203-649-1015

Scammer lady called this number. When I asked who she was calling she said you. I said what do you need and she spouted off that she provided electricity to my provider and needed to set up payments for electricity. I Stated to identify who she needed to talk to and who was the provider and again she couldn't tell me. I told her she was a scammer and that I knew how my real company sets billing up as I've been paying them for years. Before she could answer I told her that her number has been recorded and if calls again my lawyer would be in touch for breaking the Do Not Call law as I'm listed on it. Also told her the police would be called on her as well. BEWARE OF THIS IDIOT LADY SCAMMER.

Same thing here, she kept asking me to get my electric bill and she would be able to help me. I asked if she was National Grid? She said no I am a supplier of National grid. I then asked if she was my green energy company she asked who that was. I said if you can't tell me then this is a spam call and wish to be removed from their calling list. She proceeded to ask me to get my electric bill again. At this point I took a very firm tone telling her you are not my supplier and I have no interest in what you're selling so I will say this one more time and clear "Take me off your calling list I don't accept solicitations" She said OK OK and I hung up. Damn people call when you're on the DNC list. What the heck good is it if we get some many calls? Going there now to re enter my number...

I just got a call from that number. I stop answering my phone !!!!!
The Phone has just become a nuisance with these calls. The gov.
needs to step in and this madness.

10 calls every day.  I do not answer

I have totally stopped answering the phone if I do not recognize the number. If it is important they will leave a message. The DNC is worthless. It has no teeth. My phone goes at least 5 to 7 times a day from these scammers.  On the cell I just add them to my blocker. I am not going to pay extra to have a blocker set up on the landline. As soon as they get decent internet service here I will be migrating the land line to a viop provider where I can block the numbers.

>> The DNC is worthless. It has no teeth. <<

The Do Not Call Registry is not a magic switch attached to your phone line, that will block calls.  It is NOT a call blocking service.

The DNC list can help stop calls originating from legitimate, registered telemarketers who have paid to subscribe to the list.
* Your calls were not from legitimate, registered telemarketers.
* Therefore, the DNC list cannot stop those calls.

                                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Still with us?
Want to learn more?
Keep reading ...

The DNC list does not automatically block calls.  Instead, it provides a list of  "do not call" phone numbers to telemarketers who registered their businesses with the FCC, and who pay a fee for the list.  The DNC list administration is supported by these fees.

The DNC list exempts political callers, survey organizations,  charities, and companies with preexisting business relationships, as well as debt collectors and certain nonprofit organizations, but these organizations usually have their own, internal Do Not Call list (ask them).

The DNC list is not effective against criminals, spammers and scammers, because those telescum are not registered, do not subscribe to the DNC list, and do not care if you are on or off that list.
It can stop calls from legitimate telemarketers, and it does a pretty good job at that.  Just think ... if there were no DNC, you would be receiving incessant calls from BOTH legitimate and spamming telemarketers!

The DNC itself has no enforcement authority - they forward complaints to the appropriate agency.

There is no significant drain on your tax dollar because the DNC is funded by the fees they charge registrants.

Here is your reading assignment, if you doubt what I have stated:

http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/
http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0108-national-do-not-call-registry
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/blog/category/enforcement/
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/
http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/do-not-call-list
http://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
http://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings
http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/media-resource ... try/enforcement
http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases ... lemarketers-pay
http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases ... istry-data-book
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/09/ambrosia.shtm
https://www.donotcall.gov/

Remember, the FCC's Do Not Call site is a good one to report unwanted calls from LEGITIMATE telemarketers.   To report spammers and scammers, visit the FTC site, at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

Read the above sentence again.

If you want to report a specific scam to the appropriate government site,
Look here first:
https://800notes.com/arts/I2neMkbUAAo/where-to-report-phone-crime

If the reporting site you wanted is not in the above list, try this one:
http://phonehelp.2truth.com/complaint_sites.html

If you receive calls even after reporting them (and waiting a sufficient time), then you should consider using a call blocker app, device or service as your first line of defense.  Google "call blocker" to see such things at Amazon or other sites.

√

Excellent advice as always.

Called, left no message.

This was our FORTY-SEVENTH call (47th) from this SCAM, although the first use of THIS number.  Other (now BLOCKED) Numbers they use (and my tally for the # of calls) for this SAME scam are:
978-400-2559 "FITCHBURG, MA"(2x);
978-965-8961 "LAWRENCE, MA" (2x);
978-769-1293 "GEORGETOWN, MA"(8x);**
978-496-9936 "WESTFORD, MA";
617-446-4690  "DORCHESTER, MA";
413-382-7521 "SPRINGFIELD, MA" (4x);
413-271-7390 "SPRINGFIELD, MA"(2x);
458-201-1435 "EUGENE, OR";
916-312-2734 "SLOUGHHOUSE, CA";
669-237-3575 NO NAME;
669-237-3665 "CAMPBELL, CA"(3X);
440-721-4682 "PAINESVILLE, OH"(2x);
573-200-7004 "DELETED"(2X);
786-708-4154 "MIAMI, FL"(2x);
786-275-5313 "MIAMI, FL";
718-236-5500  "PENZA AFFILIATES";
651-309-8291  "RED WING, MN";
718-285-3984  "NEW YORK, NY";
555-555-5555 "OUT-OF-AREA"(5X);
206-312-5431 "BAINBRIDGE I, WA";
801-256-9874 "MIDVALLE, UT";
425-336-8436 "RENTON, WA";
605-550-0446 "MITCHELL, SD";
909-620-6597 "CALIFORNIA"

Probably also related to LONG TIME TELESCAM # 210-280-8487: Interest Rate Scam; Free Cruise Scam, Computer 'Fix' Scam; etc.

