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Blocking Annoying Cell Phone Callers? 128

Posted by Cliff from the wireless-spam dept.
RobertB-DC asks: "Twice a week, for the past several months, I receive a call on my cell phone, from a 'Restricted' number. It's always the same: 'Please hold for an important non solicitation message.' It then tells me to call 1-800-842-0640 for further instructions. When I call (from a CID-blocked work phone), all I can get from them is the company name: NCO. They won't tell me more about their company unless I tell who I am. Verizon says they can't block the caller. Short of exposing my own identity to someone I don't know, how can I get rid of these annoying calls?" Are there cell phone carriers who are progressive enough to offer call blocking services of some kind?
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Blocking Annoying Cell Phone Callers? More

Blocking Annoying Cell Phone Callers?

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  • Lie! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by DavidYaw ( 447706 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:38PM (#6938194) Homepage
    all I can get from them is the company name: NCO. They won't tell me more about their company unless I tell who I am.

    Short of making up a social security number, I see nothing wrong with making up all the personal info you give them.

    • Re:Lie! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Lshmael ( 603746 )
      I thought about this. But they still know his cell phone number. What happens if they sell his personal information to other companies? Then he could get *more* calls from companies looking for "David Yaw," or whatever made-up name he gave them.
      • Lie AND call from:
        a) A payphone
        b) A caller-ID-blocked phone (which the original author said he did)

        • Re:Simple (Score:2, Insightful)

          by HTH NE1 ( 675604 )
          Lie AND call from:
          a) A payphone
          b) A caller-ID-blocked phone (which the original author said he did)

          But you can't block caller-ID to a 1-800 number! Nor 1-888, 1-877, 1-866, the soon-to-be-if-not-already 1-855, 1-900, or 911. They use ANI which is not blockable.

          And all the toll-free numbers will get the number on their billing statements too, since they pay for the calls made. (I get detailed billing on my cell phone that lists every number called in or out, but that still doesn't get me CNID-blocked n

    • Re:Lie! (Score:2, Informative)

      by themassiah ( 80330 )
      You're only legally obligated to give the correct number to the IRS, Department of Social Security and your employer so that they can accurately report your wages. You *DO NOT* have to give any information to these debt collection agencies. None. Zero. Zilch.
      • Right. They aren't obligated to provide service to you either if you refuse to give them your SSN...so you end up giving it out because you have no other choice (if you want their service, of course).
    • dude, all you have to do is don't answer, ignore the call. If they know you, they'll leave a message, if not, screw 'em. This is what I do, and I haven't had to talk to a telemarketer on my cell for over a year.

  • Apparently (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:40PM (#6938211)
    You're not alone [google.com].

  • Watch out (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:41PM (#6938213)
    That is a scam to get you to talk to them. From there they get your info and takes your money, it happened to me when they told me it was free and it wasn't free, my mama said nothing was free and she was right, now I coan't afford to post on a real message board, so I post here.

  • Aren't cell phones protected. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Deanasc ( 201050 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:43PM (#6938228) Homepage Journal
    I don't have a link but I thought cold calls to cell phones were against the law.

  • Maybe you need to pay something? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Lshmael ( 603746 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:44PM (#6938232) Homepage
    That could be the case if this [ncogroup.com] is the "NCO" that is calling you.
    • Just because their calling him, doesn't mean that he's the person that owes them money. I had a credit card company leave a message on my (unlisted) home phone saying "We don't understand why you don't pay us the $19,000 you owe us!" This was very upsetting, as I thought I was a victim of identity theft. Turns out, they were looking for somebody else in the same state with the same (very common) last name. What the hell did they do, call everybody in the state with that last name? But yes, if you call them

      • Re:Maybe you need to pay something? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11, 2003 @09:59PM (#6938806)
        I had a credit card company leave a message on my (unlisted) home phone saying "We don't understand why you don't pay us the $19,000 you owe us!"

        If you live in the US and that happened, you would have had a massive lawsuit on your hands. Otherwise, you're likely lying (as were all the people that said *I* did that to them, when i worked for a collection dept at a credit card company).

        It is a violation of the Fair Debt and Credit Practices Act (FDCPA) for a company to leave any information whatsoever, other than their name and phone number, with anyone other than the verified party or their spouse (depending on the state). No nature of a debt or anything like that my be disclosed to a 3rd party.

