About a month ago, I started to receive phone calls on my cell phone
from some kind of machine.  When I answer the call, I hear beeping
noises that sound like someone dialing.  There are no handshaking
noises associated with fax machines or modems.

I get on average 4 to 5 calls every weekday, but none on the weekends.
 My cell phone provider (Verizon Wireless) has said there is no way
for me to block these calls, and only suggests changing my phone
number.  I have been unable to find any information on the owner of
the lines, since the numbers are unlisted.

The calls always originate from one of the following three unlisted
numbers:
202-737-7996
202-393-1043
202-393-0906
I have never gotten an answer when calling these numbers, and I only
know that they are in Washington, DC.

I would be happy to tip an additional $20 for any solution that stops
these calls other than changing my phone number or just ignoring them
(which I'm forced to do now)

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Request for Question Clarification by calebu2-ga on 29 Jan 2003 08:22 PST

pwc-ga,

I spent a while researching this for you and came up empty handed.

All I can tell you is what you already know :

From http://members.dandy.net/~czg/prefix.php?npa=202

The two exchanges are operated by Verizon in the Downtown Washington
DC area.

From a google search of numbers around those listed - there does not
appear to be a company that owns a large block of numbers in those
exchanges - going up or down a few numbers produces distinct
individual organizations (would have be easier to solve if all 202-393
numbers belonged to one large institution).

I am surprised that there is nothing more that Verizon can do to help
you. They have a nuisance call bureau (NCB) designed to solve problems
exactly like this one :

http://www22.verizon.com/customersupport/contactus/info/

Their number is 1-800-257-2969

See if they can help you more than the usual customer support people
can. Explain to them in great detail the high frequency of the calls
and point out to them that the calls originate from two verizon
controlled exchanges in the DC area. They should be able to solve it.

In the mean time I'll search around and see if I can find anything
else out - but I think with this one Verizon may be your last and best
hope.

Regards

calebu2-ga

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Clarification of Question by pwc-ga on 29 Jan 2003 08:31 PST

Thanks, I'll try that number and let you know if they can do anything.

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Clarification of Question by pwc-ga on 29 Jan 2003 09:54 PST

I talked to a Verizon (land-line) representative, who was very
surprised to here that Verizon Wireless could not help me.  He told me
that if the calls were received on a land-line, they could trace the
calls to prove that they were occurring, then they would contact the
business and ask them to stop.  He told me to call Verizon Wireless,
and try again.

The Verizon Wireless representative conferred with her supervisor and
finally said that there was no way for them to trace incoming calls
and that they could not legally obtain any information about the
number.  Then they suggested for the hundredth time that I change my
phone number.

Very frustrating since I know that Verizon has the information and
could just pick up the phone and call them.

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Request for Question Clarification by calebu2-ga on 29 Jan 2003 10:51 PST

Pwc -

Typical. No offense to verizon in general, but no matter which way you
look at this, it is their problem to solve.

I did a search for [verizon wireless call blocking] and found the
following page :

http://www.callcompliance.com/cci/jsp/media/hometocell.html

Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act it is actually illegal to
make telemarketing calls to a cellphone, and based on your description
of the call (not a fax or modem) I would have to conclude that it was
an automated dialling machine.

If you do a search for
"Telephone Consumer Protection Act" "verizon wireless"

you get a whole host of pages about the active steps that verizon
wireless is supposedly taking to clamp down on telemarketers calls.

I spoke to the verizon NCB and the verizon wireless customer service
people and it seems that the law is on your side, but neither the will
nor the technology is there to resolve the issue.

While I try to get some information out of the DC area verizon service
people, here is something that you might want to try while you wait
(this is by no means an overnight solution)

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/donotcall/index.html

This is the FTC's "Do not call" list. Adding your name and number to
this list warns telemarketers that they must not call you - or face a
fine. While this is primarily designed at land lines, there is no
reason why you cannot add your cellphone number as a double
protection.

It is likely that the telemarketer/business in question does not
realize that this is a cellphone number and that they are illegally
calling.

I will report back on what Verizon have to say as well as the FTC if I
do not get anywhere with Verizon.

