Signing up for the Do Not Call Registry will help cut down significantly on the telemarketing calls you receive at home. Most telemarketers must take your home phone number off of their call lists if you’ve signed up for the Registry.
You can sign up for the Registry for free by telephone or through the Internet. To register by phone, you must call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone number you wish to register. To register online, go to www.DONOTCALL.gov. You must have an active email address to register through the Internet so you can receive an email that is part of the registration process.
Companies have 30 days from the time you sign up to take your number off their call lists.
Placing your number on the Registry will stop most, but not all, telemarketing calls. Some businesses and organizations are exempt from the national Registry and still can call you. Those exemptions cover companies with which you have an existing business relationship, as well as tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, political organizations and polling firms. While state law exempts newspaper publishers from complying with the Do Not Call Registry, federal law does not. Therefore, newspapers must also comply with the Registry.
Yes. Many telemarketing calls are placed by professional telemarketing companies. Even if the company whose goods or services are being sold is exempt, the telemarketing company itself may be covered by the Registry.
That means you currently do business with them. The exemption also includes companies with which you have had a business relationship during the past 18 months or to which you made an inquiry within the past three months.
Even though they are exempt from the Registry, all businesses must stop calling you if you ask them directly. You can tell those companies to place you on their internal Do Not Call list; the companies must respect your wishes and stop calling you.
If you give a company your written permission to call you, they may do so even if you have placed your number on the Registry. The Registry gives you the choice to accept all telemarketing calls, practically no telemarketing calls or telemarketing calls from selected businesses. It’s your call.
You can register your own home and cell phone numbers in the Do Not Call Registry. You may register up to three telephone numbers per visit to the Registry Web site or one phone number per call to the Registry hotline. Please note that the Registry is only for personal phone numbers and does not cover business-to-business calls.
Your phone number will remain on the Registry permanently. Keep in mind that if you move and change phone numbers, you will need to register your new number.
If you move, you will need to register your new phone number. Your old phone number will automatically be removed when it is disconnected. If your phone number is disconnected and then reconnected, you will need to register it again. When you re-register, telemarketers will again have 30 days to take you off of their call lists.
The only personal identifying information that will be shared with telemarketers is the phone number you register. Your email address and other personal information will be stored separately and securely. The Registry can be used by telemarketers only for the purpose of respecting your wishes not to be called.
Don’t fall for the pitch. Phone solicitations and Web sites that claim they will register your name or phone number on a national list – especially those that offer to do so for a fee – are a scam. The Do Not Call Registry is a free service provided by the government.
If your number has been on the Registry for at least three months and you receive a call from a telemarketer that you believe is covered by the Registry, you can file a complaint with the NC Attorney General’s Office. Please include the following information:
North Carolina enacted a Do Not Call law that dovetails with the national Registry. Consumers need only to register once with the national Registry, and this will enable them to benefit automatically from the North Carolina law as well. North Carolina will not maintain its own state specific list since the national list can serve that role. Having a single list is simpler for consumers, more efficient for businesses and saves the state money in tough fiscal times.
The new state law means that North Carolinians who register will be protected even if rulings in court or changes in federal regulations dismantle the national Registry. The measure also provides that individual consumers and Attorney General Stein’s Consumer Protection Division will have the authority to enforce the law against telemarketers through action in state courts.
The new federal rules also provide protections against abusive and deceptive telemarketing calls. For instance:
Our office can help you deal with these violations. Give us as much detail about your complaint, a description of the efforts you’ve taken to resolve the complaint, the names and telephone numbers of the employees with whom you’ve spoken, copies of bills with disputed charges circled if appropriate, and the solution you are requesting.
The Do Not Call Registry will be operated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and enforced by the FTC, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the North Carolina Attorney General’s office. If a company fails to comply with the Registry, they may be subject to a fine of up to $11,000 for each violation.
Yes. Individuals can also bring their own enforcement actions under either state law or the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. If you have received more than one telephone call by or on behalf of the same entity that is in violation of the Do Not Call law, you may go to state court to stop the entity from continuing to call you and to recover up to $500 for the first violation, $1,000 for the second, and $5,000 for the third and subsequent violations.