Disclaimer:  This post is an attempt at humor (or frustration), it is not meant to be taken seriously.

Why can't something be done about these calls?
Let us take a look at a few things that might influence the inability to stop these calls.

Caller ID:
1). Your phone company is charging you a fee for Caller ID. Your phone company pays the scammer for sending their Caller ID information. Your phone company pays only a fraction of a cent per call and you pay your phone company to have the Caller ID displayed. The scammers send out millions of calls which amounts to a significant amount of money however your phone company is charging a large amount to millions of customers.
Result: This generates more money for your phone company.
2). Many of the criminals behind this are using VOIP which gives them very cheap international calls (many of these calls are coming from India, Belize and Costa Rica). Your phone company makes little profit (if any) on a VOIP call. If they can get enough people angry at the calls then maybe something will be done about regulating the VOIP calls and allow the phone companies to once again become monopolies.
Result: This generates more money for your phone company.  

Call blocking:
1).  I personally use Verizon Wireless which allows me to block 5 numbers for 90 days, unless I pay them an additional premium fee which will allow blocking 10 numbers.
Result: This generates more money for your phone company.
2).  Upgrade my simple non data flip phone to a smart phone and add in data, download an app that will block calls. Since they have called me using more than 160 unique numbers in the last year, this would seem to be the only option.
Result: This generates more money for your phone company.
This may have something to do with the phone companies inability to stop these calls.

The banking system:
1).  The banking system is also at fault here, without merchant accounts and ACH processing these criminals could not collect the scammed funds. Though the criminals use obfuscation, layered corporations, multiple bank accounts and offshore stashing, patterns of obvious fraudulent activity become apparent after a short time.
Result:  The fees generated means more money for the banks.
This may have something to do with the banks inability to stop these criminals.

The FCC, FTC and Do Not Call registry:
1). The FTC is only allowed to collect fines, not impose criminal penalties. These companies hide their money in overseas bank accounts and claim that they can't pay the fines.
Civil action by the FTC against such criminals is totally ineffective. These criminals need to be charged with Federal Felonies and subjected to significant prison time. All of those involved know that they are violating FTC regulations. The FTC levies huge fines, then rescinds them based on inability to pay. The FTC settles for the minimal cash on hand, and enjoins them from future telemarketing. The criminals sign off, then go right back to business as usual. These same people under different companies have been sued in the past and have only paid a minimal fine.
Result:  The FTC and FCC basically are saying 'Naughty - naughty, now go out and play nice'.
Solution:  Take away government funding for the FTC and FCC. If they want to impose fines then make them self sufficient and use the fines for their operating budget.

As long as there are people that will be taken in by the card service scammer's calls this will continue. Nearly every post I have seen here over many months have been from people who understand this is a scam. WE, that understand that this is a scam must inform others. When more folks are made aware, the scammer's business will either slow down or stop and the rest of us will not be bothered by these annoying calls. Let others know, before they are scammed,and we all will benefit.

I forgot to mention how it was also mentioned in the AARP Bulletin how one of the "card services" scammer's main targets are the elderly, who in many instances, are more greatly affected by financial loss.This, in my opinion, makes them even more vile.

It was stated in the Oct-Nov 2012 issue of the AARP Bulletin that the "card services" scammers, and other scammers, are mainly drug addicts, working on a commission to "earn" money by cheating people, in order to fund their addictions. Could it be the reason they work on a commission only basis is because whomever they work for certainly wouldn't pay them a salary, and figured out they would try harder to rip people off if they were only paid per person they cheat. Just think about how hard they must work on cheating people if they have no money and they start to sweat and shake. Regardless of how, and how much they are paid they are definitely a disgusting and pathetic lot!

Working on commission would surprise me.  Most of them are just too bad at their job to get by doing that.

TRIED CALLING IT BACK NUMBER DISCONNECTED

Aloha Nobody,

Mahalo -- that's Hawaiian for Thanks -- for your exemplary elucidation of this problem.

I am in Hawai'i now and as much as I live by the Hawaiian tradition of Aloha -- which means love -- I must say that it angers me when my phone rings 3 times at 08:02 AM HT and then hangs up.

Yes, they are morons.

Yes, the FTC are morons and do nothing.  I spent many years filing complaints with them until they changed their complaint on-line process to become completely useless and belligerent.
Yes, the FTC is a puppet of the same congressional morons who are owned by the big businesses.

Yes, this is RANT and it is quite appropriate.

