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  1. #1

    What can you do about this?

    Evidently someone someplace applied for a Pay Day Loan and by mistake gave a friend of mine cell phone number. My friend has no need of this kind of loan. He has gotten 150 (his guess) calls on his cell phone from people who want to loan him money or whatever as he no longer listens to them. In about 10 minutes of describing this to me he got 2 calls.

    What can you do? The calls seem to come from different numbers.

    Thanks
    SoCal

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    20 Minutes From The Heaven That Is Cameron Indoor
    Quote Originally Posted by SoCalDukeFan View Post
    Evidently someone someplace applied for a Pay Day Loan and by mistake gave a friend of mine cell phone number. My friend has no need of this kind of loan. He has gotten 150 (his guess) calls on his cell phone from people who want to loan him money or whatever as he no longer listens to them. In about 10 minutes of describing this to me he got 2 calls.

    What can you do? The calls seem to come from different numbers.

    Thanks
    SoCal
    One option, which is not ideal, is if his phone has the capability, he can block each number after receiving the first call from them. That at least prevents further calls from that number. Any idea if all of the calls are coming from different numbers or if the total list of phone numbers is manageable?

    Outside of that, I'm not sure he can stop it.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    raleigh
    this may be drastic, but…..take the call….engage the caller…..waste about 30 min of his/her time with mindless questions, mental instability, and stories about your old school days…put him on hold frequently for 30 secs to a min….tell him you're REALLY interested…..

    ask convoluted questions about how the whole thing works…..keep forgetting what he just told you……after they hang up……start calling THEM back….asking when you're going to get your money…



    trust me….this will work…



    i mean, that is, if you can't block the numbers…..
    "One POSSIBLE future. From your point of view... I don't know tech stuff.".... Kyle Reese

  4. #4
    Change his number.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    When one of those robocalling scams spoofed our phone number for the caller ID, we were inundated with return calls (usually angry people telling us off, who were not mollified by "it wasn't me!!"), the phone company said our best and most effective remedy was to change our phone number. It sucks, but that's the way it is.

    On the bright side, no one memorizes phone numbers anymore anyway, right? So people will just have to update the contact info in their phones.

  6. #6
    Moonpie that is a great idea and could be fun at the same time

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by gus View Post
    On the bright side, no one memorizes phone numbers anymore anyway, right?
    I hope some people still do; one of mine spells DUKE-WIN

  8. #8
    alteran is offline All-American, Honorable Mention
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham-- 2 miles from Cameron, baby!
    Quote Originally Posted by SoCalDukeFan View Post
    Evidently someone someplace applied for a Pay Day Loan and by mistake gave a friend of mine cell phone number. My friend has no need of this kind of loan. He has gotten 150 (his guess) calls on his cell phone from people who want to loan him money or whatever as he no longer listens to them. In about 10 minutes of describing this to me he got 2 calls.

    What can you do? The calls seem to come from different numbers.

    Thanks
    SoCal
    I know this is radical, but is your friend listed on the Do Not Call Registry?

    Strangely, it actually works. At least for me.

    It does take a couple weeks for it to kick in.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by alteran View Post
    I know this is radical, but is your friend listed on the Do Not Call Registry?

    Strangely, it actually works. At least for me.

    It does take a couple weeks for it to kick in.
    Doubt it'll work in this case: the services are responding to a invitation to call, so from their viewpoint, a business relationship has been established. It's not the telemarketer's fault the person gave the wrong number.

  10. #10
    alteran is offline All-American, Honorable Mention
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham-- 2 miles from Cameron, baby!
    Quote Originally Posted by gus View Post
    Doubt it'll work in this case: the services are responding to a invitation to call, so from their viewpoint, a business relationship has been established. It's not the telemarketer's fault the person gave the wrong number.
    Well, either it's an existing business relationship, in which case it's a very limited number of calling entities and "remove me from your list" and/or "you have the wrong number" should work, or it's unsolicited, in which case Do-Not-Call applies. Either way, there's a potential way out.

    For what it's worth, what got me to try the registry was when my wife received a new cell phone number which had previously been held by a deadbeat. We received both debt calls (wrong number business relationship, like the person here), and loan / credit solicitations. "We're not them" ultimately cleared up the former, and DNC cleared up the latter.

  11. #11

    Do Not Call List is a joke

    Quote Originally Posted by alteran View Post
    I know this is radical, but is your friend listed on the Do Not Call Registry?

    Strangely, it actually works. At least for me.

    It does take a couple weeks for it to kick in.
    I am on the Do Not Call list and have been for years. I still get Rachel calling about my credit account or something and contractors who are finishing a job in the area and can offer me a great deal and others. I have Caller Id and do not answer calls from numbers I do not recognize or those that show as Private or just sometown, somestate. When I do answer one by mistake I may tell the person I am on the Do Not Call list then they either hang up or tell me that I am not on their list. I have reported many times to the Don Not Call Registry but still get the calls. I don't think it works very well. BTW, if you want to get calls from realtors than put a property up for sale, then lease it out and remove the sale listing.

    My friends are on the Do Not Call list and get many junk calls a day.

    I am getting a junk call as I write this. Did not answer and they went away. I did a Google search on the number and others complained about spam calls from that number.

