my
machine get the other, I get the apologetic computer and my machine gets
the congratulatory B.S.

I had Pac Bell start recording the annoying apologetic computer calls a
few months ago. Nothing came of it, because they apparently call from
different phone numbers each time. Or, perhaps, it's different
sleazebags who are leasing the same machines and the same lists.

It would be very sweet, indeed, if we could nail these a**holes by
siccing the FCC on them. I'm pretty sure they are violating federal
regulations, or at the very least, California statutes, by using
automated telemarketing machines in this manner.

[Mark Buckles]

Yes, I have heard that "I'm sorry..." message.

Since you mentioned the FCC, I went to their
website and found (and filled out) this form:
http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/cib/fcc475.cfm

Regards,
-Mark

[Sandra Childress]

Okay, how do you fill it out for the haggared old man? Our answering
machine is on the blink, so I'm getting this "call" at least 4x a week!!!

~Sandra

"Mark Buckles" <ma...@markbuckles.com> wrote in message
news:1103_10...@news.san.hosting.com...

[Alan Smithee]

Sandra Childress wrote:
>
> Okay, how do you fill it out for the haggared old man? Our answering
> machine is on the blink, so I'm getting this "call" at least 4x a week!!!

Get caller ID. Put anonymous caller blocking on the line. If it's the
same number, you can add it to a list of phone numbers to block.

If it's a different number, I'd start recording the calls in preparation
to taking them to court. Be sure to call the company again to complain
and record the conversation. If you've told them not to call you and
they keep doing it, you can sue them (I think it was $500 per call after
that) at the least; at the most it's harassment--if it persists I'd call
the police.

My dad's an old-fashined eye-for-an-eye kind of person. Since you know
the address of the company, he'd probably say, "I'd go to their business
and flatten all the tires in the parking lot!" I don't recommend that.
Something better would be to have a computer modem continuously dial
their toll-free number. Be advised, however, that owners of toll-free
numbers can see your phone number even if you have caller ID blocking
enabled.

[NoSuch...@bigfoot.com]

Alan Smithee wrote:
> Sandra Childress wrote:
>
>>Okay, how do you fill it out for the haggared old man? Our answering
>>machine is on the blink, so I'm getting this "call" at least 4x a week!!!
>
>
> Get caller ID. Put anonymous caller blocking on the line. If it's the
> same number, you can add it to a list of phone numbers to block.

I'd love to have caller id, but I'm not going to do it until the phone
companies charge appropriately for this service. Their current charge
for it is absolutely outrageous. $72 per year? That is a scam.

> If it's a different number, I'd start recording the calls in preparation
> to taking them to court. Be sure to call the company again to complain
> and record the conversation. If you've told them not to call you and
> they keep doing it, you can sue them (I think it was $500 per call after
> that) at the least; at the most it's harassment--if it persists I'd call
> the police.

The problem is that these sleazebags do not give you an opportunity to
tell them to place you on the do-not-call list.

[Ed Price]

"rlsu...@NOSPAMPUHLEEZschnapp.org" <NoSuch...@bigfoot.com> wrote in
message news:3D48B95E...@bigfoot.com...

>
>
> Alan Smithee wrote:
> > Sandra Childress wrote:
> >
> >>Okay, how do you fill it out for the haggared old man? Our answering
> >>machine is on the blink, so I'm getting this "call" at least 4x a
week!!!
> >
> >
> > Get caller ID. Put anonymous caller blocking on the line. If it's the
> > same number, you can add it to a list of phone numbers to block.
>
> I'd love to have caller id, but I'm not going to do it until the phone
> companies charge appropriately for this service. Their current charge
> for it is absolutely outrageous. $72 per year? That is a scam.

And it's only a partial solution. Get anonymous caller blocking, and you
will still get calls which your caller ID simply says are "Out of area".
Hell, if the system knows the call is "out of area", and doesn't display a
caller ID, then why doesn't ACB block the call?! Obviously, some phone
companies are making good money selling a path around your ACB.

Ed