CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Conrad Tidswell told Eyewitness News he hesitated to answer his phone for some time. He said at one point telemarketers were calling him up to six times a day trying to sell him an alarm system.
"The FBI says crime is increasing in your area; if you let us put a small sign in your yard we'll install the system," said Tidswell.
Tidswell said the calls kept coming even though he told them no.
"That's why we have the do not call list. I don't want to be annoyed by you people ... so stop calling," he said.
Eyewitness News went to the North Carolina Attorney General's Office. Investigators there showed us files containing hundreds of complaints from our area about alarm system telemarketing calls.
"No matter how many times you press a button or try to talk to a rep, you can never get to a point where you get the phone calls to stop," said David Fox, consumer protection specialist.
Fox said the calls are misleading because the FBI doesn't track neighborhood crime.
Attorney General Roy Cooper said the robo calls themselves are illegal in North Carolina.
"If you're marketing something you have to have a live person on the line," he said.
After investigating, the attorney general's office believes ISI Alarms NC Incorporated in Mooresville and Versatile Marketing Solutions out of Rhode Island hired the companies that are making the calls in order to generate leads for new business.
Assistant Attorney General David Kirkman said they've ordered the alarm companies to stop and they could face thousands of dollars in fines.
"They were gonna argue these were these independent lead brokers and they were making robo calls and not them. And we're saying, 'you used them, you paid them and got your leads from them. You share the responsibility for it,'" said Kirkman.
An attorney for ISI emailed us saying, "When complaints were received, the company went to great lengths to identify the parties responsible and to address the issues identified."
He said, "The company no longer does business," but added that it is still cooperating with the investigation of consumer complaints.
Tidswell said calls to his house stopped after he complained to the attorney general's office. However, he still wants the companies responsible to pay.
"Hurt these people with financial penalties and don't let them hide behind an LLC or something like that -- really hurt them."
State investigators said they're still getting dozens of new complaints about alarm company robo calls, but they said many of those companies aren't identifying themselves in the calls.
The attorney general's office has compiled a to-do list for those who receive these calls. Here are some of the tips:
*Don't respond. Even if the recorded message gives you the option to press a number to stop future calls, don't do it. Pressing a number confirms that the telemarketers have reached a valid phone number, and you're likely to get more calls instead of fewer.
*Report the calls to our office. You can file a complaint online at ncdoj.gov, or call us toll-free at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM.
*To get accurate information about crime rates in your area, check with local law enforcement or view statewide crime statistics online at ncdoj.gov.