    SoCal

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Ashburn, VA
    Quote Originally Posted by SoCalDukeFan View Post
    I am on the Do Not Call list and have been for years. I still get Rachel calling about my credit account or something and contractors who are finishing a job in the area and can offer me a great deal and others. I have Caller Id and do not answer calls from numbers I do not recognize or those that show as Private or just sometown, somestate. When I do answer one by mistake I may tell the person I am on the Do Not Call list then they either hang up or tell me that I am not on their list. I have reported many times to the Don Not Call Registry but still get the calls. I don't think it works very well. BTW, if you want to get calls from realtors than put a property up for sale, then lease it out and remove the sale listing.

    My friends are on the Do Not Call list and get many junk calls a day.

    I am getting a junk call as I write this. Did not answer and they went away. I did a Google search on the number and others complained about spam calls from that number.

    SoCal
    What's frustrating is that some people, somewhere, must actually be responding to these calls and paying for services to strangers over the phone (real or scams), or the business would dry up. If people would just stop falling for these things, the demand would go away and the industry would die out.


    The Internet has effectively killed most door-to-door sales, but some are still out there. I wonder how long we have until it's 0. I mean, the opportunity cost of people's time trying to get 1 sale from their endeavors this way has to be getting way too high. Similar for telemarketing.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    "rachel from card services" is a phishing scam. Whoever is doing it won't care whether you're on the Don't Call list.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by alteran View Post
    I know this is radical, but is your friend listed on the Do Not Call Registry?
    It does take a couple weeks for it to kick in.
    And it needs to be renewed every five years. This thread reminded me of that so I went to the site and registered again.
    Ain't I special?
    Nothing incites bodily violence quicker than a Duke fan turning in your direction and saying 'scoreboard.'

  15. #15
    alteran is offline All-American, Honorable Mention
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham-- 2 miles from Cameron, baby!
    Quote Originally Posted by SoCalDukeFan View Post
    I am on the Do Not Call list and have been for years. I still get Rachel calling about my credit account or something and contractors who are finishing a job in the area and can offer me a great deal and others. I have Caller Id and do not answer calls from numbers I do not recognize or those that show as Private or just sometown, somestate. When I do answer one by mistake I may tell the person I am on the Do Not Call list then they either hang up or tell me that I am not on their list. I have reported many times to the Don Not Call Registry but still get the calls. I don't think it works very well. BTW, if you want to get calls from realtors than put a property up for sale, then lease it out and remove the sale listing.

    My friends are on the Do Not Call list and get many junk calls a day.

    I am getting a junk call as I write this. Did not answer and they went away. I did a Google search on the number and others complained about spam calls from that number.

    SoCal
    We still get some crap calls, but they are all from folks whom we haven't told to remove us (such as alma maters and various charities) that we support, but just call too damn much.

    I can't explain the difference between you finding DNC a joke, and me finding it shockingly effective. Perhaps your friend should just change numbers.

  16. #16
    alteran is offline All-American, Honorable Mention
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham-- 2 miles from Cameron, baby!
    Quote Originally Posted by SoCalDukeFan View Post
    Evidently someone someplace applied for a Pay Day Loan and by mistake gave a friend of mine cell phone number. My friend has no need of this kind of loan. He has gotten 150 (his guess) calls on his cell phone from people who want to loan him money or whatever as he no longer listens to them. In about 10 minutes of describing this to me he got 2 calls.

    What can you do? The calls seem to come from different numbers.

    Thanks
    SoCal
    I have one more suggestion, this one a little crazy. I have never tried it, but I have read it is very effective.

    When you call a disconnected number, you get a 3-note signal. This is followed by a recording saying the number was disconnected. The three-note signal is called a Special Information Tone, or SIT.

    Autodialers hear that tone, and immediately know that the phone has been disconnected. Typically, they hear the tone, immediately hang up, then remove the phone # from their database.

    If your friend is out of other options, they could consider opening their message with the Disconnect SIT. But immediately after the tone, they should leave their usual message (maybe even reference the tone).

    IN THEORY, the autodialers should be removing the number from their databases and over time the solicitations should decrease. (Keep in mind, there may be autodialers from legit sources that may remove the number as well.)

    Anyhow, depending upon the level of desperation to keep the number your friend has, this may be an option.

  17. #17

    The registration is permanent

    Quote Originally Posted by weezie View Post
    And it needs to be renewed every five years. This thread reminded me of that so I went to the site and registered again.
    Ain't I special?
    This is from the donotcall.gov site

    Will My Registration Expire?
    How long does my phone number stay registered?

    Telephone numbers on the registry will only be removed when they are disconnected and reassigned, or when the consumer chooses to remove a number from the registry.

    SoCal

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by SoCalDukeFan View Post
    This is from the donotcall.gov site

    Will My Registration Expire?
    How long does my phone number stay registered?

    Telephone numbers on the registry will only be removed when they are disconnected and reassigned, or when the consumer chooses to remove a number from the registry.

    SoCal
    Oh dear! I stand completely corrected. Stupid weezie trusting the advice of neighbors!b
    Nothing incites bodily violence quicker than a Duke fan turning in your direction and saying 'scoreboard.'

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Asheville
    Quote Originally Posted by weezie View Post
    Oh dear! I stand completely corrected. Stupid weezie trusting the advice of neighbors!b
    Weezie is not stupid. It used to be a 5 year renewal. It must have changed since the last time you checked.

    ricks

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