Archive for the ‘News And Society’ Category
Reverse Cell Phone Directory Helps The Telemarketing War
Elena Tentser asked:
I just read a blog entry on-line that warns against trusting an (apparently) widely circulated e-mail, which claims that:
• cell phone numbers are going public, as soon as next month;
• all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies, and we will start to receive sales calls;
• as with any incoming call, these calls will cost us;
• to prevent this, we must call the National “Do Not Call” list from our cell phone (888-382-1222), which blocks the number for five years.”
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consumer alert, there is no such thing as a complete nationwide directory of cell phone numbers, and therefore, there is nothing to release. Besides, the FTC already prohibits telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers, and since automated dialers are the industry standard, we’re “automatically” protected from 99.9% of cell-phone telemarketing calls. Or are we?
I have been suffering from telemarketing calls – both automated and direct – for months! I tried registering my cell phone number with the “do not call” directory – to no avail. At least several times a week, I receive messages and calls from various telemarketers. Somehow, they all recently got a hold of my cell number, and FTC ban or not, and I’ve been paying for these calls. Apparently, they don’t much care about breaking the law.
My best bet so far has been tracking them down one by one through reverse cell phone directory lookups. Using the number on my caller ID, I find contact information for the company and/or individuals who called, and threatening with facts about the broken law, demand they stop. It’s been an uphill climb, since no sooner I get through to one company and insist they remove my number from their directory, another gets a whiff of it and enters me into some contest or other or offers me better mortgage terms on the home I no longer own.
I’d like to know if there is a better way to protect myself from this unwelcome intrusion. If anyone is thinking of starting a class-action suit against cell-phone spam, let me know. Something tells me though reverse cell phone lookup may be the best help I can get.
I just read a blog entry on-line that warns against trusting an (apparently) widely circulated e-mail, which claims that:
• cell phone numbers are going public, as soon as next month;
• all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies, and we will start to receive sales calls;
• as with any incoming call, these calls will cost us;
• to prevent this, we must call the National “Do Not Call” list from our cell phone (888-382-1222), which blocks the number for five years.”
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consumer alert, there is no such thing as a complete nationwide directory of cell phone numbers, and therefore, there is nothing to release. Besides, the FTC already prohibits telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers, and since automated dialers are the industry standard, we’re “automatically” protected from 99.9% of cell-phone telemarketing calls. Or are we?
I have been suffering from telemarketing calls – both automated and direct – for months! I tried registering my cell phone number with the “do not call” directory – to no avail. At least several times a week, I receive messages and calls from various telemarketers. Somehow, they all recently got a hold of my cell number, and FTC ban or not, and I’ve been paying for these calls. Apparently, they don’t much care about breaking the law.
My best bet so far has been tracking them down one by one through reverse cell phone directory lookups. Using the number on my caller ID, I find contact information for the company and/or individuals who called, and threatening with facts about the broken law, demand they stop. It’s been an uphill climb, since no sooner I get through to one company and insist they remove my number from their directory, another gets a whiff of it and enters me into some contest or other or offers me better mortgage terms on the home I no longer own.
I’d like to know if there is a better way to protect myself from this unwelcome intrusion. If anyone is thinking of starting a class-action suit against cell-phone spam, let me know. Something tells me though reverse cell phone lookup may be the best help I can get.
We Need a Cell Phone Directory
Elena Tentser asked:
What’s the deal with a cell phone directory? Or rather, without one? How can we live without the means to contact a cell phone-only person? Why should cell phones be granted any more privacy consideration than good old landlines, which are rapidly disappearing? I mean, most people used to get listed in a phone directory and one could look them up, but now …
Why is it so necessary to stay completely under the radar and remain incognito and incommunicado? Isn’t the whole point of our existence to connect with others like us? Maybe we should ask what they are hiding. A law-abiding citizen like me wants to be found. Oh sure, I know we pay for incoming calls as well, but these days everyone has pretty good plans that won’t get depleted by an extra call or two. Besides, you can look at your Caller ID and refuse a call if you don’t want to take it, but there is a chance that someone whom you want to find you, will (wink-wink).
Now don’t get all loopy on me and go out with someone who found you in a cell phone directory and called you out of the blue. Use the cell phone directory to run all kinds of background reports on him. Look up his public records and find out more about him. Stuff like is he an axe murderer, is he married, is he a child molester – you know, the usual. You can look that stuff up, I swear. Go on, try it … but that’s not the point. The point is we need a cell phone directory.
What’s the deal with a cell phone directory? Or rather, without one? How can we live without the means to contact a cell phone-only person? Why should cell phones be granted any more privacy consideration than good old landlines, which are rapidly disappearing? I mean, most people used to get listed in a phone directory and one could look them up, but now …
Why is it so necessary to stay completely under the radar and remain incognito and incommunicado? Isn’t the whole point of our existence to connect with others like us? Maybe we should ask what they are hiding. A law-abiding citizen like me wants to be found. Oh sure, I know we pay for incoming calls as well, but these days everyone has pretty good plans that won’t get depleted by an extra call or two. Besides, you can look at your Caller ID and refuse a call if you don’t want to take it, but there is a chance that someone whom you want to find you, will (wink-wink).
Now don’t get all loopy on me and go out with someone who found you in a cell phone directory and called you out of the blue. Use the cell phone directory to run all kinds of background reports on him. Look up his public records and find out more about him. Stuff like is he an axe murderer, is he married, is he a child molester – you know, the usual. You can look that stuff up, I swear. Go on, try it … but that’s not the point. The point is we need a cell phone directory.