Nearly 35 per cent of Hongkongers receive unsolicited calls on a daily basis, according to a survey conducted by pro-Beijing political party the DAB.
Close to 60 per cent of the of 675 respondents said they immediately hang up on telemarketers while 15 per cent said they had previously been the victim of scam artists.
Unsurprisingly, 60 per cent of respondents described the calls as “very disturbing” while only five per cent said they were useful.
However, 60 per cent were also unaware that you can ask to have your contact details removed from telemarketers’ database to avoid further unsolicited calls.
To stem the tide of telemarketers, the DAB suggests that the scope of the government’s “do-not-call” register be extended to live person-to-person calls.
Currently, the register administered by the Office of the Communications Authority only prevents unsolicited faxes, short messages and pre-recorded messages.
