Same story as everyone else, although I grilled her when she called.

I began by asking questions about who told them I was planning on moving to which she replies "Another colleague of mine called two months ago and said you told him that." (Never happened) I told her that never happened and that she should try again. She tried to bypass the question by asking if we were moving. This time I told her that I know for a fact that there is no Illinois Business Development Office and that claiming to be a member of a gov't agency is a crime. At this point she got upset and asked me if we were still moving. I explained to her that I would be as dodgy about her questions as she is mine. She asked again, so I asked her name and she hung up.

Just give them a hard time and be a squirrely as they are. It drives them nuts. Or, be childish, and repeat everything they say to you back to them. lol

Yes I am getting this calls everyday as well. We need to find a way of stopping this.

J

We have been getting these calls at our office for months! We have a switchboard so I can't tell what number is calling but they use a rotating list of company names. Alberta Business Development, Canada Business Bureau, the list goes on and on but the question is ALWAYS the same. Sometimes there are more than one a day (2 yesterday, one already today). It doesn't matter how many times you hang up, ask for a manager or tell them to stop calling THEY DON"T STOP.

The Texas Business Development Office keeps calling about "if we found new office lease space yet."   When you ask them any questions they hang up.  We have repeatedly asked them to quit calling our office and put us on the DO NOT CALL LIST, but the next week they're calling again.

Alberta Business development. Hah! Want to know if we have found a new location.  Called us twice today and many times in the past. Very irritating. wish they could be stopped.

they hit  us  saying  they   were the
arizona business development office
definatly   sounds like intia or arab  accent and   from a  boiler room
someone needs to   get  lid of this  call center.

Received a call today from State of Minnesota Business Development Office.  The man didn't identify himself but began with the "are you moving or have you moved" question.  I declined to answer.  He hung up.

I am getting the Ga. Business Development Office.  I ask to speak to their supervisor and they usually hang up.  I have even screamed at them.  No luck.  I wonder if one of the air horns will stop them.

Thick asian accent, Georgina asked me to verify our small business locations in Seattle area and asked several times when we are moving to a new location. I kept asking where she is located and she said in Seattle I asked for the address and she didn't know it. She said that a colleague had informed them that we were moving asked to be transferred to my husband listed as President of our company.

I called WA State Business Development Center and they knew nothing of this person. Report it to Mr.Franz-Seattle Advisor.such a scam she provided her number of 800-623-7790 which is disconnected.

First was the Alberta Office of Business Development, now they are the Canadian Office of Business Development...

Two calls today from the State of Florida Business Development Office, which does not exist. Both women had Asian accents. Call #1 in the am asked if we have found the new office location we were looking for. I said we aren't looking to move and she hung up on me. Call #2 happened in the pm, after I found the info here. She was calling to verify our address, I asked where she was calling from and she answered, State of Florida Business Development Office and that they are verifying the end of year report of which I would receive a copy. I asked for a call back number and she wouldn't give me one, she said they were doing automatic outgoing calls. I told her I didn't believe her, said no thanks, and hung up.  

Very Fishy!

We have been getting the same call over the past 8 months or so. Often more than once a day. Always saying they are from the Government of Alberta Development office and always asking if we have moved or are still looking. When questioned they often hangup. We don't have call display on the phone system so can't verify the calling number. Highly annoying and really strange.  

"Province of Alberta Buisness Development" they call DAILY! Sometimes multiple calls... I have no idea what they are trying to gain with their repeated calling. So annoying. It's been two years! F$@! Off!

I keep getting the same call. The Caller ID is always spoofed (faked). Always middle-eastern/Indian accents, identifying them selves as the Texas Business Development . I ask them questions to try and find out more to investigate & they hang up. Sometimes they call 3-4 times everyday. Ask them to remove the number & they call again! Gheeez! What a way to waste everybody's time.

Why can't anyone stop these calls!
Always ask if we are still looking to relocate, when I question, they hangup.
Last time they called from 1-882-014-0105.
These people are aggressive and rude and are managing to keep calling people, I see all the complaints online.
Stop the Madness!

Same thing here.  I asked repeatedly if they were employed by the State of Texas.  They repeatedly answered "yes,"  What a crock.

They have called in the past claiming to be the Michigan Business Office but now claim to be the Michigan Business Bureau.  I'm sure this latest is due to Google results easily bringing up accounts of their illegal activity under their old alias and the latter actually allowing them to temporarily screen themselves behind a legitimate organization's search results.  They sometimes claim or imply that they are a government agency.  This statement is false and it is a crime for them to make this claim.

