UPDATED: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public This Month! Truth or Hoax?

UPDATED

I just received this email from a friend, but it could be a hoax:

REMEMBER: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public this month.

REMINDER.....  all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls.

YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS.

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222

It is the National DO NOT CALL list.  It will only take a minute of  your time.. It blocks your number for five (5) years.

You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.
However, Donna, Exrelayman, and Garnet have all pointed out in the comments on this post that the email is most likely a widespread hoax that was unwittingly passed on by my friend and me.  I think they are right. 

I apologize for my blunder, and I hope I have not caused any harm. New New Year's Resolution: Learn to use Google! 

12 comments:

  1. Thanks Paul. I'm going to do this right away.

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  2. Crimeny! Now the telemarketers are targeting cell phones.

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  3. Thanks Paul, however, the previous do not call list for land lines that turned out to be a joke.

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  4. I did a search for 'cell phone numbers go public'. A great number of sites showed up to state that this is a recurring hoax.

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  5. Taken from FTC Q&A about 'National Do Not Call List':

    "Can I register my cell phone on the National Do Not Call Registry?

    Yes, you may place your personal cell phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry. The registry has accepted cell phone numbers since it opened for registrations in June 2003. There is no deadline to register a home or cell phone number on the Registry.

    You may have received an email telling you that your cell phone is about to be assaulted by telemarketing calls as a result of a new cell phone number database; however, that is not the case. FCC regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers don’t call consumers on their cell phones without their consent."

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  6. @ Donna, Exrelayman, and Garnet: If this blog were a business, I'd be forced to give you a pay raise about now. Thank you so much for catching this! I'm sorry I didn't, and I hope I haven't done any harm.

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  7. @ Jon and Ahab: It appears to have been a hoax. I'm sorry and I hope I haven't done any harm.

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  8. No harm done, of course. Your intention (to save us from Evil Telemarketers) is unassailable! Thank you. And if this blog were a business, you'd be the honorable and wealthy CEO of the successful enterprise and would think nothing of giving smarty-pants VPs a raise. (in your fantasy Cafe Corporation, I'm a VP. Just so you know.) *laugh*

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Garnet! I can easily agree that you would be a VP. At least, until I retired, and then you might become president.

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  9. I saw it and others had let you know so I had nothing to add. Both my numbers have been on the DNC for decades. I still get a daily recorded call on both from something called Card Member Services offering to offer lower my interest. What interests me is why they are calling me since I have no credit cards and when I ask them to take my name off their list,
    they hang up and call again the next day. Sigh. This has been going on for a year. If I could find out who they are, I'd sue them.

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    Replies
    1. I second that emotion. I'm really, really tired of rushing to the phone to hear this message.

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  10. Oh well, my cell phone number is now on the do not call list anyway.

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Comments Welcome -- but no flaming. If you wish, you can email me at paul_sunstone@q.com