Important Announcement for Cell Phone Users

[culax]

REMINDER....12 days from today, 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.


I just received an email from a reputable source with the above warning. Don't know how accurate it is, but I called and added my cell number just to be safe.


Think I'm smelling a class-action lawsuit.

[Adam Gamradt]

I smell an urban legend.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/cell411.asp

[Jolly Roger]

I smell last night's burrito - but that has nothing to do with this topic

[Zeuslax]

Not any urban legend at all, except cell companies have already sold info to telemarketers. Just after the release of records I received a battery of calls. There was a little clip on CNN about the do not call registry and how to avoid this new phenomenon. So, I gave it a call. I registered my cell about 4 years ago and haven't received a call since.

[pstirling]

Am I the only person in this forum without a cell phone? I am of the belief that cell phones are responsible for making an entire generation of kids dumber. And in a somewhat hilarious bout of irony, I work for MCI, who was recently bought out by Verizon.

[mbuff]

Yesterday we had a homicide in our little town. Husband alledgedly killed his wife in the AM an drove off. Big hunt for him because he supposedly was going to kill himself. Husband was found in the woods about 40 miles from here alive and full of pills.

Even though he did not call anyone, they tracked him by his cell phone signal and triangulated the signal with three towers.

Lesson: If you're going to off someone and split, remove the battery from your cell phone and throw it away.

[Campbell]

my wife noticed that our phones have some GPS tracking function on them that is ON by default. My first thought was that this was for 911 emergency calls, but you can opt to turn it off while leaving the 911 function active. I'm not sure why they have this or what they are using it for.

[UofMLaxGoalie11]

Lesson: If you're going to off someone and split, remove the battery from your cell phone and throw it away.

So I assume you have seen the most recent "The More You Know" campaign as well.

[mbuff]

So I assume you have seen the most recent "The More You Know" campaign as well.

Nope, am I missing something? I don't watch that much TV anymore.

As far as the GPS on the phone, I have not quite figured that one out either. You phone is always 'polling' for lack of a better word, the closest cell I think. So by the ESN, the carrier can track down to the cell where you are. I think they do the triangulation with the towers within the cells.
So I'm not sure what they mean by GPS. It's on on my phone but I don't have any functions like my Garmin. I'm not planning on doing any crime or violence so I don't worry about it.

[ZagGrad]

They did this on "The Recruit" about 3 years ago...

[Andy Sharp]

So I'm not sure what they mean by GPS. It's on on my phone but I don't have any functions like my Garmin. I'm not planning on doing any crime or violence so I don't worry about it.

You'd be amazed how cell phones are crippled by the carriers. Whether it's GPS, address book syncing, # of email accounts, bluetooth functionality, data conectivity, picture sharing, mp3 functionality, or ring tones they do their best to remove features available in Europe or Asia.

[UofMLaxGoalie11]

So I assume you have seen the most recent "The More You Know" campaign as well.

Nope, am I missing something? I don't watch that much TV anymore.

Its just that NBC does public service announcements and I just thought that sounded like a pretty good one.

[Dulax31]

I got this off the FTC website: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/dncalrt.htm

"10. Can I register my cell phone on the National Do Not Call Registry?

Yes, you may place your personal cell phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry. The registry has accepted cell phone numbers since it opened for registrations in June 2003. There is no deadline to register a home or cell phone number on the Registry.

You may have received an email telling you that your cell phone is about to be assaulted by telemarketing calls as a result of a new cell phone number database; however, that is not the case. FCC regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call cell phone numbers. Automated dialers are standard in the industry, so most telemarketers don’t call consumers on their cell phones without their consent. "