Whose number is this?

I don’t answer my cell phone while at work; it stays on silent in my bag ’til i get home and check any voice mails left. This week, a certain number has called more than 15 times, about twice a day, and doesn’t leave voice mail. When I try to call the number back, it’s immediately picked up and starts blaring annoying music in my ear. There’s no person, no voice prompt identifying the company, and pounding numbers doesn’t get me a real person either.

Any ideas how to identify it so I can find out what they want? 800-651-9743.

Posted on April 27, 2007 in Personal

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  • http://www.lessthanhumble.com/ Robert Norton

    Telemarketer probably, though I find their music soothing ;) .

    Are you listed on donotcall.gov?

  • rob
  • Dan

    Robert: It’s a cell phone, and it’s already illegal for telemarketing companies with auto-dialers (that’s about all of them) to call wireless numbers. There’s no reason to list cell numbers on the registry since someone willing to break the law won’t be paying for copies of the registry before calling either.

    Rob: Thanks for the link. Looks like it’s a company connected to Discover trying to sell “merchant protection plans”.

  • http://giik.net/blog matthieu

    It may be some “phone spam” ; they call you, and when you call back, you actually call a surtaxed number…

  • Dan

    That’d be a pretty nasty scam! This isn’t one though, 800 numbers are all toll-free in the US.

  • http://www.dangrossman.info Dan

    Interesting update… I received a very threatening letter about phone calls someone’s receiving… apparently they found my blog by searching this 800 number and assumed I own it.

  • Lindsay

    Hey–I found your blog by googling this number, and I was just wondering if you ever found out anything else about this. The same number has been calling me 3-4 times a day for a couple of weeks now, and same thing–I can’t find out who it is, the few times I’ve actually been able to answer when they call I just get weird background noise before I’m abruptly disconnected, when I call back there’s just annoying music, and there’s no way to keep them from calling over and over and over….. Did they stop calling you?

  • Lindsay

    P.S. Just so you know–the threatening letter wasn’t from me. :-)

  • http://www.dangrossman.info Dan

    Yeah, they eventually stopped calling. It’s probably a call center that handles multiple companies, but I think they were calling me to sell some kind of Discover (card) merchant protection service.

  • Ray

    I am getting these same calls from this number 5 times a day now.

    It has happened before. It comes in cycles. Yes, it’s Discover Card call center.

    They just won’t stop.

    Every month or so, this goes on for a week or more. I even plead with them to take me off their list– but to no avail.
    I am on the Do Not Call National List.

  • Mend

    i get calls from this number all day and they just hang up when i pick up, i dotn get why they do that, if it’s a call center trying to sell something, why is no one there when i pick up?

  • http://www.dangrossman.info Dan

    Predictive dialers with bad accuracy (there are regulations on the maximum number of dropped calls and the maximum length of dead air when someone picks up before someone has to respond). This call center is breaking all kinds of telemarketing laws. If someone can track down the actual call center, they can be reported to the FTC.

  • http://peoplebuzzme.com/ Alexis

    Yeah… either a telemarketer or machine automated dialer. They should be penalized if you are on a DNC list.

  • http://www.dangrossman.info Dan

    No, they shouldn’t. The do not call list does not prevent companies you have a business relationship with from calling you. I was a Verizon Wireless subscriber at the time this call center was calling on behalf of Verizon about my service. That’s a business relationship, they don’t have to check the list.

  • http://www.callid.org Josh B

    Something about updating someone information for a web directory or such a thing http://www.callid.org/8006519743/