PSA

[emmagrant01]

Have you recieved this email?

JUST A REMINDER, 14 days from today, cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale 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.

PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.

I'm always surprised that people don't do a little research before passing these things along. Half of my family is freaking out about this one, but I haven't been able to dig up any evidence that it's true. According to snopes.com, this is a HOAX. In fact, it's currently the number one hottest urban legend on their list!

A quote:

"... the anxiety is unfounded. First, it's illegal to make sales pitches to wireless phones by using automatic dialers -- which is how the vast majority of telemarketing calls are placed. (One reason is that cellular users must pay for incoming calls.)

Also, most of the big wireless carriers have chosen either not to take part in the directory or to put off any plans to do so in light of consumer fears. They say any directory would include only those customers who agreed to participate and that the numbers would not be shared with telemarketers or anyone else. Congress has considered a bill to codify such rules."

And:

"A national directory will be compiled, but numbers will be included on an opt-in basis. If a cell phone subscriber does nothing, the number will not be listed. When the directory is ready, it will be available only as part of the existing 411 directory service, accessed by calling in and asking for a specific number. It will not be published in a book or on the Internet. And it will not be sold to telemarketers.

Cell phone subscribers can list their numbers on the do-not-call registry if they choose, but there is no deadline to get on the list, as the e-mail messages now circulating suggest."

Feel free to pass this along.

Comments

[shadowpryde.livejournal.com]

Woohoo! Go Emma with informing the ignorant masses. {grins}

-DL-

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I'm just sick of getting this email! :-P

[rabidpotterfan.livejournal.com]

I had a feeling this was BS when I got that e-mail from six different people. I just hadn't had time to check it out yet. Thanks for letting us know. :)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

It's the sort of thing that screams "hoax", you know? I mean, my cell phone company would have sent me information about it if it was something I really needed to do. I'm pretty sure they're legally required to do so.

[greyandgrey.livejournal.com]

just in response to your icon: well obviously! it's to keep ernie company in the bath when burt is busy!

[physixxx.livejournal.com]

that email is just as annoying as:

1) bill gates will send money if you forwaard this email
2) the US Gov't is gonna start taxing emails

however, it's NOT quite as annoying as

1) ha ha you've opened this email and now you must forward the email to 10 people in th next hour or you'll have the worst-week-ever.

the chain emails are ESPECIALLY heinous (imo) because WHAT IF IT WAS TRUE? what IF, by not forwarding the email, you were cosmically dispositioned to have a week's worth of bad luck... that's awfully rude for someone to put you in that situation, eh? so not ONLY is it just annoying, but it's rude, too. well, if it could really happen, that is.

oh, well... enough rambling.

i feel you on your writer's block, however.


i find that smoking crack helps.



just kidding.


take care, love


excelsior!

[eleal.livejournal.com]

I had heard maybe a year ago that telemarketers would be able to call cell phones, and that we should register all of our numbers with www.donotcal.gov.

My hoax radar is usually pretty good - so I think it was the real thing back then. I am curious though if it was ever really a worry!

[sorion.livejournal.com]

*snorts* Are there people actually falling for that?


It is the National DO NOT CALL list.

*giggles* That's a good one... XD

[dahlia-777.livejournal.com]

Presumably that "national do not call list" number is a premium rate line that will eat up the money of anyone daft enough to call it. *Sighs*

[phaballa.livejournal.com]

My mom gets so freaked out by that shit. It always amazes me by how willing she is to believe strangers from the internet who randomly email her to inform her of these things. Ridiculous.

[karaz.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I'm so tired of getting that email too. I want to shout, "It's been more than 14 days already people." I've been getting that for about a year now. ;)

[ice-is-blue.livejournal.com]

I absolutely abhor hoxes, spam, and chain letters. It's worse, though, when they're actually dangerous. This one, people suspect, will just lose you a bit of money, but there's one out there that can hurt lives:

Doug Copp's "Triangle of Life" earthquake survival.

Now, I live in an area where there are a lot of earthquakes, and so do the three separate people who sent this to me, but not a single one of them questioned the validity of the 'excerpt' And one of them was even dumb enough to think it was the new government recommendations.

Copp's authority is highly questionable and the advice in the email is based on observations he made in Turkey, where building codes are substantially different. The American Red Cross has taken direct action to refute the article. Copp is under investigation by a U.S. Department of Justice fraud unit for his money grubbing activities done in NYC during 9/11. And what kicks me, is that this hoax is more than a year old, but I got two forwards last month. *sigh* (Article support citations available upon request, but they're not that hard to find.)

I really, really hate that people don't think and question before they accept things (or spread them around). Moreover, it's downright scary. People are bleating sheep. willing to be led to wherever, as long as they feel safe. If people can't make a correct critical decision about something like this, how can they function when judging trickier issues like who to elect?

From the "Information for Consumers" link on the National Do Not Call Registry website:

What Phone Numbers Can I Register?

10. 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.

[liesbyomission.livejournal.com]

My mom saw that notice over a year ago in a publication she receives in relation to her business. So she put all our cell numbers on the Do Not Call list right away. -_- I explained that it was a hoax, so she wrote to the publication saying so, but they still published it again the next month. Jeez...

[amy-leone.livejournal.com]

Lol, I work at my local school district, and about two years ago this went oot to all staff members on district email. Then, just to make sure, someone printed it out, copied it, and had it placed in every individual staff member's hardcopy mailbox at every single school! I laughed pretty hard, let me tell you!

[yarnguy716.livejournal.com]

It's that whole mind-set of they see it in print, so it must be true. Which is why the tabloid press makes so much money. People will believe anything they see written.

This rates up there with the $499 Neaman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (which makes cookies that are like sawdust), the Walt Disney's son giving away stock in Disney World, Bill Gates and (name the other big corporation) giving away thousands of dollars if you send out lots of emails and the list goes on.

Personally I think some people just need to turn off the computer and spend some time reading a good book.

[frances-veritas.livejournal.com]

Well, thank you very much. It's always nice to know that there's actually people there who do research on all the spam email we get to see if they're actually true.

Thanks for the information:-)

[nimroddess.livejournal.com]

I get emails like this all the time from my mother and I have to set her straight. The thing that tipped me off about this one was that it didn't give a date - just "so many days from now" (mind said 30). If people just keep forwarding the email, the deadline date will keep changing. I was afraid it was some kind of scam to sign you up to something malicious, but I called the number and as far as I can tell it's legit. When they first introduced the Do Not Call List, I registered my cell number *just in case* even though I was aware telemarketers were not supposed to call cell numbers. I do actually get some calls to my cell anyway though, strangely enough. As it says above, it's not like it's going to hurt anyone to register their cell number, but why the sudden panic?

[daybreaq.livejournal.com]

{shrug} I see this hoax/urban legend/chain letter as pretty much harmless at worst.
I also suspect whoever started the chain likely did so innocently misunderstanding the directory issue. This is unlike most chain letters which are malicious in their intent. I first saw it actually when someone from our managing office sent out a letter to our office to post on the wall. It did seem suspect to me; but the do-not-call registry number provided is the real one and it really does only take five minutes. So I figured it couldn't hurt and registered my cell phone number anyway. Now here's where the e-mail is actually HELPFUL! {Gasp! You mean being a stupid sucker isn't so terrible? Say it isn't so!!) I saw how easy it was and registered my land line. It worked wonderfully and knocked out a large number of the telemarketing calls I used to get. So, sorry, I just can't get all indignant about being "hoaxed" here.