Do not call list for cell phone numbers?-Fiction!

Cell Phone Numbers Are Being Handed Over to Telemarketers And You’ve Got a Short Time to Keep Your Cell Phone Number Out of Their Hands Fiction!

Summary of eRumor:

The eRumor warns that cell phone numbers will soon be published in the same way as the numbers for wired phones and that you should sign up with a new government cell phone “do not call” registry to prevent solicitor calls from coming to your mobile phone. Some versions say the cell phone numbers are being handed over to telemarketers by a certain date, such as January 1, 2005.

Some versions say there is a deadline for listing your cell phone on a “do not call list” such as December, 2004.

A recent version claims that the cell phone companies are required by law to release the names by June 1, 2006.
 

The Truth:


The U.S. government has established a “do not call” registry where you can list phone numbers you want blocked from unsolicited calls such as from telemarketers.

That registry is for both wired and mobile phones and there is no deadline by which a phone number needs to be listed in order to be protected from telemarketing calls.
There is not a separate cell phone registry.
The registry is at:  www.donotcall.gov.

At this writing there is discussion among mobile providers about setting up a mobile phone directory listing mobile phone numbers.

According to the Cellular Telephone and Internet Association (CTIA), a cell phone directory is proposed that would be available through calling directory assistance only, not published in writing or on the Internet.

So far, there is not a set date when that will be done and the CTIA says the numbers are not going to be “handed over” to telemarketers.

Users would have the option of not having their numbers listed in the directory.

Some telemarketers call some phone numbers regardless of whether they are listed in directories because they use devices that dial numbers in sequence looking for working numbers although at present, they are prohibited by law from including cell numbers.

The version that claims that the cell companies are being required by law to release the names by June 1, 2006, is also a hoax.


Updated 4/24/06