Protecting cellphones from telemarketers

Feb. 15, 2006 12:00 AM

If the National Do Not Call Registry has spared you most of those bothersome telemarketing calls, you know how nice it is to finish dinner with the family without jumping up to rebuff yet another mortgage broker. That was the first step. Now you need to do the same for your cellphone or risk receiving spam calls every minute of every day.

Visit www.donotcall.gov and click on Register a Phone Number. You'll be asked to supply your e-mail address as well to verify registration. The Do Not Call Registry is administered by the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. After you register your phone number, telemarketers complying with the National Do Not Call Registry have up to 31 days from the date you register to stop calling.

- Barbara Yost