Senator Coonan said she had been made aware of scammers who were knocking door to door charging residents up to $79 to have their names added to the free Do Not Call Regiter.
The register was set up as a free service to let people opt out of receiving calls from telemarketers, either at home or on their mobile telephones. The service officially starts this week, but has been pre-registering numbers online for weeks.
“Everyone needs to be aware that it is FREE to put your home and mobile number on the Register. The Government has paid for the establishment of the Register, with industry contributing to the running costs,” Senator Coonan said.
“With the official start of the Do Not Call Register only days away, it is very disappointing to hear that some unscrupulous scam merchant may be trying to illegally profit from the extremely popular Do Not Call Register,” she said.
“Since the launch of pre-registrations on 3 May, the Do Not Call Register has been extremely popular with over 927,000 numbers being registered already.
“However it is outrageous that people may be trying to cash-in illegally on the popularity of this great Government initiative.
“I urge residents not to hand over money to these scammers but to get as many details as possible from them to help authorities identify the criminals,” Senator Coonan said.
From midnight on Thursday, it will be illegal for telemarketers to cold call numbers that are listed on the Do Not Call Register.
While a very limited amount of calls will be allowed, including those from charities and market research companies, Senator Coonan said evidence shows the Register will greatly reduce the number of unsolicited calls.
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