Returning your call

August 29, 2008

Editor's Note: Each Friday, Herald-Mail reporters and editors will answer some of the questions that are called in by readers to Mail Call. Consider this us returning your call.

How do I stop telemarketers?

Q: "I am calling to find the 800 number to stop telemarketers from calling me at all hours of day and night. Please put it in the paper."

- Boonsboro

A: Subscribers may register their residential telephone numbers, including wireless numbers, on the national Do Not Call registry by telephone or by Internet at no cost.

Consumers can register online for the national do-not-call registry by going to www.donotcall.gov.

To register by telephone, consumers may call 1-888-382-1222: for TTY call 1-866-290-4236.

Those wishing to register must call from the phone number they wish to register.

The National Do Not Call Registry is managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation's consumer protection agency. It is enforced by the FTC, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and state law enforcement officials.

The FTC's Web site notes that The National Do Not Call Registry gives you an opportunity to limit the telemarketing calls you receive. Once you register your phone number, telemarketers covered by the National Do Not Call Registry have up to 31 days from the date you register to stop calling you.

Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do Not Call Improvement Act of 2007, which became law in February 2008.

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