Reddit Community Discovers Phone Numbers To Reach Car Warranty Telemarketers...

from the poetic-justice? dept

Thu, May 7th 2009 10:00am — Mike Masnick

Pretty much everyone is getting those telemarketing scam car warranty calls these days. They're the ones that start out "this is the second warning that the factory warranty on your car is about to expire...." Of course, it's not the second warning (in some cases it's the 100th) and it doesn't matter if your car warranty is about to expire or even if you own a car. They just call everyone. Last summer, the FTC announced that (partly in response to those calls), all prerecorded telemarketing calls were banned. But, considering these guys are scammers, that wasn't going to stop them. It looks like the folks over at Reddit got fed up and social engineered the phone numbers of the company out of a rep, and then the community just started calling repeatedly, overwhelming the company's phone lines. Of course, while it certainly has that poetic justice feel to it, it won't stop them. They'll change their phone number and get right back to it. What's not clear is why the Reddit folks could track down who was responsible while the FTC has been unable to do so...

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Filed Under: car warranty, mob justice, scams, telemarketing

21 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 7 May 2009 @ 10:14am

"What's not clear is why the Reddit folks could track down who was responsible while the FTC has been unable to do so..."

Maybe they used the Jack Bauer approach and lied to get the information, something our govt. probably doesn't believe in anymore.
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PhilD, 7 May 2009 @ 10:16am

I'd say it's pretty clear why,
I'd say it's pretty clear why,
Some people actually CARE and others actually don't.

To the FTC this was just a pile of paper reports to ignore. To the people getting the calls it became a HUGE annoyance.

FYI I was at peak getting 3 to 5 calls a day from those scammers on just one of my lines.
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John Doe, 7 May 2009 @ 10:31am

The difference between Reddit and the feds are Reddit was actually looking for them. The feds don't care.

Case in point, my brother had his identity jacked. They got a car repair at Sears in his name among other things. Shops always write down the owners name and tag number. All the cops had to do was go to Sears, get the tag, run it and bust the guy. Did they do it? Nope.
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Paul Brinker, 7 May 2009 @ 10:54am

John Doe
One step further, say your Iphone gets stolen, you put a automated security program that sends its GPS, maps its location and has a 15 digit code hard coded in that you have a recept for.

Guess what, when given a map (by GPS), proof of ownership (from you and your cell phone company) and a computer program pinging your email the cops still wont arrest the guy because the iphone is just worth so little (in the eyes of the law).

My question is given how connected we are, and the volume of the calls why cant thay backtrack via the tel co? I mean unless the system is routing around the world several times its not like there unfindable.
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pineapplefish56, 7 May 2009 @ 11:04am

FTC Ineffective!
Can Government accomplish anything right?
We are forced to spend our tax dollars on ineffectual and wasteful Government programs that accomplish little in the way of doing their jobs, except for spending Taxpayer money.
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MItch (profile), 7 May 2009 @ 11:09am

I just got one of those calls not 30 minutes ago
Yeah they are back at it I just got one of those calls here at work.
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Overcast, 7 May 2009 @ 11:22am

Can Government accomplish anything right?
We are forced to spend our tax dollars on ineffectual and wasteful Government programs that accomplish little in the way of doing their jobs, except for spending Taxpayer money.

Apparently; they aren't quite as effective as bloggers on the 'Net.
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Henry, 7 May 2009 @ 11:23am

I know why they can't find them
It's because Bin Laden is behind it!
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lavi d (profile), 7 May 2009 @ 11:41am

Profit!
"Telewankers"

I just coined that term.

For royalty and use payments... I accept PayPal.
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chris (profile), 7 May 2009 @ 11:42am

i just waste time
they call my deskphone at work. i hit one to get the operator and then put them on hold. i can see the little light blink for a couple of minutes sometimes. if more people do that it might slow down their productivity.

do non-voip companies offer whitelisting service?
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Terri, 7 May 2009 @ 11:53am

Tele-monkeys
We actually received one of these calls in our hotel room while we were on vacation in Maui!! Talk about annoying!
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Jeff, 7 May 2009 @ 12:04pm

Obviously somebody, somewhere, actually responded to one of these scams. Telemarketers and scammers in particular are *extremely* efficient at winnowing out the techniques that don't work from those that do (parting you from your money). Sooo somebody with the brains of a flea, actually responded to one of their come-ons. I would bet this operation is being conducted from overseas...
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Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased), 7 May 2009 @ 2:25pm

They call my government owned cell and work phone all the time. I actually talked to a person once and told them just that. They stammered a bit then hung up. So much for do not call lists.
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MattP, 7 May 2009 @ 2:28pm

They're watching me!
They called me while I was reading the Reddit thread!
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Eric the Grey, 7 May 2009 @ 3:42pm

The FTC should do something useful
They should make it illegal to hid the phone number a call is coming from, so that these bastards can be tacked down.

I'm tired of having my phone ring, only to see "Unavailable" on the display. News flash, those calls will not be picked up.

EtG
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john doe, 7 May 2009 @ 3:48pm

caller id
at home or on your personal cell, why would you have answered a call from them in the first place?
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Anonymous Coward, 7 May 2009 @ 4:34pm

Re:
nope, it's right here in the good ole usa.. Check the reddit article
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Anonymous Coward, 7 May 2009 @ 7:00pm

Re: caller id
Exactly. Who the hell picks up a call from the number "unknown" or whatever it may show up as. And even if you do, the moment there is a delay, I hang up. If what your calling about isn't important enough for you to dial the phone yourself/not have a machine talk in my ear then I don't need to stay on the phone to hear anything said.
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micro webs, 8 May 2009 @ 11:54am

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Officer Mullaney, 15 May 2009 @ 8:54am

Re: The FTC should do something useful
You 'tack down' a carpet. Criminals are TRACKED down.

Spoofing caller ID is simple and cheap. Never believe what the caller ID says.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 May 2009 @ 8:55am

Re: caller id
Well, if you had any friends, some of them might have an unlisted or hidden number.
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