Card Services Scam

Perhaps we should give these crooks the telephone number for the FCC and see how they like it.

Relying on government to stop these foreign scams is pointless.  They would have to work together with foreign (read Indian) government(s) who are more often than not in on the scam; get the phone companies and VOIP providers etc to work together to systematically block known scam operations (meaning they lose money on the deal) and track the money through Western Union etc to accounts in foreign banks back to whomever ends up with it, only to turn the info over to a foreign police force that is probably on the scammer's pay roll anyway.   In other words they aren't going to do it.

Either use your phone service provider to block their numbers  or get a software-based or standalone call management system that allows you to block their numbers.    http://digitone.com/ sells such a system and there are software-based systems such as Google voice that allows a wide variety of controls on incoming calls.  I use such a system in it is very  effective (not perfect) in blocking unwanted numbers.

this is an official government web site i got it off of better business beaure or how ever you spell it i got it offf that website... www.donotcall.gov it explains everything there it might help idk

lmfao!!!!! great idea

Do you make it a habit of giving incorrect information?  IOW, you're wrong -- I've filed quite a few complaints about "Rachel from Card ServicesA" & have gotten responses from the FCC that include the following:
"Thank you for contacting the FCC regarding possible violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) and the Commission’s telemarketing and junk fax rules.   Information provided in consumer complaints like yours helps the Commission to combat abusive or unlawful practices in these areas, including taking enforcement actions against individuals or companies. In this regard, the Communications Act authorizes the Commission to issue citations and, in some cases, impose substantial fines upon entities that violate telemarketing and junk fax rules.  

Although the Commission does not resolve individual complaints, each complaint is individually analyzed and assists us in enforcement actions to protect consumers like yourself.  You should be aware that the TCPA also provides for enforcement of the telemarketing and junk fax rules by state attorneys general and by individual consumers.  With respect to the latter, the TCPA permits individuals who have received certain unlawful telemarketing, such as junk faxes or telemarketing calls, to sue the violator in state courts where they may be awarded up to $1500 for each violation.  

We invite you to visit the FCC’s Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau’s Internet web site at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb for more information. You may also call the FCC’s Consumer Center toll free at 1-888-CALL-FCC [1-888-225-5322], TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC [1-888-835-5322]."

For those interested in filing complaints with the FCC, here's the starting place:
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm?id

You may have gotten responses, but have the calls stopped? I think not. They are still at it and in heavy rotation with a multitude of fake spoofed numbers.

Many, many hours/days of investigations, by both federal and many states' agencies, have tried to determine the caller. As others noted, there are hundreds/thousands of phone numbers used--most turn out to be "spoofed" or untracable Voip (internet-based) numbers. Some of the numbers used are not valid numbers (e.g. 000-000-0000). Whether the calls originate in the U.S. and are bounced through other countries or they originate in foreign countries, the problem for all investigators is the same--NO jurisdiction outside the U.S. Some service providers, and a few in particular, appear to assist or cover for these callers...everything from claiming that they have no records of the subscriber to giving them a heads up and changing the block of numbers used.

Then, there are the pre-paid services that actually don't keep records of anything other than the number of pre-paid minutes remaining. All it takes is buying additional pre-paid cards to add minutes to the untracable phone.

If they are inside the U.S., there are many people who hope they will mess up and get caught but technology is on their side. It's very simple to subscribe to internet-based services that easily forward calls through numerous foreign countries that will not provide ANY information.

"(T)he cops" want these people as much or more than others. The problem is that, if found, they'll declare bankruptcy and become judgement proof before opening up under a new name with a similar scam.

According to an article, these "Rachel from Card Member Services" calls (or at least some of them) are allegedly coming from a company in Arizona:

"But before the agent managed to hang up, she identified her company as both Ambrosia Web Design and AWD CAM Services, and said they were based in Arizona. That gave me something to go on. According to the Arizona Corporation Commission, Ambrosia Web Design is operated by someone named Chris Ambrosia out of a house in Mesa. A company called CAM Services Direct is also registered to Ambrosia and, according to state records, operates out of the same Mesa house."

