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posted by mrpg on Monday June 05 2017, @01:34PM   Printer-friendly
from the your-call-is-important-to-us dept.

Original URL

Frank Kemp was working on his computer when his cellphone let out the sound of Mario — from Super Mario Bros. — collecting a coin. That signaled he had a new voice mail message, yet his phone had never rung.

"At first, I thought I was crazy," said Mr. Kemp, a video editor in Dover, Del. "When I checked my voice mail, it made me really angry. It was literally a telemarketing voice mail to try to sell telemarketing systems."

Mr. Kemp had just experienced a technology gaining traction called ringless voice mail, the latest attempt by telemarketers and debt collectors to reach the masses. The calls are quietly deposited through a back door, directly into a voice mail box — to the surprise and (presumably) irritation of the recipient, who cannot do anything to block them.

Regulators are considering whether to ban these messages. They have been hearing from ringless voice mail providers and pro-business groups, which argue that these messages should not qualify as calls and, therefore, should be exempt from consumer protection laws that ban similar types of telephone marketing.

But consumer advocates, technology experts, people who have been inundated with these calls and the lawyers representing them say such an exemption would open the floodgates. Consumers' voice mail boxes would be clogged with automated messages, they say, making it challenging to unearth important calls, whether they are from an elderly mother's nursing home or a child's school.

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Thexalon on Monday June 05 2017, @02:00PM (15 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Monday June 05 2017, @02:00PM (#520743)

    Yes, but since the bad guys routinely fake the incoming phone number, that's not much help. You can tell the FTC about it [donotcall.gov] if you like, though.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
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  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday June 05 2017, @02:39PM (12 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday June 05 2017, @02:39PM (#520757)

    Because that always helps...

    Occasionally, I have found that quoting statute to them that enables you to sue them in small claims court for harassment, $500 per instance, etc. does seem to chill them out. It helps if you've gotten them to ID themselves first.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @05:58PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @05:58PM (#520872)

      Occasionally, I have found that quoting statute to them that enables you to sue them in small claims court for harassment, $500 per instance, etc. does seem to chill them out. It helps if you've gotten them to ID themselves first.

      I don't think talking to the voice mails is going to help :/

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by edIII on Monday June 05 2017, @08:57PM (10 children)

      by edIII (791) on Monday June 05 2017, @08:57PM (#520978)

      That's not true. IT ALWAYS HELPS. The issue is, that it may not help you personally or immediately. If you are on the DNC list, and somebody calls you, it is $50K per incident if the FCC goes after them.

      By law, all telemarketers are required to "scrub" their lists of phone numbers against the DNC database. There are 3rd party companies that you can pay to have them do this for you, and then certify that it was actually done. If you tell the FCC that such a phone call was made, and that you were on the list at the time, they DO look into it. Especially if there are hundreds of violations and they can literally cripple a company and make it go away.

      That's the truth. The companies have largely gone away, or operate legitimately. IIRC, there only about a half dozen outfits that are rogue operators that don't respect the DNC, and spoof all of their calls. Most of the calls are criminal and scammy anyways.

      It DOES WORK. I promise you. Please take the time to complain.

      That's just the FCC! ALWAYS create a complaint with your state's attorney general, because they can come down hard. Very hard. I know that AG's have caused more headaches for these outfits than the FCC.

      --
      Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday June 05 2017, @09:17PM (8 children)

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday June 05 2017, @09:17PM (#520988)

        Well, I've been on the DNC list since its inception, so god help those who are not. I still get tons of harassing promotions.

        --
        🌻🌻 [google.com]
        • (Score: 2) by edIII on Monday June 05 2017, @11:15PM

          by edIII (791) on Monday June 05 2017, @11:15PM (#521030)

          You should pick just one or two of them, and go along for the ride. Even to the point of giving them a fake CC number or bank account number (with routing wrong).

          The DNC does make a difference, I promise you. It gives them teeth to go after this outfits for millions. 20 unauthorized calls is $1,000,000 in fines. If you report it, they will take note. If enough people complain, then the DNC has the teeth to make the fines stick. The more info you give them, the better they can go after the people.

          Only thing they can't do is go after the scammers very well, since those are actual criminals and make it difficult with jurisdictions.

          --
          Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
        • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday June 06 2017, @07:14AM (6 children)

          by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday June 06 2017, @07:14AM (#521211) Homepage

          You don't say "Put me on your DNC list." You say, "I'm *supposed* to be on your DNC list!" in your sternest tones, then enjoy the frantic apology, and you will never hear from that outfit again.

          The real trick was to get on a master DNC list, such as via a major newspaper, since those get circulated to everyone. I used to get my share of junk calls, but then I got tired of the L.A. Daily News calling all the damn time, and told them to DNC me... and after that, over the next 25 years I could count my landline's junk calls on one hand.

