Harassing Computer Telephone Calls

F

FUD

Moderator
This might be a little off-topic for this forum but the little one is taking her afternoon nap and I'm expecting a call form my boss so I'm trying to keep the telephone line free and six times in the last half hour I've had a computer call me up and start beeping at me. Just curious if anyone else has had this happen to them and how you made it stop.
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FUD

[This message has been edited by FUD (edited August 16, 2000).]
 
FUD, it sounds like some goofball is trying to call a fax machine with a number similar to yours. Those things redial for something like a half hour before they give up.
 
FUD...in our area; can dial *69 and get the number of origin for the last call. Then call the phone company to get the party with that number. Call them on a voice line number and ask them to correct their error. If you are nice and they are snotty, there are means of legal recourse open to you. Spam faxing is frowned upon.

Sam
 
Spam faxing is against both federal and (usually) local law. But if you dial *69 your local telco can give you the phone number that is calling you. (They charge for the service, about 75 cents usually).
Then call the telco customer sevice and ask to be connected to the owner of the fax number.
 
He he reminds me of a certain handy little program from my "computer security" days...there is software which will call 100's of pagers and leave the same number on it. So, the victim of this type of harassment suddenly gets hundreds of calls to the effect of "Hi, did you page me...?"

Not that I would EVER stoop to such a conniving level of payback though. Excuse me? What was that? Did someone just mention the phone number of the local Democratic National Party Office... :D

All you need is the proggie and a few pager blocks (Pager companies usually buy blocks of numbers, i.e. 745-1000 to 745-4500).

hehe
 
I had a fax machine calling my office line ever 5 minutes a couple of years ago. I finally ended up doing a quick transfer to swich the call to a line a fax was hooked up to. You have to do this fast while the sending fax is still broadcasting its "handshake". Once I had the fax I called the voice line and gave the bimbo there hell. "I was wondering why that fax wouldent go through. Oh look I punched in wrong number, Sorry , hehehe."
 
I get the same thing! I have caller ID, but it only sez "unavailable" is calling. I hate it when that guy calls!

*BEEP*
 
Jcoyoung, glad to see you back here.

I've had fax machines call throughout the night, and when I called the phone company I found it was some outfit that was doing an autofax. No way to stop it until Monday morning.

What's equally as irritating are the computer-generated "courtesy calls" from telemarketers that hang up on you. The computer is programmed to call 20 or more numbers, connect to the salesperson when it detects a "live one," and hang up on the rest. *69 doesn't help, because most of the telemarketers now have blocked their id's.

Dick
Want to send a message to Bush? Sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/monk/petition.html and forward the link to every gun owner you know.
 
US West (aka US Worst, Useless West, whatever) says that here in Utah we can dial *60 immediately after hanging up from a call and it will block that number from calling you again. Give it a try or ask your local phone company if you can do something similar.

(Edited to fix stupid typos.)

[This message has been edited by seronac (edited August 16, 2000).]
 
Another source of these annoying non-calls is that some vending machines now are hooked up to call home when they are low on supplies, and being machines programmed by humans, sometimes they start calling the wrong number.

I also hate that long pause when you pick up the phone on the computer aided telemarketers, as they wait to see who's answering. If I say hello and no one answers I hang up immediately.
 
I've had this same problem.. but I helped to create it in the early 1990's. People can get a "sniffer" type program where it auto dials numbers. This is for finding computer numbers or PBX's. Once the number is found that responds to the other person's computer, it saves it and then tries to dial into the system for future bad use. Or, if it's constent, you have a number that is only a few digits off a fax or computer. But, with your luck, the same as mine (I go crazy on the ol' puter when the lower center line is "waiting for reply" from somewhere or the other and I'm at the page I requested, yet, the computer isn't changing the web URL) you are prob. being monitored by the FBI or CIA. Then again, I never really put much stock into being "normal"...

USP45usp
 
There are also a couple more solutions, which may or may not be available in your area.

You can get Caller ID, which displays the number of the phone that is calling you. Chances are if it says out of area, or not able to use this service, it's a telemarketer.

Someone also mentioned *60 to block a particular number.

You can also block ALL numbers that originate from an unknown number.

My personal favorite is when someone faxes, to my machine, a "confidential" fax that threatens all sorts of dire consequences if an unintended recipient receives it. I had one several years ago from an attorney.

When I called the attorney, instead of apologizing, she started bitching me out, telling me that I was going to mail it back to her, that I was going to sign an afidavite that I hadn't read the information, etc.

I let her ramble on for a moment, then I said something to the effect of "Now you listen to me, you (unprintable epithet), here's what YOU are going to do. You faxed this to ME because you SCREWED UP, so instead of offering to run it through my shredder, you're going to contract a private courier service to pick this up. You're also going to send, through the courier, a check for $12.00 for the cost of the fax, and my time involved in informing you of your error. In return, I will put this in an envelope and include with it an itemized bill/receipt for the check you're going to be sending, as well as a signed afidavit that I did not read your fax."

Less than 4 hours later, I had a check for $12, a very snippy note from the lawyer, and the private courier took the damned thing off my hands.

I LOVE messing with lawyers. :D

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Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.
 
Mike, your time charge is too cheap! I charge $100 per hour or any portion thereof plus the cost of the call plus another hour for the cost of the affidavit plus another hour when the courier gets here. Stuff it to them, they ARE lawyers!

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Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club
68-70
true story, a Union Gen. once said "Don't worry about those Rebs. They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..SPLAT.
 
Yeah, they're lawyers, but they just pass it directly on to the poor bastards whose souls they are stealing.

I got my payback in calling her what I did, and telling HER how it was going to happen. I don't think she was quite used to that.

------------------
Beware the man with the S&W .357 Mag.
Chances are he knows how to use it.
 
Fud: Try this, it works sometimes depending on what is calling. When you hear the beep dial
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 and the # sign on your touch tone keypad. If it is a fax this may shut it down. If it gets to happening too much call the phone company and ask security to put a trap on the line. They can find out where its coming from but you have to promise to prosecute.
 
My boss got woke up 3 times the other night by a fax machine. My Boss was not a happy man LOL. He used *69 to get the number and then set up his computer to fax the entire Encarta Encyclopedia to the Fax Machine. Oddly enough the calls stopped. We are still laughing about it here at the office.
 
Mr. Irwin, mmy hat's off to you. Some lawyers simply don't know when to shut up or simply say "excuse me, my error".

I hate telemarketers in general, but my best stunt to date was dealing eith the FAirfax Journal ( a local fish wrap weekly). they called every three weeks or so soliciting subscriptions. Once the pattern became apparent, I asked them not to call any more, remove me from their lists, etc. Still the calls came. I spoke to the supervisor, said don't call here no more. Still the calls came. I finally picked up a copy, got teh publisher's name from the masthead, and called him at 3 AM. I introduced myself, explained why I was calling, and solicited his assistance in getting the calls stopped. It worked, haven't heard from them since. I wish it was as easy to get even with all telemarketers. M2
 
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