See update at end of story
At the New To Las Vegas world headquarters I’m getting as many as 10 telephone calls a week from someone who says he’s with Energy Advocates, marketing home solar energy systems. Most of the time he says his name is “Jason;” occasionally, it’s “Greg.” But it’s the same voice every time, which may not be surprising because the voice is generated by a computer using technology and probably a real person to monitor how I respond.
Now, I would tell you that any outfit using a computer to call me 10 times a week is not on the up and up. Another reason for my thinking this: The local telephone number that shows on the caller ID generally is nonexistent, as I find when I call that number after the call to me is over. Judging from complaint postings on the Internet, Energy Advocates is plying its scheme nationally.
It’s exactly the same pitch every time. Jason/Greg asks how I’m doing. No matter what I respond–and I once said I was just diagnosed with terminal coronavirus and was in hospice care on a ventilator–he says that’s good, then moves into his spiel. Jason/Greg says he is working on home solar power, that it can be installed at no cost to me, and he would like to explain it to me. “I understand you are the homeowner,” he says, and asks for confirmation. He then asks if I spend more than $100 a month on electricity.
When I say yes–it’s sort of hard not to in broiling, over-air conditioned Las Vegas–he explains nothing. Jason/Greg says that’s all the information he needs and that he will refer me to his “supervisor” who will make sure all the information I have given–at that point, pretty much nothing–is correct.
The real fun begins when the “supervisor” comes on the line, sometimes even before Jason/Greg has finished speaking. I get a different supervisor on every call, suggesting Energy Advocates has a lot of people working on whatever it is doing. The “supervisor” is a real person, usually but not always male but always speaking heavily accented, often-hard-to-understand English yet giving me a quintessential American and likely false first name like “Mark,” to provide but one example. (I’ll get back to “Mark” shortly.)
The supervisor usually says he’s from an outfit called American Solar. I ask what the connection is between Energy Advocates and American Solar. I have yet to get an intelligible answer; some “supervisors” say they have never heard of Energy Advocates–before hanging up on me.
For those who stay on the line with me, I ask where American Solar is located. I get a variety of answers, but the most common response is Harrisburg, Pa. There doesn’t seems to be a business–legitimate or otherwise–by that precise name in Harrisburg. That apparently hasn’t stopped others getting these unsolicited robocalls from poking around on the Internet. Which could be the reason why, 120 miles to the south, American Solar Inc. of Annandale, Va.–a real outfit that only does commercial work–has this notice on its website:
If you received a call claiming to be from “American Solar,” that call did not come from American Solar, Inc. of Virginia. We do not do telemarketing and we do not do residential work. We are aware that people are making calls referring people to “American Solar”. In fact, the calls and reference to our company are being made without our permission and without our ability to stop them. From the results of conversations with others who have received the calls, we believe they are trying to get personal or financial information from recipients for inappropriate use. We attempted to have the calls stopped via several contacts with Federal and state agencies, but we have concluded that those efforts will not be productive.
I haven’t been able to find an address anywhere in the country for the Energy Advocates operation represented by Jason/Greg. But Energy Advocates LLC, a power consultant in Massachusetts that also does not install solar, has this notice on its website:
Energy Advocates is not engaged in any telemarketing or robocalling activities. We are aware of the robocalls coming from someone named Jason who claims to be from our firm but he is not. We have been in touch with the Federal Trade Commission about this issue. The only productive activity that you can engage in to stop these calls is to file a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
“Mark” was the professed name of the most recent pitch I received that was handed off by “Jason.” I repeatedly asked “Mark” where the office was located. He alternated between Los Angeles and Las Vegas; perhaps he didn’t know where I was. (There’s no American Solar office that I can find in Los Angeles.) Finally, I asked where the Las Vegas office was located. He asked why and I said it was for my records so I would know whom I’m dealing with. He gave me an address: 1111 High St., Las Vegas, NV 89106.
You probably will not be surprised to know there is no 1111 High St. in Las Vegas, in zip code 89106 (a real zip code in the center of the Las Vegas area) or anywhere else locally. There is a High Street, in a very different Las Vegas zip code on the west side of town. According to Google Maps, the one-block-long, dead-end street, numbered in the 6500s, has a single building along it housing a real estate services company.
I asked Mark for his phone number and email address–for my records, of course. He declined to provide these–more evidence, naturally, that he has nothing to hide.
Eventually, after peppering “Mark” with additional questions, I asked him what role he played in all this. He said his job was to “verify” information from me so that I could be referred to “experts” from as many as five solar companies who would get in touch with me.
But then I told him my job was to see how much information I could get from him without giving him any in return. “Mark” exploded. “Your job is to go f—— yourself,” he responded cleverly. Despite his hard-to-understand English, he voiced the expletive quite clearly. I actually sort of giggled.
He said I had been wasting his time. Now that may have been the first accurate thing he said during our entire conversation. “Mark” then hung up.
I can’t wait for the next call from “Jason” or “Greg.”
I have had Jason calling me for years. I started messing with the Ai and put him in a loop. Today he just kept saying hi this is … and the name changed and he went into a loop. I now know Jason’s last name is Hughes. He listed about 4 or 5 names and kept repeating them until he hung up. I have also confused him into changing his company name.
This. blog. was. HILARIOUS! lol.
Thank you for sharing and confirming so much of what I thought.
The voice of “Jason” does not feel read to me, at all — always sounds like the same computer voice you hear if you call Apple or Google customer support.
Really glad I just hung up and said nothing. 🙂 Thx, again! x
Folks, I worked in telecom and datacom for over 30 years…When you receive ANY telemarketing call…DO NOT TALK TO THEM… they can’t make any money if you don’t talk to them. Best thing to do is to get to the point where you COULD talk to a live human…get your dialing keyboard ready, then mute your phone. As soon as they start talking begin pressing the #9 button on your phone until they hang up. If everyone would do this simple act, ALL of the telemarketers would be put out of business.
Gary, come on. Tell us what you really think!
loosers, they suck, energy advocates, can eat a big one. all spammers/scammers should just die.
Some good ideas in there. I just hang up but I think I’ll change that to “Please stay on the line while we trace your location” or maybe “Your mom’s giving me a blowjob right now so you’ll have to wait a few minutes”
William…I said that very prayer on the line with a telemarketer and as I was hanging up I heard him say with a loud voice..Oh my God!! Nothing like putting the fear of God into even the most ungodly scammer. I just had a call from Energy Advocates and I asked where the solar panels were manufactured and after a few seconds of silence they hung up.
Deb, I’m not sure that these callers are the most religious of folks.
After getting a call from Energy Advocates on a Sunday, I started e-mailing the Governor and asking what I need to do to make telemarketing illegal in the U.S. The governments of the people making these calls need to be held accountable. They usually tell me to add my name to the do not call list. I tell them to take the burden off of me and do away with the do not call list an create a do call list and see how many people respond.
Here is another idea: Say this prayer while you are on the line with these people or any other telemarketer: Heavenly Father, I ask that if the person on the other end of this line is an honest person, please bless him tenfold. But, if the person on the other end of this line is a scammer and a thief, please take from him one hundred fold, in Jesus name, Amen.
Jason called today from “717-589-3240”
Of course I am on the Do Not Call List.
Some useful terminology to deal with these spammers
They are pronounced as they read:
Chootiya bakrichod = stupid goat fu*ker
Bhenchod = sister fu*ker
Modrchod = mother fu*ker
Teree mohkee choo = your mother’s pu**y
At least they can understand you that way…
Billy Jack, spoofed caller IDs is part of the m.o.
I just got another.
Caller ID showed it was from “ST JOSEPH HEALTH”. When asked how I was doing, my response was “Why the hell does the caller id say this is from St Joseph Health something?”
After a pause of a few seconds, the line went dead.
Billy Jack, speaking of TV shows, I know some recipient of these calls who simply put the phone down in front of a TV set and see how long the folks on the other end of the line stay on before they realize they’ve been talking to Wolf Blitzer.
I have been getting those lately, too. However, I just respond with “That is none of your business” to their questions and hang up.
I wonder if it might work to start telling them jokes or describing the plot of the latest tv shows you watched.
Deby, scroll through the comments and you’ll see some clever advice on how to handle this. Good luck.
I get this call 5-7 times daily all from different numbers and it cannot be stopped. I have told them my number is on the do not call registry that i have bad credit that i am dying but cannot get the calls to stop this has been going on for over a year. If I try to call them back I get some individual who is very confused as they know nothing about it or a number that is not valid.
If you really want them to quit calling you, there’s an easy solution.. I started this about 6 months ago, and it works great! I’ve gone from 2-4 calls per day, to possibly 1 call per month, and it’s easy, and fun!
After they identify themselves, and their company, just respond “ GO F@:K YOURSELF”. They will hang up, and over time, they don’t call.
In PA the number came up as 724-688-8580. I told him I wasn’t interested and hung up.
Hello,
Unless this is another website two of my posts were deleted. Although I took a snapshot this time.
Work as a Team!
Hello,
Energy advocates have called the location of Lansford, Pa. Ongoing problematic for at least two years now at a temporary stay. How to report, report cybercrime includes your ISP address & phone number reduced the issue by 80%. I’m an online intuitive since 2010. Call 425-494-7643
I always answer yes until I get to a real person and then say that I am amish and wait for them to comprehend.
Guys, check out “RGR Marketing” who have a load of tips on how to cold call about Solar …
https://www.rgrmarketing.com/blog/8-cold-calling-tips-for-lead-generation-in-your-solar-business/
Interesting thing is this outfit is selling “Solar Leads” which could well be what these robocallers are harvesting
Joseph Morton, who are you going to “sue and shutdown”? It’s a scam! These scammers are in an entirely different country. I hope you’re not one of these people that believe the IRS is actually going to send a sheriff’s deputy to arrest you 😂
Every call starts with a chirp before the computer starts talking. I am now hanging up when the chirp starts in hope that they will decide the number they are calling is a bad number. We will see if this has any luck.
Hello, I’ve been receiving calls stating that folks from Energy Advocates have been harassing people telling them they would call them everyday and i’m getting the heat calls. I’m very close to suing you and your company publicly and shutting you down. Your team have been using my phone number as a spoofed phone number to do so. Cease and Desist immediately or there will be legal reprocussions.
I would get the calls daily. then one day I went through he whole pitch and gave them my address to the local FBI field office. The supervisor stammered and hung up, The calls stopped.
Wast there time let them send a salesman to your home then tell that salesman that you are on the do not call list thank you for wasting your time fir me to tell you in person
I finally got a call from Jason, I told him to go F@,kK himself, and he started stammering, and stuttering like Max Headroom..
It was really entertaining.
Enjoy.
We are getting these calls on our home phone( we use Magic Jack) several X a week… as soon as it shows a V, 99% chance it’s Energy Advocates, this call from JASON. How do I report these numbers, they are ALWAYS DIFFERENT and they are not your typical 10 digit #, they are 12 digits , EXAMPLE– my phone shows in the caller list
[V]V902102044005
Sick of this s–t from these robo callers. I read tho, be very careful not to give any personal information. Even saying your own name or “yes” they can record and reuse your reply in scam tricks and access personal s–t from you if you verbally say too much. Just sayin, be careful even if you gonna bullshit with these f—ks.
I get calls from these morons several times a week so this afternoon I waited for the “supervisor” and when he asked how I was I yelled “Donkey Dxxks, you sxxk donkey dxxks” and hung up, hopefully that will help. If not it was fun anyway.
I have stopped a few of these callers with a simple question. As soon as I get a person on the line I ask ” Did his head cave in yet?” Sometimes, they have heard the question and hang up, sometimes with an expletive, but they hang up. A few have actually stopped calling. Sometimes I explain that I recognize the recorded message and tell the person that the last caller was told to “go suck a dog’s d***k until his head caves in, and if you call again you can do the same.” Sometimes when asked they just say “no” and I tell the m to keep sucking. My theory is that if enough of us asked “Did his head caved in yet?” The will find a new endeavor and stop calling. We can fight back! So the next time you get one of these calls just ask “Did his head cave in yet?”
Scott Smith, OK, but who is hiring them?
“Greg”, or whatever name is being used, is from India. Note that due to the hatred between India and Pakistan over independence won by Pakistan years ago, Indians will often “admit” they’re from Pakistan, which is just another lie they’ll spew.
I not only record these rubes, but enjoy identifying them. Certain sectors in India are rife with telemarketing scammers like these, and the little “boop” when their robocall connects with your phone is a clue to who it really is.
These are uneducated folks, and they’ll say or do anything to make a buck. Waste their time if you’d like, as they’re not going to do anything beneficial for the lives of those they call. I’ve often chatted with them and found a very few that may have gotten in over their heads, but I do warn them that having 40+ years programming computers, I’d be happy to “help” them “fix” their office computers when I’ve tracked their calls down!
Jason keeps calling my handicapped MINOR sons cell phone!!!! I have repeatedly asked for it to be stopped. As soon as I do the call ends, only for the a call to come back blocked roughly 2-3 hours later by Jason again. I believe it is ILLEGAL to harass minor children continuously for any reason and this needs to stop immediately!!!! I don’t know how MANY times I have to make this request but this is my final personal request with this company via writing and/or call.
We can put men on the moon but we can’t stop Jason.
Mike who said “Well, that was surprisingly wordy, yet worthless!”–Don’t be a d**k!
Jack Bierman, I sent gosunpro.com a message through its website asking if the company was in fact behind Jason from Energy Advocates. I quickly got a call back from a salesperson based in Louisiana who clearly had not read my brief query and thought I was asking about solar power. She claimed to know nothing about Jason from Energy Advocates. I told her her company has been identified on the Internet as part of a criminal campaign and she should be worried. I’m not sure she was.
I am SO sick of these calls from “Jason from Energy Advocates” and it’s hard to actually report them because their phone number is spoofed. After multiple tries at requesting my number be removed to no avail (also tried telling Jason to f**k off) I decided to see who I got when I pretended to be interested. After speaking with “Gary” (in India), I was contacted the next day by someone from Sunpro (Gosunpro.com). These guys are the actual source of the terror campaign from Jason. Tell THEM what you think.
Update: Jason has stopped calling !!
It appears that telling him to Go F$@k himself works!!!
I have not had a call from them for several days.😃
I wish everyone well, and good luck, but this is working ..
I found the solution to shut Jason up.
Just tell him to go F@$K himself, and there’s no response..
They keep calling, but, you can get some childish satisfaction from it.
Call a co by that name he says hes from, send a letter saying you will sue if their salesman keeps calling.
They.are hurting that biz and they tend to loose more than us
I just tell them that I already have solar panels.
My entire roof is covered with them.
BJ, the numbers coming up on your caller ID are spoofed; they’re not the real numbers. A law requiring information on caller IDs to be real would be very helpful.
They call up to 6 times/day from different numbers!!
I use a whistle. They seem to hang up rather quickly.
I am in a wheelchair living in low income housing. It’s disgusting that we are swamped by these phone calls. I think the phone companies should be penalized for allowing calls to be put through from nonexistent numbers. As for the government I won’t even go there. It’s very difficult for me to get to the phone in my wheelchair. Does anyone know if there’s a way for us to start a group that lobbies the Govenment to make the phone companies be responsible for putting phone calls through from nonexistant or disconnected numbers? That’s the only thing I can come up with.
Matthew, but who is making the money, and how? On several occasions I have given the follow-up “supervisor” speaking poor English after Jason or Greg my contact information to set up a solar consultation appointment, but I’ve never gotten a later call-back.
I tell Gregg he has called a prison and I’m gonna cut him up into little pieces and he responds excellent, and goes on jabbering! 😂🙁🪓🔪!
Our government could stop it if they wanted to. No excuses, no explanations. Obviously their is a shit ton of money to be made$$$$$$$$
We own a small family business and get the “Jason” call at least 1x daily. This NEEDS TO STOP! How can this group band together and pressure legislators to research and end this annoyance?
I am getting these calls daily and sometimes multiple times a day. It’s young 20 somewhat year old guys that answer these calls. They are in Pakistan and now started to approach me through WhatsApp. This is awful.
These people need to be STOPPED!!!!
There are people who will be vulnerable and WILL give out their Credit Card info or Social Security # or Bank/ Account #
ALL these comments from ALL these different states!!!!!
Charges need to be pressed!!!!
Is there any one that can help us from these very annoying automated calls?
They call anytime of day or night.
I’m sick of it. Verizon refuses to let us talk to a real person, to get any answers.
For several months now, I send a text message to 7726 to my phone provider (verizon) and paste the unwanted number that called. And then also block the number. I use to report to FTC and they will get involved if service provider does not, which provider has 30 days to fix the issue.
It has been working.
Casey. what did you do?
Yeah,
Getting frustrated with the calls from Jason & Greg. Have tried to trick them into coming by my house, to no avail.
Texas and several other states have very aggressive TCPA laws where victims can be compensated at state level on top of the FTC TCPA laws. Research this… blocking the calls does nothing. Why not get compensated for your time?
I think that’s a different Jason.
https://americansolar.net/automotive-project-management-team/jason/
I get the same thing. I have ask one person to quit calling. Does not happen. I wish I could track down where this is coming from and put a stop to it.
Chris M, let us know if you get any more calls.
Thanks Peter K. In hopes that your conclusion was correct I emailed contact@BrightSolarMarketing asking them to remove me from their list.
Well, that was surprisingly wordy, yet worthless!
Steven S., from the comments on this thread, like they say in Roswell, N.M., you are not alone.
Ive received over a hundred of these calls, I wish ill on these poeple.
Cyndi, I have never thought of myself as a therapist, but I guess that’s one way to view this thread.
I received what was probably the 500th call from Jason with Energy Advocates yesterday. Since I’d tried all or most the methods other commenters here have I thought I’d just try to appeal to the human side of Mark, (ha!) or whomever I was speaking to, and asked him, “Hey, can I get you to do me a favor?” to which he replied, “I have no ‘favwars.” (?) I replied,”I’ve been getting calls from you guys for a while now and I wondered if you could please delete my number from your system …” and he said, “But I love you.” pause (me) “uhh…”. (“Mark”) “I love you.” (me) “Okay, well, that’s fine, but can you just …” “But I love you.”, not-Mark said, although he actually said,”I lev you.” or something weird like that, because he couldn’t pronounce ‘love’ correctly.
So this exchange happened, and then degenerated further when he asked me what size bra I was wearing.
All I could think of was my brother at age 12 telling me about his classmate asking the lunch lady, a very large woman, what size bra she wore, and I laughed and laughed. And the call disconnected.
I dont know if or how these guys will ever be put in their proper places, but I am grateful for this site where we can all vent. It’s like a viral group therapy. Thank you
I agree with your conclusion that the “Energy Advocates” making the robocalls has nothing to do with the Energy Advocates newsletter or a business with the same name in Massachusetts.
I got one of these calls yesterday. I normally don’t answer numbers I don’t know, but I was expecting a call from the doctor’s office and I keep forgetting to save their number. As soon as he stated the name of a business I wasn’t actively doing business with, I simply told him that I had no business with them and hung up.
After some research, I’ve discovered that there actually IS something called “Energy Advocates”. It’s a conservative newsletter that advocates switching to nuclear energy instead of solar. I find it highly unlikely that it’s producing these calls. It’s more likely the callers’ choice of business names was coincidental, with a small chance that it could be a liberal attempt to discredit a conservative group.
Warren C, I don’t think you’re the first on this thread to reference use of a whistle.
I’ve gotten a couple of these and just hung up, but it’s good to know you get to a person eventually. I’ve got a couple of very loud, shrill, high pitched emergency whistles for the purpose…
Deb, Energy Advocates is simply making up the numbers that appear on your caller ID. It’s called “spoofing.”
How are they able to call from non working phone numbers? You would think there would be a division with the FCC to investigate and stop this harassment. It is not funny to me as my daughter is on palliative care and I feel obligated to answer all calls in case a doctor needs to speak to me. I remember legislation years ago to stop this type of harassment. I received 9 calls yesterday.
Michael, if he goes for the million-dollar ploy, make sure you ask for the address to which the check should be sent–and then let us all know!
I got a call from Jason today and I told him that if he ever calls my phone again I would go after him and if I catch him I’ll cut his tongue out….I’m sick and damn tired of these calls…I called the number and they are spoofing phones and I let the poor guy know that his number was being used by Energy Advocates….we’ll see if he ever calls me again because they finally hung up the phone….the next time they call I’m going to pretend to be a radio D.J. and tell him he’s caller number 10 and just won a million bucks…it should be interesting what his response will be.
Keep us posted.
I finally FINALLY decided to actually get to the bottom of “Jason”. I answered, got to a live person, gave them the answers they wanted to hear, and was told someone would follow up. Sure enough, I got a call an hour later from “Momentum Energy”, a solar installation company. I told the guy I would never EVER hire a company that uses a robo caller to generate leads. Good night. End of call.
Then I get another call this morning, from the same Momentum energy; this time from a woman. I then exploded at her, telling her it would be a cold day in hell before I ever considered hiring them. I made it super clear that if they’re so hard up for business that they’ll use an illegal lead generation company, then they’re just a shitty business and I would never ever hire them. EVER. NEVER EVER.
So we’ll see. Will I continue to get calls? I don’t know.
Paul, judging from news accounts, Congressman Gaetz might have some other things on his mind. You might consider contacting one of your U.S. senators.
I am in Florida and just got what seems like my hundredth call from Jason each time from a different number since I block each number he (or it) calls from. I think i’ll contact my congressman (Matt Gaetz) now that I know how widespread this fraudulent robocalling is.
Mac, I haven’t heard of any criminal prosecutions, much less jailings.
Jason is still doing his scams in Florida
I just had call from him .
I thought he was in jail along with his friend Paul.
Maybe the fbi should check into it.
Kay, that’s what I sometimes tell the many callers peddling extended car warranties; I just signed up with another and can’t cancel it. Then I ask how the weather is in Bangalore. That really makes some of them mad.
I get calls at least twice a week from Energy Advocates. I’m at the point where I play along and then tell them I just had solar panels installed last month…that really gets them. I don’t give my personal information to anyone on the phone. I’m old school…Don’t call me…I’ll call you!
I keep getting these ridiculous robocalls. I have asked at least a dozen times to be put on a do not call list. If I keep getting them I will start writing letters to every place I can to complain. These calls keep coming in with all kinds of names on the caller ID except your company. Misleading to say the least.
I just received a call from Jason with Energy Advocates out of Paxton FL. I could tell it was a computer generated so I hung up then googled and found this….lol.
Bemore, wonder if you could complain to the agency that gave you the phone.
I have been homeless for a year and get calls from that idiot daily, I don’t have a job and barely enough in one to keep myself fed and they still call my government assistance phone telling me about their solar garbage 😂
Ben, unfortunately, so far regulators have shown little interest in this issue.
I wanted to say thank you for the article. Those calls have been driving me crazy for a couple of years. Now if I say ‘no’ to the first question it says ‘ok’ and they hang up. I tried to mess with them too, hoping to discourage them, but it didn’t work. I may have to go to the trouble of filing a complaint.
Zane, unfortunately, you likely will continue to receive calls from Jason. In the past year I probably have received several hundred.
I’m not one to mess with telemarketers normally, as I know they are stuck in some call center just trying to make a living but this nonsense has gotten out of hand. After reading through some of the comments I decided I could at least do my civic duty and tie them up for a minute or two. I’m capable of having a brainless conversation while working so when I got the call a few minutes ago I set the process in motion.
I went through the prompts with Jason in order to get a “supervisor” and then David picked up.
Question 1: “is your electric bill more than $75.00 per month?” Response: “Why yes it is.”
“How much is your average electric bill per month?” Response: “One million dollars” (amazingly I answered without my voice breaking)
“Oh wow, what do you do to be able to pay this charge every month?” Response: “Oh that’s easy, I pay with a credit card”
“I see, what is your occupation that you are able to pay this much per month for electricity?” “Oh, I’m a kindergarten teacher”
“A kindergarten teacher?” “That’s right”
“So do you make good money as a kindergarten teacher?” “Of course not, that’s why I have to put it on a credit card”
“I’m sorry sir, I don’t think you are going to qualify for our program, have a good day.” “Yeah, I don’t think so either, please take me off the call list”
I have never got so much enjoyment out of wasting time…
AP in NC, almost all of the time, the caller ID is spoofed. I just called 919-453-0932, and got a Walgreens in Wake Forest. Wonder if Walgreens cares that its good name is being dragged into this.
I just received a call 3-8-2021 from “Jason” with Energy Advocates. The number that appeared on my caller ID was 919-453-0932 Wake Forest, NC
I have told this Jason person that I’m tired of his bullshit caLLs. I live in an a retirement center. Jason continues to call. I’m tired of this I know it’s a scam and I have found the right way to report report him and I have reported this company and Jason to the CONSUMMERS AFFAIR AND THE BETTER BUSINESS AFFAIRS. They are looking into it and I have sent them a call log from my phone. Now tell Jason to step to hell. If this is a real company I don’t think the CEO wants a problem. I am retired LAW ENFORCEMENT, I WILL MAKE THIS COMPANY A LIVING HELL. STOP CALLING ME JASON OR WHOEVER THE HELL YOU ARE………
It is rather unlikely that real name of “Jason’s” supervisor is Rick Young. All the supervisors are foreign nationals working from call centers in other countries.
hi I have been receiving calls every single day for about three or four months from a guy that says his name is Jason and that he works for Energy Advocates. HE calls several times a day and different hours . so what I decided to do was talk to his supervisor by the name of Rick Young. i told him what his employee was doing and i also threatened to call the tv stations He then asked ifI had asked his employee to stop calling me and I told him I had. He then proceeded to hang up on me . Beware
Guys.. just waste their time. Keep them in the phone as long as you can and bs with them every time them let them know you will do this every time they call you.
Kim R., did you read the very first post on the thread? It was from a company actually called Energy Advocates inundated with calls. You’re in Florida, where the state government is supposed to be good at consumer protection. You might try contacting someone there.
William – thanks – yes, I read a lot of them… I’ll let you know if I get any grand suggestions from my network, but it seems the best thing I can do is say ‘it’s not us, and refer them here or suggest they claim not to own the home.
Kim, if you go through this thread, you will see that several commenters have identified the likely cause of all the calls. But there doesn’t seem to be any regulatory interest, perhaps because no one has claimed they were swindled out of money.
Oh wow y’all – I run a non-profit in FLorida, and we just got our third angry call asking why we call them 30 times a week. So, I went looking, and here you all do. When you search out Energy Advocates, at least in FL, our name comes up, which would normally be a good thing (because, we educate and advocate for renewable energy here), but we seem to be getting a bad rep out of this! If we call people who truly follow us once or twice a year, we’re doing well. We’d never call even more than once per month! Grr – I don’t see where anyone has had help from an agency, but I too would be interested in putting what appears to be a scam artist out of business!
Thomas, that’ll work.
I got my first Jason call today. I work from home and don’t have time to frig around with these guys. I just tell them I don’t own the house and they disappear like a beer at a prom.
Peter K., some of the other commenters on this thread have identified another outfit, Momentum Solar, as the beneficiary of Jason’s calls. But in recent weeks I have begun receiving calls from a different “Jason,” who might be working on behalf of Momentum Solar.
Got this call (Jason) today. I probably have been called a hundred times before but almost never answer a number I don’t recognize. The one “Jason” called from this time (I’m sure they are spoofing a different number every time) had an area code and exchange corresponding to Malvern, Pa. It did “feel” like a computer voice but was well-done, and responses to what you say must be AI-driven.
I’m from Boston MA, and have been receiving similar calls from Jason lately. Today after asking for last name (“Hughes”), company (“Energy Advocates”) and location (“Lancaster, PA”), I decided to play along. His supervisor (with Indian or Pakistani accent) asked the same questions as Jason, plus the name of my electric providers. Then told me he has everything he needs, and we hung up amicably.
Few minutes later my phone rang, and this time it was a real person with American accent, telling me he installs solar panels and heard that I am interested. He asked me to confirm my address, the fact that I am the owner, and if I have good credit rating, and if I pay more than a 100 per month. When I asked him for a company name or website, he told me to look up “Bright Solar Marketing”, but quickly volunteered the information that he only does the installation, and I will make a deal with a “consultant”, and he is happy to pass my info to them to schedule a consultation. He gave his phone number, and told me to text or call me, once I decided to move forward.
I searched for “Bright Solar Marketing” and found the domain brightsolarmarketing.com, which directs to a properly maintained website ready to collect my information if I decide to “ask for a quote”. After searching more, I found this Insider article: “‘Predatory and harmful’: Misleading solar ads touting 100% free panels and fake stimulus programs spread on Facebook as the coronavirus upends door-to-door sales” from May 2020 (businessinsider.com/misleading-solar-ads-spread-coronavirus-upends-door-to-door-sales-2020-5)
After reading the Insider article I believe “Jason” and his “supervisors” work on behalf of Bright Solar Marketing, which is a lead generation service for solar installation services. Shady as hell.
Samia, I look forward to your follow-up report.
i’ve gotten like 30 calls in the past week from jason. he never presents himself as anybody else, and whenever he calls i tell him “i dont own a house” and he responds with, “sorry, i couldnt understand you. could you repeat that?” the numbers are always from my local area code. also, i’ve observed that signing up for the DNC registry doesnt help. obviously they are waiting for you to say yes into the phone. next time they call im gonna try to have fun with them. ill update this when they call back.
Anonymous, I’ve seen that speculation. Don’t know, but I wouldn’t put anything past this outfit.
I wonder if in addition to certain information they are trying to get enough of a voice sample to be able to fabricate a conversation where you authorized charges for some service or product.
today i receive a call from Jason. I asked him where are you calling from. He said he is calling from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and then he transferred me to his supervisor. I then asked his supervisor where are you calling from. He said, “I am calling you from Los Angeles, California.” They all are piece of shirt.
Ashley, maybe contact the Attorney General’s office in Austin. If you tell the AG that it could be Antifa, Paxton will be on it!
It’s going on in Texas too. “Jason” won’t stop calling me and leaving creepy silent voicemails even though I’ve asked him to leave me alone multiple times. I don’t like to make a big deal of things but how can I make him stop? Go to the police? I don’t know what else to do. Every time I block a number, he just calls from another one. I’ve blocked more than a dozen numbers!
Dot, a whistle blast heard all the way in India!
Jason woke me up at 6:00 this morning. Retired, and bored,I told him I was he homeowner (it is a business line). He said he would get his supervisor. I blew my rusty coaches whistle in his ear. He “yelped” and hung up.
But the telemarketing is not stopping in your life because there is a big and large business in underdeveloped country. Most of the calls are coming from Pakistan, India, Bangladish, Nepal and such other countries. So enjoy the calls from Jason, Jeff and their supervisors.
Phillip, has anyone paid up?
Came across your article while researching “Energy Adovcates”. I’m in Texas and got the same call. Of course, whatever lead generator purchased my info on their list, it was all incorrect. I listen to their speech, though careful to never say “yes”, but substitute some other alternative. I have a TCPA kit from Doc Compton to bust telemarketers. So far, I’m up to a couple thousand just by baiting the telemarketers, doing some research, or scheduling appointments for them to come to my house. After I get their card or markings on their car, I tell them the real reason why they are there and will be mailing their company a $1500 demand letter for violating the TCPA and the National Do Not Call list. This is my only way to fight back from the calls and spoof numbers, other than just jacking with them on the phone and wasting their time.
I received a “Jason from Energy Advocates” call today from a robocaller using a distinctly different voice for Jason. To me, this suggests another outfit may be getting into the act.
My name is Richard in Tampa Florida and have been getting these calls for A few months now….Jason is a robot caller turning the call over to his Supervisor This is all done under the Name American solar. I don’t even own a home but I try to waste as much of their time as I can possibly do. There are times I got busy and told them I don’t own A home and not to call me but To no avail they continue to call with A spamed phone number.
A previous commenter on this thread, on January 7, also identified Momentum Solar as the likely source of the “Jason from Energy Advocates” calls.
I live in Titusville, Fl.
I just had a call from the sales rep. He is with Momentum solar from New Jersey and the phone number he called me from is 929-325-2673. They also have an office in near me in Orlando ,Fl. That number is 407-476-9939. I was very matter of fact with him, and told him that if these calls didn’t stop, I would absolutely file a complaint and Orlando is close enough to me that I may even pay them a visit. I think everyone on here that reads this should start calling these numbers and blow up their phones!
Steve, in what city do you live?
I just got my 100th call ( estimate) from these clowns. I played through all the way to where I am waiting for a call from a person from a local company to make an appointment come to my house. When I get that call, I will ask for their name address and phone number so I have enough information to add them to a Law suit ( if there is one).
This outta get interesting.I want some one live and in person to chew a new ass, them everytime i get one of these calls, I will call the local company and file a complaint with the FTC and State Regulators.
Gilbert Physical Therapy:
Carolyn has an appointment on 01-13-21 at 04:30p. Click to Confirm…
CLICK
We’re sorry, this number does not accept incoming texts. To stop receiving messages, reply ‘STOP’ Questions? Need Help? Call your Provider’s main number
I have told them that I was not doing good from my sex-change operation. He told me that if I had solar I could save money to get the rest replaced. Which if you think about it made me belly roll laugh. I love messing with these losers. Tell them that their mom would be embarrassed and they should rott in hell.
These people are from a call center in India, so there is nothing a US authority can do about it. I suggest not answering the phone or blocking calls from unknown numbers. Unless you want to have fun with them and waste their time.
I get phone calls from your company two and three times a day and I ask them all the time to take me off the list. I’m am so sick of your company calling. Please sop the calls I can’t take it anymore. I am a cancer patient with lymphoma and really don’t need and am not up to these calls.
Tell them you live in a tent.
Its me again, got another late night call, this one at about 23:40 hours, they have spammed me so many fucking times at this point i just cant play with them anymore, I’m sick of it and i just want it to stop, i cant legally purchase anything from them and dont have the funds but they will not FUCK OFF! I’m pissed at this point and am just about ready to curse out the next caller
Very interesting. Anyone else have thoughts about this?
Not sure if I’ve cracked the case or if anybody cares but it appears as though these robo calls are coming from Momentum Solar, or at least a telemarketing firm that they employ….After receiving probably 100+ calls (always from local numbers) in the last 6 months from “Jason” from Energy Advocates I finally had enough and decided to try and get a person on the line. After answering Jason’s question I got connected to a supervisor who claimed to be calling from American Solar, I believe he said they were located in PA but that they had offices everywhere. I answered enough of his questions (to his satisfaction) to have his “associate” call me back at a later time. Sure enough a couple of hours later a representative from Momentum Solar called me back (from a NY area code) saying he heard I was interested in Solar. After letting him give his sales pitch for a minute or two I confronted him about the robo calling practices which he claimed to have no idea about…just so happens a sibling of mine works in the solar industry and when I asked him about these calls he told me it’s probably Momentum Solar, when I said as much to the representative (that I had a family member who works in solar and that he told me these scam calls were from Momentum) he told me to have a nice day and promptly hung up the phone. My family member says these guys are as shady as they come and are all around a terrible company. (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/nyregion/momentum-solar-racial-discrimination-lawsuit.html) Can we finally put a stop to these calls/company?
Margarita, I once got him off the line by saying I lived in a tent, although I had to spell the word.
Jason from Energy Advocates called me using a locally spoofed number. He hung up on me when I said I already had solar. Never got from the recorded message to a live person.
I think that lawsuit was against a single but real company, so there were named defendants that could be sued. With Jason/Greg, it’s unclear there is even a sueable company behind the pitches.
It seems like there was a class action lawsuit about this. I wonder what the settlement was?
https://classactionsreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/solar_america_complaint.pdf
Some regulator definitely should get involved. But it’s possible a number of operators are doing this, rather than just one, making it harder to police. Also, as I noted before, the lac of a victim claiming financial loss may lessen regulatory interest.
I thought they could be fined by FCC for unsolicited calls. 10,000 each time. Why are they allowed to drive us all crazy?? And then they hang up on you and a recording says “ you have been kicked from the call”. Stop them they are criminals. FBI ?? Too busy being worms to arrest people.
As I have written here before, what’s needed for authorities to act is a real victim who can prove financial loss.
I had the displeasure of hearing from Jason today. The number called me five times within three minutes, I happened to be on the phone with my son at the time and ignored it. However when I got off the phone I took the call. The robot introduced itself as: hi I’m Jason calling from energy advocates in Lancaster Pennsylvania. I understand you are the owner of a single family home located at *** and then read my entire address out to me, Is that correct?. Now, yes I am the homeowner but I knew from experience that this was a sales call and i responded no, I just rent here. Then I was hung up on.
The caller ID showed the phone number as 860-671-8205. clearly a burner phone because that phone number belongs to someone in West Cornwall Connecticut. Not Lancaster Pennsylvania, not to mention there is no energy advocates in Lancaster Pennsylvania or anywhere else for that matter. damn it now I wish I had kept him on the line long enough to get more details so I could get to the bottom of where and what this company really is to stop this stupidity all of us are having to deal with. I mean the world is dealing with a virus unlike any we have lived through before, we are at the biggest unemployment rate since the great depression, Christmas is a week away, and there’s some a****** out there with enough disrespect for people that he wants to scam them during everything else that’s going on. Well Jason or whoever the f you are, your day will come, you will be identified and you will no longer be working for energy advocates and hopefully you’ll be incarcerated working for the pod boss
Paul, now there’s a new name. Federal regulators have not proven to be helpful.
Here in Florida I have received calls from Jason and Paul……. total scam
When I ask Jason to speak to the person that shows up on my caller ID and I ask are you spoofing phone numbers they hang up. Call the number back it’s blocked .
I turn them into the FCC
IF you tell them you are a homeowner, you might get more calls.
I get calls that are my same area code like 10 times a day. It is so fn annoying. Lucky for me i have very little friends so i know its a spam call and not a friend or family member calling me. I am going to start lying and saying i am a home owner (Im not)
When they ask if I’m the homeowner I tell them I’m a home invader, the homeowner can’t talk right now.
As I have pointed out on the comments thread, I am not aware of anyone who has experienced a tangible financial loss due to Energy Advocates. I suspect that’s why there doesn’t seem to have been regulatory interest in this. Annoyance by itself doesn’t make for much of a legal case. Also, there’s a fair chance that the “supervisors” who come on the line after Jason/Greg make their brief pitch are located in a foreign country, like India, making it even harder for local authorities to act.
I personally don’t sign up for do-not-call lists, so I can get calls and write up some of them on this blog. But it does seem that do-not-call lists are not very effective.
I want in on the Class action lawsuit when it gets going to SUE the SOLAR out of “Energy Advocates”
You might consider contacting the consumer protection agency in your state, or the attorney general’s office, and ask that someone look into this. I have tried poking around and have come up with nothing, besides the obvious conclusion that “Jason from Energy Advocates” is up to no good.
Do not call list??? LOL That is a joke. They do nothing, They don’t stop calls, They are a farce. Good Luck!
I have received over 200 Calls. From all cities and all states from this prick Jason. God help this MF if I can track him down.
Blocking the caller ID number doesn’t work since many of them seem to be spoofed, and there’s always a new one. But I’m amazed “Jason” stopped after you said you were walking. I told him once I was dying from Covid and was on a ventilator and he went right ahead.
I recieved more than one call from Jason of energy advocates here in New jersey also. When he asked how i am doing i say I am busy working, then he/it replies no problem i’ll call back later. I block the phone number then next week the same thing comes in from a different number
I’ve gotten calls as early as 5 a.m. local time, but never 3 a.m. It is a nationwide operation, but its goals and ownership remain murky.
Yea, got one of these at 3 am last night, i said they have the wrong number as i cant purchase anything from them and the bot completely broke, it repeated its message about 20 times at once and then hung up, I’m from CT so this seems like a countrywide scam call, found this forum while trying to find anything about this
Re the IRS scammers, when I have time, I sometimes call back and ask for the warrant number and which court it was issued by. I often will be given a number, say, seven digits. But I will then say that all federal warrants have eight digits, and ask that it be read to me again. I will be given the same number but with an extra digit. Oops, I then say, I made a mistake and federal warrants have nine digits and ask for a re-reading. I sometimes have been able to get the scammer up to 11 digits before they realize I’m wasting their time.
Ashley,
I received 6 calls from these assholes since I woke up today at 6:45. I don’t remember the names they used and I usually will screw with them to see how much of their time I can waste. I’m hoping against hope I am keeping sometime else fun getting screwed by them by keeping them from at least that one extra call they would have made today but today I didn’t feel like fooling with them.
I also received 4 calls this afternoon since 2pm from the “IRS” about a warrant that’s been issued for my arrest because someone has been using my social security number for something. These IRS idiots even said that my social has been “cancelled” (or something).
I wish the govt would actual look into this because if I’m receiving approximately 35 calls a week and this is happening to so many others, how many people are being screwed over by them? And you know they’re getting some people to fall for this shit
Guess he’s hungry for business.
I just received a call from “Jason”. I asked him if he was really calling people on thanksgiving at dinner time and he replied yes. I hung up on him.
If that’s your first ever, you’re lucky. I’ve already gotten two today, and, over time, maybe 200.
I got one of these calls from “Jason” today.
They are annoying. But it doesn’t seem that any regulator is actively looking into this. It clearly is sketchy. Yesterday, I received yet another call. When I was switched to yet another “supervisor” who barely spoke legible English but said his name was “Dan,” I asked where specifically the supervisor was. “Dan” said “Basically, Harrisburg, Pa.” I said “basically” was not an acceptable qualifier and asked again the exact city in which the “Dan” was located. “Dan” promptly hung up.
I have been receiving these calls for weeks now. To say they are annoying would be an understatement. I have asked repeatedly to be taken off the calling list. I am glad to see that some action can possibly be taken to end this nuisance. The calls come from various phone numbers with a Florida area code (where I am located).
I imagine a number of regulatory agencies have received complaints about Energy Advocates. The problem is that, so far as I know, nobody has complained about being swindled out of money.
I too have been Robo called endlessly by a computer displaying a Las Vegas Marriott code and it’s always Jason from energy advocates I have asked at least 20 times for them to take me off their list but they keep generating new phone numbers. I think they should be reported to every state attorney general.
It seems that a number of persons called have complained to the Federal Trade Commission, which supposedly oversees the do-not-call registry, with little impact.
This mr Jason is freaking persistent have told him million of time to stop. Mention his mother fucker can you stop calling my phone. Wtf 🤬 with this 2 mf. I already piss off by this clowns. Hope this can stop.
I think a lot of folks are simply cold-called at random, at least initially, so no one “got” your number. Of course, that wouldn’t explain why I have gotten maybe 100 calls from “Jason” and his associate “Greg”–unless everyone in the country is getting such repeat calls.
I got one today from Jason using a local number. When I asked how he got my number he dodged my question and asked for confirmation I was the homeowner. When I said I think you missed my question he cut off and a man with a heavy accent jumped on. I asked him what happened to Jason. He said he was Jason. Ummmm, I don’t think so. I hung up because I wasn’t really feeling creative.
Yes, they seem to be proficient at those.
I asked them if they like to wear dresses and that I would be happy to buy him a yellow one as I am lonely during Covid. Well, at least they know English curse words!
If these calls were on the up and up, they would not be spoofing the number that pops up on the caller ID.
Got a call from them today. I think “he” said his name was Mark. I don’t understand why they’re picking solar for these scams. I rent the house we live in and you think that would be enough to step them from wasting their time. One time they did say that they got my information from the electric company. Not sure if that’s true or not.
Unfortunately, the “supervisors” seem to have no control over “Jason/Greg.”
I get at least one call a day from Jason, Yesterday my husband answered and spoke to the supervisor with not very nice language to STOP F*ing CALLING HERE! They agreed. I just got another call about 1 hour ago. They are spoofing local town government offices like town hall and public works departments so you will pick up!
I still don’t know what the purpose of the calls are. One “supervisor” told me it was a way to get leads for solar-panel installation companies, but the level of cold calls seems to far exceed the market for that. It’s hard to believe that the folks behind “Jason” and “Greg” are up to any good. But at this point I don’t know the identity of their backers, which would make filing a class action lawsuit rather difficult.
Jason and his pal Greg are the reason I finally added my cell number to the Do Not Call registry. It’s been about 4 weeks now, and the calls haven’t stopped yet. Each call comes from a different phone number in my area code. I don’t answer all calls but I did start creating a new contact for each number. Just collecting evidence. But I always hung up before I got passed up the chain, so I’m glad I found this site. Course, if the operation is off-shore, there won’t be any class action lawsuit coming.
It’s definitely a sketchy operation of some kind. But I have to confess I don’t know exactly what it is. At this point I am unaware of anyone complaining they were swindled out of money. That tape recording of “Jason” is apparently years old.
my man “Jason” or “Greg” call every day and sometimes more than once. I entertain my self by giving various medical reasons why I cannot have solar on my tent roof as I am homeless and must move often. Other reasons is that I already have solar on my house and don’t need a second set.
This scam is in need of the authorities getting involved and killing this business. Hopefully soon.
That’s not too far off from some pitches I’ve gotten.
I’m afraid I cannot to kindly assist with you your solar energy needs, but perhaps you would be strongly interested in to help me liberate my modest fortune from one Nigeria, left very legitimate to me by my father, the exiled King?
OK. Thanks for reading.
Thank you for writing this! We get at least one or more very nasty emails from people on the receiving end of these calls weekly. I guess they really think someone would run a business that way. If you are contacted by any state or Fed agencies who might help with this problem – please send them our way!!