Got a call yesterday. Answered and they hung up. Caller ID said DISCOUNT SRVC and 410-387-7497. I tried to track down who called.
Whitepages.com/phone/1-410-387-7497 said it was a landline of CTC COMMUNICATIONS CORP in Maryland.
A Google search (CTC COMMUNICATIONS CORP MD) led to https://www.sbn.com/Maryland/Linthicum-Hts/Li ... ONS-CORP/_LL2IY. That site gave this information:
If you call the 694 number you get a fast busy signal.
Further searching yields a Wikipedia article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Communications
Seems the caller was probably Earthlink. So I called 410-387-7497 and got a recorded message offering to put my number on their do not call list if I pressed "1". I took a chance and pressed one (ordinarily not a good idea). I got this message: “We apologize for any inconvenience. Please allow 24 hours to process your request.”
I don't know why they called or if they will put me on their DNC list or if they will sell my number to anyone with a penny. I just hope and pray that I don't get plagued with any more parasite calls than I do already.
I suggest we act to end the intrusions. It may never happen because it won't benefit the politicians, but unsolicited calls from ALL telemarketers, survey/pollster companies, and non-profits need to be banned. If you want these type of calls, then there should be a registry to OPT-IN. Instead we have a call by call option to OPT-OUT, a worse than useless Do Not Call national registry, and criminal scam artists who are never brought to justice. Is this a great country or what?
We are probably wasting our time filing FTC complaints. The law is toothless. Has the FTC ever collected a nickel of the fines they occasionally impose? Has anyone ever been imprisoned for the telephone frauds they commit? We need a fundamental change, a remedy that actually deters violators who want to disturb us in our homes for their benefit. These people benefit and have no regard for the costs and harm they impose on us.
So on the off chance this IS a great country I suggest you call/email your Representative in Congress and Senators AND the President. Ask for relief from these intrusions. Ask for an OPT-IN list and harsh criminal sanctions against the people who are intent on turning us into their involuntary, uncompensated servants. The current civil remedies against businesses/scam artists that violate the DNC list and debt collection restrictions are not working. Businesses in the exempted groups (especially debt collectors) are abusing the privilege the law gives them and slithering through the loopholes. Ask for change, real change. Change that puts US first, not the parasites. http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml