# Telemarketers and cell phones **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2002, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemarketers-and-cell-phones/127739 "2002-09-10T00:24:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2002, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemarketers-and-cell-phones/127739/1 "2002-09-10T00:24:11Z")
Speaking from personal experience, I’ve never had a telemarketer call my cell phone. My land line gets calls all the time, but my cell phone never does. Is there a reason for this? Do phone companies not allow this for fear of wasting our minutes? If they do, why didn’t they help us out with our land lines when we needed them? Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![glarGH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/76d3ee/32.png) [@glarGH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glarGH)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemarketers-and-cell-phones/127739/2 "2002-09-10T00:32:07Z")
personal experience: mr. Glargh gets telemarketers on his celly all the time. More often than not, he buys stuff from them also. \>.\< I’ve also gotten a few calls… BASTARDS! ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2002, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemarketers-and-cell-phones/127739/3 "2002-09-10T01:03:56Z")
I don’t know about the US, but in Japan there’s a big problem with what are called ‘wangiri’ (one-cut) calls on mobile phones. The telescum call the number, then hang up after the first ring, so they don’t get charged with any fee. Their number, however, is picked up by the phone’s caller ID (standard equipment). The hope is that the receiver will see they’ve been called and then call back, so the telescum not only gets a hit, they get the customer to pay for it. Usually these calls are advertising ‘date clubs’ or other sexual services. I don’t know if it’s legal for the ‘1-900’ style numbers to do this to trick people into calling them. I’ve heard conflicting accounts of this. To get around this, I (and most other people) have programmed my phone with the names of all the people who have any reason to know my mobile number. If I see I’ve been called, but there’s no name and no message, I don’t bother calling back. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2002, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemarketers-and-cell-phones/127739/4 "2002-09-10T02:00:00Z")
The [FCC says](http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/tcpa.html): > [@](#): > > Automatic telephone dialing systems, also known as “autodialers,” also generate a lot of consumer complaints. > > Autodialers produce, store and dial telephone numbers using a random or sequential number generator. Autodialers are usually used to place artificial (computerized) or prerecorded voice calls. Except for emergency calls or calls made with the prior express consent of the person being called, autodialers and any artificial or prerecorded voice messages may not be used to contact numbers assigned to: > … > a paging service, cellular telephone service, or other radio common carrier service, if the person being called would be charged for the call… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2002, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemarketers-and-cell-phones/127739/5 "2002-09-10T02:17:35Z")
IOW, it’s illegal in the US for telemarketers to place an unsolicited call to a cellphone. They keep track of which exchanges are assigned to cell carriers. I only have a cell phone now (no landline) and receive no telemarketing calls whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2002, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telemarketers-and-cell-phones/127739/6 "2002-09-10T04:12:18Z")
friedo, how do you know that it’s illegal for telemarketers to call a cellular telephone? The only information I ever saw was the one in my previous post, that you can’t use an autodialer.