Yesterday I received 9 robocalls to my mobile. Two others woke me at 3:25 am and 5:36 am this morning. I generally don’t even answer the unknown phone numbers. They typically have a California area code where I have no contacts. When I do answer and wait for the recorded message, the IRS is about to arrest me, the student loan I never had is in default, or the unidentified credit card I might have is eligible for a lower rate. My landline isn’t exempt, but surprisingly receives fewer robocalls.
Recently the frequency of these nuisance calls has increased significantly. Because of robocalls, I’m less likely to answer my mobile even if someone were urgently trying to reach me. It’s gotten to the point that I’m going to turn my mobile off at night. My common sense says the government must stop this annoyance.
All my phone numbers are on the National Do Not Call Registry, www.donotcall.gov. Telephone numbers on the Registry don’t expire but can be removed. I checked to confirm all of my numbers were still registered. Since 2009 Robocalls are illegal even if your number is not on the Registry. Today I dutifully spent about 30 minutes reporting my unwelcome robocalls to the FTC. I’ve received another 5 so far today. The FTC can fine anyone who violates the Registry or places an illegal robocall up to $40,654 per call. After filing my complaints, I wondered whether I’d wasted my time since rebocalls appear to be increasing.
The federal government set up the Do Not Call Registry in 2003, to stop annoying calls from sales people. The program has proven very popular: as of 2007, 72 percent of Americans had registered on the list, with most reporting a great improvement in the number of telemarketing calls they received. At the end of FY 2016, the Registry contained just over 226 million actively registered phone numbers. Yet the number of consumer complaints increased from just under 3.6 million during FY 2015 to just over 5.3 million during FY 2016. What happened? Why isn’t the Registry and FTC enforcement preventing these calls?
The problem comes down to technology and morality. Legitimate companies generally comply with the law and don’t call if your number is on the Registry. Dishonest companies are running scams and ignore the Registry, especially if they don’t expect to get caught. Unfortunately, technology has made it almost impossible to catch the violators, explaining the great increase in robocalls.
In the FTC’s own words: “Current technology makes it easy for scammers to fake or “spoof” caller ID information, so the number you reported in your complaint probably isn’t real. Without more information, it’s difficult for the FTC and other law enforcement agencies to identify the actual caller.”
The FTC says it is leading several initiatives to develop a technology-based solution to block robocalls and help investigators track down and stop robocallers and caller ID spoofing. The solutions cannot come quickly enough. The government should require telephone company action since they carry the calls and should be able to find and stop the source of millions of unwanted calls.
Until there’s a solution, per the FTC: “Hang up on illegal sales calls. If your number is on the Registry, and you get a sales call, or you get an illegal robocall, don’t interact in any way. Don’t press buttons to be taken off the call list or to talk to a live person. Doing so will probably lead to more unwanted calls. Instead, hang up and file a complaint with the FTC.”
2/19/18 Update:
The number of robocalls hasn’t decreased. I decided to contact my US congressman and senators to request assistance. It’s probably a longshot, but we need to stop this nuisance!
Dear Congressman Bilirakis, Sen. Nelson and Senator Rubio,
For the last month, the number of robocalls I receive has increased significantly. Every night two calls come to my mobile between 1 am and 5 am, waking my family unless I thought to turn off my phone. I’m aware of the current status of the robocall problem and the FCC’s inability to find and punish violators due to spoofing. I have a blog and have researched and commented on this problem. If you want additional information, my blog address is: https://commonsensedaily.com/stop-robocalls/
I didn’t receive any satisfaction from the FCC’s statement that it is pursuing several possible solutions. My request is the US government aggressively pursues a solution to this plague which daily annoys millions of citizens, wastes time and resources and clogs our telecommunications infrastructure with illegal calls. Congress needs to exert additional pressure on the FCC. Frankly, Verizon, ATT, Frontier and the other large carries should be able to determine who is placing millions of robocalls. Why not force the carriers to investigate and stop robocalls at the source?
Thank you for any assistance you can provide to end this scourge!