Tens of thousands of us apparently hate those telemarketers, as Iowa residents continue to sign up in droves for the national “do not call” list. Bob Brammer, spokesman for the Iowa Attorney General, says the latest monthly update was a bit of a surprise. Iowa has registered more than 787-thousand phones, a huge jump in the past few months, up about 80-thousand since November. Brammer attributes the rapid rise to a rumor floating around about a cell phone number directory that’ll allegedly be published which will bring more telemarketing calls to cell phones. The Internet-based rumor urges people to register their cell phones with the “do not call” list. Brammer says the rumor is false, although people can register their cell phone numbers on the “do not call” list, if they’d like. While there is now no such cell phone number list, he says some companies are considering creating such a directory but it would be voluntary. Brammer says there -is- a new law on telemarketing that took effect January first. It forces telemarketers to update or “scrub” their do-not-call lists every single month. Before, telemarketers had to scrub their lists only once every three months. To get placed on the registry, call 888-382-1222 from the telephone number you wish to register, or log on to “www.donotcall.gov”. Over the past year, consumers have registered more than 80-million numbers nationwide.