        An answering machine is consdered 3rd party since anyone could listen to that message, and thus privacy is given away.

        I'm not saying it coudln't have happen, just that it is far from likely because no debt collection company would risk getting their ass sued off; especially when an answering machine took the message, as that is proof of their law violation that could be used in court.

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • I live in the United States, and I NEVER, NEVER lie. The woman that did this was extremely clueless. She called my wife and asked to speak to "Lance or or whatever his name is ". She then called the next day and left a message, which also said to call her LONG DISTANCE. I didn't call her, I called the companies 1-800 number and told somebody else to please not bother me anymore. They haven't. What kind of a fairyland do you live in wherein everbody knows and follows every law and regulation?
          • What kind of a fairyland do you live in wherein everbody knows and follows every law and regulation?

            Well the credit card company or debt collection company damn well should know the FCRA. If you had been the person they were looking for that message on your answering machine couldn't been used to fine them for considerably more than the $19k they were trying to collect on. The FCRA is not a law to cross.

            That said, most likely the company did know but they didn't properly train whoever made that call. Doe
          • Read more closely. He gave two alternatives. EITHER (1) you're lying OR (2) you could sue the company. Since you're not lying, clearly it's #2.
        • Whoa whoa whoa! I think you're jumping to conclusions here buddy. I'm sure most phone solicitors are very proprietous (and I'm not even kidding), especially debt collectors, but what that guy said happens all the time. What I'm going to say is going to be anecdotal evidence, but that's enough to disprove your claim that "all people who say this are lying" (which you're good enough to retract in your last paragraph, but is still a helluvan accusation).

          A couple of years ago, I got repeated calls from a de
      • Or they won't believe you. I had to deal with one collection agency that kept calling asking for someone.. The worst part is that they had the same first name as someone who lived in the same house.. So I answer the phone and said "Hello" and someone said "Hey may i speak to such and such" and I said "he's not here right now".

        Big mistake. I guess the number got on the list as a someont trying to evade the calls so they started calling at the wee hours of the morning and whatnot. I probably should have sued
    • NCO Group... SCO Group...

  • Okay, I just called them (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:44PM (#6938233)
    They're a credit agency [ncocreditservices.com] .
    • According to the Fair Debt Collection Act, a credit collection agency is NOT allowed to do any of the following: (a) they may not call you on the phone without prior authorization from you to do so, (b) they may not mention your debt to any third party (ie: your family, employer, business associates, employees, etc), (c) they may not visit you in person without prior consent from you to do so. In fact, without recorded voice permission, or written consent from you, the only contact option they possess is to
      • According to NCO's web site, they appear to be a third-party collection agency. They can't call you to collect a debt unless you've given them permission to do so.

        Which you may very well have done by signing a credit application. You are supposed to read those first, you know.

  • This may be a stupid question, but... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Lendrick ( 314723 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:44PM (#6938234) Homepage Journal
    ...have you tried telling them to put you on their "do not call" list? If they call you again after that, call the police and report them for harassing you over the telephone. If they continue to call you, the police should be able to trace the number.

  • Collections (Score:5, Informative)

    by Greyjack ( 24290 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:44PM (#6938238) Homepage
    NCO [ncogroup.com] is a collections company. Odds are they're calling to collect on an outstanding bill; have you tried giving 'em your cell# (since they obviously already have it) to try and find out what the hell they're calling for?

    Also, keep in mind, they already have your cell number -- it's not like it'd be all that hard for 'em to get your name anyway. After all, you gave your credit card info to your cell provider, right? Yes? Well, your info's already in the system, then, so quit worrying about what *might* happen, 'cause it already *has*.

    • Fight fire with fire (Score:5, Funny)

      by the_other_one ( 178565 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:57PM (#6938328) Homepage

      The problem caused by one unpaid bill is easily solved with a second unpaid bill.

      Don't pay the phone bill.

    • Re:Collections (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Jmstuckman ( 561420 )
      Something like this happened to me -- the previous owner of the cell number wasn't paying his bills, and as soon as I got my new cell number, I started getting calls from collection agencies for him. A little explanation stopped the calls. (This was with T-Mobile.)

      You also might be able to configure your phone to block calls from caller-id-blocked numbers. The only calls of this type I get are junk.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • I FINALLY had to hire an attorney for $1500 to write a poisonous note to them telling them if they ever called again, they would be sued into the ground. $1500 and all this guy did was write a note. After paying him for his services, he never even had to call. Apparently these snakes are so bad that he had a note already written to them and addressed to as many of their staff and even a few home addresses to make certain that they got the clue.

        Offtopic to the conversation as a whole perhaps, but to the

    • The problem with most collections agencies is that the 'good' ones don't take 'no' for an answer; if they stopped calling a number every time that somebody said they had a wrong number or the person they were looking for no longer lives there, they'd never get anything done.

      If some deadbeat owes you money, this can be a good thing; if they think you're a deadbeat, it's not so good.
  • In theory, complaining to the FTC aboud deceptive trade practices, and reporting them to the appropriate state authorities should create problems for them.

    With the FTC, you can file complaints on the web I believe. I'm not sure what the state offices you should report them too (especially since I don't know the state you live in).

    What they are doing should be illegal. Essentially, since you called them, they don't have to identify themselves. However, if you got a live human on the phone who made the

  • Your work phone may have CID blocked, but it wouldn't work on a 1-800 number. That uses ANI, a different system and is not blockable [interesting-people.org]. Depends on the outfit they can either see your number real-time or on their monthly statement.

  • Give Verizon a call (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ReverendRyan ( 582497 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:49PM (#6938269) Homepage
    Dont ask that they kindly block the number, but instead report it as harrassment and threaten leagal charges. Have Verizon put a trace on the calls (you'll have to work with them on that one) to figure out where they're REALLY coming from, then contact the BBB and your state's Attourney General.

    As far as I know, making unsolicited calls to a cellphone is illegal since YOU are paying for them to do this to you. Next time they call you, call that 1-800 number and tell them to remove your information from the database and that if they sell it you will press charges.

    I know I'd be really pissed if I were in your position.

  • Symbian call blocker (Score:5, Informative)

    by yelvington ( 8169 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:49PM (#6938272) Homepage
    Owners of smart phones running Symbian OS can install call-blocking software:

    http://www.pdabuyersguide.com/software/nokia_365 0_ software.htm

    There may be similar software for other phones.

    Or you could install one of those Microsoft phones and be free of all incoming calls.

  • Talk To The Police (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:51PM (#6938285) Homepage
    Why not talk to the police and tell them the story, and that the company is harassing you? I don't believe that Verizon can't block the number, surely that's possible.

    That said, there are a few posts in this thread that say that NCO is a collection agency, in which case just pay up. Either way, find out if they are that NCO before calling the police, because then you'd just look like an idiot and would probably have to pay a fine if you filed false charges.

    • I think it was NCO that called my cell phone today, wanting me to pay my final gas bill from my old house. The gas company asked for a number I could be reached at during my move, in case they needed something, so I gave em the cell number. The gas company passed that on to NCO. I'm glad they called though, because I never got the final gas bill, only about half of my mail gets forwarded, the rest seems to go to /dev/null.
    • i would much rather have the police stopping people who abuse there kids or catch someone who has committed a serious crime.

      Most cops will relay the same message on, they have better things to do.
    • That said, there are a few posts in this thread that say that NCO is a collection agency, in which case just pay up.

      On the other hand, considering the number of identity-theft discussions on this forum, why just assume that the debt in question (if there is one) is actually their responsibility?

  • hey there (Score:5, Interesting)

    by XO ( 250276 ) <blade.eric@NospAM.gmail.com> on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:54PM (#6938305) Homepage Journal
    As everyone says:

    NCO is a collections agency.

    This means that you owe them money (because someone else you owe money has transferred that to them).

    This means that you have a business relationship with them (because your debt was transferred from a company that you did have a business relationship with) and they can call your cell phone.

    Note: Verizon cannot block the call because it's not CID available. If it were to show on CID, it could quite probably be blocked at the service level - but it can't.

    On the other hand: If it is NOT you that they are looking for (I got to deal with this quite a bit when I first got my new cell phone, with it's new #), such as in the case where you have just received a new cell number, then they don't have a right to call you, however, you need to identify yourself to them before they can discover that!

