Opt-out for Phone, Email and Mail Marketing

You can run but you can't hide. Sadly, many people in the advertising business abuse their privileges and here are a few ways to hopefully curb these abuses.

You can run but you can't hide.  Telemarketers call, emailers spam and bulk mailers send you junk mail.  It can get very frustrating!  There are ways to put a damper on the invasive techniques used by some marketers.  Here are some useful tips to reduce the quantity of calls/emails/mails...

Phone Solicitations

To stop these bothersome telemarketers, go to the website below or call the toll free number from the phone number you are going to restrict.

(888)382-1222
www.donotcall.gov

Junk mail

Put a clamp on a full mailbox of useless mail.

First class mail: Cross out the bar code and address, then circle the first class postage. Then you want to write "refused: return to sender" on the mail. Now you can put it in any mail box and it will be returned to the sender.

Bulk mail: The post office won't return bulk mail to its sender. This kind of mail is the hardest to stop because the USPS actively encourages and supports these mailers. But, if you write "address correction requested" on the label and then circle what you just wrote you can now return mail it like first class mail.

Mass reduction of junk mail: To stop mail from all member organizations that you have not specifically ordered products from, try sending a letter or postcard to this organization:

Include your complete name, address and zip code. Be sure to include a request to "activate the preference service". This should stop a large portion of junk mail for up to five years.

The Direct Marketing Association claims that if you list with their mail preference service they will stop 75% of all national mailings to your address. It can take up to six months for your request to be fully processed. They process tens of thousands of requests each month and the requests are kept active for five years. If you move to a new address and fill out the post office change of address form, the DMA will track the new address.  There might be a few months of mailings to the new address before they can process the change. You can also opt-out online for charge of $5. It is probably better to fill out their online form and mail them a printout.

www.the-dma.org

E-mail

Do not respond to any unsolicited e-mail messages even when the message gives you the option to opt out of receiving more e-mail. This is a trick used by spammers to confirm they hit a live address. If you respond in attempt to opt-out, your address goes to a prime list and is sold to other spammers.

www.optoutprescreen.com

Turn them in

When SPAM gets into your e-mail box, you should try turning it in to your ISP. All ISPs should have an e-mail address just for complaints that you can forward the SPAM to. Every piece of SPAM has an ISP name after the @ sign in the address. That is the ISP you should report the offensive SPAM to. You could turn in the unwanted SPAM to the FTC just to be sure.

www.ftc.gov

Other Opt-outs

You can get programs for cleaning your computer of unwanted spy and add-on infiltrators for free.  If you go to the site link below, the programs Spyware Blaster, Spybot, or Ad-Aware are available at no charge.

www.download.com

There are parts of your Social Security number that are made accessible in public records data bases that you may or may no know about. The most common ones offer a way to opt out of a listing. Nexis is one of the biggest. They say you can opt out of its people-finding lists. However, it requires that you prove you are a victim of identity theft before it will consider your application.

www.lexisnexis.com/terms/privacy/data/remove.asp