I have no problem with this missing pet call because (a) the caller ID was correct, (b) their robot left a detailed message, and (c) they weren't asking for or selling anything.  Findtoto.org is a lost pet service that robocalls missing pet alerts. A dog was lost 5-6 miles from our home (I rarely go to that area). We didn't pick up because it was an unrecognized, out-of-state number..

Their privacy policy isn't published online, because the page doesn't load (using Firefox or I.E.). The website says "Our service is classified and registered as an exempt organization by the DNC", meaning they aren't required to comply with the Do Not Call Registry.

i want to know how these people got my home phone number.

The message I was left minutes ago (from FINDTOTO.ORG, 231-732-2035) is LEGIT. Last night a neighbor from the street behind me went from house to house (in heavy snow) giving out color flyers with a picture and description of her lost Maine C*** cat. With temps in Baltimore well below freezing and a wind chill near zero, she had good reason to fear for her cat's life. The call I received just now was not a solicitation, but a brief, courteous recorded alert for the same cat, and the same description and contact info.  By simply targeting landline phone numbers with local prefix numbers, this is a quick and efficient way to give a heads-up to the neighborhood that an animal is missing.  I had not heard of this organization until today, and like all unrecognized calls I let theirs go to voice mail while checking this site for info. I was surprised after reading the negative posts to find the message was indeed just an alert, not a scam or solicitation, so I'm leaving this to inform readers. Business tactics and fees aside (if indeed they pertain to this company and not a copy-cat "business"), it's a helpful service; possibly they are being confused with FindToto.com. At any rate, I hope the cat is found, and calls like these can only improve the prospects.

Call the ASPCA and the Humane Society. You may be surprised what the say about them! If they call themselves Amber Alert, you really should alert the State Police, they can tell you if it really is legal for them to advertise themselves using this official name. Dubious.

The Better Business Bureau has nothing good to say about them.   (BBB.org)

None of these "services" has business licenses with local or state agencies. The Secretary of State has Articles of Incorporation if they're for real.

Once you find the names and location of the people running the operation, Google search them. Google Street View can show if the business is an office building or a home...or nothing. See what type if vehicles are parked, sports cars, SUVs, etc.

If any criminal conspiracy to defraud is involved, the named accessories may be sued "individually, separately, and severally" for liability and loss (look it up).

A "pending patent" is no more than an idea in someone's mind -- anyone can pay a fee and file for one.

If your heroic doggy detectives become angry, laugh, or change the subject when you ask them about the above concerns -- don't you think that's a bad sign? It's no laughing matter, is it?

Sometimes your local TV news will feature a Consumer Reporter, who can tip off as to your deeply distressing (and likely criminal) story.

The Federal Government has groups at the FCC, FTC, Consumer Affairs Office to assist you. Especially if they are using telecommunications lines to spread robotic phone calls. Crimes that cross states mate require you contact the FBI.

Ask the ASPCA, city dog pound, Humane Society for correct advice. This is "what you do when you lose your pet". Don't throw good money away to thieves who actually don't care about you or your pet.

A newer version of these petfinding rings included hoax websites which pretend to provide helpful exposure of scams using their "name"-- these bogus sites usually are filled with fake positive reviews.

There is no company. There is no search. Contact a government-operated or legitimate well-known animal shelters only to report scams.

It is illegal to misrepresent official Amber Alerts. Please provide names, addresses and phone numbers of any individual or co-conspiring partners.

1) Be persistent. Demand a clear, simple description of how they make calls to the let's specific "area."
2) Report them to your local BUNCO squad.  File your complaint at FTC.gov
Report it to your phone carrier.
They are creeps, not "a service" -- and not "nice people." Nice people don't squeeze money from.distraught pet parents!!

THESE PHONY PET-FINDING EFFERS ARE CRUEL, LIARS. CALL POLICE FRAUD AND THE COMPANY THAT PROVIDES PHONE SERVICE TO YOU AND ALSO THE CROOKS NUMBER

Right. They are crooks.

CJ, if "it never fails to amaze me how ignorant people are..." That's the kind of cynical attitude I'd expect from someone who works for or is in league with petty scamsters. Without using the words "method," "technology" or "algorithm," just say in plain English how you call batches of phone numbers sorted by location!" Still LOL?

SCAM ALERT! Ignore their phony posts from "satisfied customers." Ask them where you can see their official city and state business license -- if they're real, you can see them online for yourself! Ask if they are a corporation or a D.B.A.? Who is their owner or CEO? Ask how they can physically find a group of phone numbers in one circular area. Ask how many employees they have. They will turn your questions around, asking why don't you love your pet! Get their exact answers, then ask local/state police what they think about a small group acquiring and mapping telecommunications and identity information within that jurisdiction. The phone carriers can also use such information to track any illicit activities on their networks.

PLEASE DON'T LET HEARTLESS HUCKSTERS PLAY ON YOUR SADNESS IN THIS DIFFICULT TIME!  Ask the amber-fido-Toto finders exactly how they "call you area/neighbors...
If the say its proprietary they are lying
Contact the non-Emergency number for police in that area. Tell them this pet finding scam brags about using their technology  to
identify and contact all phones within a specific area -- something only police are able to do!!

I defy you to explain just how the heck some fido-finding team can "zero in on your radius?"  You do realize that phone numbers don't reveal any location info. Phone numbers travel and work anywhere in the U.S.,.whether cellular or landline. They are LYING TO YOU!!!

