# Don't bother me with the fax **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975 "2005-09-16T15:03:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/1 "2005-09-16T15:03:46Z")
I keep ‘getting faxes’. I don’t actually _get_ the faxes, because I don’t own a fax machine. I’ve never owned a fax machine. I’ve never given anyone my fax number, because I’ve never had a fax number. And yet my answering machine plays me the ‘beep… beep… beep…’ of someone trying to send me a fax. The calls come in groups of two or three. A few weeks ago I went to bed late and had to get up early the following morning. Just drifted off to sleep, and after midnight I received two or three of these fax attempts. Now, I’ve had the dreaded ‘midnight phone call’ --someone calling to say someone is in hospital – more than once. It’s a bit distressing to me when the phone rings in the middle of the night. I hate it. This morning I was pleasantly asleep and got another pair of these annoying calls. I’ve tried picking up the phone (if I’m near it and I’m awake) and shouting that I don’t have a fax machine. If it’s a person sending the fax, then there’s a chance they’ll hear me. Obviously this didnt work. I’m tempted to buy a fax machine just so I can find out who these farging iceholes are and send them an endless loop of black pages. So how do I stop these annoying, unsolicited calls? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/2 "2005-09-16T15:14:38Z")
Obviously, you have a computer. Get some freeware fax software and hook up your PC to intercept the faxes. With any luck, the fax phone number on the header line will be accurate, and you can fax them back. You can also use the per-call Call Block feature that many phone services offer. In most cases, it is activated by dialing \*60 after receiving a call from a number you wish to block, but may be different for your carrier. To use it, you typically hang the phone up after the call, pick the phone up again, then dial \*60 and follow the IVR menu. ---
**Author:** ![pestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@pestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pestie)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/3 "2005-09-16T18:38:49Z")
This happened to me about 3 years ago. I finally got so pissed that I hooked up an old fax machine just so I could receive the fax and see what the hell it was. Turns out it was a junk fax - like spam for fax machines. It’s illegal, but somehow that never seems to make a difference. If you can receive the fax somehow, and it turns out it is a junk fax, [this](http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/unwantedfaxes.html) may help. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/4 "2005-09-16T19:11:18Z")
why not just dial \*69? Get the number call it. It may not be a dedicated fax line. I had the same problem a couple years ago. When I called, the guy said it couldn’t have been his phone, because that line was his computer’s _fax/modem_ line. :dubious: Huh? Then he said… oh. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/5 "2005-09-20T14:18:33Z")
_ **Son of a WHORE!!!** _ :mad: :mad: :mad: This is getting even more annoying than it was before. _Three_ fax attempts. At _3:00 in the fucking morning!_ :mad: And this after going to bed at midnight. Took an hour to fall asleep again. And just to make sure I didn’t get any sleep, another one at 0630. _Mother humper!_ And to make things worse, my answerphone won’t delete messages until they’ve been played. **pestie** : Thanks for the link. I may get a fax machine (I do need one, actually) and try to get to these people. **picunurse** : \*69 doesn’t work for me. Seems that _everyone_ who calls is un-\*69-able. Either they’re ‘out of the service area’, or their numbers are blocked, or there’s another reason. Last I heard it costs 75¢ whether it works or not, so I’ve given up trying it. **Q.E.D.** : I really hate downloading things onto my computer. Too dangerous nowadays, even with my antivirus software. The \*60 thing sounds intriguing, but how does it work? If a number is unavailable, does it not work? Or does it block every callwith am undisclosed number? (Some friends and family have undisclosed numbers.) ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/6 "2005-09-20T14:27:15Z")
As far as I’m aware, it works on nonpublished numbers. The system doesn’t reveal the numbers to you, it only stores them in a blocking list. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/7 "2005-09-20T17:31:27Z")
How long have you had the phone number? I have had my second business line for almost two years, and I still get regular calls for the people that used to have it. I finally decided to use it as a dedicated fax line. People hear the fax tone when it answers, and _send me a fax_ instead of thinking, gee, maybe this isn’t a car dealership anymore. It used to be the primary number for the dealership three years ago. They never used it as a fax (I asked). I get car-related junk faxes regularly, and it often takes three or more calls to get me off their list. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/8 "2005-09-20T17:49:19Z")
Hmm, at that time of day, is it possible the faxes are international? This might account for \*69 not working as well. I used to work for a company and frequently used the fax to communicate with Japan. With the time zone differences and language/accent problems it was the easiest way. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/9 "2005-09-29T16:22:39Z")
Update. I bought a fax machine last week – the cheapest one Office Despot had. I have not received a single attempted or actual fax since I did. But I _also_ made sure I was on the do-not-call list by entering my phone number on the government site the day before I bought the fax machine. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/10 "2005-10-13T16:38:54Z")
Got a fax. This is what I sent the FCC: > [@](#): > > Received many fax attempts, even though I did not own a fax machine. Calls came at all hours of the day and night. Calls at two or three o’clock in the morning cause emotional distress, since that’s when bad news would arrive when my parents were dying and my sister is currently in poor health. These calls are more than a mere annoyance to me. I purchased a fax machine specifically to catch the offender. > > On 12 October 2005 at 23:36 timestamp, 20:36 local time, I received an unsolicited fax from Momentum Marketing promoting stock in Nanergy, Inc., Symbol NNGY. A google search found Momentum Group with the following message: ‘ADVISORY: There is currently a company from the U.S. called Momentum Marketing who is sending out SPAM via Fax and/or CALLS via the telephone. This company is NOT US and has NO AFFILIATION with us.’ > > I searched “momentum marketing” “fax” “stock” “panther” (since Panther is one of the companies that was mentioned when I called the FCC regarding this problem) and found a complaint on this page: [http://www.olegdulin.com/index.php/archives/2004/02/27/fax-spam-discussions/](http://www.olegdulin.com/index.php/archives/2004/02/27/fax-spam-discussions/) The writer says: ‘I was able to track down a company called Impact Marketing at 15440 Laguna Canyon Road, Suite 110, Irvine, California 92618. The telephone numbers listed on that particular FAX were 1-800-544-8094 and 1-800-658-8133. After calling Impact Marketing a number of times, I was finally able to get the names of people they call their “compliance officers:” Rod Bickelman (949-580-2622) and Terri Breer (949-580-2627; FAX 949-580-2630).’ > > I never give out my ‘fax number’, because I did not have a fax machine before this problem arose. I only bought the machine to catch the violators. Furthermore, my telephone number is on the Do-Not-Call list. So in addition to violating the law prohibiting the sending of unsolicited faxes, this company is also violating the law prohibiting calling numbers on the Do-Not-Call list. > > Please shut these people down. I’d also like them to compensate me for the cost of the fax machine, a per-use charge (preferably a large and painful-to-them amount) for every time they have attempted to send me a fax, and a little something for mental duress caused my their late-night/early-morning calls. And if you can pack them off to a Federal prison for a couple of decades, so much the better. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/11 "2005-10-13T16:47:36Z")
Very cool. Please update with any results. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/12 "2005-10-13T17:11:50Z")
Yes indeed. I’m very curious to see what (if anything) happens to these clowns. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-bother-me-with-the-fax/321975/13 "2005-10-13T22:28:06Z")
When this has happened to me in the past, I call up my phone company and say I’m getting harrassing calls. They’ve enabled a ‘security trace’ so that after I get the annoying call, I hit \*something or other and the company keeps a log. After 3 or 4 I call back their security office, they check the numbers (since I have no idea who called) and if it’s the same company, they start a police file for phone harassment-- and block the number to boot.