Telemarketing and Your Privacy

Responding to telemarketers has became a daily event for consumers over the past 20 years. We all receive those telephone marketing calls, frequently of the ?cold call? variety, and usually while we are sitting at our dinner tables. Telemarketing is profitable, and sometimes consumers find it useful, but most of the time we have no interest whatsoever in the product or service being offered and would like nothing better than to stop the calls. Even worse, telemarketing calls often involve phony sales pitches or scams.

What can you do to protect yourself from unwanted calls and from telemarketing scams? As a first step, limit the information that you give out about yourself. Don’t provide information that isn’t necessary for the transaction. Businesses may ask about your age, interests, and income on order forms, warranty forms, Web site registrations, customer surveys, and other materials. This information helps companies learn more about their customers, but it can also be used for marketing purposes. Don’t just fill in the blanks without thinking about whether you want to limit the information you supply. For example, if you’d rather get offers through the mail than by email, don’t provide your email address unless it is necessary for some other purpose.

Be anonymous. If you are especially concerned about protecting your privacy online – for example, if you are researching something particularly sensitive such as health products or services – you can use anonymous remailers to mask your identity. In the physical world, there may also be situations in which you decide you don’t want to reveal your identity. For example, when you’re applying for “scanner cards” to get discounts at supermarkets and other stores, your name and address aren’t really needed unless you also want check-cashing privileges. If there is no way to get a card without giving your personal information and no option to avoid getting on marketing lists, consider using a fictitious name and address.

Think twice before entering contests. Don’t fill out entry forms unless a legitimate company is running the contest and you know its privacy policy. These forms are often used to build marketing lists and con artists use them to identify possible victims.

Know the privacy policy. Companies’ web sites, credit applications, catalogues, and mailings may explain what personal information they collect and how they use it. Privacy policies should also explain what control you have over your personal information and how to exercise it. If you don’t see a privacy policy, ask about it.

Understand your privacy choices. Some privacy policies are clear, but others may be hard to decipher. You may have several options for how companies use your information for their own purposes and how they share it with others. Or your choices may be very limited. If the policy isn’t clear, ask for an explanation. If there is no privacy policy or it doesn’t allow you to avoid unwanted marketing, take your business elsewhere.

Know when your personal information is being collected. For example, do you know that when you call an 800 number, the company may use "Automatic Number Identification" to see the number you’re calling from? If you have an account with the company or have done business with it before, this enables the customer service representative to pull your information up on the computer and be ready to help you. If you’re not already a customer, the company can use a "reverse directory" to find your address through your phone number. Ask if your information is being collected, and for what purposes, and tell the company if you don’t want to be put on a marketing list.

Understand that unlisted and unpublished phone numbers don’t guarantee privacy. Over time, you’ve probably provided your phone number to many government agencies, businesses, and organizations. Once your number is "out there," it can be shared widely, even if it’s not in the phone directory or not given out by the telephone company. Some marketers simply use random dialing or automatic dialing machines that are programmed to call numbers in sequence.

What Can You Do To Avoid Falling Victim To Telemarketing Fraud?
A telemarketing fraud scheme often begins when you receive a postcard or letter in the mail describing an appealing offer. To take advantage of the offer, you're told to call a 900 number or a toll-free 800 number. When you call, the telemarketer has a convincing sales pitch.

Protect yourself from becoming the victim of such fraud by remembering the following tip-offs, which will help you decide whether to deal with the promoter.

The offer sounds too good to be true. An unbelievable-sounding deal probably is not true.

High-pressure sales tactics. A swindler often refuses to take no for an answer; he has a sensible-sounding answer for your every hesitation, inquiry, or objection.

Insistence on an immediate decision. Swindlers often say you must make a decision "right now," and they usually give a reason, like, "The offer will expire soon."

You are one of just a few people eligible for the offer. Don't believe it. Swindlers often send out hundreds of thousands--and sometimes millions--of solicitations to consumers across the nation.

Your credit card number is requested for verification. Do not provide your credit card number (or even just its expiration date) if you are not making a purchase, even if you are asked for it for "identification" or "verification" purposes, or to prove "eligibility" for the offer. If you give your card number, the swindler may make unauthorized charges to your account, even if you decide not to buy anything. Once that is done, it may be very hard to get your money back.

You are urged to provide money quickly. A crook may try to impress upon you the urgency of making an immediate decision by offering to send a delivery service to your home or office to pick up your check. This may be to get your money before you have a chance to think carefully about the offer and change your mind, or to avoid the possibility of mail fraud charges in the future.

There is no risk. All investments have some risk, except for U.S. Government obligations. And if you are dealing with a swindler, any "money-back guarantee" he makes will simply not be honored.

You are given no detailed written information. If you must send money or provide a credit card number before the telemarketer gives you the details in writing, be skeptical. Do not accept excuses such as, "It's such a new offer we don't have any written materials yet," or "You'll get written information after you pay."

You are asked to trust the telemarketer. A swindler, unable to get you to take the bait with all of his other gimmicks, may ask you to "trust" him. Be careful about trusting a stranger you talk to on the phone.

You are told you have won a prize, but you must pay for something before you can receive it. This payment can either be a requirement to purchase a minimum order of cleaning supplies or vitamins, or it can be a shipping/handling charge or a processing fee. Do not deal with a promoter who uses this tactic.


Websites About Your Privacy Rights

http://www.consumerprivacyguide.org
http://www.fcc.gov/ cib/information_directory.html
http://www.gilc.org/ speech/anonymous/remailer.html
http://www.junkbusters.com/

Spam
http://www.privacyrights.org/ fs/fs20-spam.htm
http://www.spamlaws.com/

Opting Out
http://www.junkbusters.com/ optout.html
http://www.privacyrightsnow.org/
http://www.privacyrights.org/ fs/fs24a-letter.htm
http://www.consumerprivacyguide.org/ howto/optout.shtml