    So, if you're not identifying yourself to them because you're trying to avoid the collections agency, you're gonna continue to get phone calls. If you're not the person that they are wanting to collect from, then you have to identify yourself to them, so that they will stop calling you.

    I had every utility company in this state calling my cell phone trying to reach the guy that used to have the number.. and it took a good 3 or 4 months of sending calls to voicemail, with a message saying "This is NO LONGER THE PHONE NUMBER FOR -former owner's name-. If you are looking for him, please do not call back." .. probably 3 or 4 calls a week.

    • NCO is a collections agency.

      Maybe, we can't be sure what they really are, as they won't tell them. It'd be very strange for a collection agency to act like this. It'd make more sense for them to be telling him everything about him, not asking him for the information.

      Note: Verizon cannot block the call because it's not CID available. If it were to show on CID, it could quite probably be blocked at the service level - but it can't.

      Just plain wrong. Ever hear about Out-of-Band call notificat

      • It'd be very strange for a collection agency to act like this.

        Never been in debt before huh? This is standard practice. A live person usually calls but I can understand them trying to get hi-tech and have it automated since most people in debt screen their calls. They always leave an 800 number though and don't identify themselves, otherwise you'd know you don't want to talk to them.

    • This means that you owe them money (because someone else you owe money has transferred that to them).

      This means that you have a business relationship with them (because your debt was transferred from a company that you did have a business relationship with) and they can call your cell phone.

      Not true. This means that someone you may have had a business relationship with has a business relationship with them. But the relationship isn't transitive--collection agencies can not legally harrass you just b

    • Note: Verizon cannot block the call because it's not CID available. If it were to show on CID, it could quite probably be blocked at the service level - but it can't.

      Actually, I believe the info's there, just usually not to the consumer. People like 911 dispatchers can get Caller-ID type info even if you have it blocked (heh, I seem to recall that they can 'lock' your line open too...). I want to say it's called ANI, but I'm probably wrong.

      Verizon has to know the number -- otherwise it couldn't to billin
      • ANI is the technology that makes touch tone phone menus work, not caller id

        After you push through the tree of menus, the telemarketer (or computer system for statistics later) gets an "ANI Pop" with the information of what you typed in.

        • ANI (Score:2)

          by djschaap ( 11133 )

          DTMF is the technology that makes touch tones work. ANI is Automatic Number Identification, functionally very similar to Caller ID (but implemented very differently). It is commonly used for 911 calls, and may be used by calltakers in telemarketing firms.

          And the required relevant link:

          http://info-center.ccit.arizona.edu/~telcosvc/call eridfaq.shtml [arizona.edu]

          • You didn't read what I said. Yes DTMF is what makes touch tones work.

            ANI is caller ID + information collected from the phone tree. Its a message format.

            By saying it is what makes phone trees work, I was not refering to the sound, but rather the information after you have pushed all the buttons.

            How do I know this? I used to write telemarketing systems (and no, I am not evil, I wrote inbound systems)


    • I don't follow this argument. There is no onus on me to reveal anything about myself to a party that contacts me through their own error.

      If there were such an onus, it's hard to imagine how many "errors" would be made by this kind of outfit.

      The second error in this argument is confusing people with their phone numbers. I wonder how many "business relationships" exist between companies and unknown parties as a result of my habitual carelessness when filling out web forms.

      No, the onus is on the blood suc

    • Why you should talk to them... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Tintivilus ( 88810 ) <tintivilus AT tintivilus DOT org> on Thursday September 11, 2003 @10:16PM (#6938936)

      If it's NCO the collections agency, and *YOU* are the debtor they're after, you've probably got them nailed.

      Third-Party collections agencies (professional debt collectors) are bound by federal law called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This stipulates that they cannot disclose any debt to anyone but the debtor and the creditor; hence, the stonewalling until they find out who you are. Even telling somebody that they know who you are can be a violation, since how would they know you if you didn't have a debt in collections?

      This is, however, beside the point. The kicker is that the FDCPA prohibits a collector from incurring expenses to the debtor in attempt to collect the debt -- more to the point, they cannot call collect or on a cell phone. I've done work for collection agencies before and they're very careful to make sure they never contact a debtor on a cellular phone, since that allows a debtor who knows "the act" to create a legal morass that's more trouble than its worth.

