HELPLESS AGAINST THE
DAILY BOMBARDMENT OF
ANNOYING, AND
OFTEN (ILLEGAL
TELEMARKETING CALLS.
WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU CAN
FIGHT BACK?
TONIGHT, LARRY BARKER
HAS THE FINAL RESULTS OF
HIS
GROUNDBREAKING YEAR LONG
INVESTIGATION INTO THE
"TELEPHONE
OUTLAWS."
WORD TO THE TELEPHONE
OUTLAWS OUT
THERE.....DON )T CALL
LARRY BARKER.
Hall: "These aren )t
exactly ethical law
abiding people."
Anderson: "The bottom
line is just money. ...
I don )t think there )s
any other motivation."
Childress: "They )re not
sorry for what they )re
doing unless they get
caught."
Barker: "Hands down, it
is the most pervasive
crime in America today.
The crooks will strike
anytime, day or night,
and anywhere, at your
home or office and the
weapon of choice is not
a gun or a knife. Its a
phone."
IRS: "We are calling you
from investigation team
of IRS."
Health Ins.: "Hello I )m
calling from the health
insurance enrollment
center." Microsoft:
"Hello this call is from
Miscrosoft Security
Department. We )ve
encountered a serious
issue
coming out of your
computer."
ITS AN ARMY OF ANONYMOUS
PEDDLERS, SPAMMERS AND
SCAMMERS. LAST YEAR,
TELEMARKETING OPERATIONS
WERE
RESPONSIBLE FOR AN
ESTIMATED 47 BILLION
PHONE CALLS. EVERYTHING
FROM BOGUS IRS AGENTS TO
HEARING AID HUCKSTERS.
Hall: "We )re talking
about major
multinational, illegal
crime rings." LAUREN
HALL IS WITH THE
WASHINGTON D.C. BASED
PUBLIC
INTEREST GROUP, CONSUMER
ACTION.
Hall: "We )re talking
about people here in the
United States who create
the software ... used to
dial out
to millions of houses a
day, who partner with
these massive call
centers in India,
Guatemala and
Nigeria and other
places."
CONSIDER WHAT WE )RE UP
AGAINST. ROGER ANDERSON
IS A TELECOM
ENGINEER WHO HAS CREATED
HIS OWN APP DESIGNED TO
BATTLE ILLEGAL
TELEMARKETING. WE MET
HIM AT HIS SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA OFFICE.
Anderson: "We )re getting
a barrage of telephone
calls. Some people are
unfortunate enough to
get 20 or 30 a day ...
and you just can )t do
anything about it and it
feels extremely
helpless. ... You )ve got
some of the best minds
in the conning industry
trying to ... get
information out of
people."
USING SOPHISTICATED
COMPUTER SOFTWARE, AUTO
DIALERS AND CALLER ID
SPOOFING TECHNOLOGY,
TELE-OUTLAWS OPERATE
WITH LITTLE FEAR OF
GETTING CAUGHT. FEDERAL
AND STATE
REGULATORS HAVE BEEN
POWERLESS TO STEM THE
TIDE OF TELEMARKETING
VIOLATIONS. AND DON )T
THINK JUST BECAUSE YOUR
NUMBER IS ON THE
DO NOT CALL LIST THAT
YOU )RE PROTECTED.
Anderson: "Q. So in
terms of the spammers
out there, you think
they they respect the do
not call list? A.
Absolutely not."
IF THEY USE A PHONY
CALLER ID, THAT )S A
CRIME. IF A TELEMARKETER
CALLS YOU EVEN THOUGH
YOU ARE ON THE DO NOT
CALL LIST OR IF THEY USE
A PRE-RECORDED SALES
PITCH, THATS UNLAWFUL.
Barker: "But, consumers
are not powerless. After
being bombarded with a
daily assault of illegal
robo
calls, we embarked on a
unique year long
investigation designed
to fight back against
phone
scammers and spammers.
We had no trouble
documenting numberous
state and federal
violations"
Allied: "Ok but whats
the name of your
company?"
Care First: "Q. I just
would like to know how
you got my number? A. I
wouldn )t be able to help
you there. I
can help you find health
insurance."
360 Getaways: "Please
hold while we transfer
you to the cruise line
for the free cruise."
Villa del Palmar: "Five
day all inclusive Cabo
or Cancun vacations for
only $169 per person."
Medical Alarm: "Q. You
won )t give me your phone
number? The main number
for the company? A. Oh I
don )t have that
information."
