Same number calls me 10+ times a day!

My fellow ATS'ers, I don't know what to do. I have been receiving an insane ammount of phone calls from the same number. The experience goes something like this:

I recieved approximately 7 or 8 calls from the same number and when I answered, no one would be on the line, just silence. Eventually on about the 10th call, to my surprise there was someone on the line. It was very loud in the background, I assume it was the noise of a small but busy call center. The gal on the phone asked for "Kiesha", well she said, "Is Kiesha there?". Instead of answering her question, I asked her who she was, and who she represented. She said "RPS". I was at the computer when she called and immediatly googled "RPS" with no real success. I told her that that was no Kiesha at this number and that I am very upset about the high volume of calls i received from this number, she hung up on me in mid sentence.

I thought well maybe that will be the end of this nonsense....Nope. I continued recieving calls. So I googled the phone number. And my google search immediatly provided numerous search results for sites and forums with people explaining the exact same experience. Here's a link to a disscussion board of dozens and dozens of people who have received an insane ammount of calls from the same number:

External Link:
whocallsme.com...

So while reading that forum someone mentions that when they called him, the lady asked: "You've reached the gift shop, did you get a call?" or something to that affect.

So then I get yet another call! This time, intead of a typical "Hello", I answered the phone by saying, "You've reached the gift shop, did you get a call?" There was a brief moment of awkward silence, then the lady said "Uh...I think I mis-dialed" and hung up.

The main reason I am posting this here on ATS is because I beleive this is a scam, if not a conspiracy. On the numerous discussion boards, everyone explains their experience, but not really anyone knows what to do about it. One guy posted a link to place a complaint with the FTC, however another poster said he placed a complaint and is still continuing to get the calls.

Very little information is turning up about who is actually responsible.

Here's what I know:

The number calling me is: (770)293-0151
(770) is a Georgia, US area code
the gal mentioned RPS Publications???
the forums mention a Visa Sweepstakes (most likely a scam)
I've only had my phone about 3 weeks, Service Provider is Cricket
Other posters on the forums mention having Verizon as a carrier
I also received a call from a second number in the same area code and I don't know anyone in Georgia

If anything, atleast I have alerted others to a potential scam. But I am hoping for my fellow ATS'ers help with this one. Is this illegal?" What can be done about it? Can you really place a complaint to the FTC using no info other than a phone number? Has anyone else on ATS heard of this or experienced this?

Oh and by the way, I am currently not on any "Do Not Call" list, but I have asked them to stop calling every time they are actually on the line. But many posters on the forum mentioned being on the Do Not Call lists and getting the calls anyway.

Please help

reply to post by cynical572

So then I get yet another call! This time, intead of a typical "Hello", I answered the phone by saying, "You've reached the gift shop, did you get a call?" There was a brief moment of awkward silence, then the lady said "Uh...I think I mis-dialed" and hung up

That's pretty funny. It definitely was most likely a call from a call center or something like that. By answering like that you threw them off their game.

Perhaps you should call your phone provider and see if they know anything. If not, you can always have your telephone company permanently block that number. You could try calling them back too and raise a holy ruckus.

[On a lighter note] You could get this guy to answer the phone for you:

Not an Ex-girlfriend huh? Sounds strange. I have heard of these telecoms selling info about their customers to different marketing agencies. It sounds like some glitch in the system trying to auto dial you over and over again. Maybe...

We get the same calls...no one there or it says "please wait for a important message".

My sister owes money so they hound her for it. LOL

Keisha prob owes them money and use to have your phone number or they are dialing the wrong number.

We just hang on them and turn the ringer off. Call display comes over the TV when phone rings so no need for ringer to be on. Love it.

reply to post by cynical572


RPS stands for Roadway Package Service until they were bought by FEDERAL EXPRESS and now they are FEDEX GROUND.

I hate annoying phone calls.

I think she got the wrong number and doesn't know that she is harassing the wrong person.

I had something similar to me happen. Except it was a dude who kept calling me and asking for a chick. About 9 times of telling him sorry dude wrong number, I asked why he kept calling and he said that if I wanted to mess around with his girl then he is going to disrupt my day to day life.

I told him who I was and what state I live in (got an AZ number, lived in GA and KS currently). Turns out he was in AZ and got the wrong number. He told me he won't call again and I went to sprint and had my number changed.


Something like that is probably happening to you. Change your number.

I'd report it to your local telephone company and to the state Public Service Commission. And if you want to go a step further, the FCC. That many calls would qualify as harassment. If you don't mind changing your number, make sure you tell the local company why, and they'll probably do it for free.

Of course, that doesn't negate the possibility that the number you change to won't have the same issues. I'd go after the source.

We get very few personal phone calls, so we know the caller id # to most everyone who calls. Those we don't recognize, we answer the phone as " Toni's Pizza, can I help you?" It's funny to hear their reaction. Then we just hang up.

I have an unlisted phone number, and still get these calls occasionally.

[edit on 13-3-2009 by virraszto]

Everyone around here keeps getting calls from the same 1-877 number trying to sell extended warranties. It's damn annoying, particularly when they keep calling like every other day, even after saying "not interested, do not call again."

Normally, when I get a telemarketing call, I act enthusiastic and express an interest, but state "please hold a minute, I have something on the stove and need to turn it off, I'll be right back." Then I set the phone down and just leave it off the hook to see how long they wait for my return. Or, I state that the owners of the home aren't around, that I'm just a burglar, that I could leave a message for them upon their return, but they may not be able to call back right away, because I was going to take their phone too.

