Anonymous sales calls for car insurance

camaysar · March 2009

This has probably been addressed before here, but... am I the only one who gets barraged by sales calls for car insurance? The woman's recorded voice says "this is the last warning - your insurance is about to lapse... " or some such thing. Press "1" and you get connected to a nameless car insurance company.

I get these calls at least 7 - 10 times a week, often after 9pm, more often during the day. I'm on the Do Not Call registry. Anonymous call blocking does no good, as they have phony numbers that are out of service, with out-of-state, and even Canada area codes. I generally don't welcome phone calls anyway, even from people I know! But now I'm afraid to answer the phone, as there is a very good chance it will be these marketers, who have been plaguing me for more than a year. The calls seem to have increased drastically in recent months.

If you ask them what company they are representing, or ask for their number, they immediately hang up, but then call again, even on the same day!

Anyone have an idea how to stop these blatantly illegal calls, and stick it to the annoying creeps who make them?

cccc · March 2009

I get the same calls. Just in the last two days they have probably called over five times. I don't know what to do either. They are a real pain in the ass because they often wake me up and clogg up my voice-mail.

If you find an answer of how to prevent these calls, please let me know.

carnivore · March 2009

You should act like you're interested (without agreeing to change your insurance- just press 1 or whatever until you get to an actual person) and collect as much info on them as you can. Then report them to the Do Not Call Registry. They can be fined for this.

anastasia beaverhausen · March 2009

Or, when you get a live person on the line, use an air horn on them.

armchair_warrior · March 2009

I been getting it for 2 years now every freaking week. My number is listed on craigs list

lol.

sugarpet · March 2009

There is a way to have them stop. Get yourself a good, loud whistle, put it by the phone, when they call, press whatever button to get to their “agent”..... you get the idea......
It is a nasty thing to do, but it works.

I don’t know about this particular company, but there is a company, Credit Services I think they are called, that are scammers. Do Not Call list will not work on them, reporting them to anyone will not work, whistle works.

mantic · March 2009

whislte smistle. Sing to them in a bad voice. Ask them embarrising perosnal questions. Try and keep them on the phone talking about absolutely nothing for as long as possible until they hang up on you. have fun with it. act like you have torrets. they'll stop calling.

Not answering doesn't stop the calls. it will stay on the for sale lists as a valid number as long as it rings. it's a possible money making lead to them. when you act up and cost them money by wasting their time and resources, they will remove your ssa with the quickness.

stacey · March 2009

mantic wrote: whislte smistle. Sing to them in a bad voice. Ask them embarrising perosnal questions. Try and keep them on the phone talking about absolutely nothing for as long as possible until they hang up on you. have fun with it. act like you have torrets. they'll stop calling.

The best way to handle the telemarketers (and one of my favorite YouTube videos):

robert torres · March 2009

I get it on all 4 of my phone numbers (personal home/cell and work home/cell). Bastards!

camaysar · March 2009

Thanks for all the suggestions. So far, the one I like best is the whistle and air horn. But I don't think asking embarrassing personal questions, telling them they called a murder scene, or anything else that relies on decision-making by the lowly telemarketer who speaks to you will have any effect. My pessimistic view thus far is that until you actually sign up for a purchase (be it credit card, auto insurance or whatever) your name and number will still be dialed, electronically, over and over again. Maybe they want to wear you down and make you sign up just to stop the calls (if even that will work!).

If the people who speak with you had any power to decide, then all the times I've told them I will never buy so stop calling, all the times I've made them hang up by asking who they were, all the times I've said, "Please wait just a bit" and then just put the phone down until they stop waiting and leave... all these things should have stopped the calls, but didn't.

These guys have heard it all, and are inured to any silly little pranks. I believe the deal is this: if you don't sign up, you remain on the list. Any time spent by making out some sort of "report" on your behavior is considered wasted time. It is the telephonic equivalent of spam. I don't think those people are given any instructions but "sign them up" and "hang up if they ask the wrong question". Wasting their time with pranks will not make the calls stop.

At least the whistle or air horn may actually cause some fleeting discomfort... hopefully some actual physical damage. These people don't have to make a career out of annoying others, they chose to. If there were a Nuremberg trial for telemarketers, they'd be guilty as Hell.

There are websites where you are invited to register the number that shows up - the phoney one. I've done that numerous times. It does no good. The numbers keep changing, just like the spam email addresses.

As for the guy who stayed on the phone during the radio show, he is a complete a-hole. I guess that's why he can't get a better job. I'm out the door and running to the air-horn shop, until I can figure out what to do to really stop Mr. Big at the top. Some of these guys have apparently been stopped, but I don't know how. Maybe the reported numbers help.

camaysar · March 2009

In fact, I told the last guy I spoke to, when he asked me for my car's make and model, that I had a 1972 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. He told me, "Oh, sorry, we don't cover that." Of course the calls still come in.

arlineo · March 2009

Subject: Unwanted car insurance calls

I've had the same experiences you describe. My solution is to NOT answer any calls with unknown telephone numbers. It works. Try it.

camaysar · March 2009

Thanks arlineo. On the spam analogy, I don't place too much faith in any solution other than busting them: check the consistency of your spam folder. But your idea is worth a try. Time to get caller ID for my home phone.

boygabriel · March 2009

If you have the motivation, definitely report them. A lot of companies end up getting fined and trust me, they hate that.