          Cellphone, OTOH... it's to where I don't answer any caller I don't recognise, and not a one of the junk calls comes from a valid number.

          --
          And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
          • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday June 06 2017, @12:11PM (5 children)

            by JoeMerchant (3937) on Tuesday June 06 2017, @12:11PM (#521267)

            Yeah, landline was dropped about 10 years ago, so we're cell only. Used to be the opposite, land full-o-junk and cell was relatively quiet. I remember in 2005 threatening one for calling my cell phone and that shut them up where nothing else had before. Not so much, anymore.

            --
            🌻🌻 [google.com]
            • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday June 06 2017, @03:34PM (4 children)

              by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday June 06 2017, @03:34PM (#521370) Homepage

              I didn't get a cellphone til 2011 (and I still don't drag it everywhere like most folks do) but yeah, even in this relatively short span ... the junk calls accelerated about 2 years ago. Suspect Verizon is filtering known bad numbers as I'll get spasms, then nothing for a long time. (I'd block them myself, but my $12 retard phone lacks the feature.)

              --
              And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
              • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday June 06 2017, @04:32PM (3 children)

                by JoeMerchant (3937) on Tuesday June 06 2017, @04:32PM (#521402)

                Be tempted by the dark side: check out GoogleFi with their $199 Nexus5x, $0.01/MB pay for usage data, and all the privacy invasion you can stand to configure.

                Verizon marketing acts like they are staffed by convicted rapists.

                --
                🌻🌻 [google.com]
                • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday June 06 2017, @06:43PM (2 children)

                  by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday June 06 2017, @06:43PM (#521483) Homepage

                  Last time I bought a Real Phone, Virgin Mobile basically hijacked my bought-and-paid-for hardware. (Original provider bought by Virgin, and my phone's ID is lost in a crack somewhere so I can't transfer it to another provider. Virgin is all roaming here at $60/hour.) I only want it as a phone that's not used much, don't need data and other crap, so went with the cheapest, dumbest one I could find. $12 phone, $15/mo. Prefer the flipphone anyway cuz it's not so susceptible to getting borked in the barn.

                  --
                  And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
                  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday June 06 2017, @07:26PM (1 child)

                    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Tuesday June 06 2017, @07:26PM (#521509)

                    I was on a flip phone with Verizon, but they were charging me something like $50/month just for "cheapest voice" service I could choose back in 2012. We switched to T-mo and got no-contract, smartphones with data and unlimited talk/text for the same price as Verizon. Did that for 2 years, then I cracked my Nexus 5, so when looking for a replacement, I found the 5x through GoogleFi for cheaper still than T-mo and with better service. If I ever manage to keep one of these smartphones for more than 2 years, then the $9/month payment plan will go away and I'll be down around $25/mo for the smartphone.

                    My flip-phone from 2006 lasted until 2012, but the battery was getting weak and we moved from the "Verizon service only" boonies to a real town, so that's what started me down the slippery slope. It is nice being able to check traffic and weather radar, otherwise, yeah, I wish they still made good flip-phones. When it was new mine would run a week on a charge.

                    --
                    🌻🌻 [google.com]
                    • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Tuesday June 06 2017, @10:34PM

                      by Reziac (2489) on Tuesday June 06 2017, @10:34PM (#521627) Homepage

                      There's a newfangled flipphone-smartphone hybrid out there -- that'll probably be my next one, by which time the prices will come down (was around $200 so not relatively terrible). IIRC it runs Android, and has a Real Dial Keyboard, tho not a full one.

                      My first was a $50 TMobile with a $30/mo. for 1500 minutes (more than I used) and I'd probably have kept it, except I moved back to MT and service was at best spotty. Verizon and AT&T have good and fair coverage respectively, but Sprint is mostly worthless.

                      --
                      And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday June 06 2017, @06:40AM

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Tuesday June 06 2017, @06:40AM (#521204) Homepage
        Hasn't Trump dismantled the FCC yet? If not, why's he being so slow about it?
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 2) by Kromagv0 on Monday June 05 2017, @07:23PM

    by Kromagv0 (1825) on Monday June 05 2017, @07:23PM (#520920) Homepage

    As much as I do report scams and telemarketers (is there really any difference) I a feeling that those electrons could likely have been put to better use if I were to have attempted to mine bit coins on a Raspberry Pi.

    --
    T-Shirts and bumper stickers [zazzle.com] to offend someone
  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday June 05 2017, @11:37PM

    by kaszz (4211) on Monday June 05 2017, @11:37PM (#521045) Journal

    Time for some pre-approved list of numbers?
    Fake numbers should also not checkout when looking up their validity in the PSTN network?

    Or something like this [youtube.com] ?