Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month

Posted by: Erik_B

Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 03:11 AM

Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month.- all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing
companies and you will start to receive sales 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. You must call from the
cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a
different phone number.

HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS... It takes about 20
seconds.


and now my little rant: THIS IS bull****!! HOW CAN THIS BE LEGAL? I CERTAINLY NEVER GAVE ANYONE PREMISSION TO HAND OUT MY CELLPHONE NUMBER TO THE WHOLE ****ING WORLD. AND THIS IS WORSE THAN THEM CALLING ME AT HOME, CUZ I DONT' GET CHARGED FOR EVERY INCOMING CALL ON A LANDLINE. THIS IS A WHOLE NOTHER LEVEL OF ASS-RAPING bull****!! F**K!!!1


Posted by: Arney

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 03:15 AM

Don't worry, just another urban myth.

From Snopes.com-- Celling Your Soul
Posted by: Erik_B

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 04:10 AM



i'm both very relieved that this if fake, and very pissed that i got all worked up over nothing
Posted by: haertig

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 04:26 AM

This myth has been circulating for years.
Posted by: Desperado

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 04:34 AM

Uh, Fellas.....

I hate to burst your bubble, but they were released in Texas. We do have a no call list here. It made quite a splash on the news a while back. Been too busy dodging Tornados this evening to look for the info.
Posted by: aloha

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 04:39 AM

I do get some text message spam from time to time as does my wife.
Posted by: haertig

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 07:00 AM

If you want to have some fun, plug the entire first sentence of the original post into Google:

Quote:
Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month.- all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing
companies and you will start to receive sales calls


Then paste the entire second sentence into Google:

Quote:
YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS


You'll find this hoax has been going around for years. And tons of official sounding people/news/websites claim it is true. Some people do get sales calls on their cellphones, often times because they screwed themselves by sending a text message in response to some freebie deal - and their phone number was "harvested" from that. But some people getting sales calls or robo-calls on their cellphones does not prove this hoax is true.

Don't believe everything you read.
Posted by: Mike_H

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 12:07 PM

Anyone who gets called on their cellphone via an autodialer can take serious actions. The FCC prohibits this!
Posted by: KG2V

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 12:41 PM

Originally Posted By: Mike_H
Anyone who gets called on their cellphone via an autodialer can take serious actions. The FCC prohibits this!


They'll get right to it after the IRS presses charges against Pols who don't pay their taxes
Posted by: Erik_B

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 12:55 PM

Originally Posted By: haertig
If you want to have some fun, plug the entire first sentence of the original post into Google:

Quote:
Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month.- all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing
companies and you will start to receive sales calls


Then paste the entire second sentence into Google:

Quote:
YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS


You'll find this hoax has been going around for years. And tons of official sounding people/news/websites claim it is true. Some people do get sales calls on their cellphones, often times because they screwed themselves by sending a text message in response to some freebie deal - and their phone number was "harvested" from that. But some people getting sales calls or robo-calls on their cellphones does not prove this hoax is true.

Don't believe everything you read.


yeah, i did just that after people on two different boards linked to two different pages debunking this. i went ahead and put my cell number on the no-call list anyway, since i HAVE been getting enough cell-spam to consider it a problem.
Posted by: Arney

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 02:00 PM

Originally Posted By: Desperado
I hate to burst your bubble, but they were released in Texas.

What exactly do you mean by "released"? That would conflict with Federal law if suddenly any and all cell phone numbers in Texas were fair game for cold calls from telemarketers.

One feature that I am very glad to have on my current cell phone is a reject caller list. I rarely get telemarketing calls so if I ever get a call from an unknown, especially out-of-town area code, I'll ignore the call and then go look up the number on Google. Nine times out of 10, people will be reporting it as a telemarketing call, so I just put it on the reject list for a while, my cell phone never rings when they call, and after a few days or maybe a week, they stop calling.

It's particularly handy for these numbers that seem to call folks multiple times a day and yet if they answer, there is never anyone on the line. Sounds like an over-zealous autodialing program, but it's illegal to call cell phones with one.

Fortunately, I have only needed to keep one number on the list at a time, rather than juggling a whole bunch of telemarketing numbers. I do have my cell number on the Do Not Call list and limit giving it out to any businesses, so that probably helps.
Posted by: Desperado

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 02:55 PM

Say what you may, but for a short period of time they were released. I do not know about now, but it did happen. I had to raise hell about it with A.T.&.T. in the past.

Don't know if it is still going on. I just do not answer if I do not recognize the caller. Checking VM is free.
Posted by: oldsoldier

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/11/09 03:35 PM

They arent releasing phone numbers; I work in telecommunications, and have been dealing with these rumors for over a year now. It is private information; you cannot search for it, in say the white pages, because of that. They will NOT be released next month. If they are, I will eat my hat. And, I REALLY dont want to do that, as I like my hat!!!
If ATT is the only one that did it, they did so either voluntarily, or accidentally. They certainly werent ORDERED to...my guess is someone either hacked them in TX, or a disgruntled employee released them. IF it were even true. And, depending on WHEN it happened, there may have been confusion as to what #'s were cells, and which ones were landlines.
Posted by: ki7he

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/19/09 02:12 AM

Why would these numbers need to be "released" anyway? I know what prefixes are used in a particular area. I don't have to have a list to just start dialing numbers. Telemarketers use autodialers so they start down a sequence of numbers.

I did add my cell number to the DO NOT CALL list for this very reason.
Posted by: Art_in_FL

Re: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public next month - 02/20/09 04:57 AM

Myth, but also, perhaps, a scam.

It is hard to image a better way to get your number than having people dial your server up and insert their phone number thinking they are excluding their phone number.

Related, a common thought about no-call lists is that spammers could easily site their company off-shore, where US laws don't apply, and they subcontract or lease dialer banks inside the US to make the actual calls. The key that makes this work for them is having your number. Which is pretty easy because the US government distributes the database of no-call numbers.

In effect by signing up for a no-call list you could be guaranteeing that scammers have your number. Evidently it hasn't happened much yet but ... in time. Something to keep an eye on.