Tips & Tools for Identifying Telemarketers To sue a telemarketer (or send a pre-litigation demand letter), you first have to figure out who or where he is. Technically, all telemarketers are supposed to provide identifying information about themselves during the call, but if you've read this far then maybe you know that telemarketers don't always obey the law. If a telemarketer leaves a message on your answering machine, you have 2 separate ways to run him to ground. First, there's the phone number he called from, which you may be able to obtain via Caller ID or *69. (Note that in 2004, the FTC's amended Telemarketing Sales Rule will require telemarketers to transmit their telephone number, and if possible, their name, to consumers' caller ID services.) Second, there will typically be a callback number, usually either local or toll-free. Once you have a number, try running it through a few of the reverse-lookup services. For good measure – especially when investigating toll-free numbers – also run searches through Google and Google Groups. (The latter, a database of Usenet postings, may turn up Usenet spam from your telemarketer, or perhaps a "spam-sightings" report from a recipient of email spam containing the phone number.) And, of course, you can call the number to try to find out. Playing the role of a slightly dim, but interested, potential customer goes a long way here; you'll do better if you slowly cajole info out of the telemarketer ("I'd love to spend money on your wonderful product, but I like to know who I'm giving my credit card number to") than if you call up in a lather and start demanding info, which generally gets you an unceremonious hang-up. Tip: Unless you're calling to have yourself put on their DNC list (in which case you'll have to disclose your number), you should probably take steps to avoid revealing the number you're calling from. If you're calling a local or toll number, dial *67 first to block your number. Since number blocking does not work when you call a toll-free number, I recommend calling from a payphone; this has the extra benefit of costing the called party about 24 cents on top of their usual costs for the call. If you can get a person or company name or address, you're good to go. At this stage, you can run forward phone directory lookups; more Google searches; searches on real property records; and even free searches on state corporations databases. (For corporate registration records, see this handy compilation or this one. Individual links for Maryland and Virginia appear below.) Keep in mind that to sue a corporation, you'll need its exact name (which may be different from the "trade name" it uses publicly) and, in most cases, the name of its agent for service of process (i.e., the person legally designated to accept legal papers such as a summons and complaint). Also useful is the preliminary free info available from this Dun & Bradstreet search engine and the accompanying reverse lookup on U.S. business phone numbers. The latter seems to turn up info even when the usual reverse-lookup phone services and Google have nothing. (If you get an odd "session expired" message, click on the "search options" link.) If the telemarketer call is on behalf of a tradesman (e.g., home repair contractor), you may also be able to dig up dirt on him or the business by checking for a state license via the links on this incredibly convenient collection of nationwide resources. http://www.panix.com/~eck/telemarket.html
