I'm very interested in what your PI discovers.  I can assure you there is some sort of a scam going on and I hope that someone gets to the bottom of it.

Every day I get a harrassing call from a 956 or an 817 number. I do not believe it is a spoof. When the numbers are called back they either seem to dial another number and you hear excessive beeps or it rings fast busy. I believe there is a way for people to tap into these numbers or some program offered by the company handling these numbers to allow people to use them. They show that they belong to individuals, however they are disconnected. One individual stated that since the numbers have been spoofed, the person had to disconnect it. I do not believe this is true. I believe the crank callers have the ability to tap into recently disconnected numbers. Can anyone shed some light on this? If they were pure spoof calls they would not be isolated to 956 and 817 numbers only. Something is awry in Texas.

I ddn't catch this till I saw it on my bill. I don't believe it ever came up on my caller ID, because I would have answered that area code since I have family in that area. There were at least 3 calls billed to my 866 # from 956 (Brownsville, TX) area code.

On Feb. 11th Mike asked a very good question. 'If the caller ID is being spoofed why are we able to catch one of the autodialers?'  

Although caller ID can be spoofed it is very difficult, if not impossible, to do it at the ANI level or the BTN level unless they have their own switch.  With that said we agree with Mike, if we can call it, it is not spoofed.

We have several Toll Free numbers that have been getting as many as 400 calls a day from the 956 area code.  We are currently collecting evidence that we will be submitting to the FCC because it is illegal to dial a toll free number with an autodialer.

These Automated dialers are calling 800, 888, 877 and 866 numbers, all at the recipient?s expense.  These auto dialed calls to toll free numbers amount to of tens of thousands of daily violations of  47. U.S.C. 227(b)(1)(A)(iii)(2004) which bars autodialing to ??any service for which the called party is charged for the call.?

The only way we are going to be able to stop these people is by complaining to the FCC.  The FCC has given us a form to file these complaints.  You can find the form if you search google for 'FCC Form 499-A'

I have my own business with an 800#...this # came up...thinking this person wants more information on my home-based business...so i called this # back and i get a few rings then numbers being dialed out...wth is that all about...so i just hung up.  i've gotten quite a few 956 area codes that does the same thing.

I have gotten 2 calls from "A Concerned Cit" in the last couple of weeks. (956-412-1016 & 956-544-4316)Called back and got autodialer, although I was a bit freaked out before I found this site and thinking those beeps meant they were accessing my phone account or something :). Did your investigator find out anything?

Thanks

At 5:05am, on 03/01/08, We got a call from 'A Concerned Cit'.  We have a private detective looking into it, and will post a reply as soon as the call is skip traced.

I was able to catch the Auto Dialer as well.  But I had to try about twenty times, and it was on another 956 call back number to one of my TFN's.

What confuses me is... if the Caller ID is being spoofed, why are we able to catch one of the autodialers if we call back the number on Caller ID?  Anyone with Telco experience that can explain this?

That is a definite possibility. I figured it was somebody up to no good.    http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.06/start.html?pg=5
It called me a alittle bit ago on a number that is rarely used.  I just missed the call, so I called it back from the Caller ID.  I must have caught the computer just as it was picking up to dial out.  I got a rapid series of beeps in my ear.  Like a dumb-a** I started saying, "Hello.  Hello."  I sat there for a minute, contemplating the odd call, when I heard 3 quick beeps, then a short pause, then about 10 more quick beeps (they are too rapid to count).
So I Googled the number and found this site.  By the time I got done researching the scam artists, the computer on the phone must have cycled about 40-50 times.  I have unlimited long distance (VOIP) so I will just let it keep going until the battery on my cordless phone dies. LOL!  Maybe I'll have to go hook up another phone to the line before that happens.  LOL!

I'm a concerned citizen.  Concerned that this is a scam like the Daniel David / Scott Nisbet scam of 1999.  Google "Daniel David and Scott Nisbet" and you will understand.  

Notice how all of these calls are to toll free numbers?

I wouldn't be surprised if the political jargon was just smoke and mirrors.

The reason the call back number always changes is that they are just spoofing the caller id.  Scary enough, caller id spoofing is legal right now.

Our business 888 numbers have received three calls from the 956 area code in the last 24 hours.  Calls placed to three sequential 888 numbers, from three different 956 numbers, at varying times of day.  Two of which Caller-ID'd as "A CONCERNED CIT".  One to our office, one to our fax, one to our after-hours number.  They hung up on the office PBX during the menu, didn't send a fax, and hung up on the person who answered the after-hours.  Reach your own conclusion.

If it's helpful, the numbers are:

956-542-4105 - Caller ID Name "Flores Vilma", billing address "Jose Flores, 1057 Hope Riv Brownsville TX 78520-4850"
956-542-1839 - Caller ID Name "A CONCERNED CIT", billing address not located
956-544-1031 - Caller ID Name "A CONCERNED CIT", billing address "blank, 2424 E Tyler St Brownsville TX 78520-6751"

Billing addresses as identified by our 800 carrier.