Are your friends and family forwarding you dubiously sourced emails that make you worry that every telemarketer in the land will soon have their grubby mitts on your private cell phone number? You could check the story on urban legend depository and fact checking site Snopes.com, but an authoritative source is even better. Courtesy of BeSpacific, here's a link to press release on the Federal Trade Commission's website to share with them.
The FTC reminds us:
- Contrary to the e-mail, cell phone numbers are NOT being released to telemarketers, and you will NOT soon be getting telemarketing calls on your cell phone.
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers are barred from calling consumers on their cell phones without their consent.
- There is only ONE National DNC Registry. There is no separate registry for cell phones.
- While the telecommunications industry has been discussing the possibility of creating a wireless 411 directory, according to the FCC, even if a wireless 411 directory is established, most telemarketing calls to cell phones would still be illegal, regardless of whether the number is listed on the federal government’s Do Not Call Registry.
Visit the FTC site for additional details.
Need to register a number to avoid telemarketers? Head over to the Do Not Call Registry and follow the directions there.
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