Call Kurtis: Telemarketer Terrorism

CAMERON PARK, Calif. (CBS13) -- Your main line of defense with telemarketers is the National Do Not Call Registry. But what do you do when that doesn't work?

Federal law says when a telemarketer calls you their phone number, and company name when possible, is supposed to show up on your caller ID.

But as Gus Gudleske in Cameron Park found out, technology is allowing them to call you anonymously. In fact, Gus's phone has been ringing a lot lately; telemarketers are driving him nuts.

"Irks you a little bit, you know," he says. "I'm not throwing dishes around the house but it's frustrating."

Gus is on the National Do Not Call Registry list but says 21 of the 31 calls over the last three weeks have come from telemarketers. When he's able to talk to a human he says "take me off of the list."

But he says "they either just hang-up, some of them get belligerent with ya." Gus says about 90% of the telemarketing numbers showing up on his caller ID are fake, disguised or "spoofed" using software.

"And they've got the Federal Trade Commission beat because by being able to piggy back a fake phone number on top of their real number to get past your caller ID..."

He's complained to the Federal Trade Commission, the state attorney general, Federal Communications Commission, and phone company but none has helped.

He wonders what good is the Do Not Call Registry?

"It doesn't work because this has been going on for almost a year for me."

Here's the way it's supposed to work. Consumers like you register their phone numbers through the FTC's Do Not Call website. Every 31 days telemarketers are required by federal law to access the registry and remove your number from their list if it shows up on the do not call list.

Gus calls what's happening to him "telemarketer terrorism."

"They know they're untouchable.  They've got the system beat."

The FTC told us today they're very aware of the spoofing problem and are working on regulations. But they say the national registry is still one of the most popular and successful consumer programs.

They say the FTC averages about seven enforcement actions a year targeting only the biggest and baddest offenders. There are more than 200 million numbers on the registry with less than 1% of them having filed complaints in 2010.

As for Gus, he's on the offense.

"It almost became a game where I wanted to find out who they are; I'd play stupid"

He's logging every call and returning them; the beep goes on and his own list grows. The FTC says Gus is doing the right thing by logging every detail about each call; he needs to follow up with more complaints to the FTC.

They also say robocalls like his are entirely against the law. Keep in mind that some calls are exempt from telemarketing sales rules.

More information can be found at these two links:
Consumer Information
FTC seeks ways to combat technologies that hide callers' identities