The curse of telemarketing plagues mobiles

After years of impunity, the United States' 190 million mobile telephone subscribers are now more likely than ever to encounter telemarketers - and they are finding there is not a lot they can do to stop this plague of unwanted calls.

There was a rash of complaints to federal regulators 18 months ago when telemarketers were confused by new rules allowing people to transfer their home telephone numbers to mobile phones, which then started ringing with telemarketing calls. Then in March, BellCanada mobile customers were targeted by a company pitching a low-cost trip to Mexico. The same message has recently surfaced in San Francisco.

Mobile phone user Ben Wexlar, who received a telemarketing call, wondered in a News.com forum: "What can be done about this?"

Not much, unfortunately. Just about the only recourse a consumer has is to subscribe to the US' National Do Not Call Registry.

Mobile phones are just too juicy a target for some telemarketers to ignore. There are now more mobile phones on the planet than landlines. And calls to mobile phones lead to a more targeted audience because the home phone can be answered by any number of people. A mobile phone, on the other hand, typically is answered by only one person.

But the telemarketers' sweet spot is a very sore spot for consumers. A Federal Trade Commission spokeswoman said: "Your cell phone is your portable communications, it's much more personal. The last thing you want to hear from is a telemarketer when you're stepping out of the commuter train in the morning."

For their part, telemarketers suggest that what mobile phone users are now experiencing is largely unintended. They say telemarketers aren't targeting mobile phones but sometimes mistakes happen. Paul Cleaver, the owner of a Dodge dealership that uses telemarketing, said: "So many of our customers are switching to cell phones" - thus providing the dealer with a mobile phone number, causing the confusion.

In the most wide-scale telemarketing cases, mobile phone customers in the same area code are getting the same calls on the same day, according to several accounts. That suggests the use of auto diallers, which is what BellCanada says happened when many of its mobile phone customers were hit with telemarketing calls in March. It's unclear who was actually making the travel pitch. The North American Numbering Plan Administration, which administers phone numbers, did not respond to a request for information about the origin of the calls.

Aggravation aside, the telemarketing calls to mobile phones are probably illegal. Federal rules forbid using automated dialling machines to reach any phones, such as a mobile phone, in which incoming calls cost the subscriber money. Under the rules, telemarketers are allowed to dial each number by hand but that would be ridiculously labour-intensive, said a Federal Communications Commission spokeswoman.

Mobile phone providers and their subscribers aren't entirely helpless. Verizon Wireless last year won a permanent injunction stopping a Rhode Island resident from sending unsolicited text messages touting real estate deals to Verizon customers.

The most immediate option for consumers is to sign on with the Do Not Call Registry on the internet or call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone number to be registered.

Calling a telephone registered on the Do Not Call list can open a telemarketer to a fine of up to $500 for each call, which triples to $1,500 if the telemarketer can be shown to have deliberately skirted state and federal anti-telemarketing laws.

States can also file civil lawsuits against telemarketers, and the FCC can levy fines against telemarketers after investigations generated by civilian complaints, which can be made via email at fccinfo@fcc.gov, or on the web.

Telemarketers are also dialling an increasing number of European mobile phone subscribers, potentially another marketing gold mine because in some locations mobile phones outnumber people. Torsten Brodt, of the University of St. Gallen's Institute for Media and Communications Management, wrote to News.com: "From our research experience, I can tell you that these kinds of calls are an increasing issue."

Ben Charny writes for CNET News.com