My dirt cheap ancient cell phone with Verizon Wireless (several years) is now being bombarded with crank calls, spam text messages, etc. which, as you say are "FEDERAL FELONIES and subjected to significant prison time" but have not be prosecuted.

I have actually had several email and telephone conversations with Verizon folks about this problem because it costs me 20 cents PER VOICE MAIL for EVERY spam telephone call to my home number.
Verizon LOVES it.  They make money -- revenue -- for EVERY such call.  They have EVERY INCENTIVE to keep the system going.  

What does Verizon say?  "Pay us to block numbers."  No kidding.  They LOVE this system.
Spend half your life (I turned 70 in February) and money blocking numbers that change faster than the waves here on Maui.  

Do you really think that Verizon doesn't have the technology to fix this problem.  If you do, then join the moron class.  OK, sorry, but I spent most of my career in asset protection (computer and physical security) and have taught more than 2,000 professionals world wide on this and related subects, including several of the alphabet agencies in our nation's capital (sorry, I'd have to k-ill you if I named them) about such things.
I apologize for that loooong sentence, but let's try to have some humor after Newtown and Boston.

It is all politics and money.

Now, to the FBI.
I am a San Francisco landlord (after retiring from the computer game) a few years ago.
I post my vacancies (very rare, indeed) on Craigslist.  I got a suspicious request from a prospect.  I followed up on it.  I went down the rabbit hole to the point of having "him" (never a real person) send me a CERTIFIED CHECK on a Florida account that had been flagged years ago as fraudulent. I did my homework, research,etc. and then took the check and documents to the FBI headquarters in San Francisco which is 3 blocks from my residence.  I was politely greeted by a very well dressed blue suited agent who REFUSED to identify himself.
I was told by this agent that what I had to say was of no use because it was less than $300,000.  
The response of the FBI did not surprise me.  I've had previous contact with them.  You must ask.

Here is a fun anagram chart that you can play with the initials FBI.
F              B            I               Notes        
Federal        Bureau of    Investigation
Feeble         Bumbling     Idiots          I danced on top of WTC June 2001
F**king        Brain-Dead   Idiots  

OK, I provided a few examples.  Additions are welcome.  I have provoked the FBI a few times.  They seem to be inert.  They are as inert as they were in Boston.  With their ZETA BYTE databases they had not a clue about these to lunatics.

Back to my check fraud -- it is still going on and still defrauding many who innocently deposit such checks.
It seems to me that protecting honest citizens is important.  It seems to me that if they really were protecting citizens they could have done better with the small things.  They didn't pay attention to the airplane pilots.  They don't pay attention to the check frauds.  Until they make the news.  

Regards, Jeffrey

Another one of the spoofed numbers used by the drug- addicted "card services" scammers in their efforts to fool us into giving them our credit card numbers so they can rip us off. This group of lowlifes "work" on a commission trying to cheat people in order to support their disgusting habits. Beware, and warn others before they are taken advantage of!

I still can't get over how incompetent these people are.  They're back to using a pre-recorded message from years ago ("due to the recent federal bailout, you're not eligible for blah blah").  Update that, cardmember services!  

Will never understand why they don't make any effort to remove numbers from their lists.  I have a good proven record of wasting their time.  I'm not going to suddenly grow dumb and fall for the scam.  Why waste their own time calling the same person hundreds of times?

Just had this conversation:
"Cardmember services; are you calling to lower the rates on your credit card balances?"
"I can't believe how incompetent your organization is."
"Excuse me?"
"How can a group as incompetent as yours stay around this long?"
"Sir, you pressed 1."
"Yes, and you've called me dozens of times."
*disconnected*

They keep calling and calling and calling

I get a call from this number every time and its so annoying

Got a call today!!!  Death to these people!!!

Another off the block of numbers owned by CARD SERVICES.......all ROBO calls. Call your CONGRESS Rep.

I have over 50 numbers these bozos use.  They are all listed in my contacts and I add to it daily.  Spoof number and if you call it back it's a fast busy.  I always confirm before I put on the no ring, no vibrate contact.

Account Services.....scam!  Wanting to lower interest rates.  Don't fall for this....I wish they would all go to jail.

What is it about these idiots that they think calling repeatedly from bogus numbers will make me any more likely to give them my credit card number now than I was three years ago? These calls crossed the line from Persistence to Harrassment 2 1/2 years ago.

Definition of lunacy: doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result.

didn't answer.

