Complaining about the telemarketing calls you receive to your friends and family members may help you vent your frustrations, but it is not going to put a stop to the calls. Many phone consumers put up with telemarketing phone calls they receive because most are unaware that there are ways to make the calls stop, or at least, reduce them significantly.

If you are tired of the number of telemarketers who phone you, the following are different methods you need to put into practice to take control of the situation, so you can put an end to the invasion of your phone privacy:

Register your phone numbers with the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) National Do Not Call Registry (NDNCR) - The NDNCR was created to protect the privacy and rights of phone consumers. It is free to join, and you can register both your landline and cellular phone number. When you have registered your number, telemarketers with whom you do not have an existing business relationship, and those who do not have your permission to contact you, are not permitted to phone you any longer. Note: non profit organizations, government organizations and survey groups are exempt from the NDNCR.

Ask to be placed on a telemarketing firms internal do not call list - When you receive a call from a telemarketer, request that they place you on their company-specific do not call list, which is something they must have by law. All you need to say is "Please place my phone number on your do not call list". Once you have made this request, the telemarketing company is no longer allowed to call you, even if you have an existing business relationship with them.

File a complaint - If a telemarketer who is not exempt from the NDNCR contacts you 31 days after you have joined with the Do Not Call registry, continues to call you after you have requested to be taken off their call list, or breaks any of the other rules as outlined by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), you have the right to file an official complaint with the FTC or the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). You can find out how to file a complaint by visiting the NDNCR's website.

Publicly complain - Sometimes, even when you file an official complaint this will not stop a telemarketer from bothering you. If this occurs, the best course of action to take is to screen your calls, and stop telemarketers and annoying calls of this nature, by reporting them to a caller complaints site where you can publicly complain about your experience. Making these complaints can help you relieve stress, and gets you in touch with other phone consumers who are dealing with the same issues.