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20111129,0,1491029.column

After reading all the complaints above, I got an idea- insult them with such nasty remarks such as "you rotten mother f\*\*\*\*x" and you c\*\*\* sucker"--maybe they would try to get you busted for improper language on the phone!!!! if they were stupid enough to do that, then you have the right to know your accuser!!! maybe if enough of us pissed off good people put together a petition to the Attorney General's Office or even the President of the good old U.S.A. something would be done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????????????????

I am astounded by the amount of "know nothings" who think that they know it all. A bankruptcy is not automatic. In the process, the courts determine how many assets you actually have and if these can legally be used to pay off any debts. It doesn't automatically protect you from law suits or fines and penalities for illegal action. Yet, you assume it would in this case with absolutely no real information about it.

These people have to be making money - somehow - which means that they are getting "customers" who actually pay for their services, or marks that they can somehow scam. Otherwise, they could not afford to be making the calls, unless they are a multi-level marketing scam in addition and the actual callers are the ones paying for the services.

As far as the government is concerned, the law has no teeth. Oh, yes, there is an agency that will investigate and prosecute once the complaints reach a threshold level, but obviously, the number of responses on this web site do not reach that level, even if they are only representative of a much larger number that have actually complained to that agency.

If, as suggested above, the law allows damages of up to $1,500 per infraction, the law writers weren't even willing to give the people teath to inforce this law. That paltery sum can only be a drop in the bucket for a company with enough funds behind it to conduct such a nation-wide campaign.

I have logged all the calls I received for a month and the number was substantial. I have recorded some of those calls and the recorded evidence was damaging. Yet, I am unable to find a lawyer willing to take on the case because the return is so minimal.

The only way we are going to stop this blatent infracdtion of the law and gross waste of our time is to somehow remove the customer base. But, the "product" offered is like a drug, wether they are relying on customers responding to the calls for money, or on a "buy in" from the type of idiots who are also susceptable to Amway's appeal.

I'm glad I found this site. From now on, I'll treat the calls like the occasional fly that lites on my soup bowl and not get so upset about it. We will always have to deal with vermin like this. How we respond to such inevatable inconviences can determine the quality of our lives.

The people operating these calls usually sound like natural born Americans to me, not foreigners.  My assumption is that the ringleader puts a "make money quick" ad on craigslist and gets some schmuck to do the dirty work.  I've tried giving these folks bogus information just to waste their time, and all that happens is they pump you for information and then forward you to their "supervisor" (aka the aforementioned ringleader), who then confirms the information and drops the call.  Shortly thereafter, your fake name starts getting sales calls for any number of products related to the information you gave them.  (i.e. if you say you're a homeowner, people selling or pretending to sell home security systems will call you).  I don't think their aim is to steal your identity, but to sell your contact info to other spammers.

Everybody involved in the deal is breaking the law but nobody's bothering to enforce it.  Google Voice does a great job of recognizing these spammers and just blocking the calls from them, but that only works if your google voice number is the one they're calling.  I wish more phone companies would start doing the same thing google does.

Rand -

I believe the phone companies could very easily stop this spam and fraud if they wanted to.  Just like email providers like Google, Yahoo, and AOL can identify and block spam.  The problem is, the phone companies couldn't care less.  They make money on the services and calls being made by these spammers.

Until consumers start voting with their wallet, and dropping landline subscriptions due to the constant spam and harrassment, or until enough pressure is put on government officials to force them to take action, the phone companies will continue to do nothing.  Until this is done, nothing will improve.

Yes, I thought they were banned also. On my cell provider, I will block one or two, that goes well for a week or so, and then here comes more, with a different number. I too quit answering, "unknown or unavailable" numbers.  Only calls that come from my area code do I pick up. Sad...We can not be left alone!!!

I keep getting calls from these scumbags on my cell phone.  I have AT&T Wireless.  I did a search on call blocking thinking that I might block all calls coming from an area code beginning with 9 (where these calls seem to come from).  Unfortunately, AT&T does not give a good god-damn abut the consumer.  If you even want to try their call blocking you must first subscribe to Smart Controls for $4.99 a month.

Of course, they wrap up the marketing for this service as freedom and security for "your children".

If AT&T wanted to, they could find who these scumbag callers are and report them to the authorities.  Of course, this might be interfering with the profit of AT&T and the other carriers - you know they won't do that!

So, business as usual - customer be damned.