The news items this month have been on consumers’ side when it comes to telemarketing.

Now, I’m not going to throw all telemarketers under the bus. Criticism will be reserved for those companies that tolerate or encourage harassment, high-pressure tactics or other abusive practices that give the entire industry a black eye.

Just a moment ago, literally in the process of writing this column, a robo-call came to our land line phone at home. We could win, the cheery woman’s recorded voice said, a trip to the Bahamas, just for responding to a 30-second poll on debt issues. Press one number to take the survey (and win), and another number to delete my name from their list.

Uh-huh. Let me get this straight. I take 30 seconds out of my busy day to answer one, maybe two questions… those answers will somehow yield enough information to justify giving me a trip to some island paradise… and I can even opt out and avoid more such calls by touching one button. Right.

The trick here is that the call is all robotic, all the time. The process is untouched by human hands, once the messages are recorded and the computers turned on. Pushing a button might get you a live person in real time, and this could lead to a little fun as we’ll see in a moment. But pressing that number in reality just tells the robo-caller that it’s reached a working number, and you’re on the list (or likely multiple lists) for further calls.

The national Do Not Call Registry was created to help consumers avoid many of these nuisance calls. We urge everyone who’s bothered by them to register — visit online www.donotcall.gov or call 888-382-1222.

Once you’ve registered, folks in the telemarketing industry have 31 days to find your name on their call lists and remove it. So, you may get additional calls in the month after you’ve signed up; the good news is most of those calls should cease after that. (The exceptions are calls with political messages, charitable solicitations and telephone surveys. Also exempt are companies with which you have a prior business relationship, so be extra cautious about giving out your phone number in the first place.)

You need to register land lines and cellphones if you want to curtail telemarketing calls to both. If you use the toll-free number, you must call from the phone you want on the Do Not Call list. You may register up to three numbers, but they must be for phones that you own; you can’t register a relative’s phone.

This is a do-it-yourself process. If you receive a call offering to put you on the Do Not Call list for a fee, hang up. The Federal Trade Commission maintains the list, and there is no charge to use it.

By law, robo-callers can target only land line phones. If you receive a pre-recorded call on a cellphone in an effort to sell you something, it’s a violation of federal law. Efforts to allow such calls to cellphones were met with fierce opposition last fall and went nowhere.

A ruling a few days ago by the U.S. Supreme Court gave us some further legal recourse. The court ruled that people who catch telemarketers violating the law can sue in federal as well as state courts.

If you’re called by a live person and have some time, you can have some fun by wasting the caller’s time. String the caller along by pretending you’re interested, and squash the deal when you’re tired of the game. The more time you take up, the less time that caller has to bother someone else. If enough people waste their time, the industry might someday get our message.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine’s membership-funded, nonprofit consumer organization. Individual and business memberships are available at modest rates. For assistance with consumer-related issues, including consumer fraud and identity theft, or for information, write Consumer Forum, P.O. Box 486, Brewer 04412, visit necontact.wordpress.com or email contacexdir@live.com.

FMI from C.A.T.S. (Californians Against Telephone Solicitations)

The phrase “identity theft” has become one of those terms that makes one’s blood run cold. We’ve heard so many stories of financial losses, ruined credit and related horrors that we react emotionally to the subject.

That emotional response has prompted many consumers to buy insurance that kicks in if some form of identity theft strikes the insured. The question before us is, is such insurance worth the cost?

There’s no simple answer, as is usually the case in consumer matters. The quick historical view back to 2006 finds Consumer Reports said such coverage was “typically not worth the money.” The magazine notes more than half of ID theft protection is sold by banks, and that those premiums amount to a consumer subsidy for federally required loss protection through credit card and bank account fraud. The passing of time hasn’t changed CR’s opinion that you can — and should — take more effective steps yourself to protect your credit and good name.

ID theft insurance typically costs $120 to $300 a year. That’s more than victims often incur through the theft and misuse of their credit card numbers, the most frequent type of ID theft. Federal law limits liability in such cases to $50 per card.

Those who sell the coverage point to the time-consuming process of restoring credit and correcting information on their credit histories. The insurers say their policies can help consumers cope with what can be a trying and frustrating process.