Regards

calebu2-ga

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Clarification of Question by pwc-ga on 29 Jan 2003 11:30 PST

Thank you very much for your effort so far.  It's good to find out
that telemarketing to cell phones is actually illegal.  That gives me
some hope that Verizon will be able to do something even if Verizon
Wireless cannot.

---

Request for Question Clarification by calebu2-ga on 29 Jan 2003 11:30 PST

No luck there. FTC had a very long wait time and verizon in the DC
area wasn't going to help me out.

There are no other legal solutions I can suggest right now (It would
be wrong of me to suggest calling up verizon and posing as the
originator of the calls and getting them to accidentally drop the
business name during the conversation "sorry what did you say my
business name was?").

If you keep pressuring verizon wireless to work with verizon local in
DC, you may be able to get them to handle the issue properly. Keep
explaining that the law is on your side, that you have the offending
phone numbers and all you want is for verizon wireless to contact the
owner of the line and put in a "Do not Call" request on your behalf.
If they suggest that you should change phone numbers, ask them "Would
I be better off with a phone number on a Sprint PCS network?" and see
if that gets them to budge (I'd actually wait until you are speaking
to a manager to try that one!)

Other than that, themassiah-ga's suggestion below sounds pretty cool
if it works (will have to try that myself).

Sorry I couldn't help more and good luck

calebu2-ga

Here's what I did.  It seems to have stopped all of these automated
dialing machines.

You know those three distinct tones you get when you first dial a
number that is "disconnected"?  Low, medium, high.  They're actually
dual-tone, multi-frequency tones, but that's outside of the scope of
this comment.

What I would suggest doing is first, go to<A
HREF="http://www.coopster.net/Web Shares/SIT Tones.wav">this link</a>
and get a recording of these tones.  Then, access your voice mail
feature and play those tones through the microphone of your cell phone
so that they record on the voice mail, then record the rest of your
message as usual.  Now, when you see these numbers come up on your
caller ID, don't pick up the phone, let it go to voice mail so that
the dialer will hear the tones.

What this will do, if this is indeed an automated dialer, will mark
your number as being "disconnected" (because of the tones) to that
machine so that it will not call your number any more.

I've done this to my answering machine and I've noticed that the
volume of solicitation calls I get is WAAAY down.  Like 75%.

Hope it works for you!

The calls may not be telemarketing. It sounds to me as though its
something like a vending machine (or 3 of them) calling in to a
central computer to ask to be refilled. The central computer may be
using touch-time commands rather than computer modem handshaking. The
person who installed or programmed the machines has mistyped the
number they should call.

The only answer is to keep at the telecom people to take some action.
The owners of the lines may be unaware of the problem (and unable to
fix it) if it's a rented or concession machine. But they should know
who manages the machine and be able to pass the complaint on. It's in
the vending machine operating company's interests to get this fixed,
and most are aware of the annoyance misprogrammed machines can cause.
It's tracking them down that's the problem

Owain

Would anyone consider the possibility that Verizon wireless has
something setup to make its customers use up minutes (as a money
making scheme of some sort?)

Perhaps it explains why they are so guarded of the phone calls?

Sounds far fetched, but who knows these days.

What kind of phone do you have?


Is there any GPS tracking involved here?

Most of the 393 prefixes I found were around the NorthWestern region
of the area.

Haven't thoroughly checked it out, but most of the street names are NW
(or are physically located near streets that are NW).

Even though it does not sound like a fax machine, it very well may be
one. Last year, my girlfriend repeatedly received calls late at night,
3am, 6am, midnight, where all you would hear if you picked up the
phone is "beep..... beep.... beep...hangup". It didn't sound like a
fax machine as I knew it.

Eventually, I connected her phone to her computer fax modem and
recieved the fax that night. It was related to the nigerian money
laundering scam, apparently the previous tenant of her room was
involved in this.

After sucessfully receiving the fax, the phone calls abruptly ended.

Interesting idea with the vending machine.  I just added the tones to
my voicemail, and I'll see if that helps.  Then I guess it's back to
calling Verizon.