How to deal with telemarketers. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: asgard
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 12, 2013, 08:29:36 pm
content: One of the federal agencies here (Commerce Dept) had posted a design contest a while back. The idea was started after recognizing the overall failure of the statutes currently in play that is supposed to prevent unwanted commercial appeals from telemarketing firms. For a prize of $10K the best design was to be selected.Here is a rundown of an idea I had. The only problem with it is that new legislation / regulation would have to be crafted to make this gadget work. What would have to be decided is that commercial solicitation firms would have to be required to have a revokable license in order to operate (enabled by the Commerce Clause). The licensed firms would be required to have a known DTMF sequence sent over the phone line each time the homeowner picks up the phone (or answering machine wakes up). My proposed gimmick would be interposed between the telco and the phone handset or answering machine.The gimmick would passively listen for the line being taken offhook, wait for the designated DTMF pattern to occur within a second or two. If the pattern is not received then connect the line to the downstream devices or handset as normal. If the pattern is detected, however, then a reply DTMF pattern is sent back to the telco and the gimmick hangs up the phone line.Actual benefit for humanity from a soulless machine, maybe?I did some amount of work on this, but the contest was completed before I could even think of prototyping this. I don't even know what, if any, was the winning submission.I have enclosed here a zip file containing the Eagle files for a preliminary try at this.My expertise is not exactly greatest at telephony, so I though I would toss this over for grins and hopefully something educational.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 12, 2013, 09:11:41 pm
content: For one my employers I developed an ISDN telephony card for use in a conference switch. When the company went bankcrupt I got hold of one of those cards. To annoy tele marketeers I turned it into an answering machine for unknown numbers (together with a CD player). Whenever someone called with an unknown number it would play a message from the CD telling them to switch on the caller-id. Pretty neat :-) I think I still have it somewhere.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 12:26:05 am
content: I think Panasonic cordless phones already have a feature similar to this. You can program a block list into the phone. If the incoming number is on the block list or if the number is withheld the phone will hang up the call (or simply not answer--I don't remember which). Either way the phone will not ring.

author: JoeyP
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 01:11:00 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on March 13, 2013, 12:54:15 amYes, and if absolutely everyone did this, telemarketers would spend hours and hours on dead-end calls for every one successful call. Telemarketing would become so incredibly ineffective that they would finally give up.But, most people don't have the time/patience for it. I pride myself on identifying and terminating telemarketing calls in periods measured in milliseconds.

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 01:16:08 am
content: I have too much fun messing with them to want some sort of technology that gets rid of them. I don't know much about the telemarketing industry, but I can say one thing for sure: they do not have any sort of "Annoying Pricks Who Waste Our Time" blacklist, or else my house would never receive calls.

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 01:29:37 am
content: i think it would be a little better if one could buy a inline device for there house similar to an answering machine, where if the number is private it will begin playing the prefixes for common telecoms to turn back on caller id, i dont really think such a device would be overly complex, just some micro listening for a valid caller id (current phone number also illegal to prevent other scammers) and if it cannot find one, to begin playing a sound byte,

author: komet
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 01:47:39 am
content: The most efficient way to waste a telemarketer's time without wasting your own: Say "One moment, let me fetch my credit card", then leave the phone off the hook.

author: Jay_Diddy_B
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 03:02:59 am
content: Hi,I also enjoy wasting their time. Here are some of my standard replies:Insurance:I reply 'Mr X is dead'Marketeter' Would he still like to buy insurance?'I reply 'Where Mr X has gone he will only need fire insurance'(Most of the time it goes over their heads)Windows and DoorsI reply 'I don't have any windows and doors'Marketer "Where do you live?, do you rent an apartement?"I reply " I don't know, I can't see out and I can't get out"Newspapers'I am sorry I can't read'Marketer ' That must cause you a lot of trouble'I reply " I wish I had listened to my mum, tried harder and school and then I could of got a good job like yours'Air Conditioning ServiceI reply "I am not sure if I have one, if you tell me what color it is I will go look for it'Marketer 'Do you turn anything on if is hot inside?'I reply 'Sometimes I turn on the TV'Marketer 'What do you do if it s really hot?'I reply ' I open the fridge door'Marketer ' Can I speak to your wife?'I reply 'That's probably a good idea, she doesn't like me talking to people on the phone since the accident'SurveysMarketer 'I am looking for women between 18 and 35'I reply ' So am I, If you find any can you give them my phone number?'Marketer, "I do not have your phone number'I reply ' Well how the f**K did you call me?' %-BI also enjoy trying to keep the people who call from the 'Windows Technical services' who try and take control over your PC and scam you out $100 -$400 but also steal you passwords etc. Too long for this forum. But after about 20 minutes I ask them if I should turn the computer on.Jay_Diddy_B

