Stage Two, section 7: Relief from Telemarketers

At this stage of caregiving, your care receiver may be at home all day, a prime target for telemarketers including dishonest ones. If you and your care receiver have had enough of irritating and potentially dangerous sales solicitation calls from telemarketers, add your telephone numbers to the National or Florida Do Not Call Lists. This is a good idea for several reasons:

• It is annoynig and time consuming to be interrupted by telemarketers all day.
• Sales solicitations calls interfere with meals and other important activities.
• Frail older people may be talked into paying fees for "prizes" they think they won and ordering products thay don't need and cannot afford.
• There is a risk of revealing social security numbers, credit card numbers, and other personal information to thieves including those involved in identity theft.

The new National Do Not Call List is a function of the Federal Trade Commission. There is no cost to enroll in the program. Call the Federal Trade Commission's toll-free number, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or visit their web site, www.ftc.gov. Select "National Do Not Call Registry". For information on identity theft and other consumer issues, select "For Consumers". There are a few exceptions to the national list, including calls from charities and political candidates.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services also maintains a Florida "No Sales Solicitation Calls" List for residential, mobile, or telephonic paging device telephone subscribers. Business numbers cannot be included in this list. Most commercial telemarketers are prohibited from calling anyone on this list. Also, callers must accurately identify themselves and their business name so that anyone receiving such a call will know who is calling. Solicitors may still call under these circumstances:

• in response to an express request of the person being called
• in connection with an existing debt or contract
• any person with whom the solicitor has an exeisting or previous business relationship
• if it is a nespaper in connection with newspaper business
• if requesting a contribution or donation for a charitable organiztion
• on behalf of political candidates and political parties

The Florida list requires you to pay a fee. The list is updated quarterly, and your payment must be received at least two months prior to the beginning of the quarter. The fee for the first year is $10.00, with a $5.00 fee for renewal each year. Enrolling in the State program automatically enrolls you in the National program as well. The State list is legally very effective for callers based in Florida. For more information, call the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' toll-free hotline, 1-800-HELP-FLA (1-800-435-7352), or visit their web site, www.800helpfla.com.

Instructions for applying and forms for filing complaints are included on the web site, as is other information for Florida consumers. After being added to the list, you are encouraged to report violators by getting as much information as possible about the caller before filing a complaint online or on a preprinted postcard sent to subscribers as part of the "No Sales Solicitation Calls" service. Complaints from consumers are helping Florida stop violators.

With crimes like identity theft growing at an alarming rate, it is important to reduce the opportunities to be a victim. See "Resolving Consumer Problems" in the More Resources and Tips section. This article also describes resources such as the Senior Victim Advocate Program of the Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas, Inc. and legal assistance, two resources for victims of crimes.

More Resources

• Pasco County Consumer Affairs: In West Pasco call 727-847-8110 and in East Pasco call 352-521-5179 for consumer assistance.

• Pinellas County Department of Consumer Protection: www.pinellascounty.org/consumer, telephone 727-464-6200. Database of consumer complaints against businesses, online complaint form, consumer tips and brochures.

• Better Business Bureau (BBB) of West Florida: www.bbbwestflorida.org, telephone 727-535-5522 or 727-842-5459. Database of companies, online complaint form, help in resolving consumer problems, BBB locator.

• Consumer: www.consumer.gov. Federal information resource covers new products, food, money, health, transportation, home and community, etc

• Consumer Identity Theft: www.consumer.gov/idtheft. Prevention and recovery, online complaint forms.

• National Center for Victims of Crime: www.ncvc.org. This site provides a toll-free helpline, a virtual library, and information about public policy, civil litigation, and related information for victims of crime.

• National Fraud Information Center: www.fraud.org. This is a source for information about telemarketing and Internet Fraud.

• U. S. Department of Justice: www.usdoj.gov. This site includes information on elder justice and victims of crime.

In addition, some local newspapers and television news departments offer consumer investigators, and sections of their web sites are dedicated to consumer issues. For a listing of these and other useful web sites, see <a href="How Do I Resolve Consumer Complaints or Caregiver Websites.