AT&T Mobility Sues Over Auto Warranty Robocalls
You know those annoying robocalls on your mobile phone about renewing your car warranty? The companies behind the calls use spoofing to remain hidden, but AT&T Mobility just filed suit in federal court to track down the culprits, then hopefully make them stop. This is great news, because judging from the quotes given to RCR Wireless, the FTC and FCC both don't seem too concerned about the matter.
AT&T Mobility said one number alone - 800-219-7425 - made more than 13 million calls to wireless numbers through telecom carriers Paetec Communications, Global Crossing and MCI Inc./Verizon Communications Inc. AT&T said it will need to subpoena those companies and others to determine the owner and operator of various spoofed phone numbers.
Although the calls are a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the government hasn't done much to put a stop to them:
Elizabeth Lordan, a spokesperson at the Federal Trade Commission, said such telemarketing also appears to violate the agency's Telemarketing Sales Rules governing the National Do Not Call Registry. Lordan said she is not aware of any completed FTC investigations involving autodial-based extended auto warranty telemarketing. Lordan also said she was unable to say whether the FTC has any probes in progress.
Rosemary Kimball, an FCC spokesperson, said the agency could not immediately provide data on consumer complaints about such telemarketing. Kimball said she was not aware of any FCC enforcement actions on extended warranty telemarketing.
"AT&T Mobility lawsuit tackles autodialing telemarketers, claims ‘annoyance and intrusion'" [RCR Wireless]
(Photo: Seth W.)
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I hate these kinds of calls!!! I wonder if the number they have you call to get the warranty is also spoofed?
I've gotten two on my AT&T wireless phone within the last week. It's a telemarketing firm doing this for the benefit of Vehicle Services, Inc.
Go AT&T! Shut them down.
Ha! I filed a complaint through the FTC and they pretty much told me they weren't going to do anything in their letter back. At least someone is doing something...
the number is also from 949-256-9197 robo call
The funny thing about these calls is that if you stay on the line to try to "purchase", and by purchase I mean yell at human on the other end, it disconnects you anyway.
I hope this works, I'm with T-Mobile and I get these calls a few times a week.
The do not call list is like a do not disturb sign at a hotel with exterior halls. Most people will leave you alone, but there's always the maid/kid who knocks on your door with the grin "Heeeere's Johnny."
I am glad to AT&T is at least making it known these scum bags are out there, and they want it to stop. Maybe Verizon, who's got people, can spare a few to go kick some cold-calling butt.
A coworker of mine has been getting these calls about a car that she purchased three months ago. The last time I checked, factory warranties were a wee bit longer than three months. ;)
The government isn't on top of something? Shocker...
I find it interesting that AT&T would ask a court for a subpoena. They have never needed one in the past.
I just got one of these calls on my work cell. It's the second time it has happened. Hope AT&T is successful!
If you've got the time, it's fun to stay respond to these guys every time and see how long you can keep them on the phone without actually buying anything. Just keep making them repeat the info and feign confusion about what they are offering. Hopefully, this will cost them money and keep them from scamming other people while they are dealing with you.
@agirlacity: Seriously! I only answer the phone a few times a day at our office, and I still answer it to 2-3 of these calls a week.
@waystland: The numbers that show up on your caller ID are completely meaningless. Again, they are meaningless, useless, and spoofed.
It disheartens me when people post the numbers, and the wrath of teh internets is unleashed on whoever Google says owns/owned the number. I've read plenty of stories of death threats, house visits, etc. from angry people who don't realize the numbers are spoofed and the owners had nothing to do with the scam call.
I get these calls atleast 10 x a week! They are so annoying.
@Quellman: Well I can tell you, if they have been identified as a telemarketing customer & you are on the Do Not Call list, there is no way they should be able reach you. There is a feature put on these customer's circuits that checks the list whenever they make a call. If they try to call someone from the list, the call will not process. Now, there might be work arounds such as dialing into another number to get another dial tone and placing the call from the "safe" line. That would not surprise me at all
I never get these calls. I hope they continue forever.
@YvesTuditanus: Yeah, whenever I am in a really good mood, or a really bad one, I go with: "Wait, which of my cars are you calling about?"
Weird! I just got my very first car warranty robocall today. It did remind me that I hadn't put our new phone number in the Do Not Call registry yet, but from what I just read here, that's not going to stop these particular people. Ugh.
I hope AT&T succeeds with this. The only problem is until the government tightens things up regarding caller ID spoofing it won't matter since these loopholes allow these jokers to display fake information on your caller id. On my land line it's no problem as I use a device called the Digitone Privacy Call Center that allows you to filter incoming calls by programming the caller id of friends and family. Too bad cell phones lack this functionality. I, for one, do not want to pay cell phone charges for ANY telemarketing call, be it a robot call or a live human.
@jozhua:
There is a feature put on these customer's circuits that checks the list whenever they make a call.
Who puts that "feature" on these customer's circuits? Their local phone provider? Horse hockey.
My newest car is nine years old and has 87 thousand miles on it. My oldest is 18 years old and has 145 thousand miles on it. But I get these calls too. I wonder which one they want to sell me a warranty on. But I don't wonder enough to stay on the line and talk to them.
Given how widespread these calls are, I'm just astonished that the FCC/FTC haven't bothered to pursue them.
I was saying to my wife this morning, given the state of the SEC, FDA, FAA... is there actually any government agency that has been doing its job lately?
