As you know, our area is being targeted with annoying and unwanted calls. We understand the local sheriff’s department is advising people to call their local telephone provider. Unfortunately, there is little the local phone company can do to stop the calls. In fact, these types of calls are occurring throughout the United States. State Public Utility Commissions across the country as well as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are all aware of the calls, but have not been able to make them stop. While incoming calls from telemarketers are not new, the latest bombardment of calls are proving to be both annoying and frustrating. Our members have reported receiving calls from multiple telephone numbers all over the country as well as overseas which are often times accompanied by various names in the caller ID field or even identified as ‘unknown’. When answering the call, the following message is heard: “Hello, this is an automated fax delivery system. If this is not a fax, press 2.” The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has offered the following tips to help cut down on the number of unwanted calls: • Do not answer calls from unknown numbers. • The FTC further warns not to ‘press 1’ or ‘press 2’. If you respond by pressing any number it will probably just lead to more calls because the caller now knows they have reached a working number. • Don’t give out personal information over the phone. • Report these calls to the National Do Not Call Registry at 1-888-382-1222. Unfortunately there is no guaranteed method of stopping these calls, primarily because it is so easy for scammers to fake the location from which they are calling by using the ‘spoofing’ method as described below. In addition, criminals here and abroad do not care that they are breaking the law. Caller ID Spoofing: Caller ID Spoofing is the practice of deliberately falsifying the telephone number and/or name relayed as the Caller ID information to disguise the identity of the calling party. Caller ID spoofing is ONLY prohibited for the purposes of intentionally defrauding or otherwise causing harm, or wrongfully obtaining anything of value.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 18:54:10 +0000
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