Are you or your elderly loved one tempted, confused or overwhelmed by solicitation calls and mail?

The Federal Trade Commission recommends ways to help:

1. National Do Not Call Registry

You can reduce the number of unwanted sales calls you get by signing up for the National Do Not Call Registry. Add your phone number for free by visiting donotcall.gov, or calling 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to register (TTY: 1-866-290-4236).

If you register online, you will receive a confirmation email from donotcall.gov. You must click on the link in the email within 72 hours to complete your registration.

Note that the Do Not Call Registry only prohibits sales calls. You still may receive political calls, charitable calls, debt collection calls, informational calls, and telephone survey calls.

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.

For more information, visit the Federal Trade Commission website.

2. Reducing Illegal Sales Calls

Hang up on illegal sales calls. If your number is on the National Do Not Call 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.

3. Reducing Unwanted Mail

The Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Mail Preference Service (MPS) lets you opt out of receiving unsolicited commercial mail from many national companies for five years. When you register with this service, your name will be put on a "delete" file and made available to direct-mail marketers and organizations. This will reduce most of your unsolicited mail. However, your registration will not stop mailings from organizations that do not use the DMA's Mail Preference Service. To register with DMA's Mail Preference Service, go to www.dmachoice.org, or mail your request with a $1 processing fee to:

DMAchoice
Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512

Do Not Contact for Caretaker's Registration

The DMA offers a service that helps family members, friends or caretakers remove the names of individuals in their care from commercial marketing lists. Go to this link at DMA.org.

Deceased Do Not Contact Registration

The DMA offers a service that helps family members, friends or caretakers remove the names of deceased individuals from commercial marketing lists. Go to this link at DMA.org.

Email

The DMA also has an Email Preference Service (eMPS) to help you reduce unsolicited commercial emails. To opt out of receiving unsolicited commercial email from DMA members, visit this link at www.dmachoice.org. Registration is free and good for six years.

4. Reducing Prescreened Credit and Insurance Offers

Many companies that solicit new credit card accounts and insurance policies use prescreening to identify potential customers for the products they offer. Prescreened offers — sometimes called "preapproved" offers — are based on information in your credit report that indicates you meet criteria set by the offeror. Usually, prescreened solicitations come via mail, but you also may get them in a phone call or in an email.

If you decide that you don't want to receive prescreened offers of credit and insurance, you have two choices: You can opt out of receiving them for five years or opt out of receiving them permanently.

To opt out for five years: Call toll-free 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) or visit www.optoutprescreen.com. The phone number and website are operated by the major consumer reporting companies.

To opt out permanently: You may begin the permanent Opt-Out process online at www.optoutprescreen.com. To complete your request, you must return the signed Permanent Opt-Out Election form, which will be provided after you initiate your online request.

When you call or visit the website, you'll be asked to provide certain personal information, including your home telephone number, name, Social Security number, and date of birth. The information you provide is confidential and will be used only to process your request to opt out.

5. Contacting Solicitors Directly

You can contact individual companies directly and ask to be removed from their mailing list. The companies are required to honor your request, but it may take many weeks for the change to be implemented.

How Care is There can help

Care is There Geriatric Care Management can help your loved one reduce unwanted solicitations by helping them:

Join the National Do Not Call Registry
Register their mail and email solicitation preferences with The Direct Marketing Association's (DMA)
Learn to recognize and deal with illegal calls and report them to the Federal Trade Commission
Sign up for Opt Out Prescreen
Contact solicitors directly to be removed from solicitation lists

Next Steps

Is your loved one tempted, concerned, or confused by unwanted solicitations?

Contact Care is There today for a free consultation!

Charlottesville Area: 434.326.5323
Shenandoah Valley: 540. 246.0211
Toll Free: 800.434.1633
Email: Info@CareisThere.com

Files

Tip-Sheet-Reducing-Unwanted-Solicitation.pdf

Reduce Solicitation Mail and Calls to Your Elderly Loved One