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 03:11:20 am
content: I reply 'Mr X is dead'Marketeter' Would he still like to buy insurance?' - Wait, aren't you selling insurance? I'm not interested in a seance." I don't know, I can't see out and I can't get out"" I wish I had listened to my mum, tried harder and school and then I could of got a good job like yours" - Now that's just mean

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 03:13:53 am
content: Quote from: Jay_Diddy_B on March 13, 2013, 03:02:59 amI can do a pretty good job of wasting these people's time, but that's some good shit right there.

author: 6502Dude
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 03:42:08 am
content: A lot a telemarketing scams are now originate out of Pakistan, targeting North America with spoofing of displayed number.These are high call volume operations.

author: KuchateK
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 03:56:02 am
content: If you want to fight fire with fire Asterisk PBX (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterisk_%28PBX%29) is great thing to play with. People created really funny telemarketer torture scripts to waste telemarketer's timehttp://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/Asterisk+Telemarketer+TortureAsterisk also has some great practical solutions to fight them off, for example Zapateller.http://iomem.com/archives/10-Five-great-ways-to-annoy-telemarketers-with-Asterisk.htmlFor home you can run it on Raspberry Pi or even get hosted PBX somewhere.Too bad voice recognition and text too speech is still so bad. I would love to transfer them to a chatbot, like cleverbot.

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 04:04:23 am
content: Quote from: KuchateK on March 13, 2013, 03:56:02 amThat's like automating sex by paying another couple to do it for you. Sure, some people might have fun watching, but most of us prefer to be part of it.

author: dougg
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 04:06:59 am
content: A relative starts up with: "Do you like Chinchillas?"! He does and can talk for hours about them. The telemarketers don't usually last that long ...

author: RCMR
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 08:06:18 am
content: One thing to remember is that most of these people who work for telemarketers are really down on their luck or patently unskilled and lucky to have any job.For that reason, I try not to be too hard on them -- at least they're doing *something* to try and improve their lives, rather than just living on the dole/gyro and leaving others to pick up the tab.I usually sternly, but politely let them know that I have no money and even if I did, I'm not interested in their product and that they might save themselves a lot of time (and earn more money) by removing my number from their call-list, as they'll never make a sale here.Surprisingly, that usually works and only takes about 20 seconds. The number of telemarketing calls I get has dropped dramatically since I started this.However, when I get calls from "The Microsoft Security Center" informing me that my computer has viruses and that their technicians will show me how to fix them -- well I pull up a chair, fire up my Linux PC and have a real ball. These people aren't telemarketers, they're scammers and they deserve *everything* I give them.I try to see how long I can keep them confused -- before they finally figure out that I am *not* running Windows."Can you please be rebooting your mouse?"Yes, I've done that."Are you being seen the Windows Logo"No... not yet"Please be clicking the start button"I don't seem to have a "start" button, where would I find that -- is it on the keyboard?"No, no -- you must be clicking the start button"I have a power button -- but now the computer had turned off... did I do something wrong?"Oh no, you must start again...."ROTFL!

