A viewer asked the KHOU Verify team to answer the following question:
“I have gotten a lot of robo calls on my home number and cell that tell you to “press 2 to be put on out do-not-call list”. Do they really put you on their list? Or is it just a signal to them that it’s a valid phone number and they keep calling and selling it!”
Dan Parsons, President of the Better Business Bureau in Houston, answered the question.
“No, you put yourself on the Do Not Call list, either at the state level or federal level. Any telemarketer, and I’m using that word as nicely as I can, that wants to give you instructions, don’t believe it,” he explained.
You can add your phone numbers on a Do Not Call registry at www.donotcall.gov or www.texasnocall.com.
However, the registries don’t eliminate all robocalls.
“The Do Not Call Registry prohibits sales calls. You still may receive political calls, charitable calls, debt collection calls, informational calls, and telephone survey calls,” write the FTC on its website. “In addition, companies may still call if you’ve recently done business with the company, or if you’ve given the company written permission to call you. However, if you ask a company not to call you again, it must honor your request. Record the date of your request.”
The Federal Trade Commission recommends hanging up on unwanted calls.
The FTC says, “If your number is on the Registry, and you get a sales call, or you get an illegal robocall, don’t interact in any way. Don’t press buttons to be taken off the call list or to talk to a live person. Doing so will probably lead to more unwanted calls. Instead, hang up and file a complaint with the FTC.”
Other recommendations to reduce robocalls include using call blocking services through phone providers or third-party apps. You can also avoid answering calls from unknown numbers.