Do Not Call

Go to the website https://www.donotcall.gov/ and enter your landline or cell number. There is an e-mail verification and you are done. You can also call 888-382-1222 from any phone you want on the list. Your number stays on the list until you ask for it to be removed or you give up the number.

If you receive a phone call from someone claiming to work at the Do Not Call Registry or Federal Trade Commission and they offer to sign you up if you provide some personal information, do not respond. This is always a scam.

The Do Not Call list keeps you off of for-profit business call lists, but it can take up to 31 days before it goes into effect. If you receive an unexpected sales call after you registered your number, and you have been on the list for 31 days, you may file a complaint. Go to the donotcall.gov site above or call 888-382-1222. You will be asked to provide the date of the call and the company's name or phone number.

Unfortunately, political organizations, charities, and survey takers are still permitted to call you. Businesses you purchased from or made a payment to in the last 18 months also have a right to call. If you ask them not to, they must honor your request.  Political and informational robocalls, such as those from health care providers, banks, and schools, are still allowed.

The fine print on free product offers may say the company may send you telemarketing calls.

In spite of frequent email hoaxes, mobile telephone numbers have never been in any danger of being made public or released to telemarketers. The FTC says that unsolicited telemarketing calls or robocalls to cellphones are illegal. If you get unsolicited marketing calls on your cellphone, tell them you do not want to be contacted and you can file a complaint using the information above.

If you sign up and still receive a telemarketing call, it is most likely the person on the other end is a scammer. Legitimate telemarketers do not want to risk a $16,000 fine for disregarding a number on the list.

LifeLock and Identity Theft

The Federal Trade Commission and a consortium of state attorneys general have reached a $12 million agreement with an identity theft protection service provider to settle charges that the company used false claims in its advertising. The FTC also charged that its service provided no protection against certain forms of identity theft, including medical identity theft.

LifeLock made promotional claims such as the following: “By now you've heard about individuals whose identities have been stolen by identity thieves … LifeLock protects against this ever happening to you. Guaranteed.”

The forms of protection LifeLock employed as part of its service, placing fraud alerts on customers' credit files “protected only against certain forms of identity theft and gave them no protection against the misuse of existing accounts, the most common type of identity theft,” the FTC release said, adding, “It also allegedly provided no protection against medical identity theft or employment identity theft, in which thieves use personal information to get medical care or apply for jobs. You can place your own fraud alerts on your credit files, but it is a pain to get credit, etc.