      You might as well tell them who you are. If you're not the one they're looking for, they'll take your number off the account and leave you alone. If you *are* the one they're looking for, you can make a stink and they may write off the debt as uncollectable.

      • However, if the company that is owed money originally, has a business relationship with you that has your CELL # listed as your contact number, then of course the collections agency can use it -- as that is the known point of contact. So could the original company.\

    • I had every utility company in this state calling my cell phone trying to reach the guy that used to have the number.. and it took a good 3 or 4 months of sending calls to voicemail, with a message saying "This is NO LONGER THE PHONE NUMBER FOR -former owner's name-. If you are looking for him, please do not call back." .. probably 3 or 4 calls a week.
      I think if you have to do this it qualifies as harassment, and charges should be pressed.
      • The previous guy could have owed a LOT of people money.

        i.e. each of those calls could have been from a different company.

        Which sucks, but isn't harassment.
        • If you ask one company to stop calling you, and you tell them why, and they call you again, it is harassment. And judging from the grand parent's post, I'd say many of those utilities called him multiple times.

  • You think that's bad? (Score:4, Funny)

    by psyconaut ( 228947 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @08:56PM (#6938326)
    I signed up for MSN .Net alerts....with my last phone...then I switched phone (same carrier) and tried to remove the alerts.

    I've tried everything I can, and STILL get alerts on my phone (via SMS) for Hotmail and eBay, and everytime someone on Messenger tries to chat.

    Do you think my carrier cares? Nope. Do you think it's easy to get ahold of anyone at MSN? Nope.

    Grrrr!

    -psy
    • You wanna hear another good one? I got locked out of my hotmail accnt about 3 years ago when they instituted the "are you 13 years of age or older?" policy..and I had put a fake birthday saying I was 3. Tried calling hotmail's support number...bwahahahahahahah I was on hold for over an hour and never talked to a single person..gave up. Next day I called as soon as the phones were activated and guess what...another hour and got the same thing.. This isn't an 800 number..it was a toll call.. Finally I just re

  • Do not call! (Score:4, Informative)

    by CashCarSTAR ( 548853 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @09:00PM (#6938342)
    Seriously, under no circumstances should you call them back and give them your information.

    Once you do that, you then have a "business relationship", and they are free to contact you any time of day, any day of the week.

    Chances are, what is going on is they got your information from an old database of "outstanding claims" that they purchased from a company. Even 'tho it might be something a decade old that you've already paid off. It happens a lot.

    The best advice would be to call an independant credit bureau and see what you actually have on your credit report through them. If there's nothing outstanding, then don't worry about it. If there is, contact the company and confirm if it was sent to collections, and see if they have records that it was paid off. If no record, sorry to tell you but you're screwed, even if you paid it.

    Use a public fax and fax NCO, asking them to send you a copy of the bill via registered mail. That way they will not fudge the amount, something these places do a lot. Then send in a money order for that amount.

    A pain in the ass. Yay capitalism!

    • Debt validation is a tricky game. Check out www.freeadvice.com for information.
  • I am betting it's NCO Graphics out of North Carolina, they're a collection agency. I have NO idea how to get rid of them but at least I know why they're hunting me...stupid mistake made by an ISP who keeps conveniently forgetting to call them and say that our collection was settled months ago. Strangely enough I just joined and this came up and it's right up my alley... Stop Industrial and Corporate Espionage [peoplehacking.com]

  • To deal with collection agencies.... (Score:5, Informative)

    by poofmeisterp ( 650750 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @09:07PM (#6938376) Journal
    Very good information to help you deal with collection agencies at:

    Freeadvice.com [freeadvice.com]

    This is a link to the forums. You can find decent credit and collections-related information off the main site, as well.

  • Blocking calls (Score:3, Informative)

    by Andy Smith ( 55346 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @09:15PM (#6938411)
    I'm in the UK and just last week I asked British Telecom if there was a way to block all calls that withheld the caller ID info. I've been getting a lot of nuisance calls lately.

    BT: "Yes there is sir! And it'll cost you 40 pounds per year."

    That's right, 40 quid to *not* receive nuisance calls.

    Always remember when dealing with phone service providers and telemarketing companies that it's in the phone service provider's best interest if the telemarketer DOES call you.

