Is your cell phone number going public to telemarketers this month if you don’t sign up for the National Do Not Call list? That’s the message that’s spreading across social media and one that’s made the rounds online before.
The post warns readers that unless they put their cell phone number on that National Do Not Call list, that mobile number will be released to telemarketers this month and they will pay the price for those sales calls.
The FTC’s website says, in bold, “Despite viral email, there is no new cell phone database.” They go on to say, “The government is not releasing cell phone numbers to telemarketers” and “there is no deadline for registering a cell phone number on the Do Not Call Registry.”
On the Do Not Call Registry’s webpage, there’s an alert in red text warning people about “fake emails” with misinformation.
On the FCC website, officials say paint the post as a big misunderstanding that sparked when cell phone companies talked about creating a directory for wireless phones. They say even if that directory is set up, most telemarketing calls to a cell phone would still be illegal.
KHOU can verify the claims made in the viral post are false.