TELEMARKETING sales calls have become prevalent in our everyday lives, especially among individuals who choose to keep their cellphone number the same for many years.

I have kept my number for more than five years, and so I often receive at least two calls a day from telemarketers eager to sell their products or services.

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Most often, they represent banks or insurance companies, and some, spas and fitness clubs. Usually, the calls end when I say I am not interested.

One day, I received a telemarketing call. As I was busy, I said I was not interested and hung up. To my dismay, the telemarketer called me back on her own cellphone to tell me off for hanging up. Worse, she then used another phone, where the number was not registered, and called me a total of four times.

This shows there is no protection for consumers. Our contact details are circulated in the small consumer market, so we get repeat calls from the same telemarketers. These calls are usually during office hours, which can be a serious nuisance.

In addition, telemarketers can access our numbers with their own cellphones and do more damage. It is bad enough that there are no rules to control telemarketing calls. It is worse that there is nothing to prevent rogue telemarketers who cannot accept people hanging up on them.

Chee Lai Yuen (Ms)

This article was first published in The Straits Times.