Verizon sticks it to another group of rogue telemarketers

We absolutely love what Verizon has done to combat telemarketing. We mentioned a while back that Verizon filed suit and defeated some companies that were spamming their customers via text messaging. This goes far beyond what the other major carriers have done. In fact, some of them don’t even offer refunds if you receive and report a spam message. Thankfully, it doesn’t look like Verizon plans to quit any time soon. If you have Verizon, you may know the experience: you get a call from an 859 area code. Curious, you pick it up, only to hear a recording — in Spanish — on the other end. You can try to call the number back and tell them to stop, but there’s nothing on the other line if you do. The 859 area code is in Kentucky. However, these telemarketers were making calls from Miami. How? VoIP (“or some other technology”). The pre-recorded messages apparently instructed callers to dial 1 to claim a prize. This then asked them to call a number that was based in South Florida. If true, this represents a violation of the Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. We’re glad that at least one wireless provider is taking steps to ensure that this act is enforced. [Earth Times Online]]]>