Alert to Seniors, The FTC's Do Not Call Registry and phone, internet scammers

We provide this free financial resource to visitors of the Community Room of SeniorSSuperStoreS in an effort to keep baby boomers, seniors and the elderly informed of matters that can affect their lifestyle.

Have you received a call from a company inviting you to pre-register for the national "Do Not Call" list? What about a call asking to confirm your registration on a "Do Not Call" registry? If so, you may be the target of a scam, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal agency that has created the national "Do Not Call" registry at www.donotcall.gov.

The FTC does not allow private companies or other third parties to "pre-register" consumers for the registry. Web sites or phone solicitors that claim they can or will register a consumer's name or phone number on a national list - especially those who charge a fee - are a scam. Registration on the new national "Do Not Call" registry is free. The FTC says that once a consumer signs up with a "Do Not Call" registry, there is no need to confirm personal information. And the government will not call anyone to put them on a "Do Not Call" registry.

As we reported to you in our Arpil 28,2003, Keeping in Touch, you are able to register directly with the FTC, or through some state governments, but never through private companies. The FTC is accepting registrations from consumers who want to register online and who have an email account. Consumers who want to register by phone can call 1-888-382-2222, but you must call this number from the phone you wish to register for the Do Not Call service. The FTC says if you register during the summer months of 2003, you should notice a downturn in telemarketing calls starting in October.

The FTC warns consumers to be wary of scams related to the registry. Many consumers who want to get fewer telemarketing calls already have signed up with a state "Do Not Call" registry, the Direct Marketing Association's Telemarketing Preference Service, or individual company "Do Not Call" lists. But consumer protection officials say that rip-off artists have begun to take advantage of the popularity of these services to trick consumers into giving up personal information, such as their Social Security number, bank account number, credit card number or telephone calling card number.

Here's how the scam works: someone calls claiming to represent a "Do Not Call" registry or the FTC. The phony registry "official" asks for your personal information, supposedly to verify that you want to be on the "Do Not Call" list. The caller is a con artist who could use your personal information to run up debts in your name or otherwise steal your identity. Some con artists are pushing a similar scam through spam email.

The FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection says you can avoid these scams. Here's how:

Keep information about your bank accounts and credit cards to yourself - including the numbers - unless you know who you're dealing with.

Never share your Social Security number with a person you don't know.

Don't share your personal information if someone calls you claiming to represent a "Do Not Call" registry, an organization to stop fraud or even the FTC itself.

If you get such a call, either hang up immediately or write down the caller's organization and phone number and report it to the FTC at www.ftc.gov (or call 1-877-FTC-HELP), or report it to your state attorney general.

For more information on how to reduce unwanted telemarketing calls, visit www.ftc.gov/donotcall. If you believe that your personal information may have been compromised, visit www.consumer.gov/idtheft.

And from the Department of Unintended Consequences:

The Federal Trade Commission's "National 'Do Not Call' Registry" has attracted a huge response. As of July 16,2003, 26.3 million telephone numbers had been registered on the site, www.donotcall.gov. However, on the first day that the FTC web site was open for business, June 27th, it fell victim to the old "Law of Unintended Consequences".

The site permits consumers to register up to three telephone numbers and requires entry of an email address for verification. The site automatically generates an email to the consumer for each registered telephone number. The registration is not complete until the consumer clicks on a link in the email to "confirm" the registration.

During the first day, hundreds of thousands of email messages were being generated by the site. Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) - running software to block spam - interpreted the barrage of email from a single site as spam, and "helpfully" blocked the registration messages, preventing them from arriving in the consumer's email box.

The FTC, working with various ISPs, quickly rectified the problem. But, for a short period of time, a program designed to help consumers block unwanted telemarketing calls was frustrated by another program designed to help consumers block unwanted email messages. As if no one ever thought beforehand this may happen? Go figure!