I know I hate it too. Pick up the phone and no ones there. Hundreds of things could've happened. How would I know? I was a telemarketer in OHIO for almost 2 years. I worked for the SO CALLED 'TROOPERS ". Like the fire dept, Police, sheriff etc they call from daylight till dark and holidays and Sundays. One company owns your name and number and that company is CDG (Civic Developement Group) If you move from Florida to OHIO they have your new number before you do (Trust me) They have hundreds of ways to get your information. From your kids school fund raisers, Telephone book, Internet Phone pages, Old Phone books. Seriously people there are so many ways to get your number and your name. The company I worked for would call list that had no names, we would just make up one and go from there. I worked for a company/Ohio Troopers Coalition who called across the state asking for donations for " TROOPERS ". I got yelled by management for not getting your credit card # after you promised a donation. This place got exposed by Columbus News for only donating 6% of every dollar donated. Thats 94% to over head. (People still doante today) Where did the over head go? Some of it to the same thing taxes pay for, some of it to lobbies who want to take your gun rights away. Some of it to managers of call centers who played video games in the office while we harassed you, your friends, your family and saddest of all the elderly . Yes the elderly are the backbone to all NON PROFIT scams. Why did I do it? I needed a job and believe me you should be glad I was there as long as I was . I learned a lot of things. The most important of all is NEVER EVER FOR NO REASON donate to anyone who calls you. Don't quit donating just don't give to anyone who calls you. Trust me if you give just 1 time you will be hounded like you could never imagine. As a caller I was told to not take no for an answer. Didn't matter if you were 88 on a fixed income you could donate something. I was so nice I actually got in trouble for it. I knew in my heart it wasn't permanent and that eventually I would do everything in my power to spread the word to never donate to people who call you. Does not matter what you say or share personally they will not take a no. The goal is to get you to donate or hangup. The skits are designed for you to assume you are talking to a trooper/cop/firefighters etc. Fact is real Troopers are not allowed to call you and ask for donations. Most hold local drives and volunteer their time. Don't get me wrong some real troopers were involved with the company I worked for. The man that ran our call center here in OHIO was a retired trooper. He is another place where the 94% overhead went too. (No Not A Good Man) Starting in SEP the Ohio Troopers Coalition will go back to being called CDG where they will call all across the US for donations for the Troopers, Firefighters, Police, you name it. They can call you all day, as long as you don't let them tell you who they are. BUT! Once they do here is what you do. Demand that they remove you from their call list and that you are going to report them to the FCC and The Attorney General. To go even further you could demand to speak to the call center manager and tell him the same thing and ask for the number to their headquarters( which that number is usually a run around) So demand it to the person you speak to and write down their name. But if you want to keep it simple - Make sure they introduce themselves and once they do let them have it. I know that they can call cell phones because we did and they can call you even if you are on the DO NOT CALL LIST because I got that all the time. Fact is that NON PROFITS can call you anywhere anytime. Just like your politicians. There is also a car warranty scam calling everyone I talk to and my advice is this. Go ahead and take the call and when you get a person who tells you who they are you let them have it. "REMOVE ME FROM YOUR CALL LIST AND NEVER CALL THIS NUMBER AGAIN OR I'LL CALL MY ATTORNEY GENERAL AND THE FCC" If they call you all the time for someone who doesn't live there you'll have to be that person long enough to tell them to remove the number. Again only after they tell you who they are. I have called all my local nursing homes and care centers in my area and some already knew but most did not. Some people who donate suffered from dementia or others similar problems and do not know any better so its up to your to protect your loved ones, friends and neighbors. I don't want you to not donate just never donate to anyone who calls you. As far as the legality of these places and who is too blame? It is YOUR Attorney General who approves the skits they read you and they allow these telemarketing rings to harass you and your loved ones. Don't think for a second that the Do Not Call list helps because it does not and also it expires after so long. Please people do not donate to anyone who calls you no matter what they say its a play on words and in most cases a flat out lie. Don't depend on the GOV to protect you like I said the higher ups in these organizations are politicians in most cases or some form of corruption. Investigate Civic Development Group yourself, it will make you sick if you have ever donated to one of their many scams. Another thing they claim it takes up to 72 hours to get off their list so if you just hang up 4 hours later you have done no good. My best tip is to never have your number published and never give it out for no reason unless you know who it is. It never hurts to give a fake number to someone who has no real reason to be calling you. When you do share it demand it not be shared.