I get these calls on my Grand Central number all the time. I've never gotten them on my actual cell number though. I have Sprint. Although a friend of mine also with Sprint gets these calls too. Both of our cars are WAY out of warranty, so it makes us chuckle.
I don't get it. AT&T has the number that is making 13 million calls, and they can't just block it?
@AstroPig7: That's nothing. My girlfriend got this call a few weeks ago. She has NEVER owned a car in her life.
She was so pissed off that she called them back just to chew them out a bit.
@theczardictates: "given the state of the SEC, FDA, FAA... is there actually any government agency that has been doing its job lately?"
None, especially if that job interfered with the goals of a private business or industry...
Man, I've gotten like four of these in the past week. The numbers:
309-286-2082
865-497-2733
517-931-2251 (twice)
I kept answering because I've been submitting resumes, so I think someone is calling me about a job, so I'm doubly disappointed and angry when it turns out to be a robo call for car warrenties. AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE A CAR!
@Fuzz: And lose money?
Why would AT&T want to do that?
Best line:
"AT&T said it will need to subpoena those companies and others to determine the owner and operator of various spoofed phone numbers."
Prediction AT&T will end up with boatloads of numbers of private citizens versus finding out who owns the company/systems which actually spoofed the numbers...
I also predict some grandmother being sued since she ended up with a number spoofed by the criminals...
If you know what you are doing with a telephone system you can program the setup message in just about any PRI to outpulse whatever number you want. The only way around this is with an ANI Identifier,(911 Call Centers etc.). The ANI will actually be able to read whatever number is placing the call regardless of the setup message. If they just decide to spoof a random number every 4 hours it's very very hard to stop
@Yossarian: I ask this, too. It's nice to know that for my security they don't have that information. Then I tell them that it must suck that they don't trust her, and if they don't trust her with the make/model of my car, then I don't either. So I want to call them direct... what's the number? You don't have it? Boy, they really do treat you like a mushroom, don't they?
Ah, good times...
I get about two of these a week. I have fun with them by being very interested in extending/renewing my warranty on my '67 el camino. They always hang up on me though.
Hmmm, AT&T and others can record every call you make, tell you when you are 15 past due on your bill, overcharge your account for no reason, cut off your service when a satellite decides to take a nap . . .
. . . but they can't find who is making 13 million phone calls on their network??? Think of the money the are losing!!!
I call BS on this one.
The phone number is a phony. These people spoof the Caller ID number. Apparently, no one has an idea who these people are or where they are from. That's why I can't press charges or complain to the Attorney General office.
Last time I got one of these calls, I waited to get connected to a real person. The conversation went like this:
Me: What company is this?
Phone: This is the warranty desk.
Me: No, what company do you work for?
Phone: Click!
It's sort of like Aliens vs Predator. You hate both. You fear both. You want both to die.
All the same, you're really happy to see them fighting.
@BillyDee_CT: the wonder of voicemail. any number that doesn't show up as "george" or "fred" or "mom" goes right to the box.
i even have a special ringtone that i made for "unknown" numbers (warning: NSFW - click the "play" button in upper right if you want to hear it) [www.last.fm]
it can be a little embarrassing if that goes off in the wrong place though. XD
@YvesTuditanus: That is some fun sport. My wife and I will tag team them and can keep them on the line quite awhile. My personal best time is 29 minutes for a girl trying to sell me long distance service. Get the other people in the house to yell weird stuff in the backround. They really don't know what to do when they have someone still asking questions for a long period of time its great fun.
I get those it just shows how amazing Honda's are 361,000 miles and I still have an extended warranty.
I did get a call from 800-168-4861 figured that's what it was, if I remember I will ring it from the pay phone downstairs and leave it off the hook.
@ludwigk: Yeah, they don't call on a particular car--they ask you to identify your car for them. Coincidentally, I had one of these calls just a few minutes ago (usually I get the "Card Services" fraudsters instead), and when I innocently asked in response which of my cars they were calling about, they hung up immediately.
Maybe next they'll go after the one that starts with a horn and tells me that it's my captain speaking and I've "won" a "cruise".
We get these Auto warranty calls on our house line once or twice a week. Just got one early this morning, in fact. Let the machine pick up the call, and heard that this was our "final courtesy call" and sternly warned that if we didn't contact them, our case would be "reclassified". ...We don't own a car.
We get these calls on our 9 nextel phones at work all the time. You press the option to be removed from the "preferred" calling list but they still call. You choose to speak to someone they just hang up on you when you say this is a business line. I registered all the numbers on the government do not call list but they still call. Maybe Sprint can join in this lawsuit.
@dohspc: I read somewhere that some of these companies configure their phone systems to make a short call back to their number when you opt out, thereby creating a business relationship since you called them. I hope it was just paranoia, but I doubt it would stand up in court.
This is the FINAL notice that the factory warranty on your car may be expiring (it's not). By FINAL we mean FINAL UNTIL WE CALL YOU AGAIN, more than likely from another number. But don't worry, we'll call you from this number too. Did you miss our call? Don't worry, you'll also get notices in the mail, calls at work, and calls at home.
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
I wish they would also go after those people who call with credit card balance offers. When you start asking questions about the company like their name and address, they immediately hang up.
These calls have been the bane of my existence on every single line in our office and most of our blackberrys as well. Three cheers for the Death Star if it means getting rid of having to hear my auto warranty is about to expire five times a day.