I just wanted to say Thank You to everyone that replied to this thread. I'm pretty sure this is some type of a scam. Than you for all your feedback and insight.

Originally posted by Divinorumus
Everyone around here keeps getting calls from the same 1-877 number trying to sell extended warranties. It's damn annoying, particularly when they keep calling like every other day, even after saying "not interested, do not call again."

Normally, when I get a telemarketing call, I act enthusiastic and express an interest, but state "please hold a minute, I have something on the stove and need to turn it off, I'll be right back." Then I set the phone down and just leave it off the hook to see how long they wait for my return.

Or, I state that the owners of the home aren't around, that I'm just a burglar, that I could leave a message for them upon their return, but they may not be able to call back right away, because I was going to take their phone too.

I get those all the time, I don't think I will anymore though.

Yesterday they called and I had just renewed my wices SUV warranty and so I go ahead and talk to the customer service. As soon as she said name please I told her to tell me, I'm the one getting the phone call. I then asked what veheicle they are calling me about. She said it would be our newest one. I asked that if it was the newest one, doesn't it seem resonable that it still has the warranty on it?

She didn't have an answer so I asked her if she is calling about the veheicle I recently bought a warrenty for or my vehicle. She said it was my vehicle and I told her she was lying because unless they supply warranties for Harley's (they dont) then it wasn't my vehicle because thats the only car I personally have.

I told her if I get another call like this I am going to report her for not taking my name off the list. She apologized and hung up.


I hope to god they call me again.

reply to post by octotom


LMAO!

Best prank ever!

I had this same issue but different number and such. It turned out it was a creditor looking for some chic who gave them the wrong number. I looked it up online though and was amazed to find the same name listed by many people so who ever the con artist was they got them for a big chunk of change i bet. Calls have stopped now though.

As several posters above already said, it's probably just a mistake. Keisha probably owes someone money and they're trying to collect. Their tactics suck, but that's how it works.

We had the same problem. Apparently a woman named Elnora had our phone number before us. We've had the number for over four years now and we still get threatening calls for her on a weekly basis. For the first year it was several a day. The phone company said they couldn't do anything but change our number (for a fee, of course). We just ignore it now. Elnora must owe a lot of people a lot of money!

See, the thing is, I don't believe this is a Collections Agency. I've had bad experiences with them and their reps being rude and unprofessional, but in the end they want the debt paid so regardless of professionalism, they're not gonna hang up just because I said "This is the Gift Store". If it was a Collections Agency, they would have probly proceeded past the greeting and asked for Kiesha again.

The other posters on the forum I linked to in the OP, all say the same phone number called them. There are dozens and dozens of people getting these calls and not one of the stories said the operators presented themselves as attempting to collect a debt.
Sometimes they know peoples names, sometimes they ask for the wrong name.

I got another call!

This time the line was silent.

I seriously think this is a scam and just want to get it out there that this is going on.

There's all kinds of people falling victem to this and all I can turn up is people sharing thier experience.

How can I find out for sure what company this is?

Who's their CEO or COO?

I don't think I can do anything about this except ignore it, but I don't want to ignore it, I want it to stop. I was actually considering contacting the police (non-emergency ofcourse stupid chicken nugget lady) but I don't even know the company's name or anything

Something like that happened to me once when I got a prepaid cell phone for a while.

I had it for about a week and I checked my messages to find that there was a message for someone named "Kim" who apparently owed them money.

I called the number back on my cell phone and some guy answered. I told him the situation.

He said Oh ok, What is your phone number, I will remove it from our list. after searching for the number (it was a new phone and I forgot) he said is it (then said my number) I said, oh you had it on caller id? Yes thats it.

He took my number off the list and apologised and I have not recieved a call from them since.

So I suggest just calling the number back and explaining the situation telling them that there is no one at your number named kiesha.

If they are even half way honest they will remove your number. although i have recieved my fair share of dis honest callers.

Oh once I got this letter in the mail that was an attempt to collect a debt. It claimed the debt came from AT&T but I have never had an account with them. I even called AT&T customer servies to make sure. I never had an account with them and I owed them no money. They even told me that they have there own collection dept and do not contract out nor do they attempt to collect unless the amount owed is at a certain amount.(I forget the exact amount)

So I called the scammers pretending to be my "lawyer" demanding they send me all info they have on me and this "debt I owe".

After they got nice and nervice I told them that I had already talked to AT&T themselves and I do not owe ANY money nor have I ever had an account with them.

They apologised and hung up. Never heard from them again.

Originally posted by cynical572


I don't think I can do anything about this except ignore it, but I don't want to ignore it, I want it to stop. I was actually considering contacting the police (non-emergency ofcourse stupid chicken nugget lady) but I don't even know the company's name or anything

Your telephone company would be more likely to be able to help you than the police, I would think. I once got a number changed without charge because I was receiving threatening phone calls for the person who had had the number before me.

I'm confused why you think this is a scam though. Are they asking for money or something? I'm inclined to go with the people who think it's a collection agency, and that "Keisha" either used to have your number or gave a wrong number on some paperwork somewhere. If they know they're supposed to be calling a residence, and end up with a "gift shop" they might well just hang up.

A call center in India, the Philipines or whatever.

I love the "Do Not Call" list it stopped a lot of BS calls.

the do not call list only works if your polite.

i used to be a telemarketer, and if people were assholes to me, and freak out saying never call back ,if i was in a good mood, id put them on the do not call list.

if they were a complete ass, and i was having a bad day, they should expect a call back within the next few hours. autodialer just rerolls their number.