Dadeland Doings • September 29, 2008

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Straight Talk About Telemarketing

It’s like clockwork. You sit down to dinner and the phone rings. You answer it. The caller is trying to sell you something or tell you that you’ve won a fabulous prize. If you’re tempted by the offer, get the facts. If you don’t, you may be in for a fraud.

Although most phone sales pitches are made on behalf of legitimate organizations offering genuine products and services, many sales calls are frauds. Consumers lose billions of dollars a year to telemarketing fraud. That’s why the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) encourages you to be skeptical when you hear a phone solicitation and to be aware of a law — the Telemarketing Sales Rule — that can help you protect yourself from abusive or deceptive telemarketers.

How Telemarketing Scams Work

The heart of a fraudulent telemarketing operation is usually a “boiler room” where seasoned operators try to scam hundreds of thousands of people across the country every day. Telephone

fraud knows no race, ethnic, gender, age, education or income barriers. Anyone with a phone can be victimized by telemarketing scam artists.

Cold Calls. Scammers may get your number from a telephone directory, a mailing list or what fraudsters call a “sucker list.” Sucker lists contain information about people who have responded to previous telemarketing solicitations, like their name, phone number, and how much money they spent. The lists are bought and sold by promoters. They are invaluable to scam artists, who believe that consumers who have been deceived once are vulnerable to additional scams.

Direct Mail. You may get a letter or postcard saying you’ve won a prize or a contest. This often is a front for a scam. The instructions tell you to respond to the promoter with certain information. If you do, you’ll be called by a fraudster who may use persuasive sales pitches, scare tactics, and false claims to deceive you and take your money.

Broadcast and Print Advertisements. You may place a call in response to a television, newspaper, or magazine advertisement. The fact that you initiate the call doesn’t mean the business is legitimate or that you should be less cautious about buying or investing on the phone.

Courage is grace under pressure.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
American novelist, journalist and Nobel laureate

Published as a service for the residents of and visitors to the Dadeland neighborhood.
Editor: Heinz Dinter, PhD
305-600-4655; 305-428-2751 (Fax)
HDinter@GrandLifestyle.com
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The scoop on protecting your telephone privacy

The truth about cell phones

You may place your personal cell phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry. The registry has accepted cell phone numbers since it opened for registrations in June 2003. There is no deadline to register a home or cell phone number on the Registry.

You may have received an email telling you that your cell phone is about to be assaulted by telemarketing calls as a result of a new cell phone number database; however, that is not the case. Federal Communications Commission regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers.

Your registration will not expire. Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became law in February 2008. Read more about it at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/04/dncfyi.shtm.

What you should know about the registry

The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at this Website. You can register your home or mobile phone for free.

The National Do Not Call Registry is putting consumers in charge of the telemarketing calls they get at home. The Federal government created the national registry to make it easier and more efficient for you to stop getting telemarketing calls you don’t want. You can register online at www.donotcall.gov or call toll-free, 1-888-382-1222 (TTY 1-866-290-4236), from the number you wish to register. Registration is free.

The Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the states are enforcing the National Do Not Call Registry. Placing your number on the registry will stop most, but not all, telemarketing calls.

This site has information for you, whether you’re a consumer interested in signing up for the National Do Not Call Registry, or a telemarketer or seller interested in learning more about your responsibilities re the Telemarketing Sales Rule.

Are you getting telemarketing calls not wanted?

Here’s How to Stop Them.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched the National Do Not Call Registry to give Americans a choice about getting telemarketing calls at home. According to a recent Harris Interactive poll, 92 percent of people who reported placing a number on the registry said they are receiving fewer calls; a total of 78 percent said they’re getting “far fewer calls” or none at all.

If you think you put your number on the National Do Not Call Registry, and you’re still getting telemarketing sales calls, the Federal Trade Commission recommends that you:

Check to see that your number is on the registry. You can verify that your number is on the registry two ways: online at donotcall.gov (click on “Verify A Registration”), or by calling 1-888-382-1222 (TTY 1-866-290-4236) from the phone number you wish to verify. Follow the prompts.

You also can add your number to the registry using the same website or phone number (call from the number you want to register). If you register online, you will receive an email from donotcall.gov as part of the confirmation process. You will need to click on the link in this email within 72 hours after you receive it. If you don’t click on the link in the email, the number you tried to register will not be added to the registry, and telemarketers may continue to call.

Understand that some calls are not covered. Once your number has been on the registry for 31 days, most telemarketing calls will stop. However, you still may get:

• calls from — or on behalf of — political organizations, charities, and telephone surveyors;

• calls from companies with whom you have an existing business relationship. A company may call you for 18 months after you make a purchase or three months after you submit an inquiry or application;

• calls from companies you’ve given permission to call.

File a complaint. If your number has been on the registry for at least 31 days, and a telemarketer calls, complain to the FTC. Visit donotcall.gov or call 1-888-382-1222 (TTY1-866-290-4236). You’ll need to provide the date of the call and the phone number or name of the company that called you.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database and investigative tool used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.