NY Senator Wants Higher Fines For Telemarketers

9/23/2012 (Updated 9/24/2012 1:34:15 PM)

Long gone are the days of peaceful meals at home without a telemarketer interrupting your evening.  New York Senator Charles Schumer says at one time you could put your name on a "Do Not Call" list, and you would be left alone.
   
But, unfortunately, that is no longer the case.  It is illegal for a marketer to contact someone without checking with the "Do Not Call" list first.
despite this marketing calls have increased significantly.  Schumer says this is because penalties for unsolicited calls are far too low.

"How do you stop it? Very simple. Increase the penalties.  So we're increasing the penalties dramatically.  If you use one of these automatic calling machines, you can get up to a $20,000 fine per call. That gives the judge a lot of flexibility and if you do it repeatedly without warning, you can actually get jail time."

The Federal Trading Commission received more than 200,000 complaints from people about unsolicited calls this past year alone.