How to Stop Telemarketing and Junk Mail

Consumer’s EdgeConsumer’s Edge

Consumer Protection Division, Maryland Office of the Attorney General

How to Stop Telemarketing Calls

and Junk Mail

Tired of annoying telemarketing calls and junk mail lling

your mailbox? There are steps you can take to get o the

lists for these calls and mailings. You won’t be able to

stop all of them, but you will be able to reduce the number

you receive.

Turning o Telemarketing

1. Keep your phone number to yourself. Don’t put your

phone numbers on forms, or give it to businesses, unless

absolutely necessary. Whenever you give a business your

number, ask that they not share it with other companies.

Don’t print your phone number on your checks.

2. Register with the National Do Not Call Registry. The

federal government created this national registry. You may

1-888-382-1222 (TTY 1-866-290-4236) from the number

you wish to register. You can also register online at www.

donotcall.gov if you have an active email address. Regis-

tration is free. Your number will stay in the registry until

it’s disconnected, or until you delete it from the registry.

You can expect fewer calls within three months of the date

you sign up for the registry.

Placing your number on the National Do Not Call Regis-

try will stop most telemarketing calls, but not all. You may

still receive calls from political organizations, charities,

telephone surveyors, and companies with which you have

an existing business relationship. A company with which

you have an established business relationship may call

you for up to 18 months after your last purchase or deliv-

ery from it, or your last payment to it, unless you ask the

company not to call again. Also, if you make an inquiry

to a company or submit an application to it, the company

can call you for three months afterwards. If you make a

specic request to that company not to call you, however,

then the company may not call you.

3. Ask to be put on individual companies’ “do not

call” lists. When you get a telemarketing call, if

you just hang up or say “I’m not interested,” the company

may call back at another time. Instead, every time you get

a telemarketing call, say “Put me on your ‘do not call’ list.”

The Federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act requires

companies to keep this list. Your request must be honored

for 10 years. Exception: Nonprot organizations don’t have

to comply with this law.

4. Get an unlisted number. Getting an unlisted number

can cut down on telemarketing calls. It will not prevent

calls from companies that dial numbers in sequential order

by computer.

5. Be aware that phone technology allows companies to

see and “capture” the numbers of callers. Some compa-

nies add the numbers to a marketing list. At no cost, you

can block your number from being displayed by dialing

*67 and waiting for a dial tone before making a call. How-

ever, this “per call blocking” does not work when calling

toll-free numbers, or 911.

6. Investigate whether call blocking can help. There are

online call blocking services, call blocking boxes, phone

company services, and smartphone apps that block un-

wanted calls. Research whether the service costs money

and whether it’s eective. Do an online search to look for

reviews from experts and other users.

7. Screen calls and hang up on auto-dialers. If all else

fails, you can avoid having to talk with telemarketers by

using voicemail to “screen” your calls before you decide to

pick up. Many telemarketers hang up if they reach voice-

mail. Also, learn to recognize the sounds of an auto-dialer.

If you answer your phone, and there is a pause, it may be

an autodialer. If you don’t want to be connected to a sales

representative, just hang up. Dierent people nd dier-

ent ways of dealing with telemarketers. For example, you

may be content to avoid sales discussions by hanging up

on auto-dialers. Another person may be so annoyed that

they will stay on the line in order to tell the caller they

want to be put on the company’s “do not call” list.

Issue #96

January 2023

Anthony G. Brown, Maryland Attorney General

Blocking Junk Mail

1. Tell the credit reporting agencies that you don’t

want to receive pre-approved oers of credit. Those

credit card oers that come in the mail are from com-

panies who get your name and address from one of the

credit reporting agencies. You can tell all three of the

major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and

TransUnion) to remove your name from their mailing

list by calling one toll-free number, 1-888-5-OPT-OUT

(1-888-567-8688), or online at www.optoutprescreen.com.

Your request will be honored for ve years. You can also

request to opt-out permanently.

2. Tell magazines and charities that you don’t want

them to share your name and address with other

businesses or charities. Contact magazines to which

you subscribe and charities to which you donate. Request

the same from mail order companies you order from and

cancel catalogs you don’t use.

3. Read the privacy policies of your credit cards and

banks. The policies must give you an “opt-out” option,

by which you can tell the bank not to share your personal

information with other companies. The bank may still be

allowed to share your information with “aliate” compa-

nies it has a relationship with.

4. Think twice before entering sweepstakes and draw-

ings. The main purpose of many contests is to compile

mailing lists. If you enter one contest, you are likely to re-

ceive mailings from other contests. Avoid entering sweep-

stakes unless you can “opt-out” of being put on a mailing

list (read the contest rules).

5. Don’t ll out warranty or product registration

cards. Most cards are used to compile information on

consumers that are sold to companies for marketing

purposes. Most times your receipt will ensure that you are

covered by the product warranty if the item turns out to

be defective. If you decide to send in the card, don’t ll

out the “lifestyle” information, such as your income or

hobbies.

6. Send it back. Junk mail that arrives in envelopes

stamped “Address Correction Requested” or “Return

Postage Guaranteed” can be returned unopened by writing

“Refused – Return to Sender” on the envelope. This may

encourage the company that mailed it to you to remove

you from its mailing list.

More Help

Read more about your rights under the Telephone Customer

Protection Act on the Federal Communications Commis-

sion website at www.fcc.gov/telephone.

Read about how to avoid telemarketing fraud at the Federal

Trade Commission website at consumer.ftc.gov.

How to contact us

Maryland

Attorney General

Anthony G. Brown

www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov

The Consumer’s Edge is produced by the Maryland Attorney

General’s Office. Reproductions are encouraged.

Consumer Protection Division

200 St. Paul Place, 16th Fl., Baltimore, MD 21202

• General Consumer Complaints: 410-528-8662

Toll-free: 1-888-743-0023 TDD: 410-576-6372

En español: 410-230-1712

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday

www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/CPD/

• Health Consumer Complaints: 410-528-1840

Toll-free: 1-877-261-8807 TDD: 410-576-6372

9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday

www.marylandcares.org

• For information on branch oces in Largo, Salisbury,

Hagerstown, and a full list of oces across Maryland, visit: