Relax, telemarketers won’t ring your cell

Stay calm: You’re not about to be bombarded with telemarketing calls on your cell phone.

Ominous e-mails that have been warning consumers that telemarketers soon will start calling cell phone numbers are either part of a hoax or a misunderstanding by those who sent the messages, regulators and consumer groups say.

Still, the messages — widely assumed to be legitimate — are triggering a surge in sign-ups for the national do-not-call list.

The e-mails zigzagged the nation last fall and have resurfaced during the past few weeks. And once again, they are spreading worry at a time of heightened concern about privacy breaches.

One e-mail offers a “quick reminder” that “in a few weeks cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls” that incur a charge. To fend off the onslaught, readers are urged to register their wireless numbers on the national do-not-call list. Telemarketers are barred from calling numbers on the popular registry, which includes 88 million numbers.

During the week that ended April 2, new do-not-call registrations totaled 400,000, about double the usual volume, and reached 1 million the next week, the Federal Trade Commission says.

It’s unclear what prompted the e-mails. But they appear to stem from reports last year that wireless carriers plan a national directory of cell phone numbers. That news sparked fears that telemarketers would gain access to the numbers.

But the anxiety is unfounded. First, it’s illegal to make sales pitches to wireless phones by using automatic dialers — which is how the vast majority of telemarketing calls are placed. (One reason is that cellular users must pay for incoming calls.)

Also, most of the big wireless carriers have chosen either not to take part in the directory or to put off any plans to do so in light of consumer fears. They say any directory would include only those customers who agreed to participate and that the numbers would not be shared with telemarketers or anyone else. Congress has considered a bill to codify such rules.

“I think this started from someone being confused about the directory,” says Janee Briesemeister of Consumers Union.

Briesemeister worried at first that the e-mails were part of a scam to fool consumers into turning over their cell phone numbers to telemarketers. But the number provided really is for do-not-call registrations.

Consumers can add their numbers — cell phone or landline — to the list by calling 888-382-1222 from the number they want to register. They also can do so at www.donotcall.gov.