They always ask if we are moving/have moved.  Their script hasn't changed.  Half the time they are heavily accented or the phone service is so terrible that they sound like a robot.  Sometimes they hang up before I say anything in reply to their question (I wasn't going to give them anything useful anyway - I always tell them I know absolutely nothing).

We received the same call at our business just before Christmas. I realized he was trying to get a "yes" out of me and information about us that I felt only our director should be authorized to share so I asked "Ricky Ross" again where he was calling from "Illinois Development Office" and for his number so I could call back with the correct information. Feel free to light up their call center/report with me - if it is a real number 847-259-2500.

These calls come from more than 1 number and it's always the 'Alberta Business Development Office' to see if we're still looking to move.
The frequency of the calls can range from once a month to 50 times a day (this has happened here). I've asked numerous times to be taken off the calling list and i've hung up on them. I don't know how to make them stop calling.

It is BEYOND Frustrating.

They're literally insane! I hung up on them because they call literally every single day and the Indian girl called right back saying, "why did you hang up on me? This is a business call!"  

I told her that I give her the same answer every single time she calls and they need to take us off their mailing list. I hung up again. She called back 10 times! I kept hanging up on her because I have caller ID and could plainly see it was her calling. Eventually, I picked up the phone again just to see what she'd say. Their was a brief pause then she went, "PPBBFFT," into the phone and hung up.

I wish I could say I was making this up. I think I caused a girl to have a breakdown from half a world away.

UAE stands for United American Emirates, the calls are coming from out of country and routed through a business phone number in the state of the caller, that address is probably an authorized agent address. If the first words out of their mouth are asking to confirm the address, It's a scam. I always just say I am not interested in taking the call and hang up.

The same people called us, too.

I received a call from the State of Texas Business Development Office. The caller sounded like she was from India and was not very proficient in English. She asked about our business recently moving; which it had; but, when I questioned her more about where she was from and how she heard about our business, she began to feign a bad phone connection, and hung up.

I was never really sure just what type of call it was, as I began to question her about her agency's name as soon as she began her sales pitch. The name came up as "unavailable," but the phone number was (888) 710-2013.

I just received the same type of call as above. The caller had a heavy Philippine accent.  They first wanted me to verify my address.. I responded to all questions with a question.  what company are you looking for?  who are you (State of California...etc..) .  I believe what most of these calls are looking for is simply a "YES" answer.  If they can record you saying yes, they can send you a bill for some trumped up service and when you refuse to pay it, they send it to collections and say that you agreed, you said yes and it is recorded.  It becomes a huge pain in the butt to deal with and a total waste of time.  

This is an old scam, going on for a long time.  just get in the habit of never verifying anything in a random phone call regardless of who they claim to be, especially when obivously a call center.  Government agencies do not use call centers of official business and always identify themselves before asking for any kind of information.

Most of these calls are generated from temporary call centers and very difficult to trace back or catch, so don't waste your time, just don't get caught up.  also, most of the phone numbers they use are SIP numbers (VOIP) masked - meaning they can show whatever number to caller ID that they want and no call back ability.

I just received another call from the State of Washington Business Development Office.  I asked for a number to call them back, but they said they couldn't take incoming calls.  I asked where they were located.  (The person calling sounded like they were from India.)  He said he was located in Washington.  I asked what city.  He listed off an address in Seattle.  I looked up online and it is a Cartridge World. I told them to call back tomorrow.

I kept getting this call. The next time she called and said she was from "Province of Alberta, Business Development Office," I asked for a contact number. This is the number she gave 1-800-639-1700 ext. 118. Call it and it is a business with the name "Callfinders". Something is not right! I am not sure what it is but there is something they are fishing for. Avoid.

I had a call from a guy who said he was Mike with the State of Texas Business Development and ask me if the company was moving. I said "It sounds strange that you are asking such a question"  I ask for his phone number he gave 214-441-1800 x 165. I never heard of the state agency and they are all in Austin anyway.
The number was traced to a company named UAE Project 6.  at 100 Decker Court, Irving TX 75062 and the person was foreign speaking accent. Does anyone know anything about this?

I get these calls almost every day - sometimes several times. I demanded today to be placed on the do not call list. She said hmmm... so I put her on hold until she hung up. I get Washington State Business Development Office 888-710-2013. When I called back, it says the number is not in service.

They call our office claiming to be with the Texas Business Development Office which as far as I can tell does not exist.  There is a Texas Business Development Center, but they are not associated with these calls according to a director I spoke with there. The callers want to know if we have found a new location, are we moving, etc. If I ask why they want to know they are rude.  I have asked them to take us off their calling list but they still call.  Does anyone know what they are really after?  What is their scam?

We get these calls at our small business every week it seems like. I asked a lot of questions to the guy today, he seemed to freeze up.