Internet Prank Calls Car Warranty Robo Caller En Masse
A Reddit user figured out the phone number for one of the car warranty robocallers and has decided the best revenge would be to post it online so the internet can annoy them just as much as they've been annoying us. Now that the story is on the front page of Reddit, that dream can come true. User personsaddress commented, "I called and asked the rep if she would like to buy a warranty on the computer she was currently using. She said she didn't need one. So I told her that I don't either, so quit freaking calling me."
Want the phone number to the "Your car's warranty is about to expire" people? [Reddit] (Thanks to Jennifer!) (Photo: Extra Ketchup)
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Posting on every raid and invasion board I know of.
The Internet Hate Machine is gearing up for battle.
I have received two calls a week from these jerks, for the past two months. The last four calls or so, I have waited for the human, and said "Hi, I do not want your service, but I receive these calls constantly, please take me off your list." Their reply is to hang up. I feel like I am at least owed a lie like "I am not authorized to do that" or something. It's incredibly rude, to say the least. If their dumb call didn't work the first 20 times, why would it work now, especially after they made me mad?
Is it wrong that the thought of these "warranty callers" getting a taste of their own medicine is getting me hard?
Ah, the internet effect seems to have already hit them, since their voice mailbox is full. I just might feel bad for them once digg and /b/ are made fully aware of this...
Now if someone could give me the phone number (and translation) for these %#$@damn mexican calls I get on my cell all the time. So freakin irritating, especially because I can't tell them to take me off!
Has anyone figured out if there is a number sequence you can hit to put the robocall system into a diagnostic or suspended mode? I've been pushing random buttons, but so far no luck...
Let's just hope that whoever posted the number got it correct, and the whole internet isn't harrassing some innocent person...
4chan will eat them alive.
@Sheogorath: Charging its lazer, you mean.
I'm charging all my lasers, and I just put on my wizard's cap and cloak.
These jerks call me 4 times a week and fill my voicemail with junk. Plus they are using up minutes that I paid for. Anyone know how to get it to stop?
That's the best news I heard all day!
Reading some of the comments on the reddit link, it looks like at least one woman who answers that line is incredibly pissed about all the calls she's getting.
That alone makes it worth it.
I want a new law...
Require that telephone companies program their switches to validate the caller ID and ANI data being passed through their switch from any telephone customer (except certain customers exempted in the law, such as law enforcement). If the customer connection allows transmitting caller ID/ANI data, that data is to be compared against the telephone numbers assigned to that customer. If the data is present and does not match a number assigned to the customer, the call is not connected. If the caller ID data is omitted, it is treated like a blocked ID (that's a different issue).
The numbers to check against are the numbers that telephone company assigns to that customer. This allows a customer to use a main number for all calls placed from any phone, for example. If the customer has service from multiple telephone companies, the customer provides a list to the telephone company, and the numbers on the list are verified every 3 months as still being assigned to this customer. These numbers are added to the list that customer may use in the caller ID.
The same goes for company name info. Every possible string the company may use must be verified as correct and entered in the database used by the telephone company switch to validate the caller ID name. Any mismatch means the call is not placed.
Calls to any emergency service or law enforcement are never blocked.
Law enforcement may originated calls with fake caller ID. Few other entities should be allowed this right. This law would not apply to calls without caller ID or blocking the transmission of caller ID.
And, as is usual with all laws I propose, violations result in jail terms starting with 3 months for each offense the first time around, and doubling each time offenses are repeated after serving time (e.g. the next round of offenses is 6 months per offense, and so on).
UNLEASH ANONYMOUS
This made my night so much happier. :)
Play the new telephone game "hang the telemarketer".
When you get a robocall, wait for the human to come on the line. You might need to repeat "hello" to make sure the cheaper equipment realizes someone is on the line. Once you get a real live human, do NOT yell at them, do NOT curse at them, do NOT hang up, and do NOT ask to be taken off the list. Pretend to be genuinely interested in what they are selling. It's OK to act dumb. But the objective of the game is to keep the call rolling as long as you possibly can. The number of minutes is your score. Post back here with the longest you manage to keep a telemarketer on the line before THEY hang up on you. Anything goes in the conversation, but in most cases talking about the product or service they are selling, or helping them hone their selling skills, usually keeps them on longer.
Recording the call is even better.
Who will be the first to keep one on the line for a full hour?
This same company does a "this is your last chance to obtain a lower interest rate on your credit card!" line, too. Sometimes I have both messages back-to-back on my machine. Same woman, same delivery. I love how they don't think we'll notice.
I just called them on the 949 number and left a long voicemail message for extension 400. Just sat there wasting their time telling them about the services that I offer. Maybe I'll call them tomorrow and see if I can get a human.
The best part is it's no charge with Vonage :)
@Radi0logy: I can't tell them to take me off!
Why not? Have you tried using babelfish?
!Quíteme de su lista!
@Shadowman615: The cheek of them getting angry because they're receiving calls they don't want when they spend ALL DAY placing calls that we don't want...
...Well, that's frankly filling me with a sense of glee that won't be equaled for quite some time.
State AG's are gearing up to do something about them.
[www.instituteforlegalreform.com]
In the meantime, why is CNN playing the US Fidelis commercials??? I hope one of the state's AG's looks into charging them with a crime for allowing the b.s. ads to be shown on their network.
@diasdiem: It's going to be a beautiful thing. I sort of feel bad for some of the people that work for them, almost.
that reddit link is now the top of the google search for the phrase "Your car's warranty is about to expire"
rock n roll
@stevejust: States attorneys general take time to put together a case....the appeals can go on for years.
