Legitimate Telemarketer or Scam Artist??

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Keep this information near your telephone. It can help you determine if you’re talking with a legitimate telemarketer or a scam artist.

It’s illegal for a telemarketer to call you if you’ve asked not to be called. In fact, the federal government has created the National do not call Registry — the free, easy way to reduce the telemarketing calls you get at home. To register, or to get information, visit www.donotcall.gov, or call toll-free 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236) from the phone you want to register. You should receive fewer telemarketing calls within three months of registering your number.

If your number is not on the National do not call Registry, you still can ask a company to put you on its own do not call list. The company must honor your request.

Calling times are restricted to the hours between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Telemarketers must tell you it’s a sales call and who’s doing the selling before they make their pitch. If it’s a prize promotion, they must tell you that no purchase or payment is necessary to enter or win. If you’re asked to pay for a prize, hang up. Free is free.

It’s illegal for telemarketers to misrepresent any information, including facts about their goods or services, the earnings potential, profitability, or risk of an investment, or the nature of a prize in a prize-promotion scheme.

Telemarketers must tell you the total cost of the products or services offered and any restrictions on getting or using them, or that a sale is final or non-refundable, before you pay. In a prize promotion, they must tell you the odds of winning, that no purchase or payment is necessary to win, and any restrictions or conditions of receiving the prize.

It’s illegal for a telemarketer to withdraw money from your checking account without your express, verifiable authorization. That means they must tell you the total number of payments, the amount of each payment, the date the payments will be submitted to your bank, and which account they will charge.

Telemarketers cannot lie to get you to pay, no matter what method of payment you use.

You don’t have to pay for credit repair, recovery room, or advance-fee loan/credit services until after these services have been delivered. (Most of these offers are scams. Credit repair companies claim that, for a fee, they can change or erase accurate negative information from your credit report. Only time can erase such information. Recovery room operators contact people who have lost money to a previous telemarketing scam and promise that, for a fee or donation to a specified charity, they will recover your lost money, or the product or prize never received from a telemarketer. Advance-fee loans are offered by companies who claim they can guarantee you a loan for a fee paid in advance. The fee may range from $100 to several hundred dollars.)

Next Post: FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule and its Exceptions

Filed Under: Background Check
Tagged: do not call registry, telemarketing
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