Today I received a call on my cell phone with that number (1-866-849-3243) showing in caller id. When I answered the call a recorded message said "This call was intended to be answered by an answering machine, we are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused."

I called the number from a land line when I got home and got another recording instructing me to press 1 to block more calls to the number I was calling from or press 2 to enter another number..... I hung up.

What the hell is this? I have researched the number on the internet and it appears this is some sort of scam but I can't figure out exactly what it is.

I think that is Ed's cell phone number.

Telemarketer....

https://info.xpedite.com/about/privacy.html

Nah, Ed wouldn't give up that easy! He'd just come right out and ask for your vote

I hope it is telemarketers, but if it is they aren't very good at it.

It's not Ed's number, I called him today and he answered. I guess he doesn't have caller ID

It's a telemarketing number. They still have you in the auto-dialer, but are instructed not to call your number for anything. So the operator hangs up, your incoming call is xfered to the 'so sorry' machine.

Been there....done that.

One reason I want to know who they are is because all of my numbers are on the "Do not call" list.

If they are not some fly by night operation off shore (Most of them are it seems) I will report them if I can pinpoint who they are.

There are many organizations that are exempt from the DNC list. I don't have a list of what they are, but I know there are a bunch.

They may be a group dialing around looking for vacant numbers. Vanity numbers (ones that are easy to remember or that spell something) are becoming increasingly short in supply. There are brokers out there who will find any that are out there and buy them. Then, when somebody wants 392-RENT for example, they can charge a chunk of money to let it go.

I have a friend who is an advertising/media guy who told me about this. They do this with toll-free numbers too, so you even get the luxury of paying for these nuisance calls.

Hey, if I see a number on my cellphone's caller ID that I don't recognize, I just don't answer it
If it's someone real that needs me, they can leave a message.

i don't even answer the ones i recognize! :p

Too often, I don't WANT to answer the ones that I recognize!

Dave

I'm with rage and MooreTel! All they ever want is for me to pay some bill. 1 thing about making bad business decisions and destroying you personal credit, you don't have to worry much about identity theft. I figure if suddenly my creditors stop calling, some poor sap is trying to use my identity. John C.

Hey John,
Happy Birthday!!!

I know what you mean Jeff but unfortunately that's a luxury I can't afford when I have to deal with my parents being in one hospital or another or some home health organization trying to contact me for whatever reason.

There are times when both of them are in different hospitals in different cities and I can't keep the numbers straight anyway. Not to mention my business calls on the same number.... you get the point. It is becoming more often that I have to put the phone on the charger every night because I've ran the battery down in a single day.

But there are some people less fortunate than me, at least I am able to take care of them (with the help of family and friends) and still manage to work enough to pay the bills.

This is a good one.

I answer the corporate switchboard. When someone in the buildings makes a call to a caller ID phone and they don't leave a message (as in a miss dialed call)the caller ID phone gets our main switchboard number registered.

Then the switchboard lights up and I answer it. The caller says, "You just called me, what do you want?" I tell them the company name again and ask them if they know someone at Wells in FdL, WI. When they don't, I advise them that someone may have miss dialed and to ignore the call.

What I'd like to say is... Don't you have caller ID to avoid unknown calls? These yahoo's are just begging to talk with someone they don't know. Plus, none of them understand a companies incoming and outgoing lines are different as to what will show up on caller ID.

It's the "little" things that can be so frustrating! Grrrr :bang:

Off subject, but justifiable, at least I think! Thanks for the HB Vad60. And Mike in F'ville, too. John C.

I Googled the number and saw this----
Imagine my suprise to when I came home from voting to find a voice mail message from none other than Bill Clinton, telling me to vote for his friend Jon Corzzine. The caller id number was 1-866-849-3243, so if you want to call Bill yourself, have at it. Tell him and Jon to stop calling my house everynight at dinner time!

Just thought i would toss in a little more confusion to the topic :shrug:

What stinks is that it appears to be a Vodavi voice mail system processing their calls (I recognized the voice used for system prompts. Unless she's double-shifting, we might be able to home in on the offender). I need to track down the dealer who sold them this system and smack them silly.......Twice.

Hey, at least calling this number allows you to block your number from being called again. I blocked all of mine. It says that the change will take effect within one business day. Bear in mind, I have never received a call from this number, so we'll have to just wait and see.

I tracked them on RESPORG and contacted the carrier. I got some guy's voice mail. Sounds a bit shady to say the least.

Hi, I just received a voice message from the subject number [866-849-3243]. It was the Central Florida Blood bank.

I don't answer numbers I don't recognize also.

Patty

not sure how legal this is, but when I get a call from an unknown or blocked number I answer the phone "911 what is your emergency"

I like to hear the sound of shear panic and confusion on the other end.

LOL!

I answer all calls 'cause I AM SO LONELY!

(Well, maybe not all....)

Pete,

Love it... That's a good one!!

I get this call all the time at home (church parsonage) and at church...Both numbers are on the DNC list. It is from Merchan Circle. I called back the number and they have an opt out on the message. Wonder if it will really work or not. Anyway, Merchant Circle is...Administrative Contact :
WYBS, Inc.
v86d43fv4t2@networksolutionsprivateregis tration.com
ATTN: MERCHANTCIRCLE.COM
c/o Network Solutions
P.O. Box 447
Herndon, VA 20172-0447
Phone: 570-708-8780
I Just did more research. Network Solutions is the company that owns Merchant Circle.com. The domain name is based out of Herndon Va. I googled the company, and guess what...REAL PHONE NUMBERS!!! Give them a call..here they are
(703) 668-5505, (703) 668-4600, (703) 925-6999

A problem we have in this respect in the U.K. is companies that call for marketing etc. but give out CLID which is an 0845 or 0870 number instead of the actual calling line or a main switchboard POTS number.

0845 and 0870 are special "area" codes which are charged at higher than normal rates. Historically, they started out life as special numbers which were charged at the same rates as a local or a national long-distance call respectively, but they've now morphed into what are effectively premium-rate numbers, just not so expensive as 09 numbers (that latter being akin to the modern use of American 900 numbers).

Because of the historical background, large numbers of people don't realize that 0845 and 0870 can sometimes cost them many times the price of a regular call, nor do they realize that in many cases the company they are calling is getting a cut of the charges. The problem is compounded by the fact that many organizations -- including government offices -- still falsely advertise that 0845/0870 calls are the same as a normal local/national call.

So somebody sees a missed call, phones back on 0845/0870, and without realizing it gets charged up to 10 times what a normal call would cost, part of it going to the receiving end, only to discover that it was some sleazy sales call or dubious "market survey."

we get misdialed calls all the time on one of our office lines - apparently the number is very similar to that of a local pizza shop. some folks are kind enough to apologize before hanging up but a great deal more just hang up when one of us answers with the company greeting.
we've got a couple repeat offenders who always call around the same time of day so lately some of the guys have begun taking their food orders...

File a formal complaint with the FCC. Telemarketing to cellphones is illegal, with very very few exceptions.

The number 866-849-3243 is one of dell's numbers i just received a call from them regarding an exchange. Hope this helps all of those concerned.

Here is website that I have bookmarked and use whenever appropriate.

FCC Consumer Complaints.

It also explains who may not fall under the national "Do-Not-Call" list. This also applies to land-lines, cell phones, pagers, junk faxes, wireless spam, et cetera.

That number seems to belong to many users. It's obvious that's a call center and they're doing contract work for every one. Business must be good!

I'm going to lock this since it's such and old topic.