Most people in the insurance industry give the same advice they would when buying other types of coverage. Find out what the policy limits are; the National Association of Insurance Commissioners says most ID theft policies have policy limits of $10,000 to $15,000. If the policy covers lost wages, find out how the coverage is triggered and what limits apply. Know if there is a deductible; some policies require the holder to pay as much as $500 toward the cost of reclaiming your financial identity before the insurer pays a penny.

Before buying, check your homeowner’s insurance policy. It may include ID theft coverage, or you might be able to add coverage more affordably than buying separate coverage. If you decide to buy a separate policy, compare the coverage of several companies.

The insurance commissioners warn against becoming a victim of insurance fraud by making sure the agent and company you’re dealing with are licensed to do business in Maine. Find the Bureau of Insurance online ( http://www.maine.gov/pfr/insurance), by phone (207-624-8475 or TTY 888-577-6690) or by writing to the Bureau at 34 State House Station, Augusta ME 04333.

David Leach, principal consumer credit examiner for the Maine’s Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, advises people to be their own advocates. Leach says it’s critical for each of us to get one free credit report from one of the reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and Trans Union) every four months. Do this by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com and only that site. That, plus keeping a close watch on all credit card activity, will help keep identity thieves at bay.

As to separate insurance, Leach says, “Consumers who sign up for these types of services are paying close to $250.00 a year for a service they can essentially run themselves.” He notes that most financial institutions that issue credit cards will waive all losses in cases of identity theft or fraud. Visit the bureau’s website at www.credit.maine.gov.

For a rundown on federal ID theft laws and tips to protect yourself, visit the Federal Trade Commission website, www.consumer.gov/idtheft.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine’s membership-funded, nonprofit consumer organization. Individual and business memberships are available at modest rates. For assistance with consumer-related issues, including consumer fraud and identity theft, or for information, write: Consumer Forum, P.O. Box 486, Brewer 04412, or go to necontact.wordpress.com, or email contacexdir@live.com.

AUGUSTA, Maine — Attorney General William J. Schneider is warning consumers about recent reports of calls from people claiming to represent supplemental health insurance offers.

Schneider said he has learned that Maine seniors have received phone calls from individuals claiming to be from Medicare or from the “health office.”

The callers ask for the seniors by name and appear to be offering some sort of supplemental health insurance or prescription coverage.

“Seniors can protect themselves by never giving any personal information to anyone over the phone,” Schneider said.

Consumers with questions about Medicare should call 800-MEDICARE. Those who believe they may be the victim of a Medicare scam should call the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 626-8849.

The prospect of making money from the comfort of one’s home has always been enticing. For unemployed Mainers unable to find jobs, the offers may seem too good to be true.

As you’ve probably guessed, they usually are.

The Federal Trade Commission received 8,192 complaints about work-at-home schemes in 2010. The FTC estimates that only one in 55 such offers are legitimate. Thousands of people we know about — and many we don’t — fall for a variety of scams and lose hundreds or thousands of dollars in the process.

Often the people who concoct the schemes ask for payment by credit card. Once you’ve agreed, the thieves give you the runaround after accepting your payment; by the time you’ve figured out it’s a scam, it’s too late to dispute the charges.

The double whammy of this kind of theft is that it’s often perpetrated against those who can least afford the loss. People who are struggling to make ends meet don’t have the funds to hire an attorney to try to recoup their losses, so many simply give up.

How do you prevent being scammed by bogus work-at-home offers? The FTC suggests you find out what tasks you’ll have to perform and determine if there’s a real demand for such work. Ask whether you’ll be paid a salary or on commission, who will pay you and when you can expect your first paycheck.

Ask how the promoter justifies claims about your likely earnings, and ask to see documentation of the claims. And ask about the total cost of the work-at-home plan, including supplies, equipment and any membership fees involved. Be skeptical if there’s a “money back if not satisfied” guarantee or if a certain level of income is “a sure thing.”

After quizzing the promoter, do additional research. If you can find others who have tried it, ask them about their experience. Check the FTC website ( www.ftc.gov) to see if the promoter has run afoul of federal regulators.

