No Call List Complaints - Are You Covered On Purchased Leads?
If you have been one of the many frustrated customers who have attempted to get an agent on the line, time and time again, only to experience a runaround that ends with the agent never picking up their phone or returning your call--fear not we can help.
Call lists are purchased a lot these days by people looking for leads. You see, they will buy these illegal lead lists and submit them as calls in their account to try and catch what is called "window shoppers." When someone calls a company that has been on this list, they pay up front for those leads as if they were real live callers. As soon as they have them in their system they will call them with the hope that they will join their program. However, these aren't leads, these are not people who are seeking an agent or who even know what an insurance agent is!
How It Works
(A real example) I had a lady call me just yesterday who told me her story. She said she had been on this list right before I called her. She gave me the number that called her and it was a local number. She also showed me NO CALL LIST COMPLAINTS on her caller ID from the time she was called from 8:00 am until 7:30 pm. My receptionist checked and we never called her. She called her phone company and they said they were not the ones calling her.
From there my receptionist did a search on the number that called this lady and it came up as "US Directory" in Los Angeles California. The same number was listed for about 20 other people who had complained about the same thing, being harassed by this number. When you call this number back it sounded as if it were a recording of someone typing and sending text messages to all these people.
(A real example) One guy called me who had the same thing happen to him. He was on vacation and received all of these calls from his sons basketball coaches, three different times in one day! He called his phone company to see if someone was using his number and they said it wasn't them.
Now I am sure some people will be thinking...well how is this possible? I guarantee this happens more than you know. The phone companies don't have time to check every number that is listed as a complaint so they just accept the complaint as true and move on because they get thousands of these calls each day throughout the year.
How To Protect Yourself
Well, the first thing you can do is get caller ID. I recommend it because 99% of telemarketers, 85% of scam artists, 80% of scammers, and fraudsters are using some type of spoofing device to not show their caller ID. So you will want to be able to see who is calling you.
The second thing you need to do is sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry . Basically once a company puts your number on this list it stops all companies from calling you for five years! This doesn't protect you from fraudulent companies but it does help with telemarketers and all legitimate businesses have to abide by this list.
My Receptionist's Story
This morning was really crazy because I received a call from one of these illegal lead companies. They came up as "Unsolicited Marketing" and were calling all day long from 9 am until about 6:30 pm. It was so bad that my other half who is in the office all day with me couldn't get reception at his desk. He would try to answer the phone and it would just ring and ring without picking up!
It took me awhile to find what was going on but I finally found them on Google Web Searches, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Craigslist and a few sites where they sell these lists for people.
I let them know that I wasn't interested and asked for a refund because I didn't want to be bothered anymore. This company told me that they could not give me a refund even though it was less than 24 hours since I ordered the list and called them.
So I called National Do Not Call Registry back and they gave me a number to the Attorney General in Iowa where this company is located. The Attorney General got on the phone with me, listened to my story, took down all of our information, sent out his legal team to go get bank statements and purchase orders from their business. The Attorney General is still working with the phone company to see what they can do. He told me he would keep me posted.
By the way, I called this company back and got a recording that said they want to help but they don't have staff in my state to do that. As I was thinking of what I heard, NOTHING would make sense because this lady had just called me and she didn't tell me any of this! Why didn't she let me know all of this? If you are going to run your business like this you should at least make sure they aren't doing something illegal!
I am sharing all of this for a reason as well. This is just one example of many. There are thousands of websites out there that sell, trade or auction these lists for all kinds of businesses. I guarantee this happens more than people know. The phone companies have to have their hands tied behind their backs because they get so many complaints about calls but most of the time you can pretty much tell a scammer or telemarketer even without caller ID!
What Makes It Even Worse?
There are even some lists out there that pretend to be consumers who need an agent. They will call you and tell you they have been with XYZ insurance agency for ten years and they need a new agent because XYZ is not doing well financially. They will ask if you can help them.
What will happen when you agree to help them is that they will go on to tell you all about their family, their house and all the things they have. They will tell you "my husband is disabled, I have three kids and we need someone to help us out." They do this so that you will speak with them again thinking that maybe you can help them.
What happens next? They set up a time for you to come over and see them or go see them. You drive all the way there, it's way out in the middle of nowhere and no one answers the door even though they were expecting someone. They won't let you in the house or won't answer the door. People do this all the time, it's ridiculous!
This is a totally illegal activity and companies that do this are committing fraud and whoever is doing it should be prosecuted to the fullest.
Conclusion
In closing I would like to say that you should not take anything or any company at face value. Think critically and do your research! You have to think like the criminals because they will never give you any proof that they are who they say they are. Remember, the minute you go from being a consumer to an agent, you become a target!
You have to make sure that you protect yourself in a way that is safe and not against the law. You have to make sure your company is insured in case something happens or anything happens. Always think about how it could impact your family and learn how to protect yourself as much as possible.