News

Canadians moved a step closer yesterday to hanging up on annoying calls from telemarketers for good. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission released its long-awaited list of rules that will govern a national do-not-call list and announced it is set to begin looking for an independent operator to run the registry.

Senior citizens in Arizona are falling victim to a phone solicitation scam that could put their identity and finances at risk.

In general, the law has been a success. A 2006 Harris Interactive poll found that 92 percent of those who put their names on the list reported a reduction in telemarketing calls. Still, the Federal Trade Commission received more than 1.1 million complaints last year. And several gray areas continue to leave room for telemarketers to operate.

Today the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has passed S. 704, a bill that would make it a crime to spoof caller ID.

A Fort Lauderdale travel firm has been sued by Florida consumer regulators for violating the state's "Do Not Call" laws banning unsolicited telephone marketing to consumers.

Despite overwhelming public support for the ability to opt-out of unwanted telemarketing calls, the Canadian registry is still months or possibly years from becoming a reality – a victim of political indifference, special interest opposition, and Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission inaction.

Oregonians who sign up for the federal do-not-call list can now shed canned political calls along with those unwanted telemarketing pitches.

Voters hoping the General Assembly would ban political "robo-calls" will be disappointed during campaign season.

Canadian telemarketer Stephen Clark was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for bilking thousands of consumers in a phony credit-card scam. A former HSBC Holdings Plc executive got 6 years for helping him.

Using fake caller IDs to defraud or cause harm to people would be illegal under a bill the House passed by voice vote Tuesday.

A telephone solicitor who called Nampa residents offering carpet cleaning services has paid a $10,000 fine for violating the Do Not Call registry.

It's a call designed to tug at our patriotic heartstrings, a request to donate money to the American Legion. But is a telephone fundraising campaign legitimate? "Six On Your Side" found the answer depends on who you talk to about it.

Oregonians who have been less than thrilled with the way the federal government has run its "no call" program will soon have another option in the fight against unwanted telemarketers.

A Pennsylvania telemarketer has been ordered to stop doing business in Tennessee for 15 years and pay the state an additional $26,000 to resolve contempt allegations.

The N.C. Attorney General’s Office said yesterday that a company that makes unwanted “robo” calls to North Carolinians has been ordered to stop.

A man who headed a group of companies that ran illegal telemarketing schemes across North America and in Europe will do no jail time despite bilking hundreds of victims.

The Competition Bureau announced today that Michael Mouyal, 53, of Montreal, has been fined $1,000,000 for his role in a deceptive telemarketing scam that generated over $136-million in deceptive sales during a six-year period.

A Texas business that made telemarketing calls to Missourians on the No Call list to try to sell pre-paid burial plans will pay $15,000 under a court order obtained by Attorney General Jay Nixon.

News-Press has an interesting article on senior citizens and fraud. According to the 2000 Census, one out of every seven Americans is a senior citizen. While those aged 60 and older make up 15 percent of the national population, a full 30 percent of all cases of fraud are committed against them. That's twice the normal rate.