You should also check with the Maine State Office of Securities ( www.investors.maine.gov), which enforces the Sale of Business Opportunities law. This law applies to any offer with total costs of $250 or more. It requires that sellers of such offers register with the office and disclose certain important information in writing at least three days before you sign any agreement or pay anything related to the deal.

In most cases sellers must post a bond or set up an escrow account to give buyers some protection in case of problems. The law does not determine whether a particular business offer is worth pursuing.

People offering legitimate work-at-home scenarios will comply with the law. Those who don’t will likely pressure you for a quick decision and demand whatever payment they can get from you right away. Be especially wary of promises of “easy money in just a few hours” (if it’s so easy, why isn’t the promoter making all that cash?).

Specific types of home jobs to avoid include assembly or craft work (your work never meets standards); stuffing envelopes (a Ponzi scheme); rebate processing (there are no rebates to process); online searches (simply a scam); and medical billing (there are few jobs that are not already filled).

You can complain about abuses to the Federal Trade Commission and the Maine Attorney General’s office. If you received a mail offer, your postal inspector may be interested. If a print ad caught your attention, talk with the advertising manager of the publication.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine’s membership-funded, nonprofit consumer organization. Individual and business memberships are available at modest rates. For assistance with consumer-related issues, including consumer fraud and identity theft, or for information, write: Consumer Forum, P.O. Box 486, Brewer 04412, or go to necontact.wordpress.com, or email contacexdir@live.com.

CalcMoolator Link

One of the handy tools built into most computers is a calculator. However, it is limited to basic math functions. They’re a bit unwieldy for doing anything more than simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Oh, yeah, and those square roots we always need to figure out.

There are some devices available online that can help consumers with a variety of tasks. We came across one really good site on the recommendation of Kim Komando, who writes a daily newsletter about all manner of computer-related issues at www.komando.com.

Last week, Kim featured a website called CalcMoolator at www.calcmoolator.com. It was launched 18 months ago, offering consumers 30 calculators to help perform a range of tasks; the list now totals more than 50.

Not surprisingly, most visitors to the site are looking for help with figuring the payments on auto and home loans. Developers of the site say they’ve worked hard to keep complicated financial jargon out of their equations. Using those calculators can help a consumer determine whether it’s better for them to buy or lease a car or to rent or buy a home, for a couple of examples.

The calculators also offer real-world information on a variety of topics, including:

• Estimated total cost of auto loans

• Mortgage payments

• Debt consolidation strategies

• Retirement planning

• Estimated lifetime earnings

There’s even a calculator to determine the costs of caring for a child or pet.

Many consumers are carrying more credit card debt than they’d like. One calculator shows that a process called optimizing could save money in interest payments. CalcMoolator’s example goes like this: the total owed on two credit cards is $8,000. Your current payments will pay that off in 11 years, six months with total interest of $4,768.07. An optimized plan cuts the total interest to $4,632.22, although it will take 12 years, eight months to pay off under the new arrangement.

If your financial position allows you to pay more than you are currently, a calculator can help figure the benefits. Another can weigh the pros and cons of holding down one full-time job vs. two or more part-time occupations.

Consumers can run a number of calculations for free. You can see answers at once, if you’re working on a desktop or laptop computer, or email the results to yourself. There are downloads available for iPad, iPhone and Android devices (again, the free “lite” version includes six of the most popular calculators; $9.99 lets you download the applications and use all the calculators).

The people who keep their eyes on such things seem impressed. In December 2010, PC World called CalcMoolator one of the 20 “best productivity” sites on the web. In listing the site as one of the 100 best of 2010, PCMag urged readers to “spend some time figuring out your finances for a better tomorrow.”

At the very least, the next time someone says, “Go figure,” you’ll have a place to turn.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine’s membership-funded, nonprofit consumer organization. Individual and business memberships are available at modest rates. For assistance with consumer-related issues, including consumer fraud and identity theft, or for information, write: Consumer Forum, P.O. Box 486, Brewer 04412, or go to necontact.wordpress.com, or email contacexdir@live.com.