App alerts user when debt collection agency calls

WhitePages recently released a free iPhone app aimed at curtailing unwarranted spam, debt collection or telemarkter calls.

 The Reverse Phone Lookup app utilizes WhitePages' more than 200 million listed U.S. landline numbers and allows users to identify unknown callers. A person can copy and paste an unidentified phone number into the software, and if the number is in the WhitePages database, it will display the name of the business or person, along with a corresponding address. Users can also save the name and number into their iPhone contacts to act as a reminder if the caller tries to make contact again. "While Federal Communications Commission regulations prohibit telemarketers from using automated dialers to call mobile phone numbers, it is not illegal for telemarketers, debt collectors or scammers to call mobile phones," said Bret Moore, general manager of WhitePages' mobile products. Moore notes that his company offers a solution within the app specifically designed to tell when a caller is likely a telemarketer, debt collection agency or an other unwanted solicitor. However, debt collectors who act responsibly under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - which, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, states that an agency can only call between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. - are likely not intended to be the target of the new app.