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866 Calls Pushing Phony Health Insurance

Caller claims to offer Medicare Plus plans

By David Wood
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 10, 2007

Do Not Call • 'Do Not Call' List Entries Are Now Permanent • North Carolina Asks Candidates to Respect 'Do Not Call' List • Congress Makes 'Do Not Call' List Permanent • FTC Vows Not To Purge Numbers from Do Not Call List • 866 Calls Pushing Phony Health Insurance • FTC Sues Telemarketers for Do Not Call Violations • Telemarketers Must SendCaller ID Info • FCC Issues First Citation • AT&T Will Run DNC Database • AT&T Faces DNC Fine • DNC Registry Opens • Scam Artists Flock to DNC • Bush Signs DNC Bill

An insurance card that will cover 80% of your medical bills, all for a one-time payment of only $389.00? That deal sounded almost too good to be true, and Judy Strickland knew it.

Strickland, of Fort Worth, Texas, saw immediate red flags from the start of the call.

“He began by telling me that I qualified for the card because I am an American citizen on Medicare. What he didn’t know is that I’m not on Medicare,” Judy chuckled.

The caller, who had an Indian accent, finally offered to mail Judy the information. However, as Judy explained, “They wanted to know my birth date and where I was born before they would mail me anything.”

Frustrated that she was the target of a scam, Judy checked her caller ID and saw 866-383-0986. She called the Office of Rep. Kay Granger who referred Judy to ConsumerAffairs.com.

Who is behind the calls?

It turns out that 866-383-0986 has quite a history. Forums and blogs are filled with questions and complaints from consumers who received unwanted calls, some dating back to 2004. Many of the calls were placed to people on the National Do-Not-Call Registry as well as to private cell phone numbers.

From domain name registration services to so-called medical cards, all the calls had one thing in common: The caller had an Indian accent.

Although 866 is a toll-free prefix, calling the number from the U.S. or Canada results in a non-connected call.

Our research tracked the number to a telecommunications provider called Teleglobe International Corporation. A Virginia-based Teleglobe representative told ConsumerAffairs.com that they are aware that their services are being used in a possibly fraudulent manner, and the FBI has been notified.

Additionally, a Canadian Teleglobe rep said their data shows that 866-383-0986 belongs to Inox Global Services, a telemarketing firm located in New Delhi, India.

An Inox spokesman told ConsumerAffairs.com that between 15-20 different companies use his facility and the objectionable calls could be coming from any of them.

The Do-Not-Call Registry

Violators of the Do-Not-Call policy can pay steep penalties per incident, even if the calls are coming from overseas.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, “Any telemarketers calling U.S. consumers are covered, regardless of where they are calling from. If a company within the U.S. solicits sales through an overseas professional telemarketer, that U.S. company may be liable for any violations by the telemarketer. The FTC can initiate enforcement actions against such companies.”

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