View Full Version : Privacy: Keep your cell phone number private!
Sara S
12-03-2009, 10:49 AM
REMEMBER:
Cell Phone Numbers Go Public this month.
All cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls. To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It blocks your number for five (5) years.
I just did this. The recorded message indicates that it takes 31 days for your list registration to take effect. After that you can report violations to a government agency which fines telemarketers for calling anyone on the list.
Barry
12-03-2009, 11:08 AM
REMEMBER:
Cell Phone Numbers Go Public this month.
All cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls. To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It blocks your number for five (5) years.
I just did this. The recorded message indicates that it takes 31 days for your list registration to take effect. After that you can report violations to a government agency which fines telemarketers for calling anyone on the list.
From: Do Not Call List - Cell Phone Numbers Going Public? - Urban Legends (https://urbanlegends.about.com/od/business/a/cell_directory.htm)
Description: Email rumor
Circulating since: Sep. 2004
Status: Mostly false
...
Comments: Yes, you can add your cell phone number(s) to the National Do Not Call Registry.
But no, you won't suddenly be at the mercy of 10,000 telemarketers if you don't.
While it's true that several of the major wireless phone providers announced a plan some years ago to establish a 411 directory of customers' cell phone numbers, it is not true that the plan involved publishing said directory for any and all to read. Participating companies said the numbers would be made available only via telephone, only to users who dialed directory assistance and paid a fee, and only with customer consent.
In any case, the point has been moot since 2006, when the plan to create a 411 directory for cell phone numbers was indefinitely postponed.
The Federal Trade Commission does allow mobile phone users to add their numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry (https://www.donotcall.gov/) (the same one already in force for home phones), either online or by calling 1-888-382-1222. Doing so probably isn't necessary, mind you — per FCC regulations, telemarketers are already prohibited from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers — but millions have already signed up, and so can you.
Contrary to what most variants of the email rumor claim, there is no 31-day, 16-day, or 8-day deadline for adding cell phone numbers to the Do Not Call list — indeed, there is no deadline whatsoever.
Sara S
12-03-2009, 03:30 PM
Oh,thanks, Barry!
What I do seem to be getting a lot of (on my home phone) are "national survey" callers. I haven't listened to their pitch, but there have been such a large number of these calls that I have begun to wonder whether they might be telemarketing in disguise.
From: Do Not Call List - Cell Phone Numbers Going Public? - Urban Legends (https://urbanlegends.about.com/od/business/a/cell_directory.htm)
Description: Email rumor
Circulating since: Sep. 2004
Status: Mostly false
...
Comments: Yes, you can add your cell phone number(s) to the National Do Not Call Registry.
But no, you won't suddenly be at the mercy of 10,000 telemarketers if you don't.
While it's true that several of the major wireless phone providers announced a plan some years ago to establish a 411 directory of customers' cell phone numbers, it is not true that the plan involved publishing said directory for any and all to read. Participating companies said the numbers would be made available only via telephone, only to users who dialed directory assistance and paid a fee, and only with customer consent.
In any case, the point has been moot since 2006, when the plan to create a 411 directory for cell phone numbers was indefinitely postponed.
The Federal Trade Commission does allow mobile phone users to add their numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry (https://www.donotcall.gov/) (the same one already in force for home phones), either online or by calling 1-888-382-1222. Doing so probably isn't necessary, mind you — per FCC regulations, telemarketers are already prohibited from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers — but millions have already signed up, and so can you.
Contrary to what most variants of the email rumor claim, there is no 31-day, 16-day, or 8-day deadline for adding cell phone numbers to the Do Not Call list — indeed, there is no deadline whatsoever.
Please see snopes.com for the real info on this (it's a hoax for the most part)
snopes.com: Cell Phone Numbers Given to Telemarketers (https://www.snopes.com/politics/business/cell411.asp)
REMEMBER:
Cell Phone Numbers Go Public this month.
All cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls. To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It blocks your number for five (5) years.
I just did this. The recorded message indicates that it takes 31 days for your list registration to take effect. After that you can report violations to a government agency which fines telemarketers for calling anyone on the list.