Research on Who's Calling from 405-330-2164, and Are Calls Legit?

After receiving countless solicitation phone calls from the Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Through skillful sleuthing, I discovered that the calls are from a Utah company, on the edge of the law!

Thanks once again to modern technology, a phone call from 405-330-2164 (listed as the "Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police) was listed incorrectly on my caller ID. For a year or so now we have been getting phone calls from this "organization", talking about the good that they do in the communities. And while I do support law enforcement efforts (primarily through local donations), I have never donated to anyone who solicits over the phone, no matter who they are or the worthy cause they promote.

To this end, I had repeatedly asked the caller to please take me off of the calling list. I explained that we never make donations over the phone, to which the caller replied, "Oh, we send out a prepaid envelope for your donation. We don't take any information by phone." No matter how hard I tried (while always being polite) the caller would always rebuttal at least two times (a telemarketing requirement). Finally, they would assure me that our name and number would be removed from the list, and no further calls would be received. Yet, lo and behind, a couple of weeks later the same number, 405-330-2164, would show up again on the caller ID, asking for the same donations from the same organization.

About two days ago we got yet another call, and this time I decided enough was enough. I recorded the conversation! I point blank asked for the manager, who said his name was Jason. I said, "And where are you located?" His reply... "Utah". As it turns out, your caller ID is showing the originating phone number as 405-330-2164, but in reality it is being placed from a call center.

I recorded my conversation with Jason, making it blatantly clear that the call was being recorded and archived. I stated that any further calls from his organization would be considered harassment and we would file charges against him. I asked four times for clarification of his understanding, to ensure there was no doubt about our intention or our feelings of harassment.

If you call back this number you will first get a recording, giving you the option to be removed from the call list (which never works, they keep calling back!), make a donation, or speak to a customer service representative. When I called back, I pressed option 3 for customer service and was greeted in the following way:

"Thank you for calling the Corporations for Character, call center for the Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police. Can I help you?"

That's right folks, "Corporations for Character," NOT the Fraternal Order of Police! Something smells a little fishy.

Researching the Corporations for Character, owned and operated by

(See Reference 1 below)

-----------------------Rekab Sudskany, L.C., I found the following company website:

Address
Corporations for Character
5286 S. Commerce Dr.
Murray, UT 84107

Email Address

service (at) corporationsforcharacter.org

-----------------------

This company's only current "program" (which is short for telemarketing job) is to call for Fraternal Order of Police in all 50 states. That means that the call from 405-330-2164, a supposed Oklahoma entity, is only one of many calls placed from this company, with phone numbers showing from related states. In other words, if someone lived in Tennessee, they would see a Tennessee phone number on the caller ID.

Interestingly enough, when I searched for "Corporations for Character" online, I found that the company has been sued by different state Attorney General's offices and there are many consumer complaints.

One consumer reports that the representative caller said, "30% of donations go to FOP." Consumer suggests going to the official FOP website and supporting them there, with 100% of your donation. Website with this comment found here:

(see reference 2 below)

The company was also sued in Feb 2010 for violation of the do-not-call registry in Tennessee, ordered to pay $180,000 as discovered on this court docket:

(see reference 3 below)

Aside from calling from the 405-330-2164 number in Oklahoma or other state-related numbers, Corporations for Character are also calling people using number 8778674596 in order to solicit donations for cancer patients. In this instance they call themselves the "Cancer Fund of America." Read what many people, including one consumer who was a current cancer patient, said to them about the call!:

(see reference 4 below)

Some of the callers from this company even have the nerve to call themselves officers! Read the report of California consumers who have received these phone calls:

(see reference 5 below)

Should you donate to anyone calling you from the so-called Fraternal Order of Police? Do you believe that your caller ID information is accurate? The answers to those questions are up to you. I do know that there is such a thing as the FOP, and the organization does wonderful things in and around the communities that they serve. However, the FOP does not make phone calls for solicitations. Corporations for Character might be on the up and up, but as for me and my family, if they call my house again from that 405-330-2164 number I fully intend to sue for violation of the do-not-call registry!

References:

http://www.corporationsforcharacter.org/new/ourprograms.htm

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-714-551-5554

http://whocallsme.com/PhoneNumber.aspx/8778674596

http://www.state.tn.us/tra/orders/2009/0900200a.pdf

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/corporations-for-character-c351644.html

Tags: fraternal order police phone solicitation, corporations for character scam, scam 4053302164 oklahoma fraternal order, oklahoma fop telemarketing, FOP, who's calling from 4053302164, 405-330-2164, telemarketing call fraternal order police, charitable donations FOP