Report telemarketer abuse here:  http://www.fcc.gov/complaints

This number calls me in the afternoon, there is no answer and then it hangs up.

From the FBI website:
http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publication ... -2010-2011#Mass

Mass Marketing Fraud
General Overview
Mass marketing fraud is a general term for frauds which exploit mass-communication media, such as telemarketing, mass mailings, and the Internet. Since the 1930s, mass marketing has been a widely accepted and exercised practice. Advances in telecommunications and financial services technologies have further served to spur growth in mass marketing, both for legitimate business purposes as well as for the perpetration of consumer frauds. They share a common theme: the use of false and/or deceptive representations to induce potential victims to make advance fee-type payments to fraud perpetrators. Although there are no comprehensive statistics on the subject, it is estimated mass marketing frauds victimize millions of Americans each year and generate losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The following is a brief description of some of the key concepts and schemes associated with the mass marketing/advance fee fraud crime problem.

Advance Fee Fraud: This category of fraud encompasses a broad variety of schemes which are designed to induce their victims into remitting upfront payments in exchange for the promise of goods, services, and/or prizes.

The predominantly transnational nature of the mass marketing fraud crime problem presents significant impediments to effective investigation by any single agency or national jurisdiction. Typically, victims will reside in one or more countries, perpetrators will operate from another, and the financial/money services infrastructure of numerous additional countries are utilized for the rapid movement and laundering of funds. For these reasons, the FBI is uniquely positioned to assist in the investigation of these frauds through its network of legal attaché (legat) offices located in over 60 U.S. Embassies around the world. By leveraging its global presence and network of liaison contacts, the FBI has successfully cooperated with other domestic and foreign law enforcement agencies to combat, disrupt, and dismantle international mass marketing fraud groups. The FBI participates in the International Mass Marketing Fraud Working Group (IMMFWG), a multi-agency working group established to facilitate the multi-national exchange of information and intelligence, the coordination of cross-border operational matters, and the enhancement of public awareness of international mass marketing fraud schemes. The current membership of the IMMFWG consists of law enforcement, regulatory, and consumer protection agencies from seven countries, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

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: 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.

Any criminal activity can be reported to the FBI here:  https://tips.fbi.gov
Report it at http://www.fcc.gov/complaints
Report it at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov
People should continually file complaints with their Attorney Generals office.

So why aren't they prosecuting these scum in criminal court instead of in the civil courts where they just get a slap on the wrist and go back at it the next day?

Nothing that you do will stop them from calling you. The major players behind this have made millions of dollars, which means that they are too big to fail.
One of the major players specializes in aiding the rich with tax evasion and shell corporations set up in Belize. You can bet that the well to do in this country are not getting lower your credit card interest rate calls and due to that fact our government just considers a few phone calls a minor annoyance.
The FCC has temporarily halted 5 of the minor unprofitable boiler rooms. They will receive a slap on the wrist and be back at it within a few days.

In the meantime the calls will continue since the major money is being made with what is called a CNAM revenue-sharing program through companies like   http://www.telephonemanagement.net and http://www.CallerID4U.com
In their own words:  'Every day your company makes thousands of outbound phone calls. Every one of those calls generates revenue for many companies, why not yours? Our CNAM revenue-sharing program helps you make money every time a Caller ID request is made by a phone carrier. A high-traffic call center can lose hundreds to thousands of dollars a day to phone carriers by allowing them to charge for access to your own data.'

You can now see why the criminals keep calling even though they know you won't fall for their scam. They are making money even if you don't answer the phone. If someone does make the mistake of answering the phone and falling for their con then it is just icing on the cake for them. These people are the lowest form of filth on this planet. The only way to stop this is to contact the FBI and ask why this crime family is allowed to operate and facilitate the ongoing criminal operations. This is one of the reasons that the RICO act was put in place, so why aren't they using it. Is this because this isn't a high profile, news worthy operation or is the FBI too understaffed and busy with Homeland Security issues. Maybe if we were rich they would take this seriously, but then if we were rich we would be using that criminal organizations services and protecting them instead of trying to shut them down. It is alleged that they launder money from Pacific Telecom through a trust bank account in Oregon and into foreign accounts at Scotiabank in Belize and other destinations.  

Why hasn't the FBI used the RICO act and gone after this organization? On October 15, 1970, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 1961?1968), commonly referred to as the 'RICO Act', became United States law. The RICO Act allowed law enforcement to charge a person or group of people with racketeering, defined as committing multiple violations of certain varieties within a ten-year period. The purpose of the RICO Act was stated as 'the elimination of the infiltration of organized crime and racketeering into legitimate organizations operating in interstate commerce'. S.Rep. No. 617, 91st Cong., 1st Sess. 76 (1968). However, the statute is sufficiently broad to encompass illegal activities relating to any enterprise affecting interstate or foreign commerce.

Any criminal activity can be reported to the FBI here:  https://tips.fbi.gov

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
Register your phone numbers online at http://www.donotcall.gov or call (888) 382-1222 (must call from # you want removed).

There is a blog site that has information on one of these operations:     http://telemarketerspam.wordpress.com

Credit card as*holes!