Harassment from an offshore website

[panerd]

So let me preface this by admitting that this all does ultimately fall on me and I accept that responsibility. That said I would love some advice.

So I have been using an offshore sportsbook for years and probably have lost more than I have won but they have sent me some checks and I have sent them some. Well I got married and have a kid and while that doesn't cut into poker with the buddies every once in a while it does cut back on late night WAC football parlays. :) Anyways I zeroed out about 6 months ago and about 3 months ago the calls started coming. Amazing promotions blah blah blah. I was cool about it at first because they had done this in the past and stopped. Well they don't ever stop. I get calls 10 times a day throughout the day from all over the country. (Don't know how they do this either but it will be Boston, then LA, then Dallas...) I answer every once and a while and tell them to quit calling and it seems to worsen my problem. I am going to guess that the donotcall.gov list probably doesn't help you out with shady offshore gaming sites so outside of changing my number anyone have any suggestions?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Have the number blocked by your carrier?

[panerd]

Have the number blocked by your carrier?

To my knowledge they haven't used a single number twice. In fact they probably have called from every area code... even middle GA. :)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oh my, eek even.

In that case I suspect you may be screwed.

[panerd]

Oh my, eek even.

In that case I suspect you may be screwed.

Yeah and it's not like the wife cares that much about gambling but I am guessing I am going into the doghouse if I have to change my phone number because of it.

[chesapeake]

I have the same problem with political calls. I've been in politics for my entire professional life, so one of the hazards of the business is making political contributions. Political contact lists get shared a lot, so once you are on a couple, you end up on them all. And political calls are exempt from the do not call list, so there is no way out.

I stopped answering my land line about 5 years ago. No one I want to call me calls me on that line. The system actually works pretty well. So, my advice to you is to liberate yourself from your land line.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I stopped answering my land line about 5 years ago.

About three years or so for me as well.

[Tekneek]

I presume you're basing the geographic origin of the calls by what you see on caller ID. If that is true, it might be meaningless. Caller ID can be forged and is almost useless when dealing with rogue activity.

You might be able to get your telco to pull the ANI (automatic number identification). This is passed as part of the connection on the backend and is not the caller ID that is passed to the consumer. They may not be interested, though, and there is the possibility that they do not even know where the calls are really coming from.

The last resort is not answering your phone unless you really know who is calling. I never answer the phone unless I have a good idea that it is a caller I really want to talk with. Otherwise, it goes to voicemail. If it is my cellphone, and I do not recognize the number and no voicemail is left, I block the number immediately. I don't have that kind of option with the landline, so we just go through voicemail and respond to real calls and ignore the rest. The landline really only exists for the kids to make outbound calls on anyway. Any real legitimate business my wife and I are conducting is on our cellphones anyway.

[Lathum]

Youwager?

[sterlingice]

Yeah and it's not like the wife cares that much about gambling but I am guessing I am going into the doghouse if I have to change my phone number because of it.

I'm thinking you'd be more in the doghouse if they don't stop calling because you don't change your number

SI

[panerd]

Chesapeake: Unfortunately it's my cell phone. And I definitely avoid them most of the time (half the calls are while I am at work or sleeping) it just pisses me off that they won't let it go.

Tekneek: It's forged for sure. It's somewhere in Barbados or St. Vincent or one of those Caribbean places.

Lathum: Yes. Youwager. Same thing happen to you? Any luck getting rid of them? I found them to be the best service I have ever had about payouts and stuff like that but this is beyond awful.

SI: :) Yeah I told her it was a fantasy website. Sometimes I don't even know why I make up these white lies they always just bite me in the ass.

[Lathum]

They call me but nothing like that. Maybe a few times a week. Then a few weeks with nothing. Then a few times a day. Then nothing. Try answering and asking them to email you the details. They may just start doing that.

I'm the same way with my wife. They called once and she answered my phone and was like, Miguel is calling you, and I grabbed the phone and hung up. She looked at me like wtf and I was just like, I don't know anyone named Miguel.

[Lathum]

Has this eased up yet?

[Toddzilla]

Oddsmaker.net used to do this to me as well - a few a week, then a few a day, then a break, repeat.

Then I told them that they had the wrong number and the number they had was a church - never called again

[Lathum]

I've been telling them wrong number but they still call occasionaly.

[panerd]

Has this eased up yet?

Well a few years ago I found that the saying about bees and honey really does work with telemarketers. However after a 2-3 week break they really picked it up so I basically ended up yelling at the guy, using a few f-bombs, and saying there was no chance I was ever using the company again and if he called back I would ask for a supervisor. Hasn't called since but that could just be the normal 2 week latent period. Sucks because I would probably throw a few bucks into the site once the NFL and College started back up. What's my best bet nowadays? Bovada?

[Lathum]

Well a few years ago I found that the saying about bees and honey really does work with telemarketers. However after a 2-3 week break they really picked it up so I basically ended up yelling at the guy, using a few f-bombs, and saying there was no chance I was ever using the company again and if he called back I would ask for a supervisor. Hasn't called since but that could just be the normal 2 week latent period. Sucks because I would probably throw a few bucks into the site once the NFL and College started back up. What's my best bet nowadays? Bovada?

I use Bovada without an issue.