Dear FTC, how is 503-563-0339 permitted to call my parents every hour and hang up?

And if you Google the phone number, 503-563-0339, this particular phone spammer, who goes by the Caller ID "USF," has been complained about for months.  Reportedly this spammer uses dozens of phone numbers to spam people's phones.

So how is it that they continue to get away with this when all of this information is public?

My parents have been on the Do Not Call list for years - I put them on it - and the list does not expire any more.  So they're on it.  Yet these folks (and others) keep calling.  And they're hardly exempt.  All they do is call and hang up the second you answer.  It looks to me like an attempt to figure out when you're home, then possibly they sell that database to others (it's worth something for marketing companies to know when you're home).  And if you try to call the number back you get a message claiming that this a telemarketing company and if you push 1 they'll put you on their Do Not Call list.

Yeah sure.  The national Do Not call list doesn't seem to be doing any good, but we're to believe their own list?  And in any case, my parents have an indenti-ring fax number that these people are calling - there's no way to call back on that number, even if I believed the "we'll be glad to take you off" spiel.

One of the Google results on this phone number provided a different number that you could call and get a person who would take you off this list - so I called yesterday.  Here's the post I found:

To all: You can call this telemarketer directly at 916-437-0494, 0495, or 0496 and request that they remove you from the call list. These are direct lines into the call center where they operate. Call them as ofter as they call you!! When I see them calling I get ready, and I answer the call and while the robo-call schpeel is playing I press and speed dial one of the numbers above and then press again so they can listen to "tom" talk about security systems. Create your own fun and call one of the numbers above. Thanks and enjoy.

Interestingly, when I called, the woman who answered didn't even ask any questions - she immediately said she'd take us off their list, I gave her the fax number, and voila, they called my parents and hung up again just a few minutes ago.

Interestingly, a number of the folks online say that this spammer is pitching home security systems.  Which is interesting, since we got a call the other day from a different number that was in fact pitching home security.  I told them to bug off as well.

I found in Washington, DC that when I put myself on the Do Not Call list years ago, it did get rid of the annoying calls.  I used to get six a day, now virtually none.  My friend Matt still gets a couple of calls a day.  My parents get 6-10 a day, as do their friends (a friend of mom's mentioned the same problem yesterday - wonder if they're targeting seniors?).

And I called AT&T, and they said I could add a service to block calls (they meant "pay for it," I presume - yep just checked, $7 a month plus a $5 activation fee because it's very hard for AT&T to push a button), and that even that may not stop the calls, as they have ways around the call blocking. (Kind of calls into question AT&T's sincerity in addressing this problem if they charge for the solution. Incentives are a bit messed up.)

The FTC's Do Not Call list, which everyone should be on, has a link to submit complaints, but it's not clear whether those complaints go down a rabbit hole or what.  Clearly this particular company has been harassing people nationwide for months, and they're still at it.  If the RIAA can shut people down for downloading a single song, can't the FTC find a way to shut down people who serially harass people nationwide?