    Why exactly would a telecom company want to STOP people from calling you?

    #include "no_european_symbols_on_slashdot_complaint.txt"

  • EAsy (Score:2, Funny)

    by schnits0r ( 633893 )
    I have a plan. How about everyone on slashdot phone them similtaniously and Slashdot their phone line?

  • Do you think it's these guys: NCO Group [ncogroup.com]? There's a Yahoo profile [yahoo.com] where they talk about:

    ...call management systems composed of predictive dialers...

    They seem to be debt collectors. If that were the case, they would be correct in stating that they are not soliciting you.

    Next time they call get the telemarketer's name (Mary). Ask Mary to tell you the nature of the call. If she refuses to specify without you first giving out personal info, let her know that as soon as you hang up, you will be con

    • Re:These guys? (Score:2, Informative)

      by lish2 ( 194441 )
      If it's the debt-collection agency, it's NOT telemarketing or solicitation, so the telemarketing rules do not apply here. Also, the debt-collection rules do apply, meaning they have to know who they're talking to before they can discuss anything, even the fact that they're trying to collect on a debt.

  • Collection Agency Practices (Score:4, Informative)

    by Kane Skalter ( 636517 ) <dhilling AT walla DOT com> on Thursday September 11, 2003 @09:26PM (#6938511)

    Perhaps you should use the following to get them to cease communication via your cell phone. I am convinced that accruing minutes on your cell phone (I know some plans are unlimited, but most aren't) would be tantamount to causing you to incur a charge. In English, that means it's your dime, not theirs. You are paying out money to accept their call. If it was a landline and you were not limited on minutes of usage, it would be an entirely different story. Perhaps you should return their call and insist on alternate means of communication. If it is a collection agency for a debt that you do owe, then you should communicate with them. If you do not owe the debt, then you should notify them verbally and in writing of a dispute.

    Here's what the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act [ftc.gov] has to say about it.

    808. Unfair practices [15 USC 1692f]

    (5) Causing charges to be made to any person for communications by concealment of the true propose of the communication. Such charges include, but are not limited to, collect telephone calls and telegram fees.

  • ...all I can get from them is the company name: NCO. They won't tell me more about their company unless I tell who I am.

    Sounds suspiciously like the Consumer Recreation Services (CRS) in The Game [imdb.com]

    Maybe you should give them a call!

    • Oh man, that was an awesome flick. If you are going to sign up for CRS (aka 'The Game') be sure you have on clean underwear at all times.

      I don't remember from the movie : did he get his watch back or not when it was all said and done?
  • Unless you're using your cell phone to field work calls, I strongly recommend you set your phone to block calls with restricted caller information. (Sometimes this can be set right in the phone's menu; if not, you can call your provider and ask them to turn it on.) If someone wants to talk with you badly enough, let 'em *82 and tell you who's calling.

  • If they're collecting... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by jn42 ( 586210 )

    These people are a collection agency, and as such they're exempt from telemarketing call rules. I had a situation with these same people at one point in the past - they were calling my cell phone daily, but with a live person instead of a recording. After telling them to "fuck off" for two weeks, and still getting the calls, I explained that if they continued to call I would start deducting $10 per call from my debt for my phone use and work time, but if they'd stop calling my cell then I might consider s

    • Yeah, I was negotiating with a collection agency, and they offered me "hardship status" if I gave them a bunch of information. So, OK, I answer a bunch of questions, and it's cool -- until they want my cell number. Why? "Because we need a daytime number." I refused on general principle, and also because the woman I was talking too had the social grace of a rabid octopus. Sure glad I did -- they've since gone into rapid-dial-bombing mode, which would have rendered my cell useless.

      I understand these folks a

  • It is an extortion racket (Score:5, Funny)

    by wildzeke ( 191754 ) on Thursday September 11, 2003 @11:10PM (#6939310)
    I called the number and some guy calling himself McBride said I owed him $699.
  • I was chuckling to myself thinking "Boy, Slashdotters sure have alot of credit problems!" Of course, then I remembered that for some reason (I sure don't know why) I also know a lot about how collection companies work. Suddenly I didn't know whether to laugh harder or weep...

