Thank you. I just registered, it was easy.

THANK YOU!!!!

I registered some time ago, and it helped for a few months, but now we get sales calls several times a day. It really does not work.

sheila, report the companies. they get fined.

The fines are a paper tiger, a slap on the wrist, not punitive enough for companies to spend their time and effort adhering to the DNC regulations. By all means, report the violators, but just don't expect it'll do any good.

The silence that comes from having the number unlisted is blissful. Every once in awhile I still get a call, but it's rare. It costs a couple of dollars, but it's so worth it.

Registering on DNC helps quite a bit but it can't prevent the calls from places that spoof numbers. They hide behind fake information.

The best defense is simply watch your caller ID and don't answer from numbers you don't recognize and DON'T call them back! If you don't answer, they will stop. If the call is important, they will leave a message. I even had that IRS scammer leave a message! It was amusing, to say the least....and no...I did not call them back.

If it only worked. They know how to work the system. So many are exempt from the DNC rules.

Politicians are exempt....I'm not kidding....

“The Federal Trade Commission’s telemarketing sales rules only govern calls that are trying to sell you something, and since political calls aren’t trying to sell you anything, those calls are not subject to the do not call rules,” explained Bikram Bandy, who oversees the FTC’s Do Not Call program.

A lot of the call centers are off shore, too, in the Caribbean and other places they have the same numbering system we do, but no obligation to honor the DNC list. That's why not being in the book helps, though it probably works better if it never was in the book. I crossed dial tone boundaries when I moved here (two streets over), so had to have a new number. The operator assumed I wanted unlisted, and I said, "Oh. Okay." Boy am I glad I did! I never told the politicians my number, so I don't get any of their calls. I'm invisible! Random digit dialing still happens, but that's mostly academic surveys, which I don't mind so much.

We had an unlisted number for years and then DH switched to another provider and forgot to make us unlisted. We got bombarded...5 or 6 calls every evening. It made me crazy. We did the DNC and I will say the number of calls has gone down and we just don't answer. I've often wondered if you do answer and immediately hang up will "they" take you off the list.

You can still get calls from businesses you have dealt with in the past, and from charities. So it's not perfect, but it's a start. I get about 4 junk call messages on my cell phone every day, so I registered that number, as well as my home phone.

Timely post- Today, I re-upped my number to Do Not Call list. Relentless calling. We use the caller ID to screen calls, but enough is enough. One caller calls several times a day. I also plan to block calls. I also plan to block calls.

"I've often wondered if you do answer and immediately hang up will "they" take you off the list."

The short answer is "no", by what you're trying to ask but herein lies another misunderstanding. Why would you want them to take you off their Do Not Call list? Wouldn't you want them to put you ON it? You also need to be careful how you phrase things when you talk to them. If you say "take me off your list" then you authorize them to call you. The "list" they're supposed to maintain is a do not call list. As for the thought of answer and hang up, much depends on the system being used. Most will just register it as a hangup or disconnect and put the number back into the queue to be called again. If you have a fax tone or SIT, some systems will recognize it and drop the number. Much depends on the size of the operation. Small local operations just using a few phones don't use wardialers so those are generally more likely to be accommodating to a DNC request.

What it boils down to is the calls continue because they work. People buy from these people. People give their personal info so they can get scammed. People pay off the fake-IRS because they're too lazy to check it out or know that the feds don't call you, they write. It's the same with email "spam". Why does that continue? Because it works. If people would wise up they'd solve a lot of problems for themselves and everyone else.

There's so much misinformation out there. You do not need to keep registering on the DNC list. Once on there, the number is on there for good. You're only fooling yourself into thinking that renewing is going to help.

And yes there's a LOT of exceptions. Political calls are exempt. Business phone lines are exempt. Non-profits are exempt. Surveys are exempt. Places with whom you have a business relationship are exempt. Bill collectors are exempt. So to say it doesn't work is naive. But to expect it to be a cure-all is equally naive.

People need to start contacting their representatives regularly about it if they want something done. That will do far more good than resubscribing to a list you're already on. Congress won't take action if there isn't enough interest in it.

People also need to keep in mind that just changing numbers isn't a cure-all either. Especially if the number you get was given out by the previous user. There's been a number of threads on how to deal with tele-terrorists so no need to go through that again. Blocking calls is very helpful. DNC list helps. Telling the right ones to put you on their DNC list can help (with the right places) but what is most helpful is not giving your number out to everyone. Grocery stores want my phone number. Nope. You don't get it. People sign up for all these "rewards" keytags at stores. Not me. And realize that calling toll-free numbers is a great way to cultivate a calling list of phone numbers. And you invite them to call you when you do, and no, you cannot block your number when dialing a toll-free number. Don't bring it onto yourself.