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 04:09:50 pm
content: All you need is a cheap whistle by the phone, if you get an annoying phone call you just give a sharp blast on it, this usually leaves the person on the other end of the phone with ringing ears, but what do you do with computerized phone calls where there is no living being on the other end of the line just a robot voice.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 04:33:10 pm
content: Phone rings, answer and get robocall. Place down and go off for a few minutes, and check when the phone switches back to standby. Also works for the butt diallers, it eats up the airtime so quickly. Of course with my moron caller whi cannot get it into his booze and drug befuddled brain that I am not his floozy Thandi I look, see it says him and answer and leave it until he runs out of airtime or battery.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 04:38:48 pm
content: Forget any hardware solutions, this is the best way I've ever seen to deal with telemarketing calls! ;-)

author: Kaluriel
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 05:10:42 pm
content: I've often thought about trying to talk back to them about something they care very little about. Like Pokemon, ask them if they have any shinys they want to trade, and what they think of the balancing changes caused by generation changes.Or possibly setup a touch tone response system, then farm them out to solve other problems through the options they choose.I miss the days when you couldn't hang up on someone if they didn't put it down as well.

author: Ratib
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 05:50:50 pm
content: Years ago I had a device that played the 3 tones that started off the "number is not in service" message and most telemarketers would hang up. The only trouble was the phone would still ring and my daughters would race to answer it before it finished the 1st ring. They were constantly complaining about the phone not working because no one was there! They grew out of it.

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 05:58:42 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on March 12, 2013, 09:11:41 pmYou can also go for a Linux box running Asterisk (overkill for this purpose :-) or a Linux box with an ISDN card and vbox (scriptable answering machine). vbox supports also actions based on the caller ID, e.g. playing a specific recorded message or running a specific script. If you like to sell me something please press 1 ;-)

author: KuchateK
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 07:34:09 pm
content: Quote from: c4757p on March 13, 2013, 04:04:23 amWell... Everything that repeats gets boring after some time. Especially telemarketers reading the same stupid script. As we know automation is great for boring repeating tasks

author: asgard
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 07:45:48 pm
content: All in all, however, I wanted to return focus here on the specific project I have enclosed here. Similar circuits have been published before, but not in terms of an Arduino-capable unit. All the things I have been reading about the electrically hostile nature of the telco have given me great pause. Dave has said in other discussions that anything that is connected to mains power is subject to potentially disastrous legal complications. I can only just imagine the pain that can result if bad things happen to the Phone Company.

author: justanothercanuck
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 08:06:35 pm
content: Quote from: G7PSK on March 13, 2013, 04:09:50 pmI like this idea, but I was thinking of something different... Fax machine / modem tones. It annoys the real people, and it tricks the robocalls into thinking you're a dedicated fax line.

author: Alana
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 13, 2013, 09:22:49 pm
content: I got rid of most of telemarketers and other unwanted phone calls by getting rid of my land line.And for mobile - the usual calls i get are from bank and my phone company and in both cases asking them to make a note in their system that i do not want any telemarketing calls gives me at least a year of peace and quiet.The only other call i got was good one too - a lady called, told me that she got my number from person i know and tried to sell me insurance. I told her that she called unemployed person with income less than 100 euro a month and i do not think there is any reason for discussing subject further. Judging from lady's voice this was the first time she got such reply for her call and i can guarantee I'm off their list till the world economic crisis is over.But then i will tell her that I'm on social security because i have schizophrenia

author: ftransform
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 14, 2013, 03:55:09 am
content: cant these people troll you later if you fuck with them?

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 14, 2013, 04:04:52 am
content: Can they? Probably. Will they? No.

author: ftransform
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 14, 2013, 04:06:37 am
content: Quote from: c4757p on March 14, 2013, 04:04:52 amI think I would rather stay polite you never know when you can come across a vindictive individual.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 14, 2013, 04:40:35 am
content: If you say "this is a business line" they will normally just hang up. They're only interested in residential addresses.You can also say you belong to a telemarketing company yourself and are not permitted to take part.Most of the tele-survey companies, at least around here, are not permitted to take data from other telemarketing/telesurvey personal as it contaminates the results.If you're lucky they will follow procedure and flag your number on their computer system and you wont get any more calls from that telemarketing company.

author: jh15
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 14, 2013, 05:16:03 am
content: I thought many telemarketers were incarcerated persons at their "job training".

author: mamalala
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 14, 2013, 08:34:30 am
content: Most of those telemarketers use scripts when they call someone, you can use a counter-script:http://egbg.home.xs4all.nl/counterscript.htmlGreetings,Chris

author: ftransform
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 14, 2013, 06:17:51 pm
content: Quote from: jh15 on March 14, 2013, 05:16:03 amexactly why you don't wanna piss them off!