"Hello. This is Rachel from Card Services"...

OK, pretty much everyone knows about this scam and yes, I know that the name Rachel was retired in favor of several other names but it's the same scam perpetrated by the same people. No conspiracy you say, just another TeleScammer. Wait. Read on and see if you still feel that way.

I can't even remember when I first started receiving these calls. It's been many, many years. All our numbers have been on the Do Not Call Registry since it was first implemented (not that the DNCR is worth a crap) and my home number, where they usually call, is unlisted. The calls came regularly --- several times a month. As most know, they 'spoof' their number so it looks like it's coming from some organization or distant person. At first, I took the standard approach and informed them that we were on the DNCR and to please remove us from their call list. They'd just hang-up. When they kept coming I became more militant and the caller at one point threatened to kill me and my family (not that I believed him). I logged these calls with the DNCR and reported the threat to the FBI. No one ever responded in either case. The calls kept coming at an increasing frequency and from different 'spoofed' numbers.

Earlier this year the frequency ramped-up. Calls were coming 6-10 times every day. Their spoofing tactics started using variations of my home number which would bring up an actual person's name from the local area. I contacted my State ATTY General's office. They told me to contact the DNCR. I contacted Verizon (my carrier) Fraud Dept and spoke to a very knowledgeable and patient gentleman who told me there was nothing they could do. That the calls weren't traceable. Then it dawned on me. Why WOULD Verizon want to do anything about it? These scammers represent millions of calls that translate into income for Verizon.

I decided there was only one way to stop this. Make the carriers financially responsible for these calls and outlaw spoofing. Just for sh*ts-and-giggles I emailed one of my State Reps the following missive:

Good morning Senator,

I have had a somewhat significant opportunity spanning several years dealing with government officials at both the State and Federal level from Representatives and Senators to Cabinet officials in DC. To say my experience has been underwhelming would be an understatement. Based on that experience my expectations are limited to a form letter reply from a college intern followed by an endless stream of emails pushing your issues, agendas and donation requests. I apologize for my degree of jadedness but you only have to watch the news to see why I and so many others feel this way.

There is an issue, however, that can and should be addressed. My options are to use the ‘political process’ or to go the crowd-funding route and force a ballot initiative. Let’s see where this goes…

Most of us have been on the receiving end of a telemarketing onslaught that originates with a group of illegal, unscrupulous individuals that simply relocate in the rare instances when they are caught and brought to trial. The calls keep coming. The most famous of these is ‘Rachel from Card Services’ although Rachel has been retired in favor of alternate names. These same groups simultaneously run similar scams targeted at seniors. The FTC touts a series of actions against a couple of these groups but the calls have never abated. Any fastidious Google-searcher can find the most prevalent peoples’ names and addresses (although likely prior addresses). I personally receive between 5 and 10 of these calls a day. All my phone numbers have been on the Do-Not-Call registry since its inception and our listings have been kept up-to-date. As a point of due diligence I have made numerous reports to the DNC system over the years and one report to the FBI when one of the associated telemarketers threatened to come to my house to kill me and my family. I’ve never been contacted by either agency nor am I surprised. The fact is, the FTC/DNC Registry couldn’t shut these people down if the operation was being run from their own lobby. I have contacted the MA Attorney General’s office and was told to contact the Do Not Call Registry. There is no ‘contacting the Do Not Call Registry’. You simply fill out their complaint report on their website, the data from which is poured down the same black hole that swallowed the credibility of politics in America. I have also contacted my TelCo provider, Verizon, and spoken at length with someone from their fraud department only to be told that they ‘have no authority’ and there is nothing they can do. Of course not. And here’s why…

--- CONTINUED ---

--- CONTINUED FROM ABOVE ---

These operations (the illegal telemarketers) are making millions of calls every day. For the TelCo’s this is a windfall. For what possible reason would they want to stop it? The citizenry of this country, of the Commonwealth, are being subjected to these illegal, annoying and potentially fraudulent calls and those in a position to stop them play the impotence card. Or go to the ‘War on Drugs’ playbook to make a publicized ‘hit’ every blue moon so they look like they’re doing something while the whole situation remains a scam. I’m just one of the peasants but there is a simple solution and here it is:

Plan A: Defund the Do Not Call Registry and give me $250K and 1 year. I will put a team of people together that will track these calls to the source and pull their proverbial plug. No, I didn’t think that would fly. So here is the more palatable, ‘politically correct’ plan…

Plan B:

Part 1: It has been repeatedly established that these calls are illegal (for a variety of reasons). The TelCo’s are knowingly facilitating this illegal activity and for that they are complicit in the same way a bank is liable for laundering drug money or a construction company for hiring illegal labor. But the TelCo’s are HUGE political donors. So the question is, are our politicians willing to put their constituency ahead of donors? Would our politicians have the political fortitude and backbone to make the TelCo’s liable for their part in this illegal activity by enacting legislation that fines them $1,000 for every such call with $500 going to the aggrieved party?

