LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Few people love a busy shopping season more than criminals. With Christmas around the corner, plenty of them are hoping the ring of your phone will help them get some quick cash.
But technology has come a long way in keeping certain types of callers from bothering you during the dinner hour— from caller ID and screening features to the National Do Not Call Registry.
We looked into whether companies such as collection agencies are still allowed to contact you if you're signed up for the do-not-call list.
Arkansas ranks 32nd in the nation for states with the most complaints against violators of the registry. In the past year alone, Arkansans have received more than 8,000 robocalls and just over 5,300 live callers, each intending to take advantage of those who pick up the phone.
Signing up for the registry is a good start to avoiding those calls. The registry is meant to keep unwanted sales calls by real companies from dialing your number and currently has more than 221 million telephone numbers registered.
Despite this, it can't prevent scammers from making illegal calls.
According to Arkansas law, the registry means telemarketers and sellers are not allowed to call numbers on the list, and they are legally required to search the registry for updates at least once every 31 days.
Violators can face fines with each call considered a separate violation. Additionally under Arkansas law, commercial callers are required to tell you who they are and where they're calling from. They are prohibited from using deceptive or fraudulent tactics to get you to buy their goods or services.
If they should attempt to use “spoofing”, which is using a fictitious or misleading callback number and a favorite tactic by robocalls, fines for being caught can run as high as $1,500 per call.
As for debt collectors, these companies are allowed to call you even if you're on the registry. There are other exceptions too, including political calls, those for charities, surveys, or purely informational calls— but none of these can legally try to hook you with a sales pitch.
So we can verify that yes, companies to whom you owe money or those acting on behalf of a legitimate debtor are allowed to give you a ring. If you do owe money, you may be able to work out a payment arrangement to get even those calls to stop.
Signing up for the National Do Not Call Registry is free. You can do it online by going to the registry’s website. Once you register, your number will remain on the list until you remove it or service for the number is discontinued.