Learn How to Avoid Telemarketing Scams

With increasing numbers of complaints lodged against fraudulent telemarketing, the Federal Trade Commission has set few telemarketing sale rules. All the telemarketing callers need to abide by these rules. In case of violation of these, the sellers are subjected to fines and imprisonment. Telemarketing scams claim an amount above $40 billions every year. The telemarketing sale rules have been introduced to make sure that the consumers are protected from the fraudulent and deceptive telesellers.

Rules and Regulations

To avoid these scams, the Federal Trade Commission has enforced Telemarketing Sale Rules or TSR in 1995. On January 29, 2003, an amendment was introduced to the original law. The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act has been made effective by the amendment. This legislation ensures that telemarketing fraud is resisted.  FTC and other related law enforcement agencies have tools to combat it so that consumers can differentiate between legitimate and fraudulent telemarketers.

As per the laws of FTC, a company cannot call you if you have restricted it from calling. Also, the timing of the call is restricted. A legitimate company would not call you between 9 pm to 8 am. The telemarketers would have to mention that they are calling on behalf of an organization and the product they are selling. If they promise of a sweepstake or prize, it has to be free. If you are asked to buy or pay something to enter into the competition or lucky draw, hang up immediately, because US law mentions it explicitly that a consumer does not need to pay anything to win a prize. Also, you must know that it is mandatory for the telemarketers to let you know about the odds of winning any prize or if there are any restrictions related to it.

Telemarketers also cannot mislead the consumers about the potential of returns from any risky investment, prize scheme, or their usual products. While briefing their products, they should be transparent about the cost and restrictions in availability. Any hidden cost incurred extraneous to what have been told would be regarded as violation. Nature of the sale, that is refundable or not has to be told prior to the purchase made. They are neither allowed to use your checking account details for money withdrawal until you authorize them to, nor can make you pay in advance before you receive the service.

Rights and Responsibilities of the Individual

If you have a telephone connection, you are susceptible to such traps. Telephone scams originate from a broiler room and aims at enticing you with lucrative offers. So, you should also be aware of your rights and responsibilities to be off from the tactics of the telemarketers. First of all, you should know that there are no such services for which you need to pay an up front fee- not even for loan or prize offers. If you do not wish to get telemarketing calls, ask them not to call. If they do not put you on “do not call” list and call you back, they will be charged a fine up to $10,000.

When a caller claiming to represent a credit repair company offers to wipe off the negative records from your credit history, don’t entertain the call because only time can provide you this service. Also, if a caller from financial organization guarantees you a loan with an advance fee, hang up. To report telemarketing scams, visit the website of FTC https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ and to the State Attorney General. Provide the number and the name of the caller, and date and time of the call. This will help the law enforcement agencies to investigate about these scammers.

Information on Specific Types of Telemarketing Scams:

Buying Club Memberships

Charities & Fundraising

Credit & Loan Offers

Government Grants

ID Theft

Medical Discount and Medicare Part D Plans

Reloading Scams

Sweepstakes & Lotteries

Travel

Work-at-Home and Business Opportunities

Voter Registration

Phishing Texts