Smart Home Solar: "We
have chosen your home as
our next model home to
install free solar
panels." FEDERAL LAW
GIVES AGGRIEVED
CONSUMERS THE RIGHT TO
FILE THEIR
OWN LAWSUITS AND COLLECT
DAMAGES FOR
TELEMARKETING
VIOLATIONS. SO WE
GATHERED OUR EVIDENCE
AND TURNED IT OVER TO
SANTA FE ATTORNEY SID
CHILDRESS.
Childress: "Our state
legislature and Congress
have put laws on the
books that ... say these
telemarketers can be
made to pay significant
sums of money, not to
the government, but to
the
people they harass."
CHILDRESS SPECIALIZES IN
USING THE COURTS TO
FIGHT BACK
AGAINST UNLAWFUL
TELEMARKETING PRACTICES.
Childress: "My goal is
to make them pay as much
as possible and to see a
smile on my client )s
face instead
of that aggravation from
robocall harassment."
ON OUR BEHALF, CHILDRESS
FILED 11 LAWSUITS
AGAINST OUT OF STATE
TELEMARKETING FIRMS.
IN TWO CASES, WE WERE
GRANTED DEFAULT
JUDGEMENTS AFTER
HIGHER RESPONSE
MARKETING AND GOLDEN
TICKET GETAWAYS FAILED
TO RESPOND TO OUR
LITIGATION.
ONE CASE, )HEARING
BETTER FOR LIFE ) IS ON
HOLD BECAUSE THE
DEFENDANT
CANNOT BE LOCATED.
EIGHT REMAINING LAWSUITS
HAVE NOW BEEN RESOLVED
OUT OF
COURT WITH THE
DEFENDANTS MAKING CASH
PAYMENTS. WHILE
THE INDIVIDUAL
AGREEMENTS ARE
CONFIDENTIAL, WE HAVE
COLLECTED A
TOTAL OF ALMOST $60,000
FROM TELEMARKETING FIRMS
ENGAGED IN
IMPROPER PRACTICES. ALL
THE MONEY WE COLLECTED
WILL BE DONATED TO
CHARITABLE AND
NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATIONS.
Childress: "Q. Any of
the firms that you sued,
do you think that they
understood that they
were breaking the
law when they made those
phone calls? A. I think
that they absolutely
understood they were
breaking the law
from day one."
NOW OF COURSE MANY
CONSUMERS DON )T HAVE THE
RESOURCES TO FILE
LAWSUITS. BUT RATHER
THAN JUST HANGING UP OR
CURSING AT
ANNOYING TELEMARKETERS
YOU TOO CAN FIGHT BACK.
Anderson: "There )s
really not much the
government or the
carriers can do about
it. I think it )ll take
private
enterprise to figure out
ways to protect the
consumers phone lines.
... I think I )ve
stumbled across
probably the only
effective solution to
this."
WELCOME ABOARD ROGER
ANDERSON )S JOLLY ROGER
TELEPHONE
COMPANY, A CLOUD BASED
SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE
THAT TURNS THE TABLES ON
SPAMMERS BY INTERCEPTING
THE CALLS WITH PRE-
RECORDED INTERACTIVE
ROBOTS.
Anderson: "So when you
get a phone call, Jolly
Roger telephone gets a
little signal. We get a
ring when
you get a call and we
will intercept if it )s a
known telemarketer will
intercept and engage
with a
telemarketer. It )s as
simple as that. So it )s
like having a personal
assistant or personal
robot pick up the phone
for you and talk to the
telemarketers. ... My
goal is to disrupt the
outbound as, as I call
it, the
unsolicited outbound
telemarketing."
ANDERSON SAYS SINCE HE
LAUNCHED HIS SERVICE,
JOLLY ROGER HAS
INTERCEPTED ABOUT 3
MILLION SPAM PHONE
CALLS. Anderson: "As a
telecom engineer, I )m
familiar with what
they )re using and how
they )re using it. And so
I )m turning the tables
on them with their same
technology. ... I )m
going after the illegal
spammers, the unwanted
calls. I want to get to
the point where when
your phone rings its
probably someone you
want to talk
to."
Childress: " Q. I came
to you with a about a
dozen telemarketing
calls that we were able
to identify who
these guys were. What do
you want these people to
know? A. Do not call
Larry Barker." LARRY
BARKER KRQE NEWS 13.
PHONE CALLS FROM
CHARITIES AND POLITICANS
ARE EXEMPT FROM FEDERAL
TELEMARKETING LAWS.
WE )VE POSTED A LINK TO
REPORT TELEMARKETERS ON
KRQE DOT COM.
ADLIB TOSS TO WEATHER
TONIGHT...Not as cold.