Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act [15 U.S.C. §§ 6101-6108]
The FTC and the FCC have promulgated several rules relating to deceptive telemarketing practices. The FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule gives effect to the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act . The Telemarketing Sales Rule requires sellers to provide consumers with all information that would likely be material to the consumers’ choice of goods or services, including information on cost and quantity, material restrictions, limitations or conditions, refund policies, and features such as free trial offers. The Telemarketing Sales Rule also prevents sellers from misrepresenting such material information. For outbound sales calls or upsells, these disclosures must be made promptly. Special requirements apply to prize promotions, credit card loss protection plans, and debt relief services. The Telemarketing Sales Rule also contains a number of privacy protections. These rules prevent calling numbers that are on the National Do Not Call Registry or on that seller’s do-not-call list; denying or interfering with a person’s right to be placed on any do-not-call registry; calling outside permissible calling hours; abandoning calls; failing to transmit caller ID information; threatening or intimidating a consumer or using obscene language; or calling or talking to a person with the intent to annoy, abuse, or harass the person called. The Telemarketing Sales Rule applies to most businesses except for banks, nonprofits, insurance companies, and others that are regulated by state law. It also does not apply to unsolicited calls from consumers, telephone calls made by consumers in response to advertisements, and most business-to-business calls. Upsells within such calls are not exempt.
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