How to Stop Telemarketers and Junk Mail

Your home phone number and address are a hotly traded commodity for retailers, telemarketers, credit card companies and direct-mail companies. Guard your private information carefully to help prevent it from getting into their hands. Here are some tips to put an end to unsolicited annoyances.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Telemarketers

1. Try not to give out your phone number to businesses. Read waivers carefully; some waivers are written deliberately to confuse the consumer. Financial institutions need your permission to sell your personal information.
2. Never give your phone number when filling out survey, contest, warranty or sweepstakes forms. These are specifically designed to gather phone numbers and addresses.
3. Keep your home number unlisted to make it more difficult for telemarketers to track you down. Consider getting a new, unlisted phone number if telemarketing calls are out of control.
4. Buy a phone that has a caller ID display so you can screen incoming calls. Allow voice mail to pick up if the incoming call number is blocked or unfamiliar. A phone with caller ID helps you skirt the extra fees phone companies charge for their callblocking services.
5. If you do receive a sales call, ask the caller to "place this number on your 'Do Not Call' list." Under federal law, a company cannot call you again for a specified period of time once you make this request. If you have multiple phone lines, ask the caller to put those numbers on the company's Do Not Call list, too.
6. Add your home and mobile numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry and to any similar "Do Not Call" list that your state may have.
7. If you want to document your request so that you can sue the company if it doesn't follow through, ask for the person's name and the company's name and phone number or address. You are entitled to this information under law.
8. Keep a log by your phone to document the companies you have told to put you on their Do Not Call list and the date and time of these calls. If they call you again, you have a right to sue them for up to $500 per call.
9. If you want to make telemarketers jump through extra hoops, request a written copy of their Do Not Call policy. They are required to mail this document to you if you request it, and you can sue them for $500 if they fail to do so.

Junk mail

10. Protect your address just like you protect your phone number. Do not give it out to businesses unless necessary. Ask the phone company to omit your address from your listing if you list your phone number at all.
11. If you must share your address with a company, request in person or in writing that the company not sell, share or rent your information.
12. When you move, do not fill out a change-of-address form at the post office. The post office sells this information. Use a temporary mail-forwarding form, which is not sold, to redirect your mail while you contact relevant people and businesses individually.
13. Do not use supermarket club cards, which are used to track your spending habits for marketing purposes. Shop at stores that do not offer club cards, or register as a "John Doe" if you can't avoid club cards.
14. Avoid sending in product warranty cards if you can. Read the fine print to make sure it is absolutely necessary before you do so. These cards are designed to collect people's private information. If you do send one in, be sure to write "Do not sell, share or rent my information" on it.
15. When you donate money to a charity or nonprofit, request that they do not sell, share or rent your information to other parties.
16. Contact the Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service (). Your name will be added to a database of addresses that do not want unsolicited mail; many national direct mailers will respect this request.
Call 1-888-5OPT-OUT to bar credit rating agencies from sharing your information for two years. You'll need to provide your social security number when you call. Financial institutions are some of the worst junk-mail offenders.
Conduct a search online for "stop junk mail" to find various services that will do the legwork for you--for a fee.

Tips & Warnings

• Tax-exempt charities and opinion polls are not covered under the FCC's telemarketing laws.
• Under federal law, telemarketers must inform you that they are trying to sell you goods or services. If they mislead you about the purpose of their call, you can report them to the FCC and they may be fined up to $10,000.
• See also How to Get Rid of E-mail Spam.

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