Placing your phone number on this national registry will stop telemarketing sales calls. But you might still receive calls from scammers and robocallers. Some telemarketing calls are still permitted. You may still receive phone calls from:
You may file a complaint if your phone number has been on the national registry for 31 days. File a complaint online or at 1-888-382-1222. Include the date of the illegal call, phone number, and the company's name in your complaint. You can also file a complaint about recorded messages or robocalls.
Block Telemarketing calls on any phone for FIVE YEARS!
When you first become eligible for Medicare: Most people first become eligible when they turn 65. Call center sales agents typically call people whose name appears on leads lists. These lists get compiled, sold, and bought by several vendors in the Medicare industry and are likely to include your name, phone number, and your age. Becoming eligible for Medicare means there are many decisions to make, and when the phone calls start, it can become very overwhelming.
If you did not call 1-800-MEDICARE and get a call from someone claiming to be a representative, it could be a scam. Many scammers use fake CallerID names or use a technique called spoofing to make the call seem like it is local. Even going by the CallerID on your phone is not always an accurate way to tell which calls are scams and which are legitimate. It can feel rude to some, but Medicare advises people to hang up.
The Medicare back brace scam is a particularly tricky scam because Medicare recipients have been getting phone calls and mailings and may even have seen the scam on TV and internet ads. Because people are seeing this scam in multiple ways and receiving phone calls, many people end up giving their Medicare information over the phone in exchange for a free or low-cost back brace. However, the scammers will use your information to fraudulently bill Medicare, which can use up your benefits. And the Medicare recipient may not even receive the brace they were promised.
Recently, the Becky from Medicare call has inundated Medicare recipients. In many cases, the call begins as a robocall from a local number. The automated voice tells the recipient they can qualify for a type of genetic test to prescreen them for cancer, and they can prequalify for the test over the phone. The goal of the call is to get the call recipient to share their Medicare number over the phone. Millions of people have received these calls.
Despite the growing number of Medicare telemarketing calls and scams, a Medicare Do Not Call List is not currently available. If someone sees Medicare abuse or fraud, they can contact Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE.
The Medicare enrollment process can be quite confusing as it is, and as a result, older Americans have a hard time being in full control over their own plan selection and the enrollment process. Dealing with unwanted calls and pushy salespeople over the phone makes it extra difficult to see the full picture. There are thousands of plans out there, and some are better fits than others. Meanwhile, these salespeople are driven to steer future beneficiaries toward the plans they are incentivized to sell.
Frequent telemarketing calls and unsolicited commercial email messages are also time consuming and irritating. To reduce the time and frustration you spend dealing with unwanted junk mail, phone calls and email messages, check out the tips below.
Reducing Junk MailYou can eliminate your name from large advertising lists that are sold to direct mail marketers. Businesses that are members of the Direct Marketers Association are required to remove your name from their mailing list if you subscribe to the Mail Preference Service. The registration fee to place your name on the Mail Preference List is $1 if you register by mail and $5 if you register online. Once you place your name on the remove list, the amount of junk mail you receive will begin to decrease after about three months and your name will stay on the list for approximately five years. At the end of each five-year period, you may register your name on the removal list again. You can register for the Mail Preference Service through the US Mail at the following address:
The Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the states enforce the National Do Not Call Registry. Placing a number on the registry will stop most, but not all, telemarketing calls.
On June 17, 2008, the Federal Communications Commission amended Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules to require telemarketers to honor registrations on the national Do-Not-Call list indefinitely, so that registrations will no longer expire after five years. Under the revised rules, numbers will remain on the national do-not-call list unless the consumer removes his or her number or discontinues service. Consumers will no longer need to re-register their numbers on the national do-not-call list every five years.
CenturyLink, Frontier, Verizon, and Xfinity (as well as many regional providers) all offer additional call blocking through a free (on landlines) third-party service, Nomorobo. To sign up for Nomorobo, you need to enter your phone number and phone company name and then follow directions on the Nomorobo site for your specific provider. The service has horrible reviews on Trustpilot, though, so your mileage may vary. AT&T and Spectrum have their own call-blocking services you can set up on your account page:
Scammers often use telephone, mail, and email solicitation to lure people into their schemes, often by posing as legitimate businesses who contact a consumer out of the blue. One of the best ways to protect yourself against fraudsters is to cut off the ability of businesses to call you or send you unsolicited mail in the first place. Recognize the warning signs of scams and fraud, and cut down on unwanted phone calls and email, by following the steps below.
The National Do Not Call Registry is a database maintained by the United States federal government, listing the telephone numbers of individuals and families who have requested that telemarketers not contact them.[1] Certain callers are required by federal law to respect this request. Separate laws and regulations apply to robocalls in the United States.
Registration for the Do-Not-Call list began on June 27, 2003, and enforcement started on October 1, 2003. Since January 1, 2005, telemarketers covered by the registry have up to 31 days (initially the period was 90 days) from the date a number is registered to cease calling that number. Originally, phone numbers remained on the registry for a period of five years, but are now permanent because of the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007, effective February 2008.[4]
In May 2014 Sprint Corporation was fined a record $7.5 million for failing to honor requests by consumers to opt out of receiving telemarketing calls and texts. The fine followed an investigation that had begun in 2012. "We expect companies to respect the privacy of consumers who have opted out of marketing calls," Travis LeBlanc, acting chief of the FCC's enforcement bureau, said at the time. "When a consumer tells a company to stop calling or texting with promotional pitches, that request must be honored. Today's settlement leaves no question that protecting consumer privacy is a top enforcement priority."[18]
The program has proved quite popular: as of 2007, according to one survey, 72 percent of Americans had registered on the list, and 77 percent of those say that it made a large difference in the number of telemarketing calls that they receive (another 14 percent report a small reduction in calls). Another survey, conducted less than a year after the Do Not Call list was implemented, found that people who registered for the list saw a reduction in telemarketing calls from an average of 30 calls per month to an average of 6 per month.[20]
On July 1, 2021, legislation imposing new restrictions on telemarketing calls goes into effect. These amendments to the Florida Consumer Protection Law and Florida Telemarketing Act create a new private right of action and are similar to the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
A commercial telephone seller or salesperson may not make more than three solicitation phone calls from any number to a person over a 24-hour period on the same subject matter or issue, regardless of the phone number used to make the call. (Fla. Stat. Ann. 501.616).
How to add yourself to the Florida do-not-call list. Some states, including Florida, have their own do-not-call list. If you opt in to the Florida do-not-call list, telemarketers can't contact you on your residential phone, cellphone, or paging device. You can sign up for the Florida do-not-call list at the Florida Division of Consumer Services website. Your number will remain on the list for five years. (Fla. Stat. Ann. 501.059).
Many people are bombarded by unwanted telephone calls - even though they are on the Do Not Call Registry. The problem is difficult to stop because the scam artists increasingly use modern technology - including caller ID spoofing and throw-away cell phones - to conceal their identity and location and evade law enforcement.
Please note:A Do Not Call election is effective for five years, or while you are an active consumer customer, if longer than five years. The Do Not Mail election is effective for three years. You may continue to receive marketing information in regular account mailings and statements, when you visit us online or at an ATM. You may also be contacted to service your account or participate in surveys. If you have an assigned client manager or team, they may continue to contact you to assist you in managing your portfolio or account relationship. 2ff7e9595c
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