Also, this is pretty much the prime reason I got rid of my land line. Although I know some people don't have that luxury.

bleibtreu · March 2009

Subject: Re: Unwanted car insurance calls

arlineo wrote: I've had the same experiences you describe. My solution is to NOT answer any calls with unknown telephone numbers. It works. Try it.

The problem with these is that they usually don't use "unidentified numbers," they use spoofed numbers. It won't be the number of anyone you know, but it will look like a legit call from some random area code.

I never pick up calls from numbers I don't recognize, and usually will go to 800notes.com to look them up. Almost every time in recent months the number is already listed there as one of these car warranty scammers.

Again, they're using spoofed numbers so you can't call them back and you can't report them unless you go through the process of talking to them pretending that you want to sign up and getting their info that way. The recommended approach: make up some car info, tell them you want to pay by electronic check, ask them (before you give your account number) who the check will be paid to "for your records" and hang up as soon as they give you that company name.

camaysar · March 2009

Subject: Re: Unwanted car insurance calls

About engaging them to get info: I am sure this is impossible. In fact, I would bet that they will not tell you anything at all until they have your credit card number, and once they have that, your problems really begin. They can use the call for proof that you willingly signed up for insurance, even though you only wanted to extract information. They no doubt have all this covered.

carnivore · March 2009

You could file a harassment charge with the police.

camaysar · March 2009

C-vore, that probably won't accomplish much, but it may be good to do it, just to show that action is being taken against them. By the way, here are some of the numbers (all from Florida, or unknown) from the last month:

10622986862
13864276640
14076584336
442082875013 (note the extra digit!)
15617849844
14072516572
15617849844

I've issued complaints on all of them (each complaint must be entered separately) at https://www.donotcall.gov/complaint/complaintcheck.aspx

camaysar · March 2009

By the way, I believe that the long number (442082875013) is a UPC-A barcode, meant for in-store retail use. Just one way of making a random phone number, I guess.

bleibtreu · March 2009

Subject: Re: Unwanted car insurance calls

camaysar wrote: About engaging them to get info: I am sure this is impossible. In fact, I would bet that they will not tell you anything at all until they have your credit card number,

That's why the advice (that recommendation came from an anti-telemarketing website) is to pay by electronic check, not credit card. Then just ask them who the check will be made out to. They may tell you it doesn't matter (tell them you aren't paying if you don't know who you're paying), they may give you a fake company name, but they may give you the right one. Simply write it down and hang up without giving your bank information.

bleibtreu · March 2009

Carnivore wrote: You could file a harassment charge with the police.

Against... who? All you have is a phone number from a different state, and it's clearly not the real originating number of the calls. Don't even try reporting these calls to the police, unless you just want to break up their day with a good laugh.

Several states' attorneys general have been investigating these for months. A couple of companies have been shut down but they'll pop up somewhere else. One New Jersey company last month was given a restraining order forcing them to stop calling... people in North Carolina. That's part of the problem, the patchwork of state laws. The NC attorney general's office sued because the calls violated NC law. Other states would have to go after the same company. Most likely they will, now that they've been identified, but it could already be too late if they've re-incorporated as a different entity.

camaysar · March 2009

Subject: Re: Unwanted car insurance calls

bleibtreu wrote: [quote=camaysar]About engaging them to get info: I am sure this is impossible. In fact, I would bet that they will not tell you anything at all until they have your credit card number,

That's why the advice (that recommendation came from an anti-telemarketing website) is to pay by electronic check, not credit card. Then just ask them who the check will be made out to. They may tell you it doesn't matter (tell them you aren't paying if you don't know who you're paying), they may give you a fake company name, but they may give you the right one. Simply write it down and hang up without giving your bank information.

This sounds a bit messy. I doubt that they will accept a payment by any method that requires them to tell you who they are before they have your money in their hands. If you tell them you're not paying unless they give the name, they will hang up on you rather than give a real, or pointless fake name. I can just see, in large letters in the "Welcome to the Team" manual for new telemarketers:

"Under No Circumstances Are You to Give Any Information About The Company. No Checks! Credit Cards Only!"

In fact, the people on the phone might not know the name themselves, and are somehow once removed from the actual insurance company (bank, or whatever). For all we know, these guys leave the order info under a tree somewhere, to be picked up later by the company.

You can see I maintain a rather bleak take on this. It can't be that easy to "trick" them. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's my guess. In fact, I'll try it. God knows there will inevitably be many opportunities!

You, of course, are correct about charging them with harassment. There is no one to charge but a fake phone number.

bleibtreu · March 2009

Subject: Re: Unwanted car insurance calls

camaysar wrote:
"Under No Circumstances Are You to Give Any Information About The Company. No Checks! Credit Cards Only!"

Reportedly they do accept electronic checks. That technique is one that people have used to get company information. Another has been to say that you're using a credit card or debit card, but don't have it on hand and need to call them back. That may get a telephone number, but it will be a call center and not the actual company behind the scam. Still, they're the ones making the calls so they're also breaking the law.

These techniques may not work every time, but some companies have been identified using them.

http://telemarketinglawsuit.com/evidence-collection

Personally I haven't tried them because I'm satisfied with my approach... I never answer calls from numbers that aren't in my phone. I'll look them up later if a voice mail isn't left, at 800notes.com. Almost invariably they're already listed as the source of a car warranty call.

camaysar · March 2009

Great website, bleibtreu. I like the devices to stop the calls... better than screwing around with the telemarketers... Thanks!

Anonymous sales calls for car insurance

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