Those unwanted text messages for everything from special sales to dating services could soon be a thing of the past.

“Hi, I’m Rachel from card member services.”

“Hi, I’m Rachel from card member services.”

The way state lawmakers figure it, it's annoying enough to get an unwanted text message.

PHOENIX — Candidates in Arizona's close U.S. Senate race put the finishing touches on their campaigns Monday as GOP congressman Jeff Flake crisscrossed the state and as former surgeon general Richard Carmona ramped up get-out-the-vote efforts in his attempt to become the state's first Hispanic U.S. senator.

Arizona's unemployment rate remained at 8.3 percent in August as the state's economy added 48,200 jobs, according to the Associated Press.

As Medicare payments for penis pumps have soared by more than 500 percent in the past decade, federal fraud investigators have challenged the legitimacy of payments for thousands of the devices.

How to stop political robo calls: Vote for the opponent. My home has been invaded by an avalanche of automated calls asking for my vote for a variety of political candidates. I am on the national “Do Not Call” list (unbelievably, political calls are exempt from this law), pay for an unlisted phone number, and only use this phone for family emergencies (so I cannot shut it off).

I enjoy giving golf lessons because cool things usually happen. First, I make money; nothing wrong with that. Second, it’s fun to see the look on people’s faces when they hit a nice shot — possibly for the first time ever. And third, sometimes these people end up being your friends.

I enjoy giving golf lessons because cool things usually happen. First, I make money; nothing wrong with that. Second, it’s fun to see the look on people’s faces when they hit a nice shot — possibly for the first time ever. And third, sometimes these people end up being your friends.

Police are looking for a 36-year-old telemarketing worker that officers say stabbed a co-worker in the chest with a pen after being fired from his job Monday when the co-worker reported him for breaking the plexi-glass on malfunctioning vending machine.

Shortly after his sitcom "Workaholics" became a hit this year, comic Adam DeVine was offered a dare -- to eat a doughnut from a toilet for $500.

These days, more and more people report getting "robo-dialed" by debt collectors looking for people with similar names, similar phone listings, similar addresses.

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge has found that a Mesa telemarketing firm that targeted the elderly deceived consumers and ordered it to pay penalties and restitution.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Moving from the web to cable television has presented its own challenges for the stars of the new comedy "Workaholics."

With the nation's unemployment rolls obstinately high, the Federal Trade Commission has been cracking down on swindlers peddling fraudulent work-at-home schemes, worthless job listing and bogus business opportunities.

The Federal Trade Commission is imposing new regulations that will prohibit most for-profit debt-relief companies from charging a fee before they have reduced a client's unsecured debts.

"If it sounds too good to be true ... it usually is." The old adage was told often to about 50 senior citizens from across the East Valley who attended an "anti-crime university" hosted by Attorney General Terry Goddard on Tuesday.

 An autopsy was done Friday on the body of a female state prison inmate who died after spending nearly four hours in the Arizona heat.

Q. Is there any feasible way that a national "do not spam" list could be created? - Bobby

WASHINGTON - After a barrage of consumer complaints, the government is banning phone calls of prerecorded sales messages unless consumers agree to receive the calls.

"If people were not charged with a crime, when their carelessness resulted in the deaths of small children in their hot automobile, then why was (Sgt. Tom) Lovejoy going to court? An animal's life cannot be compared to a human life. Then again, since 1973, when abortion became legal, human life became insignificant."

Q. I keep getting phone calls from automated telemarketing systems even though I registered my number on the Do Not Call list. Can I look these numbers up on the Internet to find out who these people are and report them? — Allen