Tuesday, December 21, 2004

I hate phone spam....

But something interesting. 1. I hate, hate, hate, hate being called at inappropriate hours of the night about nothing in particular. 2. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate phone spam even more.

so I've been phone spammed. Turns out that there is this "guy" who keeps calling both my cell phone and my home phone in attempts to get me to call him back. I realize now that this is that part of a new set of scams that are now infiltrating my cell phone. Damn-it all if it hasn't happened to me.

The only reason I remembered ANYTHING about phone scams is because of 60 Minutes, and a piece they did about phone scams. Regardless now my poor little cell phone is getting rung at least once a day from a Mr. Michael Rodes/Mr. Mariani/Ms. barbara etc, etc, etc. all from a (716) 650-6240. All saying that "you need to call me, this is in regards to a very urgent legal matter" and they tell me to call a 800-695-9134.

so my "jerk-alert" went up. I'm on the whole a really good citizen, no accidents, good credit, no jail time...I know what you're thinking - it gets expunged when you turn 18 - but really I'm basically a good kid. So when I get a call saying "Call me - its an urgent legal matter!" I'm suspicious. So I did a basic google search, and came across another blogger, who was complaining of the same thing. The connection didn't take much to figure out.

I did a little more sleuthing, only to find out that the (716) phone number was for the Northern NY area - specifically Williamsville, NY. It also turns out that it is for and AT&T prepaid phone. And considering that several phone distributers are right there, and just a short drive across the border from....you guessed it Canada! It didnt' take much for me to figure out that this was a phone scam. The problem is that I'm figuring that it s a pre-paid phone, in Canada, So I'm kinda up the creek without a paddle.

So I decided to be activist in my own lazy way. I figure that I can't stop them by myself, but I that I can help someone else by at least putting this stuff out there, hopefully keeping the blogsphere safe. So when you get an automoton/pre-recorded voice telling you to "call me, it's urgent" and they are calling from a number you don't recognize don't reply. ESPECIALLY if its coming from (716) 650-6240. This is an out and out phone scam. Just hang up, and Don't let your curiousity get to you. Its not worth it.

uh. yeah. here's for civic duty.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dammit, i live in CA and i've been getting these phone calls from (716) 650-6240 since Christmas and it's really starting to piss me off i called the (716) number and said i didn't want to get automated calls from whoever this is but the lady started verbally challenging me and got really pissed and we basically got into a yelling match and i said i was going to notify the authorities. I asked what organization they were afiliated with and she said with a stern voice "don't worry 'bout it!". These people are really the scum of the earth and need to get a life.

Kira said...

I haven't found a way to try and report them to the FCC or something like that. I figure that if there are at least enough people out there that know about this then they may just wise up. I'm still getting at least 1 call a day with a pre-recorded voice from a Frank now.

Anonymous said...

Yesterday, 1/16/05

The phone rang and a voice asked for me by name. Assuming it was a bill collector, I replied, "You must have the wrong number." After hanging up, I star 69'd and the number the call originated from was 716-650-6240.

Today I decided to google to see what I might come up with and found this informative site.

My phone call doesn't match what I have read here in regards to the pre-recorded messages because that is not how mine was. However, shortly after this phone call, my phone rang again and when I answered it, there was no one there. I tried star 69ing again but this time a recorded voice told me, "the number that called you is not known".

I'm going to go to infousa.com and look up the phone number. If I find out any additional information, I will post another comment.

Anonymous said...

Hello Everyone On this site...I have had some great arguements with the people from this company. That phone number,716-650-6240, was traced by a friend of mine to N.A.S.S. ,165 Lawrence Bell Drive, Ste. 100, Williamsville, NY 14221.

They have been reported to the FTC for Unfair Telemarketing/Collection practices. I have contacted the FTC and they say to right a registered letter to the above address telling them not to call you on any of your phone numbers. The more complaints the better chance they will be investugated. All in all this company really sucks.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I just got a call today on President's Day from 716 650 6240 which was on my caller ID....however, when I took the message from a "Rick Braun" I was told to call him back on 800-982-0484 x 2267. I told him that if it was in reference to a debt collection matter, that all communication should be in writing (the FTC requires them to do this if you inform them). The 800 number is listed as being for an Idaho licensed collection agency, of all things and the number is found on google as belonging to:
NATIONAL ACTION FINANCIAL SERVICES INC.
WILLIAM C PINKNEY JR
3587 PARKWAY LN
NORCROSS, GA 30092-2023
800-982-0484

So, most likely these are "zombie" debt collectors, who purchase old loans which are uncollectable according to the Statute of Limitations in most states.

FYI only and good luck getting rid of these folks.

Anonymous said...

I'm in the club of those being harrassed by the people from this number. They are even calling family members and harrassing them in an attempt to contact me. I've never received any kind of written information from this company so I am ignoring them, but I'm upset that they are harrassing my family.

Anonymous said...

me too, been getting calls for awhile from these idiots. they are in deed a collection agency looking for my mother, who has been dead for almost a year and a half now. at first i calmly and gently told them this fact. now i just give them the phone number to the cemetary. did this to a gentleman day before yesterday, and about 2 minutes later the phone rang again, it was him and was he ever pissed that I gave him that phone number. still getting calls though. think I will have some fun with these guys for a bit.

Anonymous said...

Been getting these calls for about a month. Sometimes twice in one day, always asking for a bobby smith. They are really just wanting you to call the number which will start billing you. It is a 900 like number...

Anonymous said...

I've been getting theses same calls, first with a person looking for Bobby Smith, then automated messages, now getting them 2-4 times a week. It's now becoming an annoyance. Sbc says buy call blocker, but I don't want to pay for something that the phone companies ought to be acting on themselves as a service to consumers.

Jonathan said...

I got my first one today... no voice mail but I was still pissed. Oh look, they just tried to call again. How quaint.

Maranda said...

I too am being harassed by this number on a daily basis. Today they called be just before 8am and hung up on my answering machine. They then called back maybe 20 minutes later and left their usual message. I don't get anyone's name at all, its always a message telling me to call them back and that the situation can not be discussed until I call them back and they leave a number. Today was odd actually. They had just called and as they were leaving their prerecorded message, I picked up the phone and just sat there. A WOMAN came on the line at that time and was going "hello...HELLO". I just hung up.

From looking online (just do a google search for this number) I found that this isn't even a legit collector. They somehow get info on a legit debt you own and double the price and try to insist that you owe it. I read one guy say he threatened to take them to court and they didn't respond. Most creditors are happy to hear that and tell you to go right ahead.

jkabc1962 said...

The number is HSBC (Household Bank) collection services. Apparently you, (or someone pretending to be you, or a wrong number) has an outstanding balance on a loan or credit card.