Berlin
Phone scammers are not easy to spot. The consumer advice center warns against rip-offs and reveals how you can protect yourself.
Actually, scammers don’t have it that easy on the phone anymore. The law now better protects and penalizes consumers phone rip-off harder. However, according to a survey by the “Market Watchdog Digital World of the Schleswig-Holstein Consumer Advice Center” every second consumer is affected by unsolicited telephone advertising. Unwanted calls have been prohibited by law since 2021.
Nevertheless, supposedly reputable companies call consumers to sell them investments, insurance, technical devices or other products and services. The consumer center is therefore hints and tipswhat people need to know about phone rip-offs and how to protect yourself from scams.
Phone scams: Call advertising is prohibited by law
To better consumers before rip off and other scams on the phone, the federal government passed the “Law for Fair Consumer Contracts” in 2021. The regulation is intended to strengthen the position of consumers vis-à-vis companies. In the context of telephone advertising, the law stipulates that companies in Germany are no longer allowed to use aggressive calls to pressure people into signing contracts.
In addition, be telephone advertising only allowed if the customers have expressly agreed in advance that companies can contact them by phone. The consumer center warns on its website that callers also like to pretend to be employees of the “consumer center” or the “consumer protection service” in order “to be able to use the good reputation of the consumer centers for their rip-off”.
In order to protect yourself, you need to know what type of advertising your call is about. the Consumer Center distinguishes between three types:
| telephone advertising without prior consent |
Most of the time it’s about sweepstakes, alleged gifts or purchase offers. As mentioned above, this type of caller solicitation has been banned by law. Companies that disregard this regulation face high fines. According to the consumer advice center:
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| telephone advertising with prior consent |
If a company has pre-approved the right to make promotional calls to you, then such calls are allowed. However, companies need to keep a few things in mind:
The consumer center warns that many companies hide this consent in the small print of the terms and conditions. Therefore, read your contract documents carefully and delete the passage on telephone advertising if you do not want any calls. |
| follow-up advertising |
These are calls that usually occur after a subscription has been canceled. Included
Attention consumers: follow-up advertising by telephone is not permitted in the case of terminated contracts. “In exceptional cases, it would only be allowed if the phone call was only used to control your own sales. In practice, however, this almost never happens,” explains the consumer advice center. |
More on the subject of telephone fraud and rip-offs:
Telephone advertising: Is a contract concluded by phone call legally binding?
Callers can be very intrusive and sometimes even aggressive when it comes to illegal telephone advertising. If a contract is concluded under these circumstances, many consumers ask themselves whether the contract is really legally binding. According to the consumer advice center, contracts are also out phone scam legit. However, there are a few exceptions:
- Sweepstakes Agreements
- lottery contracts
- some contracts for energy supplies such as electricity and gas
- All contracts relating to telecommunications (meaning: Internet, mobile and landline connections)
But even if the contract is final, victims of phone scams can still have theirs right of withdrawal Make use. According to the consumer center, the period for this is “at least 14 days”. Depending on the type of contract, the period begins at different times. In the case of sales contracts, for example, the 14 days are not counted until the customer has received the goods. In the case of electricity contracts and contracts for services, on the other hand, the period begins when the contract is concluded.
In general, the period only begins when the company has informed you of your right of withdrawal. If you sign a contract on phone concluded and the company has not informed you of the cancellation period, you even have a window of 12 months and 14 days to withdraw from the contract. If you are unsure, the consumer advice center offers to check your contract for you.
More on the subject of cancellation periods and termination of contracts:
Consumer center advises: How to protect yourself from rip-off on the phone
Consumers can take a few precautions scams on the phone protection. The consumer advice center gives four tips:
- Protect your data: Only give your phone number to companies if it is really necessary for the conclusion of the contract.
- Read carefully: If the contract documents contain clauses that include the storage and use of your data for advertising purposes, please delete them. Pay particular attention to passages about “data protection” or “data processing” or to frames and bold font. If necessary, you can also protect yourself afterwards and ask the company that your data may not be used in the context of marketing measures
- Beware of sweepstakes: These are mostly used for data collection. Don’t include your phone number. If the providers require the information, then you object to the use for advertising purposes.
- Report unwanted phone calls: The Federal Network Agency is responsible for consumer protection against telephone rip-offs. But they only take action when consumers report scam calls. The authority offers an online form for this as well as an e-mail address ([email protected]). Be sure to include the time, telephone number and what was advertised – this way the Federal Network Agency can check the scammers more quickly.
Especially with the last tip, you should keep in mind that your tips will help protect others from phone rip-offs protection and punish the perpetrators. “In 2019, the authorities imposed a fine of 100,000 euros on a telecommunications provider for telephone advertising,” reports the consumer advice center.
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