All MA #s: "Switch Electric Providers" *ELECTRIC BILL ACCT #* PHISHING SCAMS; Most of the Out of State #s: "Solar Panel" *CREDIT CARD* PHISHING SCAMS, although this one is CT and yet seems to be in the former category.  But all are SCAMS, therefore it doesn't really matter what the RUSE is.

ALL these calls are likely  from OVERSEAS INDIAN or PAKISTANI CALL CTRS: heavy INDIAN-ASIAN/MIDDLE EASTERN accents.

NOTE:  We are seeing calls for an "NRG" that is advertising "Home Solar Panels" and uses an toll free number of 888-985-1414 to call in for that.  Don't know if that is connected to either of these scams, or not.  I believe I've seen SIMILAR commercials for the same entity claiming they can 'lower your electric bills' by switching your 'provider.'  I'm going to 'mention' this company to the DNC in my next complaint.

Slim,

You should add a sentence or two to your screed, making it clear that in the modern telephone system,
criminals can trivially forge a phony telephone number and name, so your caller ID device is not
at all certain to be telling you anything truthful.  The criminals, and even the FCC, call this "Caller ID
Spoofing", to make it sound trivial, but it is forgery plain and simple.  So to make a useful complaint,
you need information from the CONTENT of the call, and you should not assume that the Caller ID
info is valid.  You may be maligning an innocent party if you believe it without further support.

JustBob -

Thanks for your suggestion (it is a valid one). I have something similar to that, ready for replies when folks suggest multiple callbacks to the supposed spammer, to "spam the spammer" or similar.
(See below)

(My information-laden posts, with citations, tend to get a bit long ... and some folks fall asleep after the first several multisyllabic words [grin])

We can no longer believe the phone number we see on our caller IDs (CID) belongs to the person who called!  The bad guys are now using easily accessed technology to "spoof" the CID numbers, so their real number does not appear.

The problem has gotten so bad, the US government actually passed an Act, called "The Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009", making such spoofing illegal.  See http://www.fcc.gov/guides/caller-id-and-spoofing
for more information.

The FCC adopted that Act in June, 2010, stating that violators could be fined up to $10,000 for each violation.

However, the bad guys are ignoring this law ... after all, they are criminals, and that is what criminals do.  Although we now have a "law" against spoofing, it is very difficult to enforce it.

So, if you see a CID number on your phone when you are called by some scammer or telemarketer, it might not belong to the scammer!  It might be the number of some unsuspecting third party ... or, it might be one of those numbers that charge $25 (plus about $9 per minute) if you call it back, or the number might not be "real" at all.

Really great post.  I'm going to start recording all the numbers I block and try to connect them as you have done.
I've received (and blocked) many of the spoofed MA numbers you listed, including some from Northampton MA that were also the energy scam.  I did not keep a list of the numbers after I blocked them but I will do so in the future.

This reply feature doesn't allow you to mention the caller or the number at the bottom of the post , so here it is:

203-649-1015
Cheshire CT
Call type: SCAM

This is my first call from this number but I've been plagued with other ones that I suspect are the same group and the caller ID says North Adams, MA. Plus all the others from all over the country. If the phone service providers would allow us to block more than xx calls (in my case 15) we could get rid of these idiots in short order.

As it is the best I can do is rotate the blocked numbers. I'm going to upgrade my Panasonic phone to the one that blocks 200 calls instead of 20. It rings once but I've learned to wait one ring before looking at the phone.

Caller ID Cheshire CT

No message left, I don't answer unknown calls.

Received a call from Verde Electric stating they would lower my rate to a fixed rate of .009/kWh. Caller wanted my account number. I do not share personal information if I am called. If they actually were legitimate they would have this information on hand. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY.

Don't engage them. Either don't answer of if you do answer, just say "Fuk off" and hang up. That's what I do.
Like a boss.

Yes! Got this call from that 203-649-1015 Scam... I never answer my house phone. These Scammers are IDIOTS WRAPPED IN MORONS.

Claimed they bought CL&P and UI in Connecticut.  They wanted my utility bill information to switch over to their Summer rate.  I said I'll check the bill and go from there and hung up.

I suspect this was some sort of scam or aggressive marketing to get me to change electric suppliers or just get my UI account number.  Beware of this number.

Scam call -----    No answer when I said Hello.   Will block it.

We got a call from this number today at 9:35 am and didn't answer. The caller ID was CHESHIRE CT. No voice mail message was left. I am grateful for the information provided in other posts. The number will be added to our call blocker.