Part 2: These telemarketers are using phone number ‘spoofing’ software and/or services to camouflage the originating phone number. They use the numbers of agencies, neighbors, or randomly generated numbers based on your own number and they change them frequently in case one is able to block the numbers or ‘wises-up’. There is NO legitimate purpose of ‘spoofing’ a phone number and no reason the use of this tactic should be legal in this or any other State.

In summary, I am proposing that you draft legislation that hold TelCo’s operating in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts liable for illegal telemarketing operations using their networks. A consumer would need only report that they are receiving such calls, the date and time of the call, and the displayed number and it would be the responsibility of the TelCo to investigate and block all future calls. Any subsequent calls are subject to the aforementioned $1,000 fine with $500 going to the aggrieved party. This same legislation would define the use of telephone number ‘spoofing’ as commercial fraud with relevant penalties attached.

I appreciate your having taken the time to read this and sincerely hope that it receives serious consideration. Those out-of-touch with the ‘little guys’ may see this as nonsense and a mere inconvenience to those of us receiving these calls. But the findings of trial courts across the country would seem to disagree. This is a problem. Consumers are being defrauded. The solution outlined above will work if TPTB care.

I never received any response --- form letter or otherwise. But here is where the conspiracy comes in. Within a few days of sending this email ALL the calls stopped cold. From 6-10 each day to 0. I've not received one TeleScammer call of any kind in over 2 months. However, there have been a handful of odd 'partial rings' on our phone ( like the call disconnected mid-ring) over that time. So you tell me, is there a conspiracy between the phone companies and the TeleScammers and does TPTB have the ability to stop it but don't want to?

I have received assistance from a Senator in regards to my child and buracracy. The man didn't even have a minion do the work.

My point is, you haven't reached your representatives heart. You have however presented a good case... how many of those do you think your rep sees daily?

a reply to: Iamthatbish

Did you read the entire (admittedly long) post?

a reply to: jtma508

I have actually wondered with all the NSA's abilities if you were to be affiliated with the wrong political party something like this could happen. Maybe even not on such a grand scale as the nsa but just all the freaking data collection they do nowadays on people...if your name gets tossed into some kind of list because of some affiliation.

I only use prepaid vanilla cards now. I do have a debit card and credit card if I need to use it. I cancelled my verizon account which was a nightmare going through that and switched to straight talk for awhile then eventually moved out of the country.

And with all the data breaches that seem to almost happen weekly it would be so easy to point the finger at anyone else if an investigation did indeed come into fruition. Just point the finger at some hacker.

Going off grid was one of the best decisions i've ever made next to leaving the country. I forget I even have a phone since I contact most people online.

But at least we have this in common...that # would piss me off! 6 to 10 times a day and before ive had calls at 9 at night...freaking 9!

What sort of conversation was taking place for them to threaten to kill you and your family?
Did you call them out on their scam?

a reply to: DAVID64

If I recall I suggested that the person crawl out of the boiler room and get a socially worthwhile job like drug dealer or prostitute. Something like that.

originally posted by: jtma508
a reply to: Iamthatbish

Did you read the entire (admittedly long) post?

Not only did I, I waited with patience for your continued.

My opinion still stands. You have not reached your representatives Heart.

I wouldn't have been able to complement your well written post if I hadn't read it. When you need something from public representatives you need to keep in mind that while they are there for you, they are there for so many that they get jaded.

In my post I told you that my sons issue required and received help. My situation was different, it was personal and caused my family personal pain.

I'm telling you that your situation reads like any other situation that can wait for another day.

Well, that's interesting! Maybe you could call the Rep's office and ask what they did to cancel the calls you were getting?

You'd think they'd love a law that would 'fine the perps' a buncha money every call (with half going into their campaign warchests, perhaps?)

One has to wonder about the supposed viability of a system that sets up a 'representative' for you in government who is so outnumbered and overwhelmed that a form letter becomes the method of response. Why even waste postage and staff hours on sending out a form letter, which accomplishes nothing?

For all the bucks they are blowing through, we should each have our own personalized NSA agent and SWAT team to identify these sweatshops and shut them down. (And I lay some of the blame on the people who actually do this kind of work, rather than getting some semblance of an education and job training....).

Just out of curiosity since I don't bother with cell phones, who is paying for each call? The Rachels of the world, who seem to accomplish little real money-making in a day, or the cell phone holder? Because if I had an account with Verizon or whomever, and the first time I received a call like that I complained and requested a block and it didn't happen, my next step would be a full scale lawsuit against Verizon for not protecting both my privacy and my use of the equipment without outside interference (NSA spying aside)...