Pre-recorded message from a scammer calling offering to reduce my credit card interest rates, but only if I owe more than $4,500.  These people have been calling me for over two years.  Asking to be removed doesn't make them stop.  Yelling at them doesn't make them stop.  Ignoring them doesn't make them stop.  One day I'm going to find them and when I do, I'll likely go to jail for what I do to them.

I have over 30 different numbers saved in my phone from these type of calls and I assign them a "no ring" tone.  For the first 50 or so calls I would go through all the BS of filing a report with the AG of my state, the AG of the state it was from, the FCC, etc, etc.  It's pointless.  The government is helpless to stop these people.  The sentence for these kind of fraud crimes should be 20 years but we don't have enough prisons to house murders much less con artists.  Obama is so anxious to use drones to attack Americans on American soil, I have a good idea as to which targets he should hit. The home of the guy that owns these companies, yes they know who he is, and their call centers.

One note, I never received these types of calls when I had T-Mobile.  The calls started the first week I changed to Verizon.  I even got a Verizon service rep to admit they sell customer's numbers but then they denied it later.

Thanks for sharing this.  However, it takes me quite a bit of time to fill out all of the complaints when the scammer is just going to change their number tomorrow.  So far, filling out complaints has not proven to be effective.

What To Do When You Get an Illegal Robocall; http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/robocalls
1.    Hang Up. Do not press 1 or any other numbers to get off the list and NEVER call them back
2.    Consider blocking the number or on a cell phone add it to a contact list and assign NO ring tone
3.    Report it at http://www.fcc.gov/complaints
4.    Report it at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
5.    People should continually file complaints with their Attorney Generals office
6.    Report any criminal activity to the FBI here:    https://tips.fbi.gov

The FCC has temporarily halted 9 minor boiler rooms that will receive a slap on the wrist and be back at it within a few days. Civil action by the FTC against such criminals is totally ineffective. These criminals need to be charged with FEDERAL FELONIES and subjected to significant prison time. All of those involved know that they are violating FTC regulations. The FTC levies huge fines, then rescinds them based on inability to pay. The FTC settles for the minimal cash on hand, and enjoins them from future telemarketing. The criminals sign off, then go right back to business as usual. These same people under different companies have been sued in the past and have only paid a minimal fine. At the height of this telephone debacle it's been said that each call center was making 27 calls a second, which is a whopping 2.4 million calls in a single day.

The criminals behind this operation aren't going to pay attention to you asking to be removed from their list. Their calls cost them almost nothing and they make millions of them so they have no intention of ever removing someone. When you press a key to talk to them all that is accomplished is to verify that they have a working number.

Despite the best interagency enforcement efforts to combat mass marketing fraud, the FBI remains cognizant of the fact that the only enduring remedy for this crime problem lies in consumer education and fraud prevention programs. Toward this end, the FBI has not only produced its own mass marketing fraud prevention materials, but coordinates on other public information efforts with the DOJ, FTC, and the USPIS, among others. The FBI also supports a consumer fraud prevention website in conjunction with the USPIS which can be located on the web at: http://www.stopfraud.gov.  Additionally, further information on mass marketing fraud schemes can be found at www.fbi.gov, www.ftc.gov, www.ic3.gov, and www.stopfraud.gov.

Robocalls are illegal unless you have given them prior permission in writing (not worded into some small print contract from a 3rd party) and are absolutely illegal to a cell phone.  The Telephone Consumer Protection Act permits individuals who have received certain unlawful telemarketing, such as junk faxes or telemarketing calls, to sue the violator in state courts where they may be awarded up to $1500 for each violation.

EVERYONE should be reporting them everywhere that they can. It is important to keep up the pressure even though nothing seems to be getting done, or else the government will just sit back and claim they are doing a good job since there are fewer complaints.
Since this is an obvious attempt at identity theft and is interstate, the FBI should be forced to get involved. Charge them with a CRIMINAL offense and throw them in prison instead of the FCC saying 'Naughty - naughty, now go out and play nice'. (Prosecute them in criminal court instead of civil penalties).

continuous random calls from this number , no messages left. I have Sprint blocking this number, so it only rings once. I am so sick of these calls!

I guess I should feel honored, this isa brand new number bothering me rather than one that has been active for days

I received the call, which I ignored. After checking here, it was obviously a scam call.

I just received a call from this number.  What company is this?

I didn't answer, probably more of the same scam b.s..  They really need to go eat a bag of dicks and die....

Called multiple time, no voicemail left.  Probably another one of the scams.

call multiple times, no voice mail ever left