June News Today is:

Helping Oklahoman's Start Their Own Business!

Since 2000 I have belonged to an organization that specializes in helping entrepreneurs and investors link up. This month I wanted to shamelessly promote that organization.

The Oklahoma Venture Forum provides a means for investors, entrepreneurs and others to exchange experiences and ideas through discussions and studies of venture investing, and the development and growth of new and existing small businesses.

The OVF provides the setting at monthly luncheons held on the second Wednesday of each month, September through June. The luncheons are held at the Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park Conference Center located at 655 Research Parkway, Suite 100 in Oklahoma City. For directions to PHFCC, please visit http://www.phfcc.com/directions.htm. Details on the next meeting can be found in the Oklahoma Venture Forum's events calendar.

RSVP for non-members and guests is requested. The cost for non-members and guests is $35. We accept cash, checks, and most major credit cards at the door. Please call (405) 341-6545 for reservations and other information, or email us at mindy@ovf.org

Let's start businesses in Oklahoma!

Timothy J. Kilkenny
Founder & CEO
tim@fullnet.net

IS THAT REALLY TRUE?

Our world is becoming saturated with information and misinformation, and all too often telling one from the other proves to be an almost impossible task. Especially here on the Internet, sorting fact from fantasy is a Herculean and frustrating undertaking. Even your best friends can't help -- they're often the very ones guilty of dumping the latest suspect tale into your inbox, putting you into this position.

The following skeptical Web sites allow you to double-check Internet rumors. Truth or Fiction (www.truthorfiction.com) provides a list of out-and-out urban legends, disputed tales and true stories, all searchable. Snopes.com (www.snopes.com) gives you the low down on not only urban legends but also common fallacies, misinformation, old wives' tales, strange news stories, rumors, celebrity gossip, and similar items. A good backup is About's Urban legends and Folklore site (www.urbanlegends.about.com). Concerned about medical hoaxes? Quack watch (www.quackwatch.org) zeros in on dentistry scams, health fraud, quackery and homeopathy, to name just a few. You.ll also find advice on how to pick a doctor, how to spot scams and more.

My personal favorite is Snopes.com

Happy Surfing From Your Friends at FullNet!

Roger Baresel
President

Putting Telephone Scams on Hold

Telemarketing fraud is a multi-billion dollar business in the United States. Every year, thousands of consumers lose as little as a few dollars to as much as their life savings to telephone con artists.

That's why the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) encourages you to be skeptical when you hear a phone solicitation and to be aware of the Telemarketing Sales Rule, a law that can help you protect yourself from abusive and deceptive telemarketers.

The FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule requires certain disclosures and prohibits misrepresentations. It gives you the power to stop unwanted telemarketing calls and gives state law enforcement officers the authority to prosecute fraudulent telemarketers who operate across state lines.

The Rule covers most types of tele¬marketing calls to consumers, including calls to pitch goods, services, sweepstakes, and prize promotion or investment opportunities. It also applies to calls consumers make in response to materials received in the mail or offers made through the Internet.

Keep this information near your telephone. It can help you determine if you.re talking with a scam artist.

• It's illegal for a telemarketer to call you if you've asked not to be called. In fact, the federal government has created the National Do Not Call Registry - the free, easy way to reduce the telemarketing calls you get at home.
• If your number is not on the National Do Not Call Registry, you still can ask a company to put you on its own do not call list. The company must honor your request.
• Calling times are restricted to the hours between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. A seller calling earlier or later is breaking the law.
• Telemarketers must tell you it.s a sales call and who's doing the selling before they make their pitch. If it's a prize promotion, they must tell you that no purchase or payment is necessary to enter or win. If you're asked to pay for a prize or a gift, hang up. Free is free.
• It's illegal for telemarketers to misrepresent any information, including facts about their goods or services, the earnings potential, profitability, or risk of an investment, or the nature of a prize in a prize-promotion scheme.
• Telemarketers must tell you the total cost of the products or services offered and any restrictions on getting or using them, or that a sale is final or non-refundable, before you pay. In a prize promotion, they must tell you the odds of winning, that no purchase or payment is necessary to win, and any restrictions or conditions of receiving the prize.
• It's illegal for a telemarketer to withdraw money from your checking account without your express, verifiable authorization. That means they must tell you the total number of payments, the amount of each payment, the date the payments will be submitted to your bank, and which account they will charge.

Exceptions to the Rule

Although most types of telemarketing calls are covered by the Rule, there are several exceptions. The Rule does not cover the following situations:

• Calls placed by consumers in response to general media advertising, like television or newspaper advertisements. (Calls responding to ads for investment opportunities, credit repair services, recovery room services, or advance-fee loans are covered).
• Calls placed by consumers in response to direct mail advertising that discloses all the material information required by the Rule, except calls responding to ads for investment opportunities, business opportunities other than those covered by the Franchise Rule, credit card loss protection, prize promotions, credit repair services, recovery room services, advance-fee loans, or to "upselling." Upselling is when a company offers you additional goods or services after the initial transaction for which you called.
• Catalog sales.
• Calls that are initiated by the consumer that are not made in response to any solicitation.
• Sales that are not completed, and payment or authorization for payment is not required, until there is a face-to-face sales presentation.
• Business-to-business calls. But calls offering nondurable office or cleaning supplies are covered.
• Sales of pay-per-call services and sales of franchises. These are covered by other FTC rules.

Fight telephone fraud. Report telephone scam artists to the Federal Trade Commission and your state Attorney General. To learn more about how to recognize and report phone fraud, go to http://www.ftc.gov/phonefraud.

The FTC works to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint go to https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or get free information at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/consumer.shtm or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) but be safe out there.

John Secondi
FullNet Customer Service Manager
1-877-385-5832
support@fullnet.net