Well, *that* was interesting.

[rivka]

I just got a robocall. The recorded voice (sounding very professional) identified itself as being from "your credit card company," and said that although there was no problem with my account, they'd like to talk with me about options for lowering my rate. The offer was about to expire, so if I was interested I should press "1" to talk to an agent.

What the hell. I pressed 1.

A moment later, an unprofessional-sounding young male voice came on the line. "Hi, this is Chris. I understand you're interested in lowering your credit card rate."

"Could you tell me what bank you represent, and what card you're calling about?" I asked.

Click.

Uh huh.

I wasn't actually suspicious when I pressed the button to talk to an agent, but at some point in the 15 seconds that I was on hold my brain went back over the recorded information and asked, "Doesn't your bank usually identify itself by name and by the name of your credit card program?" And of course, for precisely this reason, it does.

I did *69 to identify the number - I was actually a little surprised that it wasn't blocked. I think I can make a complaint to the FTC with just the phone number, even though their complaint form asks for the name of the company. I'm sure the number just leads to a boiler room somewhere - in the Florida panhandle, according to the area code map - which will probably close down this week or next and move somewhere else. But even if making a complaint doesn't do much, I suppose it's better than doing nothing.

Comments

[platypus]

We get this call a couple of times a week, despite being on the Do Not Call list. Does Google/reverse lookup on the number come up with a name of any sort, or other reports about it? I'd be pleased to complain about them as well.

[naomikritzer]

I also get this call regularly. The time I pressed 1 to talk to someone -- I wanted to try to figure out who they worked for, so that I could report them -- I got a fake someone, so I wound up just hanging up.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

I'm getting a very similar one -- a woman's voice. "We want to talk about your account..." which is where I alway hang up. Huh. It's from out of the country: +44 207 433 8684 And googling tells me 44 is the UK.

[ellarien]

If that was a UK number, it should be a London one -- area code 020, dropping the first 0 for international, followed by an eight-digit number. (UK phone numbers are odd by American standards -- no standard length for area code or number -- and London numbers are odd by UK standards, and have been messed around twice in the last dozen years.)

[sashajwolf.livejournal.com]

The 7 means inner London, though, which is an odd place to run a boiler room scam from - wouldn't it make more sense if it was an 0208 number (outer London, where the rents are lower)?

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Well, I looked in the phone again, and that's the number. 44 does seem to be the UK country code, so I don't know.

[geekchick]

Plugging the number into http://www.whocalled.us/ might turn up some more information about who it is, if they've hit up other folks from that number as well.

[irismoonlight.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, get that one regularly. I generally hang up the minute I realize it's a robocall. If you listen to it you'll get a "Press X to be removed from our call list." I did that the LAST time they called, last week. We'll see if they honor it.

I think they're in Nova Scotia. A lot of the boiler-room call places have moved North because international calls can't be prosecuted under the No Call list, or rather it's much more bloody difficult.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Unless they had a way of falsifying their area code, they were calling from the Florida panhandle: area code 850.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

And it is possible to present a false number, but it takes some equipment.