KThe first call comes in just before eleven in the morning, and there will be eight more by the evening. None of them are accepted by the called party because they do not know the phone numbers displayed. This is a strategy to defend against the overwhelming calls from advertisers and market and opinion researchers. “Do you have five minutes?”, “Is your electricity bill too high too?” or the promise of an interesting offer: the harassment on the phone reaches new dimensions from year to year. Most recently, the Federal Network Agency reported in mid-January that complaints about unauthorized telephone will also reach a new high in 2021. It was almost 80,000, an increase of 26 percent over the previous year. More and more callers are hiding their phone number or using a wrong one.
The legal situation has been clear for years: Anyone who calls for purposes requires written or verbal consent in advance. Clauses with consent to can be found in many contracts, so be careful what you sign. Advertisers must also display their phone number when making calls. If this is suppressed, or if an incorrect number is displayed, this is a separate administrative offense that can be punished with a fine of up to 300,000 euros since the beginning of December. It is also not permitted for call centers to transmit the telephone number of their client.