# Dealing with junk faxes - help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675 "2003-06-09T17:26:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675/1 "2003-06-09T17:26:17Z")
My office is being inundated with junk faxes. Seminars, travel deals, printer and copier supplies, etc. I can’t handle this - it’s affecting my productivity, and I’m paying more for paper, ink, and fax depreciation for this garbage than I am for legitimate traffic, not to mention my time to sift through this stuff. Do I have any recourse? (British Columbia, Canada) -FK ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675/2 "2003-06-09T18:37:29Z")
(Unhelpful answer) In the US you can charge them $500 per unsolicited fax. Google for the mechanism. Posting this since some USA dopers may want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675/3 "2003-06-09T19:38:03Z")
[This from the Federal Trade Commission:](http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/audio/unsolicited_faxes.htm) > [@](#): > > A little known provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act bans unsolicited faxed advertisements…and puts teeth in the ban. > > The Act makes it unlawful for anyone to fax an unsolicited ad to another individual or business if there is no prior business relationship - and the penalty for each violation is $500 or up to $1,500 if a company willfully and knowingly violates the law. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission were [seeking public input](http://www.crtc.gc.ca/ENG/NEWS/RELEASES/2001/R010305.htm) on unsolicited faxes in 2001. Might pay to check with them, **Fuji Kitakyusho**. ---
**Author:** ![FairyDust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ccd318/32.png) [@FairyDust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyDust)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675/4 "2003-06-18T20:53:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MaryEFoo \* > \*\*(Unhelpful answer) In the US you can charge them $500 per unsolicited fax. Google for the mechanism. Posting this since some USA dopers may want to know. \*\* I received two junk faxes in my home fax machine during the past fortnight. Can I still charge them $500 per unsolicited fax even after I called the 800 number at the bottom of the fax to request they remove my fax number of their database? I saved the two faxes and made a note as to when I called the 800 numbers. (California) ---
**Author:** ![abderian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@abderian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abderian)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675/5 "2003-06-18T22:17:49Z")
For people in British Columbia: It might take some effort on your part, but if you request that the folks faxing you remove you from their lists, they must comply by law. I believe I read one part of the full CRTC ruling that stipulated that an unsolicited fax must include a telephone number/fax number for contact to request removal. Lessee if I can do this link thing right: www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/eng/Orders/1996/O96-1229.htm > [@](#): > > WHEREAS the Commission considers that it is in the interest of both the sender and the receiver of unsolicited fax solicitations that requests for removal be carried out expeditiously in order to reduce the aggravation experienced by the receiver and time spent by the originator in transmitting future faxes; > > … IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT: > > …2. The period of 7 days proposed by Bell and BC TEL for removal of a customer’s name and number from a fax calling list is approved. ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675/6 "2003-06-18T22:26:19Z")
AFAIK there’s more to it than just “charging them $500” - you have to sue in court and win a judgement, which is a pain (and chronic offenders like [fax.com](http://fax.com) know that). See [http://www.junkfaxes.org/](http://www.junkfaxes.org/) for more info. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675/7 "2003-06-18T22:51:06Z")
Get a sheet of black paper and fax it back. Toner is expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675/8 "2003-06-18T23:59:55Z")
Get a couple sheets, tape them together, then feed it through the fax machine and tape the ends together. This way it loops until you stop it (or they pull the plug) ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675/9 "2003-06-19T00:24:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Portwest \* > \*\*For people in British Columbia: It might take some effort on your part, but if you request that the folks faxing you remove you from their lists, they must comply by law. > > I believe I read one part of the full CRTC ruling that stipulated that an unsolicited fax must include a telephone number/fax number for contact to request removal. > > Lessee if I can do this link thing right: > www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/eng/Orders/1996/O96-1229.htm \*\* That is correct, there MUST be a removal number. (A company I work for sends fax broadcasts.) There is also a time limit for implementing the removal. The 7 day period in **Portwest’s** quote sounds off only because that rule says “proposed,” 7 days is rather short for processing (it takes time to update databases whenthere are a lot of removal requests – we have a small database and it can take two weeks), and I _think_ there’s something about 30 or 60 days that we have to abide by – but I may be conflating it with other telemarketing laws. If you still receive faxes, say a month after you told the one company to knock if off, then you can file a formal complaint with the CRTC. They then forward your complaint to the offending fax companymon your behalf (and coming frm them it’s a much mre stern warning), and if that fax company _still_ sends you stuff, you can follow-up with the CRTC and the Evil Faxers can get in deep doo-doo and face fines. The federal regulations have been changing quite a bit though in the last few years – part to try to keep in step with privacy legislation of major trade partners like the U.S. and U.K. You’ll find the CRTC website _sucks_ when it comes to finding clear, updated, and understandable (by the layperson) information on current rules. You might have better luck contacting a mail-house (most mail-houses that work with direct marketing also do fax broadcasts) and ask _them_ if they know what the current guidleines are. They’ll be much more helpful because they have to explain it to their clients everyday. Note, most fax broadcasts are sent through mail-houses because they are equipped to send out many, many, many at a time. To be legit, they also have to be bonded, and MUST follow all the rules (faxing only during certain hours, fulfilling removal requests, prohibiting auto-dialers, etc.) Unlike spam, fax broadcasts are easier to trace back to the source and few mail-houses would be stupid enough to break the rules. So the “fax back for removal” numbers _ought_ to be legit. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675/10 "2003-06-19T00:51:54Z")
FWIW I had a remote office that started getting tons of junk faxes. Everytime I went there, I had 30 or 40 junk faxes waiting. I called the removal number (found two different ones, called both) and never saw another junk fax. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675/11 "2003-06-19T04:28:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joey P \* > \*\*Get a couple sheets, tape them together, then feed it through the fax machine and tape the ends together. This way it loops until you stop it (or they pull the plug) \*\* In all likelyhood, there isn’t a fax machine on the other end. There are lots of [fax programs for PC’s](http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=fax&tg=dl-2001&search=+Go%21+) that will allow you to send faxes with your computer. The worst you could do with your loop is tie up the phone line, if the modem is set to receive faxes at all. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-junk-faxes-help/180675/12 "2003-06-19T12:51:16Z")
[Troubleshooter Tom Martino](http://www.troubleshooter.com), a consumer advocate radio host, announced on this show sometime last week that in the coming weeks he is going to initiate a class-action lawsuit against junk faxers. He is asking consumers to save junk faxes and then send them to him, along with some type of form that you’ll have to download from his website. He will then sue the junk faxers for the amount prescribed by federal law, probably settle with them for far less, and then pay out to the consumers even less than that. He is promising to pay $25 per junk fax. That may be a far cry from the $500 allowed by federal law, but this method saves you the trouble of having to sue the bastards yourself. I’ve already saved up about five junk faxes (just this week), so I plan to make a killing. Check the Troubleshooter web site from time to time to see if he has mentioned anything about this. It may take a few weeks to get off the ground. The last time I checked he hadn’t mentioned it yet, but that was a few days ago.