Telemarketing scam: FYI

It appears that the telemarketers have found a way to get around the new "do not call" list. This appears not to be an urban legend. Please see details at: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/pending/callscam.asp

I'm sure they were working to find a loophole months before the text of the law was even made public. Thank you for sharing this. I'll be sure and pass it on to everyone I know.

Say those exact words before you hang up.

With the NYS Do Not Call Registry, there has always been an exception for any company who is willing to schedule a face to face meeting with you. (Despite that, I haven't received phone calls.)

Truly the scourge of modern day civilization, no different than the snake oil peddlers of old, except far more intrusive.

Or you can play with them. Say "just a minute" and put them on hold. Or "I can't take these type of phone calls at work."

Scammers be scammed!

despite being on the state DNC list, I got "courtesy calls"
Apparently these aren't *really* sales calls they do such things as:

follow up that valuable mass mailing offer you threw in the trash when it came the week before. Just to make sure you got and understood it!

Follow up THAT call to make sure that you understood what you were missing when you dumped call #1 a day or two before

claim they have a new feature for something they claim you own-=---this is informational, not sales! Although...they'd be happy to sell you the new item

When I complained about it, I was told that "many people like this service"---this is why I'm leery of the national listing. Sounds like more of the same crap.

BTW, I looooove paying for unlisted number and having people call and use my name...this year I'll pay for unpublished only as unlisted fees are like money flushed away

http://startribune.com/stories/535/4024928.html

Do not call? They'll pitch another way
John Reinan, Star Tribune

If you're one of the millions of Americans who have signed up nationally or in Minnesota for a do-not-call list hoping to ward off telemarketers, don't think you're off the hook.

You'll probably get fewer calls about buying time shares in Florida. But expect more mail from Caribou Coffee, for instance, touting its new dark-roast beans.

<snip>

For example, she said, Caribou Coffee could send you a mailer offering you $1 off a pound of coffee beans. If you use it, they can track what kind you bought. "And then we can start sending you information on what dark beans we have special from Costa Rica -- start educating you on that and tightening the bond with you as our preferred guest," she said.

In addition, businesses will boost their efforts at communicating with current customers, said Robert Blattberg, director of the Center for Retail Management at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Expect more of those calls from your credit-card company, asking if you want to buy travel insurance.

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