Junk faxes - any solution??!

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I have had it <em>up to here</em> with junk faxes. We get them primarily in the “hot stock tips” vein. I have always called the fax number removal service at the bottom of them. But I was beginning to wonder. Seems like some of the same suspects must be coming at us over and over again. So… I started saving the faxes and comparing removal numbers. Lo and behold, today I verified that one which I had registered with as a “please remove me” is still faxing us.</p>

<p>I think I tried to put our fax line on the Do Not Call registry, but that doesn’t seem to have worked (it works fine for our regular phone lines for phone calls and our cell phones). </p>

<p>I especially love how these junk faxes are full of print from top to bottom, often oversized and bolded fonts - so as to maximize their use of my printer cartridges. Grrr. Sometimes I wonder if it’s really the printer cartridge industry behind these things :(.</p>

<p>Anyone have a solution?</p>

2

<p>The FCC has a fact sheet on how to stop them:
<a href=“http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/unwantedfaxes.html[/url]”>http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/unwantedfaxes.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It seems like a pain. Like you, I tried calling the opt out numbers in the faxes, and they were all the same boilerplate recording despite being different numbers.</p>

<p>I finally unplugged the line, and only plug it in when I am expecting a fax.</p>

3

<p>I called the return number on the fax and left a message telling them to cease and citing the FCC regulatory citations on the web site. The faxes stopped and I didn’t have to file anything.</p>

4

<p>^^I only wish it worked as easily for me. I spent a couple of weeks diligently calling everytime they came in. I left numerous messages citing the FCC regulation, to no avail. I still get the blasted things. </p>

<p>It really irks me when I’ve left expensive paper in the tray and one of those faxes come in. So for now, the phone line is scotch taped next to the port so I don’t have to hunt for it when I need it. I too would love to know if there is a better solution.</p>

5

<p>The worst was I used to only get one junk fax - it was for a book company that clearly had gotten my name through Reading is Fundamental. I could have lived with it - except they only sent them at 2 am and it woke us up every time they sent one. I finally convinced them that I no longer had anything to do with RIF, but it took threatening to sic lawyers on them.</p>

6

<p>I get a LOT of faxes at the shop … some junk, some not. Many of them I do not need printed – say 12 pages of fish inventory from a wholesaler 3x a week. My solution is that my computer is also my fax machine. The faxes go directly into the computer and I view them online and print only what I need. I am probably saving 100 sheets of paper a week and using minimal ink.</p>

<p>For faxing out we still use a dedicated fax machine – fiddling with the printer scanner copier thing is a pain!</p>

7

<p>It won’t solve the ones you are already getting, but the best cure is prevention. When signing up for something and they ask for or even require a FAX number, unless YOU think they will actually need it for some reason, never give them your real FAX number. </p>

<p>They sell those numbers to FAX spammers just the same way they sell your e-mail address to on-line spammers.</p>

8

<p>I have started to wise up at work. I work at a psychiatrist’s office, and sometimes get an official-sounding call asking for our fax number. Now, because of all the fax-spam, I ask who they are, why they need the number, etc. Many of them hang up! There are printed or online directories for Doctors that solicit our info. I also keep the fax number out of those. Still happens, though. So annoying. I have to keep changing the cartridge.</p>

9

<p>Thanks for the empathy, everyone.</p>

<p>I have a question, though, for Singersmom and 3Ks: when I call the fax removal numbers, there doesn’t seem to be an option to leave a message saying they are violating FCC regulations. It’s just a recording allowing me to key in my fax # for removal. How do you find a way to leave a voice message?</p>

10

<p>They are trying to sell you something. Isn’t there a way to contact them to buy it? That is the number I called. and BTW - I had already researched the FCC site and knew they had been charged before and had a settlement. It was not an idle threat. I had the paper work there to file the complaint.</p>

11

<p>I don’t give my fax out anymore, and I leave it unplugged. I don’t have time to go to cancun for $49 for 3 nights anyway.</p>

12

<p>Ah you’re right jmmom. I had the fax machine on today for some work and one of these spam faxes came in. It asked me to enter the number to be removed and kept looping and would not take the number. That’s a new one to me. I used to be able to leave a message. Frustrating.</p>

<p>Singersmom, the funny thing is there is not even a number for me to call if I felt their hot stock tip worth pursuing. </p>

<p>I don’t give out our fax number now of course, but I also thought that some of these were auto-dial programs that keep searching till they receive a fax tone. Ah well, it’s unplugged again. (I don’t want to admit how long it took me to decide to tape the cord next to the port. I used to spend an inordinate amount of time untangling and re-threading.)</p>

13

<p>Right, 3Ks. The offender I was dealing with just wanted you to “call your broker” to buy their hot stock. Couldn’t buy it directly from them - just a pure kind hearted public service on their part :p.</p>

<p>I can’t unplug mine without causing myself a ton of inconvenience. I use it in my business and receive faxes that I actually want at all kinds of times when I’m not physically here.</p>

14

<p>There are specific rules about what must be disclosed in faxes and most spam faxes violate these rules. Specifically, the fax must have a header indicating the number the fax is being transmitted from.</p>

<p>In theory, there is a private right of action (lawsuit) you can file in state court that gives you a claim under the FCC rules of up to $1,000 for each spam fax. Some industrious people have used the law to do just that. I learned about this when a 26 year-old regulatory attorney who worked in a consumer protection division of a federal agency (someone who would know this sort of stuff inside and out) dropped this kind of lawsuit on a client whose product was featured in two junk faxes he received.</p>

<p>The problem is that, even for those who are inclined to sue, it’s very difficult to find the perpetrator. It’s one thing to look at a fax and say, “Hey, this is illegal because it doesn’t reveal who sent it!” and it’s another thing to track down who sent it. Then, if you can locate the perpetrator, you’re likely to learn that the fax spam company is located outside the U.S.</p>

<p>So while $1,000 per fax sounds like it could be as easy a get-rich-quick scheme as any of the penny stock tips you get bombarded with, try filing dozens of lawsuits, proving your case or getting a default judgment and then trying to get it enforced.</p>

<p>Still, the paperwork by that regulatory attorney who sued my client convinced me that his lawsuit wasn’t frivolous if could only find the right defendant. It was compelling enough that I once gave serious thought to cutting a deal with offices that receive spam faxes to give them a stake in each fax they send. Something like 75 (me) - 25 (office) for successful collection actions in which the office would simply retransmit spam faxes to me, together with caller ID information, and I figured the businesses would love me and I would be shopping for private jets and owning thoroughbred race horses in no time.</p>

<p>But as I looked at it further, the list of hurdles kept growing and growing. Not all states have adopted laws that accommodate citizens who wish to make these claims. And there are numerous defenses available to people who send faxes. And think of all the ways that, somewhere, somehow, you might have given your consent by filling out a sweepstakes entry or provided information to an Internet retailer before reading the fine print in their privacy statements.</p>

<p>Still, there’s got to be someone out there who’s a glass half full person with some fire in their belly who is making a killing by suing junk faxers. I’m even getting interested in this again…a little.</p>

15

<p>You could try installing fax software that receives faxes on your computer. If you get junk faxes, you can delete the files, and if you get a real fax, you can print it out.</p>

<p>Doesn’t stop them coming in, but you no longer have to deal with the wasted paper or ink.</p>