A mob of vigilantes though, that can get things done.
Has anyone been reading the posts on Reddit a bit further down? A few people figured out how to get into their voicemail system and are wreaking havoc...think a couple of them changed some of the outgoing voicemail messages too. This totally made my night, gotten at least a dozen of these calls over the past month or so.
@Skaperen: I take it you're not too familiar with the PSTN. For starters, the PSTN is not set up to transmit data other than the voice call and header information to go with it (caller ID/ANI). A typical long distance call will go through several facilities. You'd have to rely on each of these facilities to pass the data through properly. Additionally, you have a signaling issue. And how is Verizon (for instance) supposed to have any details about an AT&T customer?
For an example of the signaling issue, Google "blue box." (Hi, Steve and Steve!)
@Skaperen: It's actually far more involved than this. Just take my main office for example. There are 3 telco providers servicing the PBX. 9 incoming numbers between the 3 different providers. There's a primary, secondary(backup), and my own personal home phone service provider.
The system sends outgoing calls in about this manner.
Outgoing CallerID is based upon: 1) the phone extension being used, 2) number being called, 3) "line" chosen on the phone.
Imagine trying to get a phone co to recognize all of your phone #s across multiple telcos in multiple area codes, especially a legacy ILEC. Verizon wouldn't let me keep my own phone # when I moved down the street in the same zip code. It'd completely blow their mind that I have 3 different providers feeding a single PBX, with some incoming #s being out-of-the-country. And this is just a small 20 person office. Larger office have even more complex systems and arrangements.
I appreciate the sentiment, but it's not that simple, especially at the enterprise and carrier level.
@Skaperen:
It's a cool idea, but as the previous callers stated, not practical at this point. Not to mention that as services such as Google Voice become more common, it will become near impossible, since the lines the calls are actually originating from won't actually match the ANI/CID at all.
Of course, a relatively simple solution is what Google Voice and a number of other services do now: it can be set so if the incoming call is blocked ID, or doesn't match a number in your phone book, it asks the caller for their name. I'm sure it won't be long before the voice detection algorithm will be smart enough to detect a robot dialer and simply terminate the call.
@Keter: Oh, listen to the gibberish they have you saying. You were supposed to let schoolkids know of snow closings and the mayvins! Let's hope your wheels still work:
Fax machine set on redial. Let it call them and call them all day and night long.
@FLConsumer: "Outgoing CallerID is based upon: 1) the phone extension being used"
It drives me crazy when businesses with lots of phone lines can't manage to set it up so ALL outgoing calls come out of a couple of numbers. I know it CAN be done since I've seen it done. But, for example, my ob/gyn calls out on TWELVE different numbers (so far) when I can only call in on ONE, and since I don't pick up the phone from unrecognized numbers (and many doctors block their ID, which I'm okay with), I never know they're calling and only pick them up after they leave a message from that number.
Or, on the flip side, businesses that have direct dial to executives but their calls go OUT on whatever line the system happens to pick, not their personal number (so I never know when my husband's calling from work). WTF, guys?
Not such a problem if they're using caller ID, but if they're caller ID-free, I have to guess based on the number.
@StitchPirate: They hang up before you can get the words "take me off your do not call list off" so that they aren't obligated to do so.
@Skaperen: They have a website.
[www.autoonewarranty.com]
You can fill out the form to get a free quote
[www.autoonewarranty.com]
@WiglyWorm: Which should be illegal.
Every time I ask for company name, address, and phone, (to report to my Attorney General) they always hang up.
One person actually said they would remove me, now I just get ghost calls. Like they'll call me and it's all quiet and no one is on the line, it's really frustrating.
@courtneywoah: I called AT&T, my cell provider, and they said that since the number is "unknown" there is nothing they can do to prevent the calls from coming through. I can't even block the number because supposedly AT&T doesn't even know the number.
Which is mind boggling, how can they allow a call to go through their system without knowing where it originated from?
@smirkette: OMG! I got that one last month.
There were all like, We can lower your interest rate on your Bank of America credit card!
I was all like,
OMG! (cheerful) I don't have a Bank of America credit card! This is the shit! Lower interest rate on an imaginary card.
They hung up on me, the bastards, lol.
@YamiNoSenshi: The comments in the Reddit thread are hysterical. I *almost* feel sorry for the robodrones working the lines over there. Sampling:
"I called, and to everything he had to say, I said "OK", or "sure", or "why". He said something like "you shouldn't be playing with phones", and I kept saying "why" etc. Eventually he got upset and started a lecture with "Look, I'm telling you", at which point I slammed the phone on him, a taste of their own medicine."
Also, found this info halfway through the comments:
Auto One Warranty Specialist
310 Commerce Ste 150, Irvine, CA 92602-1361
Contact Phone: (714) 832-1228
Lastly, it does look like there are several people in the thread claiming to have accessed voicemail over there. While I myself would never advocate something like that (no, not me, no way), I do have to say that I giggled over it. Shamelessly.
These aren't the bastards who are annoying me I think, I'm getting calls from "Car Warranty Service." If I could track them down I'd buy a plane ticket to torment them in person.
@HeldForRansom_GitEmSteveDave: two direct-hit simpsons quotes in the span of 5 minutes. I salute you, sir.
Great! I know someone who'd like to call them. What would be best is to set up a conference call between them and US Fidelis. Then they can pitch their warranties to each other.