The Federal Trade Commission got swamped with new registrations to its Do-Not-Call list Christmas week, thanks to a hoax email that tricked millions into rushing to get their cell phone numbers onto the list.
The email warns that telemarketers will get new rights to call your cell phone starting New Year's Day unless you didn't ask for your anonymity via the Do Not Call list by December 22. The FTC said up to 9.5 million registered their cell numbers that week, many thanks to the hoax warning.
"People panicked," FTC spokesperson Jen Schwartzman told reporters. "I think the only thing they got right in the email is our Web site registration information."
The Do Not Call list began in 2003. The email hoax that provoked panicked cell phone users to sign up may have originated with a legitimate project known as the Wireless 411 Service, which AT&T and other wireless carriers proposed for letting people look of cell numbers as they now do with landline service.
The kicker: The Wireless 411 proposal includes a provision that cell users must ask their carriers to include them in the directory and telemarketers can't access it. Supporters of the Wireless 411, in fact, sent forth a recent announcement aiming to squelch speculation that the project would leave your cell phone prone to sales pitches.
