866-849-3243

We received a call from (866) 849-3243. And the message said we were being reported to a collection. And to call them. So I called the 866-849-3243 and recieve a recording that said they might call back later. I KNOW I have no outstanding bills. So how do I find out who is calling and how do I report to FCC?

called my cell phone at 4:10am then again at 10:26am, finally answered and automated said it was from merchant circle, who ever the heck they are. I thought solicitors could not call cell phones.

Called me once, didn't answer, looked up the number here. I just charged something big on my Macy's card and based on the previous comments, I was like, overdue already????? Called me again 5 minutes later, decided to pick it up, and...got a recorded message from KWJZ FM (radio station) thanking me for being a listener and directing me to go to their website to enter some kind of contest. I don't know how they got my number. It's my work number, so my predecessor must have registered this #. Yeah, it's a nuisance, but I'll take that over Macy's anytime...

The recording said we had a rating on merchantscircle.com and to put our phone number in the little blue box....there wasn't one

Despite being on the Do Not Call list I got so fed up with all these unwanted calls (including from 866-849-3243) I found this neat little unit that can be programmed to either block or send unwanted calls to your answering machine without your phone ever ringing! You can add as many numbers as you want and even program it to have ALL 800, 888, 877, & 866 numbers dumped straight into the answering machine. I’ve had it about three weeks and love it.

Rec'd junk ph call from Xpedite, 866-849-3243, some crap about Google's preferences. Yeah right. I hung up on the robo-call. Nothing but dirt-bags.

I got a call from this number today (866)849-3243. It was not Macy's or any other collection agency.
It was MerchantCircle.com, according to the robot that spoke when I answered. The message said that my business (I own a small business) had received a review from a customer at merchantcircle.com and to go there if I wanted to see the review. Of coarse I want to see the review! I went and there were no reviews. They just wanted me to sign up and pay them to advertise. I DO NOT appreciate this sales tactic. I looked all over the website for a contact # but found none, and I'm not emailing. I don't need any more spam. I called the number back and got a recording. No chance to talk to a person or leave a message.
I can't recall having given my number out over the internet lately. I think they were soliciting businesses in my area. Prominently displayed on the merchantcircle website was, "join the 21 other businesses in your area who are advertising with us" or something to that effect.

My call was an automated message on my business line (that rings to my cell phone) saying that someone has left my business a review on MerchantCircle.com.  I went to the website and they just want you to join.  I searched and found my listing...with no reviews. Big surprise :-(  I will be blocking this number.

Je suis en France et ce numéro est affiché sur mon téléphone  (appels en absence) je ne comprends pas!!!
C'est quoi au juste ce  numéro 1-8668493243?

Just received a call from these people (automated). Merchant Circle is the name of the company, and they do that bogus "you just got a rating from a customer" crap. What it really is, is an attempt to get you to sign up for their ridiculous service. We have never been listed with them, ever.  

I called back and got an automated message answering service, which had directions for removing one's phone number from their 'to call' list. Note that you must call back from the same line that they called you on, otherwise that phone number will not be removed.

Once I saw "Tollfree Number" on the caller ID, I knew not to answer it.  No call from any "Tollfree Number" has ever been someone our business needs to talk to.  
They left the same message as above on our voicemail: "Someone has given your business a rating!  Go to merchantcircle.com and enter your phone number in the blue box to view this rating!"
I wouldn't dare go to their scammy website - who knows what viruses, spyware, etc. could be lurking there.  And I'm certainly not calling them back - they'll probably just note that there is a responsive human at this phone number and continue to call or sell the number to other stupid scams.  I will continue to screen "Tollfree Number" on the caller ID in the hopes that they'll give up and quit calling. I am absolutely fed up with time-wasting, illegal scams like these!

My call info gave 866-849-3243, when I called it back using *67, it said it was from Merchentcircle.com

WhoIS info:
Name:                        Admin -

Organization:                Portfolio Brains, LLC

Email:                      
Address:                     515 South Flower Street

                            Suite 4400

City, Province, Post Code:   Los Angeles, California, 90071
Country:                     US
Phone:                       1.8183572077

Just received a call from this number.  They called our business line.  Told me that we had a favorable rating from one of our customers through a report filed with merchantcircle.com.  I have never heard of them.  They asked me to log on to above cite to retrieve the information.  I just don't see that happening!  Who are these people?  I read some of the other comments...we have never had a Macy's card.  Oh well.

