calls once a day.. no message.... iwhen i answer these calls i just pick up the phone and listen.... hahaha.... i never respond... eventually they stop calling...
"Hello, this is Kevin Mann from the Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police organization".
Also calls from 717-484-9688 & (215) 884-2317.
Here are comments by John of Lower Merion dated May 7, 2015 under the "717" number:
This was a live donation solicitation call by a guy claiming to be "Kevin Mann" calling for the "PA Fraternal Order of Police Foundation". Your local police almost always encourage you not to donate to phone solicitations claiming to benefit the police because most of any donation would go to the fund raiser for "administrative fees", and not to the charity. These calls are essentially disguised telemarketing calls to line the pockets of a private "fundraiser".
I am particularly suspicious of them wanting to take my credit card donation but pump it right into PayPal. They say it allows their organization to utilize the donation funds faster, but once my donation goes into PayPal, isn't the ultimate
destination hidden or even untraceable? I don't like that at all. See this in the call transcript, below.
If they are indeed a charitable organization and exempt from the Do Not Call regulartions, I think they still have a moral obligation not to call people who put their numbers on the Do Not call list because, duh, they don't want any calls from
strangers. Would you knowingly call somebody you knew who didn't want to be called and risk annoying them to no end? Why is that so hard for these telemarketers to comprehend?
These people already had 3 strikes against them before I answered their call. Their predictive dialer reached me on several occasions, I answered, but nobody on their end picked up. And after repeated requests from me to be removed from their calling list, they haven't removed my number, now my attitude is not just to waste their time on the phone, but to actually cost them money. You will see in the following transcript that I agreed to make a donation, but I gave them totally fake ID and address complements of www.FakeNameGenerator.com
They'll pay postage to send me a pledge kit, then get it back from the Postal Service as undeliverable. Perhaps then they'll remove me.
Following is a transcript of this 17+ minute live fundraising solicitation call:
[me:] Hello?
[they:] Good evening, this is Kevin Mann calling for the "Pennsylvania Fraternal
Order of Police Foundation". The call is recorded for quality assurance, ok?
[me:] Ok.
[they:] sir, the reason for my call is the PA FOP Foundation just kicked off their fund drive and as a paid fundraiser for residential programs we're sending out the new pledge kit to all supporting residents. The goal of the drive is to help provide assistance to families and local lodges when FOP members are killed in the line of duty, assist injured, retired and elderly FOP members as well as create and maintain a State memorial for officers practically killed in the line of duty. Now sir, when you receive your pledge kit, can the Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police Foundation count on you for a fully tax deductible donation?
[me:] Uh, yes, of course.
[they:] Great [you hear me clearing my throat], ok well we have some different amounts, the top spots for the drive are the Gold sponsor at $55, and the silver at 45. Which one's comfortable for you?
[me:] Oh, the Gold or the Silver. Do you have other spots?
[they:] Well, it's not about how much you give, ok, it's the fact that you get involved and share your support. There's also the Bronze at 35 and the Booster at 25. Which one's best for you?
[me:] Well, when I, when I look at the TV and I see all the trouble the police have, I think they deserve our support, so what was the Gold level?
[they:] I was just saying, the top two spots for the drive are the Gold sponsor at $55, or the silver at 45. Which one's best for you.
[me:] Oh, I think I'd like to do a little bit better than that. I'd like to donate $100.
[they:] That's fantastic. Now let me ask, are you 100% comfortable with that amount?
[me:] Uh, yes.
[they:] Outstanding. Now all I need to do is just transfer you over to the records department so they can confirm your mailing address and get the pledge kit right out to you. So please stay on the line.
[me:] Oh kay.
[female voice:] **electronic beep audible** Hi, this is Terri Spill [unintelligible] in the records department and I'm paid to make certain we have everything correct. How are you tonight?
[me:] Oh, just fine thank you.
[female voice:] Good. And sir, how much did you promise to donate On behalf of the Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police Foundation?
[me:] I pledged $100.
[female voice:] Ok sir. And now to process this pledge we do accept Visa, Master Card, American Express or Discover. Which would you be using tanight?
[me:] Oh, uh, you don't send out a pledge form anymore?
[they:] Um, well, that is an option that we usually do after the card, instead it puts the funds to work more quickly for the organization and we do not ask for your three digit security code on your card, only the card number with your expiration date and I do provide you with a transic, transaction number through PayPal as we speak and then in the next two to three days you'd also have your official receipt in your grocer.
[me:] Alright, uh, well, I can, I can do that. How about if we put that on Visa.
[they:] Ok. Ok, and sir, just to let you know with the PayPal, it, it does only do the ninety nine, it's [unintelligible] for PayPal, so is is ninety nine for fine to put on there?
[me:] Uh, oh, instead of one hundred?
[they:] Yeah.
[me:] Yeah, I guess so.
[they:] Through PayPal, ok. And let me get that in here, and you did say $99, correct?
[me:] Right.
[they:] Ok. And I'm...can I get your first and last name?
[me:] Yes, my first name is... *** I go on to furnish a 100% fake name and address, courtesy of www.FakeNameGenerator.com ***
[female voice:] Ok, give me one second, let me get that in with PayPal.
[me:] Uh, we're doing Visa.
[they:] Like I said...ok...and just like I said, I'm gonna...um, alright, sorry, I'm putting your name in, um, I'm gonna give you, it's a sixteen digit it's gonna be a um confirmation number in a Visa ok and I'm ready for that card number sir, ok?
[me:] *** I provide 100% fake credit card information from FakeNameGenerator.com
We spend 10½ minutes trying to enter the 16 digit credit card number for two different cards I furnish...she even puts her supervisor on due to the problem, with no success, duh, they're not valid numbers, after all... so we agree to do this by mail, they'll send me a pledge kit through the mail ***
[they:] ...yeah, they are. I just want to let you know in two to three days you will receive your pledge kit. In there will be the receipt with $100, a thank you letter along with your pre-addressed return envelope [unintelligible] your generous donation, again all contributions and gifts to the organization are tax deductible and just one question before I let you go, can the Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police Foundation definitely count on you to return your generous $100 donation as soon as you receive your pledge kit in the mail?
[me:] Uh, yes, definitely.
[they:] Great, thank you once again sir for supporting your Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police Foundation and you have a wonderful night.
[me:] All right, you too, good bye.
[they:] Thank you, bye.
Thanks to Google Voice ( www.google.com/voice ) you can hear this recorded call on my Spam Calls web page: