CELL PHONE NUMBERS GOING PUBLIC? NOT LIKELY
The summary sounds deceptively helpful: “All cell phone numbers are being expelled to telemarketing companies and you will begin to receive sales calls,” the email states. To forestall an assault of such calls, the email suggests job the National Do Not Call Registry, and provides a number to do so.
[50 Ways to Improve Your Finances in 2012]
The problem? The email is a hoax. According to the Federal Communications Commission, it’s bootleg for telemarketers to place programmed calls to cell phones, and there are no skeleton for that to change. These emails have been present for multiform years, assumingly fueled by a fright that the origination of a mobile phone office will lead to a proliferation of telemarketing calls. The thought that more calls will go to cell phones is quite alarming, given many consumers would be charged for those calls.
Here’s what you need to know about the Do Not Call Registry:
1. The safest approach to register is to visit the central website, www.donotcall.gov, or call the number listed on the website, 888-382-1222, as against to following any directions received in an email, which can indicate to rascal sites. The Federal Trade Commission warns that a little scammers suggest to pointer people up for the registry for a fee; consumers should drive transparent of such offers and register themselves. Signing up is free.
2. Registration is permanent, and not singular to 5 years as many emails claim. The Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007 specifies that phone numbers stay on the list until they are away or reassigned to a opposite person. (Consumers can take their own numbers off the list at any time.)
3. There is not a apart Do Not Call Registry for dungeon phones. There is a single registry, and you can use it to register a landline or a dungeon phone. As referred to above, programmed telemarketing calls to dungeon phones are bootleg anyway, though a little consumers still prefer to register their dungeon phone numbers.
4. There is no deadline coming for signing up for the Do Not Call Registry. You can register numbers at any time.
[Zappos Customers: Change Your Passwords]
5. Telemarketers have 31 days to stop job numbers once they are registered.
6. Registering won’t stop all telemarketing calls. That’s since phone surveys, domestic organizations, and charities are free from the do-not-call list. Any association with whom you have a “business relationship,” since you done a purchase, for example, is authorised to call you, too.
7. You can complain. If you consider a telemarketer is violating the law by stability to call you even after you placed your number on the do-not-call list, you can board a censure at the donotcall.gov website. Telemarketers can be fined as most as $16,000.
Got a question for Alpha Consumer? Post it in the comments below.
Twitter: @alphaconsumer
The summary sounds deceptively helpful: “All cell phone numbers are being expelled to telemarketing companies and you will begin to receive sales calls,” the email states. To forestall an assault of such calls, the email suggests job the National Do Not Call Registry, and provides a number to do so.
[50 Ways to Improve Your Finances in 2012]
The problem? The email is a hoax. According to the Federal Communications Commission, it’s bootleg for telemarketers to place programmed calls to cell phones, and there are no skeleton for that to change. These emails have been present for multiform years, assumingly fueled by a fright that the origination of a mobile phone office will lead to a proliferation of telemarketing calls. The thought that more calls will go to cell phones is quite alarming, given many consumers would be charged for those calls.
Here’s what you need to know about the Do Not Call Registry:
1. The safest approach to register is to visit the central website, www.donotcall.gov, or call the number listed on the website, 888-382-1222, as against to following any directions received in an email, which can indicate to rascal sites. The Federal Trade Commission warns that a little scammers suggest to pointer people up for the registry for a fee; consumers should drive transparent of such offers and register themselves. Signing up is free.
2. Registration is permanent, and not singular to 5 years as many emails claim. The Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007 specifies that phone numbers stay on the list until they are away or reassigned to a opposite person. (Consumers can take their own numbers off the list at any time.)
3. There is not a apart Do Not Call Registry for dungeon phones. There is a single registry, and you can use it to register a landline or a dungeon phone. As referred to above, programmed telemarketing calls to dungeon phones are bootleg anyway, though a little consumers still prefer to register their dungeon phone numbers.
4. There is no deadline coming for signing up for the Do Not Call Registry. You can register numbers at any time.
[Zappos Customers: Change Your Passwords]
5. Telemarketers have 31 days to stop job numbers once they are registered.
6. Registering won’t stop all telemarketing calls. That’s since phone surveys, domestic organizations, and charities are free from the do-not-call list. Any association with whom you have a “business relationship,” since you done a purchase, for example, is authorised to call you, too.
7. You can complain. If you consider a telemarketer is violating the law by stability to call you even after you placed your number on the do-not-call list, you can board a censure at the donotcall.gov website. Telemarketers can be fined as most as $16,000.
Got a question for Alpha Consumer? Post it in the comments below.
Twitter: @alphaconsumer