Call from "Unknown Name;" "Private Number."

Remember, guys - these calls 99% of the time come from random dialers. Being unlisted is NOT a defence. Being on the DNCL is not a defence. The latter is only good for reporting callers originating within Canada. So if a carpet cleaning place in your city is breaking the rules you can complain and they may get fined. If they're a computer service or credit card phishing scam from India, there's nothing that can be done.

it's the new reality. If you have a telephone they will call you.

The only way around this is to get a phone with call display (cell phones come with it automatic) and either hook up an old school answering machine to pay the $4 extra for your phone/cell company to set up voicemail. Ignore calls that come from numbers you do not recognize. If the call is legitimate a voicemail will be left (some scammers leave voicemails too but they're rare). If you get to the point where the calls come late at night or in the middle of the night (thankfully rare except for legitimate things like debt collectors) then turn that phone off when you go to bed and make sure to have a secondary phone (cell, second line) established in case of emergency.

For the last 6-8 weeks the office I work in has been getting phone calls (up to 20 per day) from an "Unknown" number.  According to our receptionist, the caller never says anything when she answers the phone and I believe she has stopped answering some of them if she is busy at that moment. Today, I suddenly began to receive the exact same phone calls on my personal cell phone. I answered the last 2, but ignored approximately 4 others. I asked my co-workers if they had experienced this recently as well, but they all said they had not. My number is already on the Do Not Call List, I do not have any debts that are in collections, and I've had the same cell phone number for almost 10 years. What do these calls mean? Did I make a mistake by answering them?

I FINALLY got some information. I too, have been getting the "private number" phone calls that hang up within a few seconds of me answering. Well, this time this guy ACTUALLY SPOKE TO ME!!!! First thing I did was ask for HIS phone number (800-384-8528), then I asked who he was with. COMPUTER RESEARCH & MAINTENANCE DEPT. So then I asked him where he was LOCATED and he answered Canada!!!!! It was actually very amusing, because he was NOT ready for someone on the other end asking HIM questions!!!  HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! So then I preceeded to tell him NOT TO CALL BACK ON THIS NUMBER AGAIN. Like THAT is going to do any good. BUT, I then called the phone number he gave me and got ahold of NEW DELHI, INDIA!!!!!! A company called 24/7 IT Group.
All of you people getting calls from this group, or maybe not. But wouldn't it FEEL GOOD to call the phone number I listed and harrass THEM for once??!!! Have at it and have fun!!!!!!!!!

I've been getting these calls too. But this time someone spoke back to me when I answered. All I did was get as much info from him as I could. I really think he was giving me the correct info too, because I think he was too surprised at someone come off with all these questions, one afeter the other, to think up lies.
Computer Research & Maintenance Dept. He was trying to tell me my computer was infected with a virus, and only THEY had the way to fix it!!!!! When I asked where he was located he said he was calling from Canada. So after telling him to NOT CALL THIS NUMBER AGAIN (yeah, like THAT is going to do any good), I hung up on HIM!!! I know that sounds juvenile, but it felt good!!!!!! And THEN I called the number he had given me (800-384-8528) and got ahold of the 24/7 IT Group in New Delhi, INDIA!!!!!!!!!

We received a bunch of these 'Unknown Caller' calls, with no telephone number, prior to the state (Texas) Senate runoff election on July 31. At the time I didn't know who they were from, just didn't answer the phone. They stopped as soon as the election was over, so I presume they were political candidate or polling calls. We'd get one call every day, at different times during the day. My parents also got calls at the same time (they don't have caller ID). When they'd answer, there'd just be a click and dead air. I'm assuming these were the same calls. There should be a regulation (and maybe there is) that all calls have to go out with info in the caller ID that correctly identifies who's calling. I know this would be hard to regulate; but until something like this exists, we just don't answer the phone if the number is unidentifiable to us, or says unknown caller, etc. I think sometimes these are from people with cell phones also, but I figure if they want me to answer, they can give me their cell number to enter into the phone.

I just started receiving the "unknown name and Unknown number" six times they called last night.  They don't say anything but after I say hello they hang up.  So tonight I started blowing a whistle into the phone.  I have received two calls so far.  It is really annoying!!!

They might have anonamous on the caller ID, however, they should also have a phone number to call back or at least identify who is calling.  I get one call a day from who knows where.  This should be illegal.

The difference between what any of us believe "should be illegal" and what actually IS illegal creates a gap that isn't worth crossing. If you want to sting the debt collectors which generate your nuisance calls, you must use the laws you are given.

Again, agencies are not required to transmit a name ("CNAM") via CID. If they do, it must accurately identify the caller, but in so doing it can signal to anyone passing by that you are alleged to owe a debt. Collectors and courts alike have been tied in knots for years over when to disclose and when to keep secret a given business name.

The displayed inbound number ("CNUM") could be a trunk line or a number which by design cannot accept return calls. That sort of thing is very common among commercial telco accounts and not the fault of the caller using one. However, I have argued in the past that a displayed number can be considered a spoof or otherwise deceptive when it bears an area code close to your locale and the collector has no call center anywhere near you. It's definitely deceptive if the number sequence is invalid per NANPA.

The traditional FDCPA phone violations come from conduct, such as frequency and timing of calls and their audible content. Many agencies freely give enough ammo in that regard that you won't need to split hairs over Caller ID. While I can't state any claim for relief, I have also noted when calls are abandoned in excess of the FCC thresholds set for telemarketers.

Isn't there a rule about the percentage of abandoned calls they are allowed?

I did mention regulatory "thresholds" in passing. I also confined my remarks this morning to debt collection calls, in a thread which began with a question of commercial fundraising, which is a telemarketing subset. Never post when half asleep.

A compliant sales call rings long enough (ostensibly) to allow a recipient time to answer AND greets that recipient with a live rep right away. There is a small allowance for call abandonment since no system runs without hiccups. Here's how the feds put it:

"Telemarketers must ensure that predictive dialers abandon no more than three percent of all calls placed and answered by a person. A call will be considered 'abandoned' if it is not transferred to a live sales agent within two seconds of the recipient's greeting."
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/unwanted-telephone-marketing-calls

"A telemarketer also must eliminate 'early hangups' by allowing an unanswered call to ring either four times or for 15 seconds before disconnecting the call. This element of the safe harbor ensures that consumers have reasonable time to answer a call and are not subjected to 'dead air' after one, two, or three rings."
http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus27-complying-telemarketing-sales-rule

"Autodialers that deliver a recorded message must release the called party’s telephone line within five seconds of the time that the calling system receives notification that the called party’s line has hung up."
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/unwanted-telephone-marketing-calls


I keep all these blurbs handy as I evaluate my nuisance calls from all comers. I have found that the charities, debt collectors, and South Asian scam calls are the worst offenders in terms of call abandonment. Really any call center which pays commissions or has a sales room structure seems to exhibit these tendencies.

Try my method....'thank you...,please call again"...., then stick one of those  little marine canned air horns to the  phone and LET IT BLAST!!!   YUK ....yuk

I am keep getting these unknown call to my mobile number and i ignore it everytime. i have caller id with t-mobile but why is it this number got thru without any identification...very annoying. This happen for the last 3 weeks

Unknown name, Unknown number.  She said Woman to Woman and something about breast cancer, then I hung up.

Some friends and relatives of mine have cell phone numbers that do not display their real IDs, only their real phone numbers under Caller ID. I have memorized the critical numbers, so that if I see "Unknown Name" or the like, yet the number is one of those special ones, I know the call is real....and not from some scammer, spammer, or spoofer. Any other number? If I don't recognize a name and/or number, I don't answer the call!

PLEASE NO MORE CALLS everyday and about the same time. There has to be a way to STOP thoughs calls. or leave a voicemail.