    -FB

  • Same problem here. Credit Card company called at least once a day. After two weeks I called my cell phone company and they gladly changed my number(no charge). Problem Solved.
    • Unfortunately, you'll also be forced to call everyone you know (or at least, everyone you like) to tell them to update their addressbooks. Personally, I prefer to minimize the update frequency to less than once a year. Moreover, I've changed phone model as well as provider while sticking to my old phone number. How's number portability in the US, by the way?

      Smoking kills; if you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life -- Brooke Shields

  • DO-Not-Call List? (Score:3, Informative)

    by IpsissimusMarr ( 672940 ) * on Friday September 12, 2003 @02:21AM (#6940158) Journal
    There is a national Do-Not-Call-List now. It works for cell phones as well as land lines. Find the link on Slashdot here(I'm too lazy just now) and sign up. If they call you get $500. Sound good?

  • I am... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Eneff ( 96967 ) on Friday September 12, 2003 @03:36AM (#6940402)
    Emmitt Smith.
  • hanging up, and not calling the 800 number back ?!?
  • but when I had lots of harrassing calls for another person at my new home phone number, I set up a voicemail tree which said, "Press 1 for [other person], press 2 for [me]". They usually end up pressing 1 b/c they aren't interested in me, and 1 gives them a message explaining that the person they are calling is no longer at this number but does not allow them to leave a message.

    When I did get messages from them, I called the phone number, explained that I am not who they think, and threatened to sue them
  • I get calls on a land line that sound like a computer generated female voice (a pretty good one, I might add) which goes like this:

    "Please call Mrs. Ungar at (phone no.)".

    Since the person does not identify herself or company she might represent, I ignore the call outright. This has been going on for several months now.
  • When I call (from a CID-blocked work phone)

    Calling an 800 number bypasses the caller-id-blocking system. An 800 number can always see your phone number via a system called "ANI" (automatic number identification?)

    The theory that I've heard for this is: since the callee is paying for the call, they get to know your phone number.

    Anyway, you have no privacy protection when you call an 800 (or 888, or 877, or any of its friends) number.

  • Thanks for your help! (from submitter) (Score:5, Informative)

    by RobertB-DC ( 622190 ) * on Friday September 12, 2003 @04:51PM (#6947282) Homepage Journal
    Thank you to all for your help! Here's my action plan:

    * I know I didn't have any unknown outstanding debts on my record in April, but there are some medical bills that may have been added since then. I'll get a new credit report and see what's been going on lately. I used myFICO [myfico.com] once before, but their price seems to have gone up... I'll have to look for an alternative. Fortunately, I've been turned down enough times while looking for new home financing, that I should be able to get a free report. :)

    * If nothing shows up there, I'll follow up on the company name that this AC [slashdot.org] managed to get out of the 800 number. NCO Credit Services [ncocreditservices.com] has three numbers and several emails listed on their "Contacts" page... someone should be able to tell me if they have a gruff-voiced robot that calls and leaves "non solicitation messages".

    * Once I feel like I have a clue who's calling, I'll be more comfortable telling them who I am. Your information has been very valuable, especially the part about collection agencies in the US being barred from costing me money when they collect. That implies that these folks *will* care that they're calling on a cell phone.

    Thanks again, everyone, for your help. Good luck, and God bless!
    • It's been two weeks, and the story is about to be archived, so I wanted to give an update to anyone interested.

      The solution to the problem appears to be simple: get the Slashdot community involved! I haven't received a single call from the gruff-voiced robot -- not one in two weeks. I can only conclude that the story here (as well as the posting on usenet referenced in another thread) caused the company to rethink their strategy.

      Did we Slashdot their 800 number? 'Scuse me while I shed a bitter tear.

      I'
  • I got a voice mail left on my cell phone the other day at 4:30am! Some company selling DirecTV install services. They said I had "asked" them to contact me when it was available. As far as I know only about 10 people in the entire world know my cell phone number and all of them I trust.
  • When I moved from Georgia to Indiana 2 years ago I moved my Sprint PCS service with me. When I got here, I realized that Sprint's service sucks in my area so I cancelled the service and switched to Cingular. The guy w/ Sprint told me I was paid up and to ignore any more bills, their system would catch up in a month or two. So I ignored the bills.

    6 months later I get a letter from NCO saying I owe $130+ (like 4 months of service). BS. I call Sprint and ask em what the deal is, they can't help, account

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