A directory of cell phone numbers will be published soon. This opens the door to solicitors calling your cell phones using up your minutes.
The Federal Trade Commission has set up a do not call list.
You must call FROM the number you wish to register, or go to their website at√ùhttps://www.donotcall.gov, to be included on the do not call list.
The number is 1-888-382-1222
Thanks to Lisa Marie for emailing this to me.
And thanks to spud for posting the information here. I just registered my mobile number for the Do Not Call List. Fortunately I have caller ID on my phone so even if telemarketers call me, I don’t have to answer the phone.
This is (sort of) a hoax. Snopes doesn’t have anything up yet, but I have alerted them to the issue, and About.com’s urban legends page has this: <http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_cell_phone_directory.htm>
But the Do Not Call list does accept cell phone numbers into their system. That can’t be a bad thing … right?
According to many sources now…this is mostly a hoax…with a a little bit of truth. In answer to Tom: “But the Do Not Call list does accept cell phone numbers into their system. That can’t be a bad thing … right?” Urban Legends had this to say: although the gist of the message quoted at the head of this page is correct in alerting consumers to a proposed directory of cell phone numbers, it is misleading in stating that such a directory will “soon be published” (the word “published” implies making a printed directory available, which the wireless consortium maintains they will not do) and in directing readers to sign up with the The National Do Not Call Registry. The latter step will not keep wireless customer listings out of the proposed Wireless 411 database it will only add their phone numbers to a list of numbers off-limits to most telemarketers, a step which is premature (because the Wireless 411 directory has not yet been implemented) and largely unnecessary (because the Wireless 411 directory information is not supposed to be supplied to telemarketers, and because FCC regulations already in place block the bulk of telemarketing calls to cell phones). Adding one’s cell phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry (even if currently unnecessary) won’t likely have any adverse effect, but customers should be aware of exactly what that action will or will not accomplish.
The funny thing is that an email from our company headquarters arrived in our inboxes today further selling this “hoax”. I told my co-workers what I learned here and pointed them to this blog. How ironic that an update to this post should appear on the same day our office received the email!
i suspected hoaxism, and did not add my number to the list. but soon after, i started getting “hangup” calls from unknown callers on my cell phone! so maybe it’s not a hoax… ?
<grins> I don’t think there is any relationship between the hangups. My daughter’s ex boyfriend used to call and hangup on my cell phone. You may be getting a genuine wrong number or just someone you know is being annoying.
i don’t know. it never happened before. they are numbers i don’t recognize, so i don’t answer. and then they don’t leave a message. it’s very mysterious. this really never happened before the post on that Do Not Call list. and now it happens several times a week. i think there’s a connection!
Ok look at the facts. Phone number “War dialers” have existed since the early 80’s (The ability to Dial 816-555-0000, then 816-555-0001, etc) Since Cell phones numbers are sold in blocks of 10,000 (xxx-xxx-0000-9999) its easy to figure out which prefixes are cell phones. So if telemarketers really wanted to call you, all they would have to do is program the computers to start dialing. Just that simple. So why have they not done this? because there was a telecommunications act of (I think 1984) that prevents calls to cell phones.