Telemarketing is a business that involves contacting customers over the phone for the purpose of soliciting products or services. A telemarketing pitch can be given by either a real person, or a pre-recorded message that is played automatically when the phone is picked up. A telemarketer call can be legitimate, but there are scams that are involved with the business. A telemarketing company must follow specific rules to run their business legally. For more information about what telemarketing is, go to Wikipedia or Indian Child.

One regulation that has gained major attention around the world is the National Do Not Call Registry. Under this law, customers can sign up to stop receiving telemarketing calls. For more information on the registry, as well as information on how to sign up, visit the FCC, where information is given about telemarketing and cell phones here. For more information about the registry, visit About and FTC.

Telemarketers also have to follow rules when they do make phone calls. These include not only who they can call, but what time they are allowed to call, and other laws as well. For articles on various rules and regulations, go to Consumer Fraud, JunkBusters and Ezine. To read up on rules concerning prerecorded telemarketing calls, and call abandonment, go to Audience Development. The DMA is a general list of telemarketing laws, and Telemarketing Laws gives information on laws for each state. Consumer Law is a website that gives many questions and answers on the various telemarketing laws out there.

With telemarketing comes consumer fraud, and another type of fraud called phishing, which is explained at Icts. For a video on phishing attempts, watch at Howstuffworks. For information on avoiding fraud and scams involving telemarketing, go to Fraud and WDFI. For the top 10 telemarketing scams involving phone calls, work at home deals, magazine and credit card scams, visit Fraud Tips. Senior citizens are unfortunately a targeted population when it comes to telemarketing scams. For information on senior fraud tips, Canada Online and NCPC can offer good advice and tips.