Is there a way of setting up a cell phone so it ONLY accepts calls from known numbers, and no one else? There certainly should be.

a reply to: Iamthatbish

Yes, but assuming you read and understood what I wrote, after contacting my State Senator --- within several days actually --- ALL the calls stopped. Every one. 100%. Coincidence? Highly unlikely. The point of the post is that despite all TPTB saying they CAN'T stop this ongoing telemarketing scam, they clearly CAN if they choose to. Although I appreciate your sentiment, as I mentioned in my email to the Senator, I have a great deal of personal direct experience dealing with high-level politicians at the State and Federal level. Attempting to reach their 'heart' is a fool's errand. Clearly not in your personal experience, but abundantly so in mine. Having said that, I sincerely hope your continued experiences with politicians is equally positive.

a reply to: signalfire

Nearly all these calls were coming in on our land-line. Only at the very end did a handful come through our cellphones and then, just like a miracle, they all stopped cold. And we're talking an onslaught that has been ongoing for over 10yrs.

a reply to: jtma508

I wonder if it was as simple as a politician's office calling Verizon and telling them to block certain calls to your phone number - which would mean that Verizon actually DID have a way of putting the blocks on.

The only other option I can think of is something far more sinister - the government being in cahoots with the Rachels of the world or something.

a reply to: jtma508

And mostly only seniors have landlines anymore... which means they are getting the vast majority of these fraudulent calls, with the least ability to figure out which are scams and which are 'some grandson they can't remember' asking for money...

Hard to believe the NSA can't trace back an originating source when given the faked numbers... or that the Rachels are making any money with these schemes.

BTW, your avatar is my favorite EVER!

Fool's errand equals the circular file.

I'm in agreement with the above poster, that Verizon may now have a filter on your line.

a reply to: jtma508

"Hello. This is Rachel from Card Services"

"Hi, Rachel, this is Chandler from Fraud Prevention Services. How may I help you?"

I get the same calls. They used to be once or twice a month. When I was in the early stages of labor with my third, July 17 2010 was the day it all changed. I was uncomfortable and not pleasant to be around, I admit it. They had called pretty early in the day and i, again, told them I wasn't interested and to remove my number, stop calling. Over the next few hours they called several more times. Right before leaving to go to the hospital the phone rang again. I was miserable so instead of picking up the phone, I hit the speakerphone button. My husband and 2 other children were in the room. It started out the same as the rest of the calls. I asked to speak with a supervisor. After a few seconds on hold, a man with an accent came on asking what I wanted. I explained that our number was on the DNCR, unlisted and I had asked so many times for the calls to stop. This man screamed "f**k you" very loudly into the phone and told me to "go to hell". My husband grabbed the phone but they had already hung up. We reported it, as always. Nothing ever happens. The calls just became more frequent after that. A couple times a day are common, night or day.

There has to be a way to stop this. It's horrible!

a reply to: Kentuckymama

Depending on who's providing your phone service, you can usually block certain phone numbers, and/or turn on anonymous call rejection.

There are also home handsets that allow you to block numbers, but of course, they first have to call you. I nearly always screen my phone calls with caller-id - if I don't recognize the number, I just let it go to v/m, and Google it to see if it's a reported scammer. If a scammer, I just block it.

Ooma offers a community blacklist feature, and iphone and android offers call blocking apps that does the same.

If you want to be creative, when you see a spam caller call, can answer with "Federal Bureau of Investigation, Agent Smith speaking" ...

a reply to: squittles

Sounds simple, right? But again, they spoof the number. And they keep changing them. You'll never, ever keep up. Caller ID sees a verifiable, legit name and number... only it has nothing to do with the caller. The numbers are just 'borrowed'. As my post details, I tried everything (I feel you KY Mama) but for some odd reason, very shortly after I emailed my State Senator they ALL stopped cold. Can't be coincidence. What it proves is that those calls CAN be stopped if the carriers wanted to stop them.

Helping to provide businesses with an affordable telemarketing solution, while helping to give convicted felons a second chance at life.

And there is always India...

There's the problem. No hard labor.

Telemarketing? Might as well teach crack sales or meth manufacturing.

If things weren't weird... they're weirder now.

So no calls --- NONE --- for over 2mos. 6-10 a day to 0. Just like that. I post the story here on ATS and just now get the first call from them. And if that's no weird enough, the recording used the 'This is Rachel...'. I haven't gotten a call using the Rachel name in at least a year. So clearly someone got pissed-off by this post. Hey Verizon, can you hear me now? Assholes.