How to Reduce Telemarketer Calls
Photo from Insights For Professionals.
Jonathan Wang
No one likes telemarketers. They’re persistent, annoying, and waste time. However, there are ways to reduce their reach.
Go to the website National Do Not Call Registry and register with your phone number(s) or home number(s) and email. It takes up to 31 days to see changes after registering.
This website is part of the National Do Not Call Registry, which is a database maintained by the Federal Trade Commission (a branch of the federal government). Telemarketers are legally required by law to cease calling you within 31 days of adding your phone number to the database. Once added, phone numbers remain permanently on the registry. However, you can request to have your number removed by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to remove.
If you are contracted by a telemarketer after 31 days of adding your number to the database, you can legally sue them (and profit) or report them to the FTC. One such individual making profit from suing telemarketers using the aforementioned strategy is Dan Gram, who was interviewed by Fox News.
The FTC created this database in order to comply with the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act of 2003.
The exceptions to this law include calls from political organizations, non-profits, those conducting surveys, and debt collectors.
An email is needed to complete registration and according to the FTC, “We store your email address securely, separate from your phone number, and never share it with telemarketers.” So using your email as required to sign up should not pose security or privacy risks.
