Listing your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry will only reduce the number of nuisance calls you get. Legitimate, law-abiding commercial telemarketers will stop cold-calling you – eventually (after 31 days).

Scammers will continue to call. In fact, more scammers will call, since they get your number from the NDNCR. These scammers have discovered that prosecution and fines rarely occur. If they are fined, it’s usually a manageable cost of doing business, anyway.

Which is why I rarely answer the phone anymore. I only keep the ringer on to remind me to check my messages. I also scan the caller ID log to see who called. You can find out who the dinner time and Sunday morning callers are. For some perverse reason, annoying scammers will call during the most inopportune hours.

To find out Who Called, I log on to WhoCalled.us and enter their phone number. If there are previous reports about the number, you’ll see them. You can even click the “Show map” link and see where this number is calling.

Here are some recent numbers I ran through WhoCalled.us, and their results.

603-214-3648 – “Freedom Ring Communications, LLC,” a reported credit card scammer from Errol, New Hampshire, mostly active in last 2 weeks.

978-570-2268 – “Teleport Communications Group,” a dubious card services company from Wilmington, Massachusetts, active since August, 2008, and associated with 603-214-3648.

800-267-3277 – Sears sales call centre, active since January, 2008. Oh yeah, my new curtain rods have arrived.

Some simple rules of thumb if you’re tempted to answer the phone:

• always check the caller ID
• avoid 800, 888, 877, 866, and 855 area codes – toll free numbers are usually bad news
• avoid “private caller” or “blocked” numbers
• avoid numbers with unfamiliar area codes
• avoid calling any solicitor back, especially if it’s a 900 area code (which will charge you at an exorbitant rate)
• avoid giving ANY information to an unknown caller; a real call from your bank or credit card company would already have your personal information

If you take a call – even a non-scamming call such as a delivery call from Sears – remember the details and log it onto WhoCalled.us to help others by building the available information. WE are the phone police, because the “authorities” will do next to absolutely nothing to protect you.

Scrud Kelley

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