State Attorney General Jeff Landry and several of his fellow State Attorneys General called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take further action to stop illegal robocalls.
They’re urging the government to adopt proposed rules against caller ID spoofing on calls into the U.S. from overseas.
If you’ve received a lot of robocalls recently, you’re not alone. Nearly 2.4 billion robocalls are made every month, according to the FCC.
Sharane Gott, with the Better Business Bureau of Acadiana, said, “These people are driven by money. they want your money. They want your personal information, sometimes both.”
Experts say if you answer the phone and hear a recorded message instead of a live person, it’s a robocall.
(CBS News) Mike Johnson, with the University of Minnesota Technological Leadership Institute, explained, “If I’m a scammer, and suddenly my number stops working, I just change it from 1, 2, 3, 4, to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I keep calling.”
“Robocalls are not random,” added Gott. “Robocalls are a computer with a list. Not a special list with anybody names on it unless you answer the calls all the time.”
An immediate red flag, according to experts, is if the recording is trying to sell you something.
FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, said, “Both private sector companies and the public sector agencies like the FCC and FTC I think are on the same page in terms of the priority it deserves.”
“The more people that do not answer the phone, the more people that do not give them personal information for identity theft of or give them money of any kind we can do away with all these calls in no time,” said Gott.
In the U,S., there are recorded messages such as candidates running for office charities asking for donations, and reminder calls for medical appointments are allowed.
Here are some suggestions from experts to help you stop and spot robocalls:
- Use caller id to screen calls. If it’s important, the caller will typically leave a message.
- Just hang up.
- Get onto the do not call registry. You can register online at donotcall.gov.
According to the Better Business Bureau, if you receive a sales message recording, and you haven’t given your written permission to get calls from the company on the other end, the call is illegal.
If you have a scam you’d like me to investigate, feel free to send me an email at smasters@klfy.com.
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