(727) 541-0001 Scam
I’ve been getting several calls a week from (727) 541-0001 for some time now. The usual shtick is for them to claim to be from United Marketing or American Express, read me the last four numbers off of my credit card and try to get me to give them various pieces of identifying information. “Hi, I’m some scammy-sounding dude from Florida. I have the end of your credit card number and want to offer you a $40 gas card. What’s your home address?” Because I don’t have it in me to say something like “My home address is 4 GFY Lane in Get Bent, WI,” I’ve been trying various combinations of “please take me off of your phone list.” It hasn’t worked at all.
Oddly, I didn’t google the number until today. It turns out that this is a pretty well-known scam (More information on this scam). I called Amex just to make sure, and they confirmed that Amex is not offering gas cards in exchange for information that they already have on file.
So what are the best steps for me to take here? There’s part of me that wants to just mess with the people making the calls, but that would cost me money in terms of cell phone minutes, and I doubt that the people making the calls are even aware that they’re part of a scam. I doubt that the Do Not Call list would help. Above and beyond going over my Amex statements with an exceedingly fine-toothed comb from here on out, what should I do?
For fun, here’s a list of their last few calls. (My caller id only stores the previous 60 calls, so this is unfortunately all I have.)
4/24 9:12AM 4/23 12:02PM 4/21 9:23AM 4/20 3:48PM 4/20 9:23AM 4/19 6:05PM 4/19 12:00PM
And I have one listing for (727) 712-0382:
4/17 1:25PM
April 25th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Once I get to put “Esq.” after my name I can probably do a whole lot more for you on this.
Right now, you can file a complaint with the FTC (they have an online form for violations of the Do Not Call List). It looks like in the comments section for whocalledus on both numbers, commenters have dug up addresses and business names. You can also file an online complaint with the BBB of the appropriate area (there was a link to the Clearwater BBB in the comments for the Florida-based co). Next, send a cease and desist letter to any address you can find, stating that you’ve filed complaints with appropriate authorities for their failure to remove you from their call list, citing violations of the CA civil code and again demanding immediate end to the calls. They have to expend a little time and money on attorneys fees to respond to complaints and letters so you have that small satisfaction. If you have time and sufficient revenge lust you can go to town on that, filing complaints with every consumer board, city attorney, agency you can find.
You probably should cancel your credit card to be on the safe side (although it is pain to keep doing this if they keep finding you).
I am looking into using Bank of America’s “shopsafe” service, which apparently generates dummy credit card #s and exp dates for each vendor you use.
April 25th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Amex use to offer something similar to shopsafe. I wonder if they still do? That would be a really good idea for the whole online shopping thing. (Although 99% of the stuff I buy online is either from Amazon or iTunes, so perhaps it wouldn’t be that much of a gain.)
Anyway, they called back last night. After me being a bit of a goof on the phone and finally offering them a $40 gas card if they would just send me their SSN and mother’s maiden name, they offered to take me off of their list. And today they didn’t call. We’ll see how well this works out long term.
April 25th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Hee, hee. Well that was easy. I also like your “Get Bent, WI” strategy.