Sometimes those spammers present you with a very tempting opportunity. Some of them provide their residential addresses, helping you direct authorities to their base of operations. Some proudly flaunt their PO boxes, just waiting for you to fill them with tasteless treasures, such as dirty diapers. Still, others provide you with an easy means for you to reach out and touch someone and give them a piece of your mind via an 800 number. Before you let your fingers do the talking, read this document first.
One spam entitles you to make one call. If the spammer sends you 20 spams, then you can make 20 calls.
Never use YOUR phone to call a spammer's toll-free number.
Due to billing purposes, people with 800 and the new 888 and 877 numbers will capture the phone number of where you are dialing from.
Caller ID blocking will NOT WORK when you call an 800 or 888 number, even if you have "complete blocking" or use the code to not send your information. They are capturing your number for billing purposes. This is 100% legal.
Should you give them an obscene earful, make sure you don't call from home. See above.
Since the bill will list not only the length of the call, but also the TIME the call was placed, your little justified tirade can be traced back to you.
Really annoying spammers may then resell their list of captured numbers, calling it marketing. Not only do they make a few bucks doing this bogus market research, but you get another round of annoyance, this time on your phone line. Then, when they are done with the list, they will sell it to another group of these nimrods, starting the pattern all over again. Unfortunately, this is legal.
Pay phones are a wonderful invention. You can place a toll free call from a payphone, and it can't be traced back to you. NEVER call a spammer's toll-free number unless you are using a payphone.
In many areas, you can not place a call to a pay phone. This has been done to stop illegal activity being done via non-traceable methods. It's not perfect, but it has worked.
All pay phones are assigned a phone number. Since it's not your number, why should you care?
Pay phones cost MORE per call than normal residential or business lines.
8AM to 5PM tend to be the highest rates. Make sure you call between these hours.
Sure, the big savings kick in after 11:30PM, but annoying a spammer at 2:30 in the morning can be quite satisfying, especially if they don't do any screening or voice mail.
Unfortunately, the more people call, the better overall rates the spammer gets on a per-minute basis. Still, that means they are spending money.
Don't get stuck in a rut, use a bunch of different pay phones. Variety is the spice of life.
When you dial that number, STALL. Stay on that line and waste their money.
DO NOT give out any real information. Make up a crappy alias(Mike Hunt is a good one for guys, Anita Boner is a good one for the ladies.) but do NOT give out any real personal information. I suggest using the information from some other MLM or MMF scam.
Some spammers use flat-rate toll-free services. This fixes the spammers cost for the service.
DO NOT make threatening statements such as, but not limited do, causing physical harm and/or death to the spammer. This is illegal and can be a federal crime. I personally find summarizing the spammer's spam method of operation back to him and telling the spammer of the LART I sent tends to be sufficient.
If you are one of the dilweeds who sent me unsolicited email or are someone thinking about it, drop dead.
Also, if you've got a complaint about my anti-spam feelings or want to scold me for being justifiably sick of spam, I have the following words of wisdom for you: