Connecticut BBB says Ignore her and “Cardholder Services Calls
Who is Rachel and why does she keep calling? Better Business Bureau says despite the best efforts of the Federal Trade Commission, consumers continue to receive illegal robocalls during which recorded voices identifies themselves as being with “Cardholder Services,” the most common of which is ”Rachel.”
As part of an aggressive campaign to put an end to these calls, the Federal trade Commission (FTC) announced it had identified and halted five companies based in Arizona and Florida. These companies alone were responsible for millions of illegal calls that violated the Do Not Call Registry laws, and allegedly deceived consumers into paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in upfront fees to “reduce credit card interest rates.”
As the term suggests, a robocall is a recorded announcement that reaches land lines and mobile phones by computers that dial telephone numbers in sequence.
Consumers are urged to press “1” to speak to a live representative and “2” to discontinue receiving such calls. Consumers who press “1” are then considered to be receptive to these scams, and added to a hot list that is sold to other telemarketers.
Millions of consumers complain about these calls to the FTC every year. Unfortunately, the caller ID numbers are not the real number whence the call originates.
Not only is Rachel considered “public enemy number one” by the FTC, the difficulty in stopping these calls is illustrated by the agency’s offer of $50,000 cash prize for a technical solution to block illegal robocalls. Other telemarketers push auto warranties, debt consolidation, medical discount cards and grant procurement programs – almost all of which are scams. According to the FTC, these companies are difficult to find and stop.
There is not much that consumers can do block telemarketing calls short of not answering the telephone if they don’t recognize the incoming number, however, in the meantime:
Hang up. Do not press 1 or any other numbers to be taken off the list.
Consider blocking the number(s).
Report it at donotcall.gov.
Finally, if you have a way of blocking illegal calls, the FTC would like to hear from you at http://robocall.challenge.gov.
