ATLANTA -- We’re not making this up. A state agency is out with an unusual alert to Georgia consumers -- pleading with them to stop sending in money.

The Public Service Commission has had to pay back tens of thousands of dollars to people who tried to pay for a service that’s actually free.

The money comes from all corners of the state. The people who send it in all have one thing in common – they think telemarketers are a pain.

Jonathan Edwards is one of those people who doesn’t want to deal with them. “It’s just annoying,” Edwards said. “They interrupt your whole day and they even come in the evening. I just don’t want to hear it.”

So Edwards sent a check for $5 to get on the Georgia Do Not Call List.

“I had a little form to fill in with the state and I sent it with a $5 check,” Edwards said.

His is one of hundreds of checks the Georgia Public Service Commission is taking time to send back.

“We don’t want their money, we’ll send their money back and we’re going to tell them how they can get it for free,” said Bill Edge with the PSC.

It’s been four years since Georgia merged its Do Not Call List with the Federal Registry and eliminated the $5 charge. But since that time, about 7,000 Georgians have sent in checks anyway.

“We’re sending them back and we’re telling people its free and we don’t need their money,” said Edge.

Edwards figures the state also doesn’t need the hassle of mailing all those checks back, shredding it would have been okay with him. “I’m glad to get it back but it seems like a tempest in a tea pot to get the check back,” he said.

Since the list went free, the number of Georgia subscribers went from 400,000 to 4 million. Charities, political candidates and companies you’ve done business with are still allowed to call.

To sign up for the list, go to www.donotcall.gov or www.ftc.gov.