December 10, 2004
Bogus E-Mail Worries Cell Phone Users
Government officials say the e-mails are an urban myth; there is no list of cell phone numbers being turned over to telemarketers, and telemarketers are barred from calling cell phone numbers, reports The Washington Post.
"Even so, in the past two weeks, more than 3 million numbers have been added to the government's national do-not-call list, and government officials suspect that the unexpected increase is due to the e-mails that are being passed around like a national game of telephone tag.
The distress appears to stem from a plan, unveiled this fall, by several cell phone companies to set up national directory assistance, a 411 system, for cell phone numbers.
Lois Greisman, the Federal Trade Commission official, called the e-mails "very odd," adding, "It is not malicious because it's giving correct registration information. But it's causing anxiety, and there shouldn't be anxiety."
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