Not this again...
October 13, 2011 9:40 AM   Subscribe

The Do Not Call registry has worked pretty well for us up to now. After years of literally no calls, telemarketers are calling us again. What gives?

In the past year or so, we have started getting telemarketing calls again. They usually are "protect your credit rating!!!!" or "mortgages at all time lows!!!" type robo-calls.

I have verified our registration on the .gov website. These are not places we have business relationships with.

Are these simply violations? Or have telemarketers figured out a loophole?

BTW this is our home landline.
posted by werkzeuger to Law & Government (12 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
Your listing on the Do Not Call Registry has to be renewed periodically, I think. Maybe your listing just expired? Try registring again.

If you're still showing up as on the DNC registry, then you probably are just the victim of one of the handful of illegal telemarketers out there. They usually fake their number on Caller IDs and don't give you enough information to file a complaint against them, so they can ignore the DNC with impunity. Some are even based in call centers overseas.

They tend to come in waves; it goes away after a while.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:57 AM on October 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Totally illegal. They're hoping to snag a few fish before getting closed down. Report them!
posted by JoanArkham at 9:57 AM on October 13, 2011


I know that the DNC in Canada was stolen and ended up being sold to some not-so-ethical telemarketers a few years back. I think they've managed (somehow) to fix the situation, though. Perhaps something similar happened in the US?
posted by asnider at 10:12 AM on October 13, 2011


Response by poster: The registry does not expire.
posted by werkzeuger at 10:18 AM on October 13, 2011


I read something about a new trend. The telemarketers are spoofing phone numbers, then dropping them every few days - so they're nearly impossible to catch. They're extremely aggressive and have basically just figured out a way around the system. I have no idea if the government is trying to catch them - might not be a priority.

But it's definitely on the rise - I get them daily. My donotcall is absolutely updated - but these guys have figured out a workaround. It's maddening.
posted by crankyrogalsky at 10:36 AM on October 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Yeah, the registry used to expire but it no longer does.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 10:43 AM on October 13, 2011


All the things in the other posts are ringing true for me. After having been blissfully on the do-not-call list since it became available, I recently started receiving multiple (3-5) calls per night on my cell phone. I went to the registry site to make sure I still on it, and sure enough, I was...

And then as quickly as they came, they left. Since Monday, I have only received one "junk" call and it was from a politician.
posted by angab at 10:45 AM on October 13, 2011


These are not places we have business relationships with.

You may want to check every last credit card, bank account, and so forth that you have to make sure that you're opted out from their affiliate businesses. You do say the telemarketers are ones that you are doing business with, which may be correct, but a lot of those megacorporations will still sell your data to a "trusted partner" to make a quick buck unless you've specifically informed them not to.

If that's not it, I'd suspect illegal telemarketing calls, too. As it is, anyone with a business-grade VOIP system can plug right into the telco networks and not only telemarket you but make up any old caller ID information to send down the wire (avoiding all accountability). It might even be an Indian call center where DNC does not apply. I share your frustration (and I've gone on for years about the piss-poor blocking solutions offered by the traditional telcos).
posted by crapmatic at 10:46 AM on October 13, 2011


I wouldn't even call them telemarketers, it lends too much legitimacy. The calls you're getting are from outright criminals who are openly flouting the law. They're not selling a product, they just want to steal your credit card number.

My new strategy is to get a live human on the phone and waste as much of their time as possible. "This sounds like a good idea. Let me go get my credit card..." (walk away, leave phone off hook). If enough people adopt this strategy, their business model will fail.


Related recent AskMe
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:48 AM on October 13, 2011 [2 favorites]


Helpful hint - I have a (free) google voice number that forwards to my cell phone. Whenever I sign up for a credit card, checking account - ANYTHING at all commercial - I give the Google voice number. This has helped tremendously and in a few instances of drive by repeat telemarketers I just blocked them in GV. I've found it to be very helpful.
posted by Poet_Lariat at 10:54 AM on October 13, 2011 [7 favorites]


There is virtually no enforcement of the Do Not Call list.
Tele-marketers know that.
posted by Flood at 11:22 AM on October 13, 2011 [1 favorite]


Every so often I have to renew mine. Just the way it works - and I went ahead and registered my cell phone. Since you can port land line #s to cell phones and vice versa now, it's really easy to "slip through" on any service with an auto-dialer.
posted by medea42 at 12:42 PM on October 13, 2011


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