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The only way I found to fight them requires me to get annoyed enough that I can devote a half-hour for the following: - follow through the automated prompts -

The only way I found to fight them requires me to get annoyed enough that I can devote a half-hour for the following: - follow through the automated prompts - get to the tier 1 pre-screening agent (usually some outsourced call-center) and feign interest - get transferred to the next level and go fishing for a contact on their end - if they require a credit card to continue, provide a test number from stripe/paypal etc. - remain nice and pose as gullible the whole time until you get that real contact info - once you got a direct number of a real account rep (and/or company name), set up a script and call them ~ 100 times with an auto-generated message asking them to remove your number. A variant if it's a legit company with a toll-free number: have your script call them and stay on as long as possible, to make them pay for the call. This is fighting fire with fire and it only works one group at a time. But it does provides momentary satisfaction.

BonesJustice 9y ago
Be careful with any sort of auto-dialer, even if you script it up yourself. If the contact number you're given happens to be a cell phone, you'll run afoul of the TCPA. Those fines can add up quickly.
- itsdrewmiller 9y ago
  I'm going to go ahead and guess that the FCC would choose not to move forward with fines in this case. :-P
  - BonesJustice 9y ago
    I was wrong to use the term 'fine'. The TCPA expressly allows individuals to sue for damages. The FCC need not get involved. If someone auto-dials your cell phone, and you can figure out who it is, you can take them to court with a good chance of recovering money from them. If you can prove a willful violation, which isn't necessarily a high bar, you can get treble damages ($500 becomes $1,500). Multiply that by the number of calls. The hardest part is determining who actually called you. If you can get past that hurdle, the court costs aren't terribly expensive, and you can exact a tidy sum from repeat offenders. There are actually lawyers who specialize in these kinds of cases, and because they aren't terribly expensive to pursue, they'll even take them on contingency. I learned about this through a Reddit AMA with such an attorney. Of course, a determined individual can prevail without hiring a lawyer, provided they're willing to put in the time (and can unmask the caller).
    - toomuchtodo 9y ago
      Run the number through Twilio's lookup API first: https://twilio.com/lookup https://twilio.com/lookup It'll provide carrier and connection type info for the DID.
      - BonesJustice 9y ago
        Not sure how that helps when the caller spoofs the caller ID. According to Twilio, the spam call I received earlier today came a number registered a T-Mobile customer named Sharon. Pretty sure the actual origin was a call center overseas. They just picked a random number that had the same first six digits as my own number.
        toomuchtodo 9y ago
        In that case, it does not help.
  - morganvachon 9y ago
    I'm guessing you are not aware of how blatantly anti-consumer our current FCC leadership is. Since the transition they have gone out of their way, even lying to Congress and the people, to pander to corporations rather than serve the people as they swore to do.

BonesJustice 9y ago

Be careful with any sort of auto-dialer, even if you script it up yourself. If the contact number you're given happens to be a cell phone, you'll run afoul of the TCPA. Those fines can add up quickly.

itsdrewmiller 9y ago
I'm going to go ahead and guess that the FCC would choose not to move forward with fines in this case. :-P
- BonesJustice 9y ago
  I was wrong to use the term 'fine'. The TCPA expressly allows individuals to sue for damages. The FCC need not get involved. If someone auto-dials your cell phone, and you can figure out who it is, you can take them to court with a good chance of recovering money from them. If you can prove a willful violation, which isn't necessarily a high bar, you can get treble damages ($500 becomes $1,500). Multiply that by the number of calls. The hardest part is determining who actually called you. If you can get past that hurdle, the court costs aren't terribly expensive, and you can exact a tidy sum from repeat offenders. There are actually lawyers who specialize in these kinds of cases, and because they aren't terribly expensive to pursue, they'll even take them on contingency. I learned about this through a Reddit AMA with such an attorney. Of course, a determined individual can prevail without hiring a lawyer, provided they're willing to put in the time (and can unmask the caller).
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    Run the number through Twilio's lookup API first: https://twilio.com/lookup https://twilio.com/lookup It'll provide carrier and connection type info for the DID.
    - BonesJustice 9y ago
      Not sure how that helps when the caller spoofs the caller ID. According to Twilio, the spam call I received earlier today came a number registered a T-Mobile customer named Sharon. Pretty sure the actual origin was a call center overseas. They just picked a random number that had the same first six digits as my own number.
      - toomuchtodo 9y ago
        In that case, it does not help.
- morganvachon 9y ago
  I'm guessing you are not aware of how blatantly anti-consumer our current FCC leadership is. Since the transition they have gone out of their way, even lying to Congress and the people, to pander to corporations rather than serve the people as they swore to do.