Just received a call on our business line from this number.  It was a recorded message stating that a client of ours filed a favorable report with their company.  To review this report I am supposed to log on to merchantcircle.com.  Never heard of them.  I read some of the other comments about this number.  We have never had a Macy's card!  Who are these people?

Received two calls on answer after hello - held on 2 minutes  and tehy hung up. Previous experience as well.

pretext

8668493243
Stop calling
You are anoying and expensive

ID Thieves Increase Use of Mail, Phones
Monday February 11, 12:04 am ET
By Eileen Alt Powell, AP Business Writer  
Identity Thieves Turn to Old-Fashioned Channels -- Mail and Telephones

NEW YORK (AP) -- When it comes to identity theft, most people think they're especially vulnerable when they're working on their computers, or when fraudsters hack into big databases and steal card numbers.

In fact, consumers are far more likely to be victimized if their wallet, checkbook or credit card is lost or stolen, according to a new study released Monday by Javelin Strategy & Research.

The research group, which is based in San Francisco, also found that as financial institutions and retailers have improved their in-store and online security, ID thieves have turned to more-traditional channels of theft, especially the telephones and the mail.

While the incidence of ID fraud through in-store and online purchases declined in the latest survey, conducted last October, from a similar study in 2006, the portion of fraud stemming from mail or telephone purchases jumped to 40 percent from 3 percent.

Identity theft occurs when someone uses an individual's personal identifying information, such as a credit card number, without the person's permission to commit fraud or other crimes. Javelin's study covered incidents ranging from a one-time misuse of someone's credit card number to the takeover of a person's account or creation of new accounts in a person's name.

James Van Dyke, president of Javelin, said in an interview that many Americans are too trusting on the phone.

"In a typical situation, unsuspecting consumers receive phone calls from parties claiming to represent nonprofit organizations, billing institutions or other financial institutions," Van Dyke said. "Far too many of these consumers provide the callers with personal information, such as Social Security numbers, bank account numbers and credit card numbers."

With that information, criminals can open accounts in the victim's name, empty existing bank accounts, even buy cars or homes.

While the Javelin study found that overall ID theft was falling, it also found that the cost for consumers to resolve the resulting fraud was rising.

The latest study indicated that 8.1 million Americans were victims of ID fraud in 2007, down from 8.4 million a year earlier and 10.1 million in 2003.

The total cost of ID fraud also dropped, to $45 billion in the latest study from $51 billion a year earlier and $56 billion in 2003.

Van Dyke attributed the drop to a variety of defensive steps by consumers and institutions, including "greater consumer vigilance and awareness, improvements in systems and practices by companies that manager personal information ... and consumers more frequently updating spyware and antivirus software."

But the average cost for a consumer to resolve the problem rose to $691 in 2007 from $554 a year earlier.

The reason, the report said, is "due to growing sophistication in criminal fraud techniques, particularly in new accounts fraud," resulting in more high-value cases.

The biggest sources of personal identification information for thieves included: 33 percent from the loss or theft of a wallet, check or credit card; 23 percent from in-store, mail or telephone purchases; 17 percent from misappropriation of information by friends, relatives or in-home employees; 8 percent from computer viruses, spyware or hackers; 7 percent from data breaches, and 6 percent from stolen paper mail.

Ironically, the increase in phone fraud may be the result of better phone technology. So-called Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, has made it possible for criminals half way around the globe to make inexpensive calls to the United States -- and mask where they've originating, Van Dyke said.

Also ironically, fraudsters often take the information they steal from individuals and use it to open wireless phone accounts, he added.

"Phone accounts are the No. 1 new account being opened," Van Dyke said.

Identity thieves:
866-849-3243

Yes, it's a misleading, illegal, telemarketing spam/scam scheme. What else is new? Ignore the creeps and hopefully they'll go away, or even better hopefully someday they'll be arrested and thrown in jail for their criminal activities.

Jeff W.

This number did leave a message.  They called themselves Merchant Circle and said that they connected businesses to new customers.  They said to check them out at www.merchantcircle.com.  Looks like telemarketing to me!

This number called giving a recorded message from Merchant Circle dot com claiming someone just rated my business. I didn't bother checking it out