When your phone rings, it might not be your mother on the other end of the line.

Rather, it might be someone trying to scam you.

Telemarketers, those excited voices pushing everything from aluminum siding to credit cards, have been preying on unsuspecting college students for years.

Along with honest solicitors are those on the other side of the coin — scam artists whose only intent is to bilk students for every penny.

Eighteen- to 21-year olds are a prime target for telemarketers, said Mary Kruger Eyler, President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau for Greater Iowa.

At this age, which is when many people are first beginning their collegiate careers, people tend to be very “vulnerable,” especially when it comes to signing up for credit cards, a major product of college-geared telemarketers.

“Credit cards seem very inviting to students,” Kruger Eyler said. However, as soon as a person agrees to give that “wonder” product a try, they are put on a list for future telemarketers to use. “It grows and grows,” she said.

The lure of telemarketers, and the potential to be scammed, is a threat to nearly everyone. “If you have a telephone, you can be found,” Kruger Eyler warned.

Perry Young, Director for the States of Iowa and Nebraska for Intellisell Corp., a telemarketing firm with a base in Huxley, said that the lists of customers come from the firm’s clients—the credit card and insurance companies trying to sell their products over the phone.

“Where the clients get the lists of potential customers, I have no idea,” he said.

Some companies, he stated, get lists directly from the phone companies, while others go through vendors who sell the lists.

Even though many Iowa State students change their phone numbers as they move around from year to year, firms can purchase the students’ current names and numbers through the Registrar’s office.

“The registrar’s office makes available what’s in the directory,” said Gary Schwartz, Associate Director of Residence. “Any vendor can come and purchase that information, because it’s public information.”

He said that since the information is published, it is considered to be open to the public.

The vendors can pay to receive the information electronically, or they can simply buy a directory.

The university will also sort the information to suit the vendor’s requests, Schwartz said.

“If someone wants the names of all of the graduate students in economics, it can be sorted in that way for them.”

Luckily, there is a way that you can stop the vicious cycle of phone vendors, just by having the power to say no.

If a person requests a telemarketer to stop calling them, the telemarketing firm is bound by law to remove that person’s name from any future calling lists, said Young.

“We must remove their names from the lists if the people request it,” he said. “We send the information back to the clients as well, informing them that the people want their names removed from all future calling lists.”

Young said that firms can be fined for not complying with patron’s requests.

Kruger Eyler said that the most important thing to remember is to never give your credit card number or any other private banking information to a telemarketer.

“Also, if a telemarketer says they have your credit card number, and they ask you to verify it, don’t,” she said. “They don’t really have it.”

If a person is contacted by a telemarketer, and is considering purchasing the product or service, Kruger Eyler said that the person shouldn’t make a decision right away.

Rather, it is a good idea to get all of the information on the deal, then contact the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and get information on the company.

Only after learning if the business is legitimate or not should consumers make their decision, and return the telemarketer’s call.

Kruger Eyler said that if someone receives a suspicious call, the best thing to do is to contact the BBB or a local, similar agency. “It’s a buyer-beware situation,” she said.

By using good judgment and common sense, students can prevent themselves from being victims of telemarketer fraud.

“The best advice we give is to ‘get tipped off, not ripped off!'” Kruger Eyler said.