Just sayin', it's a scam not a service. They pour salt in your wounded heart when your pet goes missing. Then they use a combination of phony sympathy, strong-arm sales, playing on your guilt to get more money from you. Eg: "$200 is a small amount to pay to find your beloved [Fido]...if you REALLY cared, you'll hire us now!"

Their latest trick is to "warn" you about fake FindToto/AmberAlert scams. Then they reassure you that you are talking to the "real" company.

THERE IS NO COMPANY! THERE IS NO SERVICE! Nobody can call around your neighborhood -- it's technologically impossible! I work in telecommunications security and it's my job to know.

Find Toto is evidently a real, I'm assuming, for profit company.
They called me 3 times in less than 20 minutes Sat morning which is ridiculous. It is an automated call so there is no human on the other line to ask to be taken off of their list.
Funny how people loose their dogs, never their children.
Not a scam but also not a company that cares about your privacy.

Boy, are you wrong. Pets wander off as well as stolen. They can show up in the same town or half way around the country. The person using this service is desperate. Believe me, they don't want to do any robo calls, but want the most coverage to find their beloved pet - and they PAY for this service out of their own pockets [not the tax payer]. If something or someone you loved dearly went missing [for whatever reason], you would do the same thing, believe me.

DO NOT CALL THE COMPANY OR VISIT THEIR WEBSITE!!! You will automatically agree by law to a business relationship, and your personal information has already been transmitted to the company. It will be sold to outbound call centers operating with VOIP soft phones.

THERE IS NO WAY TO CALL PHONE NUMBERS IN YOUR DOGS "NEIGHBORHOOD."

Not a service but datasharing. If you call them back to opt-in, you are authenticating a business relationship.

maybe you should remember you  reap what you sow,also thanks

Good God, people. First of all, to the poster asking "how can the same dog be lost in different places?," you're clearly not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. This is a service for notifying lost pets in a given neighborhood. The dog is not named Toto, for God's sake. If you were literate and bothered to read other posts besides admiring your own and beaming at how bright and smart you are, you would have gone to the website, which is findtoto.org, which DOESN'T mean they are looking for a dog named Toto. This is 100% legit, they are not trying to sell you something - they are simply providing a wonderful service to owners whose pet have been lost, period. You should have been smart enough to visit their web site to check this out, but I realize your IQ has definite limits. How do I know this is legit? Because shortly before I received the call from Toto (which has the caller I.D. "Find Toto"), an SUV with a family drove through my neighborhood with a dad and one of his kids yelling out the name of a pet. Going to findtoto.org and entering my zip code resulted in a hit on a pet whose name was exactly that of what the family was shouting out: Annabelle. You (and in fairness, a huge number of other posters) are shining examples why one should never overestimate the intelligence of the average American. Finally, to "bebe" who says "who cares who lost a dog or a cat?," you're a miserable example of a human being.

They even Brag about being a ROBO caller.


.Seven years and nine new team members later, our automated calling system sends 2,500 phone calls per minute.

Based in Frisco, Texas, our team works around the clock to provide you the most reliable automated messaging service and the best customer experience possible (we even offer 24/7 customer service!).


Please Report them to the DNC  at https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

and Help defeat this ruse !!!

Just as I suspected there is NO  Findtoto.org business listed with the Better Business Bureau..

If it is a legitimate business why is it NOT LIsted as a legitimate business would be under its own name?

BECAUSE its a SCAM designed to get you to apply for the Call opt out service which is a business located in TEXAS.....
Call-Em-All, 2611 Internet Blvd., Suite 120, Frisco, TX, 75034
Call-Em-All may make identifiable information available to our employees and third parties with whom we contract. In addition, Call-Em-All may provide aggregate statistics, unique identifiers, demographic, and other anonymous information about our users to advertisers, Service Providers (hereinafter defined), and other third parties. You acknowledge and agree that Call-Em-All may make such uses of information you provide or Call-Em-All collects.

A REVERSE TElemarketing SCAM... Don't be fooled this is nothing but a Telemarketer..

Did you notice that the Find Toto website only has references to Call-em ALL ? and has no address, telephone or business listing for Find Toto... this is called a ruse listing folks..

On their web site that have a link to a DNC organization Sign up service   .... that wants to CHARGE you  to Not be harassed by the  www.totoalert.org   organization.. WHAT a Fricking SCAM!!!!

The Govt Should ponce on these robocaallers and telemarketers for what they are.. pure SCAM
Will Never answer a Find toto call .. you people are in OZ !!!

Got a call from this number. Didn't recognize it (caller ID said "Find Toto"), so didn't answer. Went to my answering machine, but they didn't leave a message there, either. Odd, considering I have "No Solicitation" on my phone, so they have to press '1' to even get my phone to ring on my end. Could be because my greeting says (for those that will still press '1') that we don't accept calls from telemarketers or charities, and that if they went so far as to press '1' they still need to remove us from their calling list. Don't know how robo-calls get through when a number has to be pressed. This does look like a legitimate service (went to their website http://www.totoalert.org/), and there is a place to Opt Out (lower left corner), so I did. I'm never outside and rarely leave the house, so I would never see anybody's dog or cat in or around my yard, anyway. Besides, if one gets lost here, odds are a coyote would get it before anybody could find it.

when i answered a call from this plone i got the caller ID "Find Toto"

Hi -- this is Toto.... any calls for me?

Bite me! I don't answer ANY call w/out caller ID! Click Click, & back to what I'm doing.

Three calls in a row with no one at the other end